Sat Nav's set to scam

[gritbinsales]

Just been on a 150 mile trek,

round and round in circles, all the long way round

I now think the sat nav's have been pre set to make you drive extra miles to burn more fuel

why... would I say this

sounds crazy...............

test it out .. set your sat nav for a 5 mile journey that you know the way
I bet it take's you the long way round

and yes my sat nav is set for quickest time

Just how many time have you shouted at YOUR sat nav .........

 

[lynxus]

Check you havent got "avoid motorways" checked

Anyway.. I do see this, However its mainly because the sat nav is following the road rules.

It will see a 30pmh road as a quicker route than cutting through a 20mph road / residential area.

 

[Mark_J]

Mine tried to take me through a golf course once.

 

[Gillie]

Never had an issue, but then I use the google maps system so nicely provided on my phone, that or just the good old fashioned map thing - you know, the one on paper!

 

[roydmoorian]

Sat Navs are not the be all & end all device that some seem to think they are but they are an important tool.

And yes they are occasionally wrong by a few miles. With a typical driver's day including finding 20 new addresses on a 300+ mile journey we find that less than 2% of all destinations require additional information.

Reading a paper map in the dark is not safe without stopping (not safe in daylight either) and at this time of year a typical 10 hour driving day can include at least an hour driving in the dark at each end of the day.

The distance travelled following Sat Nav directions is often slightly more than the same route as indicated by Microsoft MapPoint but the benefits, in particular the E.T.A, far outweigh the occasional hiccough.

 

[vvaannmmaann]

Never had an issue, but then I use the google maps system so nicely provided on my phone, that or just the good old fashioned map thing - you know, the one on paper!

Utter madness.Maps on paper will never catch on.

 

[Merchant UK]

My Phone has a decent Sat nav (GPS) built in (Samsung Galaxy SII) It seems pretty acurate.

my Satnav (Tom Tom) is decent too Before i go on a long journey i update the maps for free online as well as plan my journey, this is all stored in the tom tom and then it goes in my car fully updated.

I guess the cheaper ones which never get updated or the ones with the maps on a memory card are the ones which miss out on any road changes, new roads or housing estates :|

 

[freelancesam]

I turned up 3 hours late to a gig because a sat nav took me from scarborough to scotland west coast via scotland east coast I wouldn't mind but my generation don't know how to read maps!

 

[Gillie]

I turned up 3 hours late to a gig because a sat nav took me from scarborough to scotland west coast via scotland east coast I wouldn't mind but my generation don't know how to read maps!

Utter carp!! My kids at 16 and over all know how to read maps - you simply look at them and find the road number and head towards your destination. Not know how to read maps .... priceless!!

 

[deniser]

Actually map reading was the first subject my children did in year 7 geography!

Friends of mine wanted to travel from just outside junction 2 of the M25 to about junction 16. I could not believe it when they told me they were 3 hours late because they had actually travelled right through central London! It didn't occur to them to look at a map before setting off, they just switched the satnat on but it didn't tell them they only needed to go round the M25 for about 45 minutes!

I am a map person; I could not travel anywhere without knowing roughly in which direction I was heading.

 

[roydmoorian]

I turned up 3 hours late to a gig because a sat nav took me from scarborough to scotland west coast via scotland east coast I wouldn't mind but my generation don't know how to read maps!

Just include "Bowes, Cumbria" as a via

 

[retailworld]

I turned up 3 hours late to a gig because a sat nav took me from scarborough to scotland west coast via scotland east coast I wouldn't mind but my generation don't know how to read maps!

Not picking on the poster (and going OT), but...

Isn't this part of the reason we have a skills issue in the UK - we rely far too much on others (or IT/Systems) to do things for us, rather than working it out ourselves?

 

[Mark_J]

No, real world skills aren't taught in schools to the same levels they once were.

 

[Gillie]

No, real world skills aren't taught in schools to the same levels they once were.

Actually mine were taught how to read maps - I wasn't!!

 

[leemason]

I have a Lorry Satnav for our Motorhome and that works pretty well. However the one in the car (a Nissan) is pretty poor to be honest.

A few years ago when I didn't have a satnav I met up with a collegue to go to a meeting and even though I knew where the customers offices were he insisted that he lead the way as he had a satnav. Now the customers offices were about 500 yards away. However his satnav turned the wrong way and proceeded to send up on a 2 mile journey to go 500 yards! Never mind...

 

[deadgoodundies]

I found the perfect solution to Sat Nav woes but it did take me a while to get used to it.

1. Turn your sat nav on and put in where you want to go
2. drive off
3. Ignore the Sat Nav and read the road signs
4. If you think you might be a bit off course THEN refer to the Sat Nav as chances are you are already heading in the right direction and the Sat Nav would of re routed to where you should be going anyway.

Seriously Sat Nav is best used in conjunction with road signs rather than just relying on it.

 

[dharm999]

They can be a complete nightmare, as we found out. Our client gave us longitude and latitude for the sites we were working on. So off we went and put them into our tom tom sat navs, only to find that we were miles away from where we should be. Of course client thinks that we are complete idoits. However he had garmin sat navs, which when you put in the same long and lat, took you somewhere completely different to where the tom toms took you. Our client of course did not believe us, until we actually put a tom tom in front of him with the long and lat, and that gave a different location from the one on his garmin sat nav. How that happens I have no idea!

 

Atlas

Google Maps

Sat Nav mobile phone Sat Nav - if absolutely necessary - for the last couple of miles.

The beauty is you'll actually know where you've been!

 

[Advance-is-ltd-R.Holder]

My satnav tries to make me drive my "6foot" wide car down the smallest roads & "foot paths" in the uk! but always ends in trouble if i don't use it.