Satnav setting

[movan]

I know this is a daft question but can someone tell me once and for all ... do I set my satnav at FASTEST ROUTE

Or SHORTEST ROUTE ?

Whichever I do, it takes me up silly narrow lanes, scratching my mh and then bringing me out a couple of hundred yards further up the wide main road I was on until I was told to turn off.

(I tried changing from female voice to male voice, but he was just as stupid.)

Help please.

 

[Vanderek]

I hope this answers it ...I'm sure someone will correct me if not...

The “shortest” will take you along the back streets and narrow lanes if shorter because you have set it to the “shortest” route. The “quickest” route will take you along main roads and the fastest way and this is the best setting to use in almost every case.
Someone is going to say check against good old printed map before setting off

 

[andy63]

(I tried changing from female voice to male voice, but he was just as stupid.)

... really

the fastest route should keep you on the major roads joy, but there are other settings that can affect your route.. there will be a menu for avoidances that you should check,,, and it always pays to have a check on a map to see whether you are happy with the selected route.....

you can read a map can't you joy .....
Andy

 

[klaatu]

Yes, quickest route as above, but even with that setting ours occasionally does something bonkers. I think that sometimes it has the wrong speed limits and thinks that the short section of smaller road is quicker than the main road.

 

[Madcaravanner]

We use a Truck Sat Nav and it has another option EASY which plots the easiest route for weight and width

AND I always tell it I'm pulling a trailer which makes it pick wider roads too

Worth a look to see if you have that option

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[bigtwin]

I’d concur with all of the preceding responses.

Ian

 

[Offagain]

Don't get me started on Sat navs.
We bought an expensive Garmin camper one and she (Deirdre ) has been nothing but trouble from the beginning.
9 times out of 10 I end up turning the guidance off and using my phone.

 

[Howard H]

Whilst I agree with all the above I have my Aguri sat nav in my hand and after I put a route in . The sat nav recommends the shortest option rather than the quickest ,just saying

 

[TinaLes]

Don't get me started on Sat navs.
We bought an expensive Garmin camper one and she (Deirdre ) has been nothing but trouble from the beginning.
9 times out of 10 I end up turning the guidance off and using my phone.

We have the same problem with the Avtex/Garmin Camper Tourer One Sat Nag, so many little things that wind me up like "Enter The Roundabout" yes I shout but what Feckin Exit???? or "Stay on M5 or A442" yes but for how many miles???
We also use Google Maps on the I Phone, but that thinks we are a little car and takes up narrow residential streets, even through housing estates, as it thinks its the fastest route and save us some time.
I have now learned the hard way that using a paper map, reading signs when they are posted, and ignoring all Sat Nags until we get close to target place is the less stressful way of getting anywhere.
Les
PS: you can always tell how crap sat nags are, when you see the way they round they try and take you when you are near home and know the best route.
Just shows ignorance can be bliss in unknown areas as you dont know any different.

 

[movan]

...

you can read a map can't you joy .....
Andy

I asked for a photo of a woman with a whip ... THIS is not quite what I meant Andy...

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[Howard H]

Whilst I agree with all the above I have my Aguri sat nav in my hand and after I put a route in . The sat nav recommends the shortest option rather than the quickest ,just saying

Now it’s changed it’s mind fickle or what

 

[hilldweller]

I know this is a daft question but can someone tell me once and for all ... do I set my satnav at FASTEST ROUTE

Or SHORTEST ROUTE ?

It's hard to win this battle. Yes, shortest is sure to take you through farmyards but fastest, when it's doing it's complex calculations can take you miles up a motorway at 70 mph when a 30 mph road would get you there a few minutes later but at half the distance and a third of the fuel.

Whenever possible cross check a satnav with a map. I always look on Google Maps, which is stunningly good then have the rough picture in my mind to see if the satnav is off it's rocker.

 

[Chris]

The best thing about my old Landcruiser was that you could have the Sat nav give directions in Japanese.

I can’t tell you how much fun I had with the kids on that one.

 

[Madcaravanner]

Strange isn't it the best Sat Nav's I have had since having the motorhome have actually been cheap ones

the one now is built in to the radio with a 7 inch screen the previous which is now back up cost just £30 from Ebay
Both are programmable for length, height, weight and trailer and easy routes

 

[Offagain]

"Enter The Roundabout" yes I shout but what Feckin Exit???? or "Stay on M5 or A442" yes but for how many miles???

And also those!
Plus we're in Spain and in built up areas she insists on telling us the names of the streets in mangled, unintelligible Spanish whereas the number of the road would be far more helpful as there are no street name signs but I can read the road numbers on a map

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[two]

Shortest will take short cuts, some of which may be a bit of a squeeze and slow you down.
Fastest will be longer but on wider roads, so you can go faster.

 

[TheBig1]

choose the eco route and enjoy the fact you will use less fuel

as for the satnav trying to pronounce road names, go into the menu to turn this feature on or off

every satnav I have owned or used show distance to next direction on the screen clearly

 

[thebriars]

Its worth reading the sat nav handbook to see if there is a simulate option or a preview option - same thing. Most sat navs these days seem to have them, but few ever use this feature.

The simulate/preview option allows you to follow the route on the screen before you set off. The sat nav will follow the route at a speeded up rate and you can check exactly where it is going to take you. If you don't like the route set then add an intermediate destination to avoid any small roads. It also gives you a chance to double check any difficult junctions or roundabouts beforehand.

 

[thebriars]

Both are programmable for length, height, weight and trailer and easy routes

Trouble is that most of the mapping programs themselves don't yet carry complete information about road widths or weight limits. It will come, in time.

 

[Jasz]

s many little things that wind me up like "Enter The Roundabout" yes I shout but what Feckin Exit???? or "Stay on M5 or A442" yes but for how many miles???/QUOTE]

I know what you mean about the roundabout as you may not know which lane to be in. I tend to glance at the display before I get there to give me an idea of where I'm going. On our Garmin in the top left corner it shows a junction sign with distance to where you would turn off which I find very helpful

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[thebriars]

My sat nav in the MH has solved the roundabout problem. It just says go straight over. Might try it some day.

 

[mfw]

All sat navs seem to have similar problems so if one sends you where you are not sure eirher try and pull over to review route or keep going.
My sat nav once took me into a small village on spain portugal border got as far as a square the so called road through village tut-tut would not of fitted had to turn round and go out the way we came in as it was the only road wide enough

 

[StitchesnFluff]

Fastest route selected for m/h and quickest for m/bike!

 

[Minxy]

We use Sygic which has Economic, Fastest and Shortest, there's not much difference between the first 2 but the last one can take you down all sorts of silly roads so we rarely use it, however you have to watch the others 2 as they can take you on long 'detours' to save a few seconds, I always have a quick look at the overview of the route before we set off just to make sure we're not doing 30km more to save 2 mins! As we use a tablet we can easily ad way points by touching the screen to get it to go the way we want though.

Oh, and our sat nav is very polite ... if we have to stay on the road for a while it says "please follow the route for x miles/kms" ... not had any other that does that!

 

[movan]

We use Sygic which has Economic, Fastest and Shortest, there's not much difference between the first 2 but the last one can take you down all sorts of silly roads so we rarely use it, however you have to watch the others 2 as they can take you on long 'detours' to save a few seconds, I always have a quick look at the overview of the route before we set off just to make sure we're not doing 30km more to save 2 mins! As we use a tablet we can easily ad way points by touching the screen to get it to go the way we want though.

Oh, and our sat nav is very polite ... if we have to stay on the road for a while it says "please follow the route for x miles/kms" ... not had any other that does that!

...and mine says ' Oh Please! how many times do I have to tell you to turn around when possible!!!!'

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[WillH]

I select 'Fastest' route then crucially, review the route and see if there are any dodgy roads. This has saved my hide a couple of times. Once the route has been planned by the SatNav there should be an option to 'review', check it out.

 

[buttons]

I made a lovely spaghetti bolognaise last night, garlic bread the lot. Everyone loved it. Sorry what was the question...

 

[thebriars]

All sat navs seem to have similar problems so if one sends you where you are not sure eirher try and pull over to review route or keep going.
My sat nav once took me into a small village on spain portugal border got as far as a square the so called road through village tut-tut would not of fitted had to turn round and go out the way we came in as it was the only road wide enough

Hence worth always using the simulate/preview option and then you can be sure you will not get caught out. Like learning to read a map, one has to learn how to use a sat nav correctly and what all its functions do.

 

[thebriars]

Oh, and our sat nav is very polite ... if we have to stay on the road for a while it says "please follow the route for x miles/kms" ... not had any other that does that!

The sat navs in our Mitsubishi cars are just plan rude. A gruff female voice orders you everywhere. Its not printable what we call her.

 

[Figaro]

Its worth reading the sat nav handbook

Never had a sat nav with a handbook, or anything else I bought in the last few years.
It's usually on the web somewhere ???

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