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DSperber
USA
4 Posts |
 Posted - 26 juil. 2010 : 23:11:49
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First post.
I've had my Streetpilot C550 for four years, and have updated software and maps only once, back in 2006 or 2007. Recently I signed up for a "lifetime" annual map update and at the same time as I applied the latest 2011.10 map database update I also upgraded to the latest software, v6.70.
So the issue I'm about to describe may reflect a change that's actually been around for quite some time and I just never knew it because I've been running some older version of software until last month.
Anyway, the problem is this. I distinctly remember (or at least I would swear to it) that before upgrading to 6.70 I always received THREE verbal instructions advising of an upcoming turn. Depending on current road and speed, the first instruction occurred somewhere between 1 mile and .5 miles before the upcoming turn. Then between about .3 miles to say 800 feet there was a second warning about the upcoming turn. And then finally just immediately before the turn (say within 50-100 feet) there was the final instruction stating that NOW I should take that turn.
And of course once the turn was made, shortly into the start of the next route leg there was the leading instruction describing how far I am now to proceed driving on the current leg, before the next turn action is due.
So all together, there are (or were) FOUR instruction: one at the start of a leg indicating how long this leg is, and then three at the end of a leg.
That's what my brain says was the case.
However that is NOT the case with 6.70. With this newest software there are only THREE total instructions, with the previous three at the end of the leg now reduced to only two! So now, again depending on road and speed, the first (and essentially ONLY warning you get about the upcoming turn occurs maybe .5 miles to .3 miles before the actual turn. And that's it! And then, suddenly, AT the turn there is the second and final instruction telling you that NOW is the time to make that turn I warned you about 1/2 mile ago!!!
RIDICULOUS! CRAZY!!! DANGEROUS!!!
What if I'm talking to my passenger when the one and only 1/2 mile warning instruction is played, and I miss it. The only way I'll be able to make the upcoming turn is if I remove my right hand from the wheel and push the "repeat upcoming instruction" button on the screen. Dangerous.
Also, since I really have no idea how far 1/2 mile might be, I have to constantly retrain my eyes from straight ahead on the road to over where the C550 display screen sits, and look in the lower right corner to see how far I am before the actual upcoming turn... waiting until I get 100-50 feet to actually spot that turn (say in the pitch black dark of a rural forest setting). Dangerous.
Ok. I know for a fact that the built-in GPS system in my other car absolutely DOES deliver these same THREE upcoming turn instruction announcements, and also DOES deliver the leading "now drive this far" instruction at the start of the next leg.
And I'm really 100% convinced that pre-6.70 my C550 also delivered THREE instructions at the end of a leg, leading up to the next turn.
Am I wrong? Am I just mis-remembering? Did the C550 always only deliver TWO instructions at the end of a leg? Surely not, else I would have been hysterically angry four years ago... and I wasn't. I'm only hysterically angry NOW!!!
I'm actually on a trip now with my C550, so I can't take any action other than to ask others here in this forum if they also noticed this change and what they think of it. Or, am I crazy, and it always was only TWO instructions at the end of a leg?
When I get back home in August I will reload the prior software version I had been using for years, and see if it really does bring back the THREE instructions I'm 100% sure was always how this unit worked.
Anybody? Thoughts? Do you have an old software version in your C550 that you can confirm DOES deliver three instructions at the end of a leg, not the two which is now being delivered with 6.70?
Anybody else as angry about this dangerous change as I am?
thanks. |
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DSperber
USA
4 Posts |
Posted - 27 juil. 2010 : 17:46:23
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Well, I find this surprising. Probably 15 forum members have viewed my post, but nobody's replied one way or another.
Is there nobody here who's owned a C550 for several years, or who might be using software considerably older than 6.70, who can recall whether they ever had navigation with THREE instructions leading up to the next turn?
Given that 6.70 currently only provides TWO instructions, either this always WAS how the C550 worked (and my brain is malfunctioning, confused by the built-in GPS in my Mercedes which DOES absolutely provide THREE instructions as I most assuredly want in that car and obviously also want to have on my C550) or it truly once provided THREE instructions with my previous software only to be changed to TWO instructions with the 6.70 software I recently upgraded to.
I know, there's nothing I can really do about it myself until next week (when I return home and can access the special USB cable to connect my C550 to my computer and restore the prior software upgrade file I still have on my PC). But is there no one in this C550 forum who has themselves noticed the change from THREE instructions to TWO instructions I really feel actually occurred on the C550 via some previous software upgrade, and certainly with the latest 6.70?
I know I may just be confused because of the recent addition of a Mercedes GPS capability, but I'm really positive I would always have been annoyed by the C550 if it had only provided TWO instructions over the four years I've owned it... since THREE instructions is the safest and most user-friendly technique for verbal navigation guidance. And I was never angry before, until now... since I now only have TWO instructions from 6.70.
Anybody? Anybody with old software still have THREE instructions? Anybody else ever notice the change, as I feel strongly I did now that I'm on 6.70? |
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nestone
USA
25 Posts |
Posted - 27 juil. 2010 : 22:46:04
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Not too many looks on this site as the c550 is getting long in the tooth. However, I still have a c580 which is the same unit and prefer it to the Nuvi models as the sound quality of the c550 is much better. The c550/580 maintains all the features I want/need. I use the Bluetooth hands free, have a 4 gig SD card with maps of all of Europe & Mexico in addition to the US/Canada map set on the internal memory. Also have about 2 gigs of tunes on the SD card that I can play through my car radio.
Here is a possible suggestion/solution. Click on the "wrench" from the menu selection on the bottom of the screen. Then, choose "Navigation." Once you are in that screen, you can choose the type of vehicle the GPS is being used in. Think there are 4 or 5 choices. I chose "Emergency" vehicle thinking that those type vehicles are driven fast and hence, need a quicker warning of the turns that need to be made. Try that and see if it helps. I can't think of anything else. |
NESTONE |
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DSperber
USA
4 Posts |
Posted - 28 juil. 2010 : 00:46:26
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quote:
Originally posted by nestoneNot too many looks on this site as the c550 is getting long in the tooth. However, I still have a c580 which is the same unit and prefer it to the Nuvi models as the sound quality of the c550 is much better. The c550/580 maintains all the features I want/need.
Now that I have a new car with a built-in GPS, I don't bring my C550 with me when taking trips in that car. But since I bought it in 2006 I've used it every summer in rental cars, and on every long trip with my old car. I've grown very fond of it, and am very used to it. Like you, I use it as my hands-free Bluetooth phone device (assuming the rental car doesn't have such a feature).
quote:
Here is a possible suggestion/solution. Click on the "wrench" from the menu selection on the bottom of the screen. Then, choose "Navigation." Once you are in that screen, you can choose the type of vehicle the GPS is being used in. Think there are 4 or 5 choices. I chose "Emergency" vehicle thinking that those type vehicles are driven fast and hence, need a quicker warning of the turns that need to be made. Try that and see if it helps.
I really am not concerned about the "quickness" of the navigation warnings. I'm concerned about the number of them. And besides, whatever is the vehicle type currently set (I think it's auto/motorcycle) I've never changed it from the original default. So any change in instruction announcements from three down to two per software change must have been purely from the software change.
What is the number of upcoming turn announcements you currently get in your C580? Three or two?
If two, do you ever remember having three originally when you bought it, and that it changed to two sometime later after some software upgrade? Or was it always two???
I'll be able to experiment for myself next week when I bet back home, reinstalling the software file I know I still have on my PC from years ago, applied shortly after I bought the unit. I certainly used that particular software (version unknown at this moment) for years. I may have done an online update once since that time... applying a web-delivered update without downloading an actual file to my PC, but I can't be sure. Certainly the latest 6.70 was absolutely downloaded and then installed.
However I do it, I'm certainly going to confirm for myself whether there was ever a 3-instruction version of the software for the C550 at some time in the past.
Thanks for the response. So... is your C580 currently giving you three instructions or two? What is the software version? |
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Dewi
621 Posts |
Posted - 29 juil. 2010 : 18:04:51
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Why don't you just downgrade to a previous version to test it? You can always go back.
http://www.gawisp.com/perry/streetpilot/c5x0/
Nevermind, I just read your post again more carefully. Sorry.  |
Edited by - Dewi on 29 juil. 2010 18:06:22 |
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nestone
USA
25 Posts |
Posted - 30 juil. 2010 : 18:29:56
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OK, Just did a test drive with my c580 which does have the 6.70 firmware. I do get 3 verbal announcements when I enter a new road. First announcement comes immediately after the turn, such as "drive 1.2 miles on XXX Rd. The next announcement says "turn left onto YYY St. in .3 miles. Then, as I am about 100 yards from the intersection it says "turn left on to YYY St. I did note that if the distance is very short on a particular road I get the announcement of "turn left on YYY St. and then turn right. Then I get a single announcement of "turn right on ZZZ Dr. This only happens when distances on a particular section of roadway is less than .2 mile.
When I suggested changing your setting to emergency vehicle, I was thinking that additional or more frequent announcements would be made as emergency vehicles are usually traveling at a high rate of speed. So, it wasn't quickness that I was thinking. I was thinking that there may be additional announcements at that setting. Good luck |
NESTONE |
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DSperber
USA
4 Posts |
Posted - 04 août 2010 : 09:10:55
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Well, it appears I was mistaken.
I got home from my trip and checked the last software I'd installed prior to 6.70. And it was 6.60, downloaded last August. I reinstalled it and ran a short simulated trip. Sure enough, still has only TWO instructions at the end of each leg, just like 6.70 does. I've now gone back to 6.70.
So even though I might have had even older software installed before that, certainly for the past 10 months or so I've been running with 6.60, and apparently didn't notice that there actually were only two instructions (coming up to the next turn).
Yes, there is the "leading" instruction at the start of the next leg, telling you how far to drive on this leg and if it's a short leg it even tells you what the next turn [street] will be. Otherwise, it's just "how far" you should proceed on this road.
And then there are the TWO instructions at the end of the leg... the first somewhere between about 1 mile and .3 miles before the upcoming turn (depending on the road you're on and the speed you're assumed to be traveling), and then that second one just before the turn itself.
So all in all there are THREE total instructions, but really only the two at the end of the leg which is the subject of my complaint. I honestly could swear there used to be three, but I'm obviously now confusing the Garmin with the GPS system in my Mercedes which very definitely has FOUR total instructions (one at the start and three at the end).
Anyway, now that I've been able to see the significant difference in navigational aid from THREE at the end (with Mercedes) instead of only TWO at the end (with Garmin), I can definitely say that I definitely prefer THREE instructions.
Oh well... I guess it must have always been two at the end (plus one at the start, for a total of three). I guess I just thought that was three at the end.
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Edited by - DSperber on 04 août 2010 09:12:13 |
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C550 6.70: only TWO instructions for upcoming turn
