Just returned from a weeks vacation in Southern California. Only had my 510 since February and my first real trip outside of my familiar home area.
Past trips. We drive a lot on these kind of trips and I am always the navigator with my head buried in maps the whole trip. Constantly giving instructions to the driver. Getting to our destinations was bad enough, but getting back to the hotel or to the next destinations was always worst. And if you drove a few miles or streets without the map, you had to figure out where you were, then figure out where you are going. Getting back to our hotel after dark was sometimes difficult.
But, what a change this time!. I can tell you that the 510 (here by known as "Sally") was a blessing. The best trip I ever had. Did not have to worry about where we were or getting back. When we saw somewhere (not on the itenerary) that we wanted to see, we just detoured and went. Knowing Sally would get us back on the right track when we were done.
I actually pre programmed a lot of my itenerary into 5 different trips before we left home.
Here is what we did and how we were routed:
1. Flew into San Diego airport, rented a car and drove to Hollywood for 1 nights stay. Routed us I5N right to our hotel on Orchid Ave. No route or traffic problems. Car parked overnight.
2. Next day: Drove from Hollywood to La Jolla. First ( still in Hollywood hotel parking lot) I had a problem just getting Sally to get a signal. It also hung on the start up screen when trying to restart. Finally removed the card and reinserted to get it to boot. Then it took about 5 minutes to get a signal. After it aquired the signal it was confussed and kept rerouting every few seconds. Useless at this point. We started driving and it finally locked on the correct route in a few minutes.
No further problems to La Jolla. I reprogrammed (in route) and we made several stops at several beach towns along Hwy 1 south. It did take me several tries to convince Sally to take Hwy 1 instead of the interstate.
3. Once in La Jolla it was great. Correctly taking us down several roads to get to our beach house. It did have 1 street (Fay Street) that it has a problem with coming from 1 direction. It would (incorrectly)take us on Fay, then tell us to take a uturn back. Did not do this from other directions.
4. While in La Jolla we visited the San Diego zoo, old town, harbor, Coronado island, and may more locations. Great directions with only 1 problem. We programed in an address of a resturant at the harbor. It would take us by the address and then tell us "you have reached your destination", then to turn around, repeatly from all directions. Come to find out, the resturant was in a shopping complex at that intersection. The intersection was the closest road. This has happened to me before. I am learning to look for these type of situations.
5. We took a day trip over the mountains and to the desert, then back to La Jolla. Great except for 2 lane highways in small towns. Took me to a dead end road up in the mountains and kept sending me there from all directions, even after reprogramming. Finally had to program in a different city on down the road, then it rerouted fine. Also, in a small desert town it kept wanting me to turn on a road that did not exist thru the desert. Reprogramming corrected that.
All in all I would rate the 510 excellent in large cities and very good in smaller cities. It does seem to be more accurate in larger cities and with plenty of warnings to "move left" or "get in right lane" or "take the next exit". Otherwise, this would be very difficult in 6 lane (unfamiliar) traffic. Also regardless of the situation, you know it will route (or reroute) you back. All resulting in a very enjoyable trip. The more I learn to use the unit, the better it gets. Our friends were amazed!
Reception was good thru out the trip even with the 510 mounted below the dash. Lost the signal once in downtown san Diego because of tall buildings.
Signal acquiring time at start up was always unusually long compared long to back home in Kentucky. I docked to tomtom home and did the satellite locator thing before I left Kentucky. I wonder if that confussed it in California?
One last thing. Someone here had mentioned to watch the 510 while flying. That is a BIG no-no. Strictly prohibited on all airlines. I read the warning an ddid not remove mine from the carryon.
Sorry for the LONG post and please forgive me of my spelling.
Randy
Past trips. We drive a lot on these kind of trips and I am always the navigator with my head buried in maps the whole trip. Constantly giving instructions to the driver. Getting to our destinations was bad enough, but getting back to the hotel or to the next destinations was always worst. And if you drove a few miles or streets without the map, you had to figure out where you were, then figure out where you are going. Getting back to our hotel after dark was sometimes difficult.
But, what a change this time!. I can tell you that the 510 (here by known as "Sally") was a blessing. The best trip I ever had. Did not have to worry about where we were or getting back. When we saw somewhere (not on the itenerary) that we wanted to see, we just detoured and went. Knowing Sally would get us back on the right track when we were done.
I actually pre programmed a lot of my itenerary into 5 different trips before we left home.
Here is what we did and how we were routed:
1. Flew into San Diego airport, rented a car and drove to Hollywood for 1 nights stay. Routed us I5N right to our hotel on Orchid Ave. No route or traffic problems. Car parked overnight.
2. Next day: Drove from Hollywood to La Jolla. First ( still in Hollywood hotel parking lot) I had a problem just getting Sally to get a signal. It also hung on the start up screen when trying to restart. Finally removed the card and reinserted to get it to boot. Then it took about 5 minutes to get a signal. After it aquired the signal it was confussed and kept rerouting every few seconds. Useless at this point. We started driving and it finally locked on the correct route in a few minutes.
No further problems to La Jolla. I reprogrammed (in route) and we made several stops at several beach towns along Hwy 1 south. It did take me several tries to convince Sally to take Hwy 1 instead of the interstate.
3. Once in La Jolla it was great. Correctly taking us down several roads to get to our beach house. It did have 1 street (Fay Street) that it has a problem with coming from 1 direction. It would (incorrectly)take us on Fay, then tell us to take a uturn back. Did not do this from other directions.
4. While in La Jolla we visited the San Diego zoo, old town, harbor, Coronado island, and may more locations. Great directions with only 1 problem. We programed in an address of a resturant at the harbor. It would take us by the address and then tell us "you have reached your destination", then to turn around, repeatly from all directions. Come to find out, the resturant was in a shopping complex at that intersection. The intersection was the closest road. This has happened to me before. I am learning to look for these type of situations.
5. We took a day trip over the mountains and to the desert, then back to La Jolla. Great except for 2 lane highways in small towns. Took me to a dead end road up in the mountains and kept sending me there from all directions, even after reprogramming. Finally had to program in a different city on down the road, then it rerouted fine. Also, in a small desert town it kept wanting me to turn on a road that did not exist thru the desert. Reprogramming corrected that.
All in all I would rate the 510 excellent in large cities and very good in smaller cities. It does seem to be more accurate in larger cities and with plenty of warnings to "move left" or "get in right lane" or "take the next exit". Otherwise, this would be very difficult in 6 lane (unfamiliar) traffic. Also regardless of the situation, you know it will route (or reroute) you back. All resulting in a very enjoyable trip. The more I learn to use the unit, the better it gets. Our friends were amazed!
Reception was good thru out the trip even with the 510 mounted below the dash. Lost the signal once in downtown san Diego because of tall buildings.
Signal acquiring time at start up was always unusually long compared long to back home in Kentucky. I docked to tomtom home and did the satellite locator thing before I left Kentucky. I wonder if that confussed it in California?
One last thing. Someone here had mentioned to watch the 510 while flying. That is a BIG no-no. Strictly prohibited on all airlines. I read the warning an ddid not remove mine from the carryon.
Sorry for the LONG post and please forgive me of my spelling.
Randy
