Roadrider, K2R: 2.95 is a beta, albeit a public beta. In the software industry, extensive documentation is NEVER provided for betas, because they are expected to change before final release. A newer beta will likely be out by Monday of next week, although it may not be a public release. I'm expecting a newer release (probably not public) by Tuesday at the latest. 2.95 was preceded by 2.92, which was not made public, this came out about 2 weeks ago. The non-public betas are circulated only to engineers and the beta-testers, and the beta-testers are asked to not make public comments about non-public betas.
My guess (strictly a guess) is when the final release is made (it will probably have a number like 3.0), there will either be a rather long note accompanying it, or possibly even a complete revision of the Owner's Manual. Note that the present owner's manual reflects the software status as of 2.10. Many of the rather large changes that have taken place with 2.95 were foreseen some months ago, so you can now understand that it didn't make sense to revise the Owner's Manual up to 2.90 status, then revise it again for what will probably be 3.0.
You need to know that manuals (for anything) are not written by people who are typical of the end user, they are written by technical authors. These technical authors rely on subject matter experts (SME's) to assist them in editing the content of the manual so it best meets the needs of the end user. Garmin has a number of SME's who assist - as volunteers - in the fine-tuning of the manuals so they are as useful as possible to the end users. I am one of them. I was up until after midnight last night, massaging text for the SP 26xx next manual release so it would be as useful as possible to moto-riders, who have needs and desires that are totally different from car drivers, truck drivers, etc. Heck, even we in Europe have totally different needs than motorists in America. So, hopefully specific instructions about using the road preferences tab for finding 'twisties' will be in the next manual, although it is possible that the editors might chop the text, if it is too specific to one particular audience segment.
K2R: I know what you mean about enabling and disabling SBAS - no dot. But there are a number of other features that can be controlled on that page which also have 'no dot', so to speak. For example, orientation of the sky view map (north up or track up). This is a human interface issue - in general, display pages that are expected to be used by beginners (find, menu, etc.) will have very clear interfaces (downward pointing triangles when choices are available), and display pages that address advanced features will have their controls "slightly hidden" so as to not offer potential trouble points for beginning users. The bit about turning SBAS off and on by touching it is actually a shortcut - I'm not sure if that shortcut will make it into the final release. Seems you found out about the shortcut before you found out about the "proper" way. The "proper" way of turning it on and off ("proper" in the sense of human interface guidelines only, either way works equally well) is that you press the MENU button when you are on the satellite status page, that then gives you access to the advanced features. This convention is used throughout the entire range of 26xx menu pages.
Gerry: - The road preferences will only apply if 'fastest route' is chosen. Shortest route means exactly that, shortest route. It needs to be left alone because people who require a shortest route - such as taxi drivers, and others who bill for their services - need assurance that they truly will get the shortest route, subject to only limited other restrictions they may impose (toll road or unpaved road preferences).
What is actually happening when road preferences is used is that the 'fastest route' is no longer fastest or shortest - it becomes a custom route, subject to the preferences indicated on the new tab. Those preferences take priority, then after they have been considered, the GPSR calculates the fastest and shortest route subject to those conditions. There was some discussion about making a third category (custom route) but it was decided not to do this - however, the discussion is not yet finished
. You have to understand that the serious enthusiasts (e.g. people participating in this discussion here) are only a small percentage of users, the vast majority of purchasers need a very simple interface, no more complex than an OEM in-car navigation system. The product is intended to compete directly with factory installed, OEM in-car nav systems.
Concerning the question you raised about shortest route taking you through towns, try using road preferences with 'city streets' turned way down, and choose "fastest route" rather than "shortest route". You can adjust your motorway preferences on the top slider as you wish. This might give you the result you want.
The question you raise about "Avoid Highways" and its interaction with "road preferences" is already on the punch list for the next release. Others have noticed that as well. The issue about how to handle that is not an engineering one, it is a human interface one.
PanEuropean
