Garmin is shite. Get it off your chest here.

[Berin]

Fookin’ bastardin’ useless piece of shite

So, I am in Thirsk today and fancy going to the bakery in Hovingham
GPS set to ‘avoid motorway’ and shorter distance
The direct route across country was about 13-14 miles and takes in some excellent bike roads and pretty villages
I set the GPS going to max adv routing and the sodding thing takes me along the A170 up Sutton Bank and towards Helmsley - some 18-20 miles
So I set off and ignore it, going my chosen route and it automatically recalculates at every end & turn taking me back to the A170
When we’re about 3 miles away, it still does it and tries to send me backwards towards the main roads again - some 9 miles of a journey instead of 3 the cross country way, only when we’re 2.9 miles away - it chooses the same route as the one in my head
After Hovingham I set it to Hutton Le Hole and it does it again trying to take me via Helmsley, instead of cutting the corner going via Nunnington to Kirkbymoorside - increasing the actual mileage by nearly double
I ignore it
After Hutton I set it to Helmsley and it tried to take me via A170 again, despite the quickest route is via Fadmoor & Gillamoor - eventually it catches up

Fookin’ thing - what’s the point of Adv Routing if it just uses the main bloody roads

It’s bastard useless

The thing is, as has been aired many times on this forum, is that these devices don’t know local routes better than you do.

So, firstly, if you know the way, why use the GPS?

Secondly, if for some inexplicable reason you decide to use the XT even though you know the way, and since you know very well of the XT’s routing anomalies, why didn’t you use the route planner function in the XT and drop a couple of waypoints along the route you wanted?

Thirdly, since you’ve been moaning about the XT fo what seems like years, when plenty of other people on here seem to be able to cope with it just fine, why don’t you just chuck it in the bin? In fact I seem to recall you saying you’d sold it ages ago!

User error, I’m afraid, or rather, unrealistic expectations.

 

[Wapping]

You keep defending it - but someone should have set up a class action by now

I like the XT, it does what I want it to do. Yup, I had to learn it, but once done. Others want it to play music, tell them the weather, their lean angle and to call their mum, but that’s just them.

As to the latter? Every great march, starts with a small step. Contact the UKGSer legal team for free advice.

 

[Thejoybringer]

Well I’m old school I’m afraid! Google maps on my iphone fixed to a Quad clamp with shock absorber is my preferred nav.aid. It’s quicker than all the other sat.nav’s I own, iphone is water proof and Google maps does all I need. Plus you never need to update the mapping and in satellite view its brilliant.

 

[John Armstrong]

Why though?

On a supposed motorcycle GPS it’s stupid

Are they car GPS …..just made waterproof?

I would sooner have sensible ‘on the fly’ routing than audio or weather crap

I don't know, they've been told plenty times about it, but Garmin either doesn't care / thinks its right / don't know how to fix it

Which is why I'm back to using a 595, its routing algorithms seems to align with mine / previous Garmin's.

In my experience the XT and XT2 are fine following pre-planned routes, as long as you've made them so they avoid the RUT problem. But as an A to B device where the route is planned on the device, they're seriously flawed.

 

[JohnnyBoxer]

Secondly, if for some inexplicable reason you decide to use the XT even though you know the way, and since you know very well of the XT’s routing anomalies, why didn’t you use the route planner function in the XT and drop a couple of waypoints along the route you wanted?

Thirdly, since you’ve been moaning about the XT for what seems like years, when plenty of other people on here seem to be able to cope with it just fine, why don’t you just chuck it in the bin? In fact I seem to recall you saying you’d sold it ages ago!

User error, I’m afraid, or rather, unrealistic expectations.

I am going to keep trying and do as you say and do a route on the unit and drop some waypoints

I will crack it.................one day

 

[Barnoe]

I am going to keep trying and do as you say and do a route on the unit and drop some waypoints

I will crack it.................one day

The crack will appear as it bounces off the wall.

 

[Berin]

I am going to keep trying and do as you say and do a route on the unit and drop some waypoints

I will crack it.................one day

It’s quite easy to do, same as if I’ve planned a route and need to do a diverion, I just stop the route, drop a pin or pins to get round the obstacle, then just resume the route when I get back to it.

 

[Wapping]

I am going to keep trying and do as you say and do a route on the unit and drop some waypoints

I will crack it.................one day

Wessie, I think creates most of his routes that way.

I, as nothing more than a perverse exercise, once created a 300 mile D roads jaunt across France, inputting the route directly into a Nav IV, simply to see if I could do it. It worked and I rode the route.

Now I am older and wiser, so I use MyRoute’s excellent Routeplanner (website).

 

[Berin]

Wessie, I think creates most of his routes that way.

I, as nothing more than a perverse exercise, once created a 300 mile D roads jaunt across France, inputting the route directly into a Nav IV, simply to see if I could do it. It worked and I rode the route.

Now I am older and wiser, so I use MyRoute’s excellent Routeplanner (website).

The in-device planner in the XT isn’t bad, and handy for when an impromptu detour is required.

Much easier to plan on a bigger screen on a pc or iPad, of course

 

[GrinningGSer]

Loving this thread ;
Garmin ;
Market Capitalisation: Around $25–30 billion USD (fluctuates with the stock market).
• Employees: Roughly 19,000–20,000 worldwide.
• Headquarters: Officially based in Schaffhausen, Switzerland, though the main operational base is in Olathe, Kansas, USA.
• Global Presence: Offices, factories, and R&D centers in over 30 countries, including the US, Taiwan, the UK, and various EU nations.
• Annual Revenue (2024): Approximately $5.5–6 billion USD.
• Business Segments:
• Aviation (flight instruments and navigation systems)
• Marine (boat navigation and sonar)
• Automotive (satnavs, dashcams)
• Fitness (smartwatches, wearables)
• Outdoor (handheld GPS units, adventure devices)

Total 2024 revenue ≈ $5.6 billion USD
• Operating profit ≈ $1.3 billion USD
• Garmin is debt-free, with strong cash reserves (around $3 billion).
• Most profitable sectors: Aviation and Outdoor, due to high-margin, specialist products.

Automotive only accounts for 13% of revenues .

I love how people love to diss stuff.

 

[G&T]

I love how people love to diss stuff.

Good point, but then disrupter/challenger comes along, spotty geek sat in his bedroom, (no disrespect) comes along and creates a more user friendly, social ready, cheaper Nav system using a device one already has - a phone.