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Experience with the Garmin 370 on my ED

4K views 10 replies 7 participants last post by  derry 
#1 · (Edited)
I thought I'd post my experiences using my Garmin 370 on my ED. You can find my ED trip report here:

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showthread.php?t=208511

My trip was through Bavaria and Austria. Overall, the 370 worked great and I'm very glad I got it. It removes an enormous amount of stress, particularly if your wife gets car sick while reading a map :) I barely used a map and the only map I had was a 1/1,000,000 map that gives only the major roads.

It was great to be able to take the 370 to our hotel room and use it to plan out the next day's trips. Portability has some advantages.

I used the standard windshield mount, which worked flawlessly.

In Bavaria and Austria, there's lots of tunnels. I was pleasantly surprised that I rarely lost reception in a tunnel. Whenever reception was lost, it was regained very quickly upon exiting the tunnel.

There's only a few issues I had, some of which are true for any GPS:

- Several times, the 370 asked me to go the wrong way one a one-way street (Einebahn). Be careful.

- In Salzburg, the 370 wanted me to go on a road that was closed to private vehicles (but open to Taxis, delivery trucks, etc). This is understandable, but again, be careful.

- The 370 often gives instructions such as "enter roundabout and take third exit to B179.'' Two problems can occur: 1) some "exits'' are sometimes not counted (like for parking), so counting exits isn't always reliable, 2) The road sign invariably doesn't say "B179,'' but instead gives the major town you're heading for. It helps to know which towns you're heading for. In the end, this isn't a big deal, because if you get on the wrong road the 370 will re-route you in a flash, or you can just go back. It also can help to look at the display to see which exit the 370 is referring to.

- It would be nice if a road could be removed from a route computation, before starting on the trip. Near Innsbruck, we knew A12 was under construction and was a mess. As far as I can figure out, you can't "detour'' until you're actually on the road. By then it's too late.

- In remote areas of Austria, the 370 would often select routes that were single-tracks. These are beautiful routes. But they can make for a stressful drive, and I highly doubt they're always faster (I use the find fastest route mode).

- Asking for restaurants and car washes is not always reliable. The 370 doesn't know of a single car wash in or near Innsbruck, but knows of plenty in Garmisch. Many restaurants we knew of were not in the 370.

- For some small towns in Austria (and maybe other countries), such as Prutz in Kaunertal, the 370 doesn't "know" about them if you try searching for them as a destination. However, when driving through them, the 370 would showed "Prutz" on the display. Very odd.

Overall though, I'm very pleased with the 370 and would highly recommend it.
 
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#3 ·
- It would be nice if a road could be removed from a route computation, before starting on the trip. Near Innsbruck, we knew A12 was under construction and was a mess. As far as I can figure out, you can't "detour'' until you're actually on the road. By then it's too late.
I just got an HP iPAQ rx5915 which has the Tom Tom navigation system. I have been fooling around with it for a few days and Tom Tom allows you to remove a route in the plan. When you do that, it replans around the road. I did that today and it showed the removed road and the new routing in the display. Don't know if Naviteq navigation system used by Garmin (I think) allows the same procedure. It may be in one of the menus someplace. I doubt such a feature is exclusive to Tom Tom.

I got the unit because it is really a pocket PC with the GPS built in.

Cheers
 
#7 ·
Several reviews I have read have indicated Tom Tom is better for Europe (Euro Company after all) and Naviteq is better for US. As they say, "you pays yer money and you takes yer choice". :angel:

Surprises me about the road delete though. I would have thought it would be fairly simple to add that feature given route replanning when you ignore the nagging after missing a turn.:D

Cheers
 
#5 ·
I got TomTom Go910 for our trip that starts this week. I've been using TomTom device for a few days, and it worked nicely for me so far.
We will see how this device works in Europe ( I might do similar write up when we come back). I've planned most of the routes already on a computer and loaded to the device.

Thanks for a nice review! I hope you'll enjoy your new car!
 
#6 ·
I too recently used my Garmin 370 during our ED with pretty much the same results. Having driven in Europe several times without GPS, I was very pleased with its performance. Garmin offers a Euro POI card that they claim contains zillions of points, so that's the ticket for your next ED.
 
#8 ·
Thanks for your comments on the Garmin 370. I've got a 60Csx mostly for the outdoors that may be more versatile but the 370 certainly sounds like the superior plan for the car. Plus for only another $100 or so over a 60Csx you have European mapping. Also my screen is too small to be safe if I am driving alone and have to fiddle with it.

I earlier posted that maps and charts are the only way to go for situational awareness and trip planning with a GPS as a backup only. Well after seeing a 370 in use here, I think I was wrong to suggest that you can't rely on these things. I would still get a decent map but the 370 sure seems to take care of the last-minute itinerary changes so you don't have to plan 2 or 3 route variations in advance.

Here's a tip: look at http://www.gpscity.com and the RAM mounts. These things are universal and with an adapter under $8.00 give you a lot of permanent and temp mounting options other than that supplied by the manufacturer. I can swap out the 60 between a motorcycle, bike, and 2 cars with a couple of mounts and the adapter.
 
#9 ·
Also my screen is too small to be safe if I am driving alone and have to fiddle with it.
Don't fiddle and drive :) Seriously, an extremely powerful feature of any decent car system are the voice prompts. You rarely have to even look at it while driving. Before the 370, I thought this was a gimic, but I have a hiking GPS (an older Garmin Vista) and I now can't imagine using it for the car. It doesn't look like the 60CSx has voice prompts and this feature alone should convince you to get a car based system.
I earlier posted that maps and charts are the only way to go for situational awareness and trip planning with a GPS as a backup only. Well after seeing a 370 in use here, I think I was wrong to suggest that you can't rely on these things.
Right. I kept meaning to buy a better map when on my ED, but just never bothered. I was having too much fun :) If driving in a VERY remote area, get a good map, but there are no such places in Europe.
Here's a tip: look at http://www.gpscity.com and the RAM mounts.
I've spent altogether too much time considering mounts :) Thanks, I'll take a closer look at these...
 
#10 ·
My favorite part about the Garmin's text-to-speech is the hilarious mispronunciations when using english voices in Germany/Italy.

"In 300 meters, take a right on MAY-REE-EHN-PLAHTZ"

Thanks, Cletus.

I can't even imagine what it was trying to do in Italy.
"Turn left on vee-ah grmblmrlm mlmahahmml"
Thanks again.

However, switch it to the native language and it's dead-on, unfortunately the directions switch languages too.
 
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