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Magellan MapSend DirectRoute deficiency


j2x

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I have two dissimilar questions about using my MapSend DirectRoute v.2.0.

 

First, is there a way for me to increase detail at larger scale displays? I mean, if I'm out in the middle of the country, zoomed to a scale of 1:200,000 all I can see are the rivers, lakes, and my waypoints- but NOT the BLM roads that I am intending to travel on. I'd like to print out a copy of my map to give to my wife so that she knows where I'm going (in case I don't make it back), but I can't seem to find a way to manually turn on the level of detail that I want. Quite annoying.

 

Second, how do I build a street route from my waypoint route that includes turn-by-turn navigation that includes more points than just a start and finish? I've built a waypoint route with 42 waypoints and when I right-click on the route and select Street Route the only options that I seem to see are for picking a start and finish point- which misses almost all of the waypoints that I had created.

 

Also, will Magellan ever offer an upgrade to MapSend 3.0- instead of scamming us into purchasing it even though we already own 2.0?

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I have two dissimilar questions about using my MapSend DirectRoute v.2.0.

 

First, is there a way for me to increase detail at larger scale displays? I mean, if I'm out in the middle of the country, zoomed to a scale of 1:200,000 all I can see are the rivers, lakes, and my waypoints- but NOT the BLM roads that I am intending to travel on. I'd like to print out a copy of my map to give to my wife so that she knows where I'm going (in case I don't make it back), but I can't seem to find a way to manually turn on the level of detail that I want. Quite annoying.

 

Second, how do I build a street route from my waypoint route that includes turn-by-turn navigation that includes more points than just a start and finish? I've built a waypoint route with 42 waypoints and when I right-click on the route and select Street Route the only options that I seem to see are for picking a start and finish point- which misses almost all of the waypoints that I had created.

 

Also, will Magellan ever offer an upgrade to MapSend 3.0- instead of scamming us into purchasing it even though we already own 2.0?

 

Some answers to the best of my knowledge...fwiw :D

1. I believe you are stuck with whatever the detail maps give you in terms of detail in the maps, so if the area that you want the detail of back roads and other geographical info isn't in the detail map of directRoute, you're SOL...Are these roads in the detail map on your pc when you zoom in? If they are, make sure that area is transferred to your unit, otherwise you'll just be looking at the base map, which is basically useless.

 

2. This is incredibly annoying to me as well, considering I can add in way points to a free online program like Google maps and plot out my route without any problem whatsoever, yet I can't do it with this "professional" gps unit and software that cost good money. [/rant]. The manual says that you can create "multi leg routes" from multiple GOTO routes, BUT it doesn't tell you how, and I haven't been able to figure it out at all...So, you'd create smaller routes and piece them together, creating the route that you actually want, not the one that DirectRoute forces down your throat without much choice.

Personally, I think if they added this option to add waypoints to a street route or goto route (and be able to place them in the order you want within the route), this solution would actually make the unit and software useable, which it barely is atm in my opinion.

 

3. I bloody hope so...I went and spent $150 (cad) on DirectRoute 2, not knowing there was a 3.0 released...but in order to get 3.0 I have to spend that same money again...I wonder, is it worth spending the money again for the upgrade??... :D

 

I hope that Magellan intends to throw some decent upgrades to this solution soon, and not just write it off, because it has the potential to be a really great unit to work with, but as is it's a bit of a let down.

 

Chris

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Actually, it's funny, not long after I posted I found this:

 

Create a Multi-Leg Route

 

* Press MENU

* Use joystick to highlight Routes.

* Press ENTER.

* Use joystick to highlight <New>.

* Press ENTER.

* <Add POI> is highlighted. Press ENTER.

* The POI database is shown.

* Select the starting POI for the route (the starting point you named and saved).

* Press ENTER.

* Go with your team to the first destination...

* When you get there, "MARK" and "Name" that feature.

* Mark and Name the second destination.

* Use joystick to highlight Save Route when done adding POIs.

* Press ENTER.

* Use joystick to NAME the route and press ENTER.

* Highlight OK.

* Press ENTER.

 

So, I tried it...and guess what? When you try to do a Street Route, it does the same thing...only uses your first and last POI as a start/end and ignores

everything in between. The only way it "works" is if you use the Point-To-Point routing, which I find completely useless.

Who actually uses this? Who thought that this would be a useful way of directing people on their route?

 

Incredible... :D

 

So, do any other Explorist owners have any suggestions as to how to go about creating street routes that let YOU decide which streets you'd like to take??

I got this thing for Christmas and was planning a bunch of motorcycle trips this spring/summer and would really like to not have to play with it en route.

Edited by tophski
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So, do any other Explorist owners have any suggestions as to how to go about creating street routes that let YOU decide which streets you'd like to take??

As you've discovered, street routes are always created on the fly, using the start and end POIs and ignoring any information in betweeen. Only the point-to-point routes allow for the custumization you seek. For this reason, I see DirectRoute as useful for getting you to a destination, but not so good for recreational riding where you want something other than the offered route.

 

The only workaround I know of to customize street routes on DR is to break the route into subroutes, each defined by its own unique destination POI. This actually doesn't work too bad for long distance driving, where you might want to take one particular interstate over another. But it sucks for the twisty backroads routes that you might want to lay out on the desktop.

 

You have two choices. Either live with what you have, trying to be creative with the workarounds you can concoct, or sell it off and get something that does more of what you want. Garmins are pretty good in this regard. After living with DirectRoute for a couple of years, Robert persuaded me to try a Garmin Quest. After enduring the DR limitations, the Quest was an absolute delight (you can read a Garmin/Magellan critique here.

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When DirectRoute first came out, it was very impressive--not so much for the features it offered, but because suddenly our Meridians which previously could not autoroute now could display turn-buy-turn directions. Wow.

 

Unfortunately, DR 3.0 is very little changed from 1.0. I feel that there has been no compelling reason to upgrade from any previous version yet, and it doesn't appear that Magellan sees DR as something to improve beyond periodic map data updates (I don't see more restrictive copy protection policies as improvements).

 

I do feel that the Explorist is a nice piece of hardware, and nicely priced. However I have despaired of any innovative handheld development from Magellan, and have moved my interest to the DeLorme product. It's still kinda raw, but there seems to be much more corporate enthusiasm about developing the product.

 

Edit: I felt compelled to note that my despair developed while Thales was seeking a buyout and apparently not devoting a lot of resources to their handheld division. Perhaps the new owner will re-invigorate the handheld division--although, not surprisingly, it seems like there's more activity in the automobile navigation side.

Edited by embra
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