Is it just me, or does anyone else think that the Becker Map Pilot is rubbish?
Mine was a new unit when I got the car 2 years ago (thankfully, I didn't pay extra for it), and from day 1 I have been unimpressed.
In the past I have had Tom Tom sat navs, and I got used to being told when to turn before I got to a junction. With the Becker, it's pot luck. Sometimes it tells you well in advance, other times you are actually driving past the junction when it tells you to turn right. Now normally, it has warned you a few hundreds of yards before the junction, so you are prepared, but driving round Caan last year it could just not cope with all the junctions close together, and we ended up getting lost so many times.
Same thing happens in the UK. Traffic permitting, I've got into the habit of looking at the map to see where I should be turning, but invariably I have turned the corner and driving down the new road when it says 'turn right now'.
The other nice thing about Tom Tom is that if you stray off the planned route, it re-calculates the route for you and continues as if nothing has happened. Sometimes the Becker will do that, but most times it gets upset with you and keeps telling you to do a U-turn.
I've been driving along roads and found a junction has been closed, or roadworks ahead. Becker has tried to plot an alternative route and guess what, no alternative routes are available. Luckily I have known where I am, so just taken the alternative route that Becker said didn't exist!
This one is classic - we were in Essex a couple of weeks ago and our route took us through the village of Little Bently. Becker, in its wisdom, told me to 'Turn right towards LEFTENANT Bently'. Really?
The maps are interesting as well. Although mine are up to date (well, up to last year anyway), I find that the maps shows me as driving over fields, even though I know the road has been there for at least 5 years (mostly in France if I'm honest). And why can't it find other roads that have been there (UK) for well over 30 years? Come on!
Today was the last straw. Tried to connect my unit to my PC and .....nothing. The PC didn't recognise it as an attached device, and the Becker software couldn't find it. I tried 3 different PCs and 3 different cables. No joy. Luckily it still works in the car (at the moment), so I guess I just won't be able to get any updates. Will I notice? I doubt it.
Oh I almost forgot, I purchased the Speed Camera updates when I first got the unit, however my Mercedes garage swapped it for a different one when I complained about it (didn't fix the problems). Of course the new one didn't have the speed cameras on, so I contacted Becker support and explained the problem and asked if I could re-download the speed camera data (that I had already paid for) as it was a warranty exchange. Their response was basically 'tough, you'll have to buy them again'. Luckily I had the old backup, so I managed to 'extract' the data and add it to my new device.
Sorry this post is so long, but it's nice to get it off my chest.
Is it me or does anyone else agree?
Mine was a new unit when I got the car 2 years ago (thankfully, I didn't pay extra for it), and from day 1 I have been unimpressed.
In the past I have had Tom Tom sat navs, and I got used to being told when to turn before I got to a junction. With the Becker, it's pot luck. Sometimes it tells you well in advance, other times you are actually driving past the junction when it tells you to turn right. Now normally, it has warned you a few hundreds of yards before the junction, so you are prepared, but driving round Caan last year it could just not cope with all the junctions close together, and we ended up getting lost so many times.
Same thing happens in the UK. Traffic permitting, I've got into the habit of looking at the map to see where I should be turning, but invariably I have turned the corner and driving down the new road when it says 'turn right now'.
The other nice thing about Tom Tom is that if you stray off the planned route, it re-calculates the route for you and continues as if nothing has happened. Sometimes the Becker will do that, but most times it gets upset with you and keeps telling you to do a U-turn.
I've been driving along roads and found a junction has been closed, or roadworks ahead. Becker has tried to plot an alternative route and guess what, no alternative routes are available. Luckily I have known where I am, so just taken the alternative route that Becker said didn't exist!
This one is classic - we were in Essex a couple of weeks ago and our route took us through the village of Little Bently. Becker, in its wisdom, told me to 'Turn right towards LEFTENANT Bently'. Really?
The maps are interesting as well. Although mine are up to date (well, up to last year anyway), I find that the maps shows me as driving over fields, even though I know the road has been there for at least 5 years (mostly in France if I'm honest). And why can't it find other roads that have been there (UK) for well over 30 years? Come on!
Today was the last straw. Tried to connect my unit to my PC and .....nothing. The PC didn't recognise it as an attached device, and the Becker software couldn't find it. I tried 3 different PCs and 3 different cables. No joy. Luckily it still works in the car (at the moment), so I guess I just won't be able to get any updates. Will I notice? I doubt it.
Oh I almost forgot, I purchased the Speed Camera updates when I first got the unit, however my Mercedes garage swapped it for a different one when I complained about it (didn't fix the problems). Of course the new one didn't have the speed cameras on, so I contacted Becker support and explained the problem and asked if I could re-download the speed camera data (that I had already paid for) as it was a warranty exchange. Their response was basically 'tough, you'll have to buy them again'. Luckily I had the old backup, so I managed to 'extract' the data and add it to my new device.
Sorry this post is so long, but it's nice to get it off my chest.
Is it me or does anyone else agree?
