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Driveluxe 50lmtHD
jkbmjp
30 Points
Recently, I purchased the Driveluxe 50lmtHD model. Previously, I used a Nuvi 3750lmt model. The Nuvi 3750 was good but there was certain features and things I didn't like about it. I decided to try the Driveluxe model.
I went on a vacation to Lake George. I was starting out from Long Island heading towards Lake George. Typically, it is a 4 hour plus trip. Obviously, there are many routes to get from LI to Lake George. Since I was leaving early afternoon I was looking for the "best" route with minimal traffic issues.
I decided to compare the Driveluxe and my iPhone 6s plus. I wanted to see which is more accurate in time and avoiding traffic issues. I understand a Phone is different than a GPS and has different hardware, therefore, most people would use the Phone as the GPS and pick the Phone over the GPS.
First, one feature the Driveluxe doesn't have or maybe I overlooked it, the Driveluxe didn't give me 2-3 options in terms of routes and which route is the fastest route to get from Point A to Point B. The iPhone gives me this choice to avoid traffic and other issues BEFORE committing myself to taking that road.
Second, the Driveluxe doesn't give instant traffic alerts. When I was approaching heavy traffic and it didn't ask me if I want to take an alternate road to avoid the traffic issue. Actually, I clicked on Traffic and it said "No traffic receivers". I found that odd as I am sitting in heavy traffic.
I am new to the Driveluxe but based on my first road trip with it, I have to say that I relied on the Phone to help or act as the assistant especially when I encountered heavy traffic or to navigate around traffic issues. I found the Driveluxe to be useful but it was lacking in the area of giving me other alternate routes BEFORE I decided to take an alternate route. For example, if I am on Road A, I have traffic issues and the Driveluxe wants me to take Road B to avoid traffic issues on Road A, I don't want to go on Road B only to find out this road has traffic issues too. That would defeat the purpose of getting off Road A. The Driveluxe should be able to tell me if Road B or Road C or Interstate A has traffic issues BEFORE I go on that road or interstate. Also, Driveluxe should be able to tell me if I go on Road B or C how much time I lose or how much time is added on to my destination time. I know Driveluxe does have feature but sometimes it jumps from 1 hour to 2 hours added time and back to minutes added time.
I guess I have to use Driveluxe and play around with the features.
I went on a vacation to Lake George. I was starting out from Long Island heading towards Lake George. Typically, it is a 4 hour plus trip. Obviously, there are many routes to get from LI to Lake George. Since I was leaving early afternoon I was looking for the "best" route with minimal traffic issues.
I decided to compare the Driveluxe and my iPhone 6s plus. I wanted to see which is more accurate in time and avoiding traffic issues. I understand a Phone is different than a GPS and has different hardware, therefore, most people would use the Phone as the GPS and pick the Phone over the GPS.
First, one feature the Driveluxe doesn't have or maybe I overlooked it, the Driveluxe didn't give me 2-3 options in terms of routes and which route is the fastest route to get from Point A to Point B. The iPhone gives me this choice to avoid traffic and other issues BEFORE committing myself to taking that road.
Second, the Driveluxe doesn't give instant traffic alerts. When I was approaching heavy traffic and it didn't ask me if I want to take an alternate road to avoid the traffic issue. Actually, I clicked on Traffic and it said "No traffic receivers". I found that odd as I am sitting in heavy traffic.
I am new to the Driveluxe but based on my first road trip with it, I have to say that I relied on the Phone to help or act as the assistant especially when I encountered heavy traffic or to navigate around traffic issues. I found the Driveluxe to be useful but it was lacking in the area of giving me other alternate routes BEFORE I decided to take an alternate route. For example, if I am on Road A, I have traffic issues and the Driveluxe wants me to take Road B to avoid traffic issues on Road A, I don't want to go on Road B only to find out this road has traffic issues too. That would defeat the purpose of getting off Road A. The Driveluxe should be able to tell me if Road B or Road C or Interstate A has traffic issues BEFORE I go on that road or interstate. Also, Driveluxe should be able to tell me if I go on Road B or C how much time I lose or how much time is added on to my destination time. I know Driveluxe does have feature but sometimes it jumps from 1 hour to 2 hours added time and back to minutes added time.
I guess I have to use Driveluxe and play around with the features.
Comments
Smartphone link uses very little data (a few MB a day at most). Since you already have the DriveLuxe, I would suggest you try it if you haven't already.
A better comparison would be to use Garmin's StreetPilot Onboard app on your iPhone. The user interface is similar to the Drive and Nuvi series GPS devices but it uses your internet connection for traffic and search. I have found the traffic feature in StreetPilot really good in the NYC metro area personally. AFAIK this would be the same traffic data the smartphone link app would supply if you use it with your DriveLuxe.
Here's some info on the traffic feature of the StreetPilot app: http://forums.gpsreview.net/discussion/comment/203583/#Comment_203583
The Driveluxe didn't give me 2-3 options in terms of routes and which route is the fastest route to get from Point A to Point B.
- if you enter a destination into the unit using the Where To? menu item the DriveLuxe displays a list of possible destinations based on the information you entered (an address, a city name, etc.) Tapping on a listed item that meets your required destination, will change the screen to show a bar under the tapped item that shows an information icon (i in a circle), a 2 arrow icon, and a GO icon.
If you tap the GO icon your DriveLuxe will calculate the route to your destination using what ever setting you have set as your default under Settings > Navigation > Calculation Mode. This will be either Faster Time, Off Road or Shorter Distance. I believe Faster Time is the default. In this case, your right, there will be no optional routes to choose from.
If however you will tap the 2 Arrow icon you will get 2 route choices. The first will be the one calculated for the the Calculation Mode setting and the second will be a substitute route which I always thought was the using the other common Calculation Mode (if Faster Time was the default setting, the 2nd choice would be the route if the Shorter Distance setting had been set) but on the DriveLuxe 50, I haven't yet determine what is taken into account to calculate that second choice, just that it is always presented.
This is a fairly major difference to how my Nuvi 3597LMTHD worked as it had the ability to give (I think) 3 choices but rarely, in my experience, gave more than one.
One other new feature on the DriveLuxe is that when you get the screen with the 2 route choices you will also see a choice called "Edit Route" and the 2 route choices will have a small heading on them. The first choice will have a small GO which indicates that selecting it will cause the Drive to calculate that route for you. Tapping the second box, initially marked as 2, will cause it to become the GO box while the top box will become the 2 box. Tapping either box a second time will cause that route selection to be used for your journey (as long as the box has the GO heading). If you wish to edit a route before you actually choose it, you can just tap the Edit Route icon and the route suggestion marked GO will display on a map screen which allows you to tap on the map to add "shaping points" to the route, thereby altering the route to your liking.
Hope this helps.
Also, hasn't there been issues reported in the past about how bad the traffic reporting was on the Nuvi around the NYC area? You'd know a lot more about that than I. ;)
The old Garmin FM traffic receivers did not provide very useful data on my trips to New York. While I was using my Nuvi's, I didn't even use them. There were many areas on the Garden State Parkway and NJ Turnpike where no traffic data was available at all. I think one problem is that there are just so many traffic incidents in a large metro area like NYC that it exceeds the data capacity of the low bandwidth of over-the-air receivers. I have not used the newer Garmin HD traffic receivers. I know they have a higher data rate, but it is nowhere near the capacity of a high speed LTE cellular data connection.
But the internet version of traffic available on Garmin's StreetPilot app has impressed me. And like I said, I believe this is also what you get with the smartphone link app on the DriveLuxe. I think that HERE is the data provider for these services.