How much time?

[caryrae]

I am very interested in the Dash. The only thing that keeps me from giving it a try is the stories of the routing not being up to par.

How long do we give a NEW GPS to know that it will be good and will be around a while? 6 months, a year or when they start coming out with updates? Hopefully you understand what I am trying to say.

[Tim]

Dash is here to stay, no doubt in my mind.

[caryrae]

I thought I remember hearing that some updates will be coming soon that address some of the routing issues. It will be interesting to here how the updates improve the Dash.

[Tim]

They have pushed out one historical traffic data update, and are supposed to be pushing out an application update shortly. They have also said they plan map updates quarterly.

[caryrae]

[Tim]

Generally I don't push too many news items out to the homepage about device firmware updates, but for the first Dash updates I suspect we will as there will be enough interest about it. I'm sure it will be discussed here in the forums as well.

I assume you also caught our own Dash Review.

[caryrae]

[Kayrac]

i will most probably be posting my impressions of the first software update and what it fixes/address/adds, i tend to post those kinda things, cause tim slacks there!

there wasn't anything really with the historical update for me, i'm the only dash user within 30-40 miles, and only 2 people are that close, nor do i really drive anywhere near there areas so nothing to report on that historical update front

[Upacreek]

I am not a Dash owner, but it is because of their approach to traffic reporting that has me waiting a little longer to purchase my next GPS, despite the routing issues. And I'm not even a commuter. Traffic is important to everyone. And my hope is that it will save us from those hated interstate delays as I'm driving to my vacation spot, especially as the driver network grows. Getting traffic data may not just be for city folk anymore.

Everyone here, especially Kayrac and Tim, have been keeping us up-to-date on what's going on in the Dash world. The one thing you gotta say about Dash is that there is generally a positive attitude about what Dash has done to automotive navigation and there's potential for doing alot more. From what I've been reading Dash's support is very good and current owners believe Dash is listening. I will say though, if the anticipated update does not address at least the bigger routing issues I think they may lose those of us still on the fence about it.

[Kayrac]

just so you guys know, i had a third route(traffic influenced) today, was a very smart route, and the route i was planning on taking anyways, as 125 by my house is a friggin deathtrap during the morning

a detour along the route forced me back towards 125, for about 4minutes it tried to keep me on my original route, once i kept getting closer to 125, it tried to take my back on 125, which would have added tons of time

it wanted me to turn right, i turned left back towards my original route fixed, and wanted me back on the good route

does that mean it has issues? probably, but i did keep avoiding what it originally wanted(for good reason) so it tried a dif way, and when i ignored that way, and went back to the way it originally wanted to get me back onto(my original route), it did so

i personally think the routing is needing work, but works fine, not what i'd extremely say is super sweet/best routing ever, but it works fine

it's like buying a 720p television, is it considered 'high def'? yes, will it look sweet? yes, but it is true 1080p high def? no, but for 95% of the world, they'll never notice or know or care the difference

hell i'll compare it one different, 1080i, is it highdef? hell yes, is it the ultimate high def? no, 1080p is, the i is interlaced and refreshes every line seperatly on the tv, the p refreshes the entire thing, so 1080p is the sweet spot, but 1080i is pretty damn good


dunno if that makes any sense to you guys at all?

[caryrae]

One thing I hope they address with the 1st update is making it auto zoom when you get closer to a turn and closer to your destination.

[Upacreek]

Kayrac,
Thanks for keeping us posted. It sounds like the route selection it made this morning made sense based on the traffic conditions along 125. It tried to put you back on 125 after you were forced off your original route by a detour. I'm not clear about the issue with the detour. Obviously, Dash wouldn't know about the detour, so when you went off course it would try to get you back on course. But as you got closer to 125 sending you back to the original route probably didn't make sense anymore. Not sure that's much different than my old Garmin would do, but I don't have traffic so it wouldn't be able to factor that in. Without traffic is 125 the best way to go? Do you think the Dash was ignoring the traffic at that point because it didn't have an alternative, or was there no traffic showing on 125 at that point. Sorry for all the questions, but it does sound like you may have had a slightly unusual situation with the detour and all regardless of which GPS you were using.

Do you think it is becoming more aware of the traffic flow in your area and that's why it created a better route for you this morning? From what you've posted previously you don't have any Dash users in your area.

Two big routing complaints I've read about are 1) The Dash's insistence that you take the highway, and 2) the out-of- the way routes it wants you to take. Don't know what kind of a road 125 is, but maybe that's the major road in your area, so that's what it heads for. Regarding the second one, I've wondered if there is something in the way their algorithm uses the flow data, even when there isn't any traffic to speak of, that is somehow causing it to calculate strange routes. Maybe making turns is how it keeps you moving. I know that probably doesn't make sense but it strikes me the same way fellow commuters did (I used to commute into DC) when they insisted on jumping off the highway onto back roads just to keep moving. It was often further to go and longer to get there than if we just stayed put. Anyway, just thinking out loud.

[caryrae]

I noticed a different looking Dash. It was silver or grey and had buttons on the right side. Was that the ones they gave to testers?

[Tim]

That was an early prototype, I don't think that even made it to the beta test.

[Kayrac]

Upacreek

i do notice it's getting better, in the way of allowing me to choose a 3rd route(traffic based one), for instance coming home today, it gave me a 3rd route which is all backroads and basically bypasses the highway and all traffic, never seen a gps even suggest that route better

traffic in NH isn't all that bad honestly, 125 is the best option from where i live for just about everything, and honestly only sucks trying to turn onto it(which is why i use the intersection with the stop lights), so far the dash has been performing better and better for me

i'm digging weatherbug search, cause i always forget to check the weather while i'm on the computer

[Upacreek]

Hi Kayrac, thanks.

I was wondering what you thought about the new apps. Whether you find them useful or not?

I was thinking about the app that tells you what's playing on the radio. There are times when traveling that I've wanted to find a radio station, but other than to scan for one I had no idea what was available in the area I was in. It seems to me that the new app would help with that, and in particular help you find the kind of station you want, like news, traffic, and weather.

Also, how does it work? Does it use the location from your GPS, or do you have to give it a location?

[Kayrac]

just do what i do, menu-->favorites-->click backtrax radio button-->click nearby

i have satellite radio so i don't use it, but it does seem rather cool

same with weatherbug, just select nearby


ofcourse you can also input any city/location you'd like and it will get it also


just so you know, theres many new dashapps out created by users

a few house searching ones

a twitter one

feasting on asphalt locations from the tv show

just to name a few, the twitter while very new and has it's bugs(or so i read) has the ability to upload your location to twitter, etc, so assuming the driver keeps sending the data you could track someone's progress, which is pretty sweet

[Upacreek]

I have no idea what the Twitter app is, or the feasting on asphalt for that matter.

[caryrae]

Well I guess I am a new Dash Express owner. I bid on one on Ebay (which I have done a lot of buying and selling on) and put in a max bid of $200 and actually won it with a bid of $177 plus $30 for shipping. The guy's auction said it was brand new and he has a feedback of 100% positive.

My only concern is maybe I got it that cheap because it is just the GPS unit and that's it. I wrote him asking if it comes in the original unopened box, so we will see what he says. I guess even if it is just the unit I can still get the Car Kit from the Dash website for $60.

[Tim]

[caryrae]