Just checking in here while waiting for my plane in Trondheim, Norway. Coming home to Canada tomorrow.
I've spent the past 2+ weeks touring all over Scandinavia while playing music, using Garmin Mobile PC to guide me on the road, and in the cities I've visited. I bought the program and maps from GPS City in Calgary, and installed it and City Navigator 2010 Europe onto my little Dell Mini 10 netbook. I power the computer with Belkin's 12 volt plug-in adapter in the car, and used the regular dual-voltage power supply with adapter for Western Europe voltage plugs.
Everything worked great as far as finding my way around! Earlier I had posted about the program's "reluctance" to include ferries in it's routing, but when I broke things up into short trips, things worked fine! Starting here in Trondheim, in northern Norway, I navigated across northern Sweden to Umea, from where I took the ferry across the Gulf of Bothia to Vaasa, then north in Finland, and back south again to Helsinki and Turku.
From Turku by ferry again across to Stockholm, around the urban area, which is very convoluted, and then to Oslo in southern Norway. Finally back here to Trondheim, where I started my circular tour. Garmin Mobile PC found streets in the tiniest villages, and contact numbers for .hotels (and the exact routes to them) that my Scandinavian friends admitted that they would have had trouble finding. My friends were amazed that there was so much information contained and accessible without need for internet connection. The pronunciation of Swedish and Finnish street names, however, sent them into gales of laughter. Especially the pronunciation of "vegen" which is a common street name suffix all across Scandinavia. It is literally translated as "way", such that Konigsvegen is literally "The Kings Way." They regaled me about my "vegan" computer and simulated voice, which it rendered "vejjen".
There were a few problems too. I had upgraded to version 5.00.70 and had some of the afore-mentioned crashes known to be a problem. They usually come at the most detrimental time. A lot of European cities have very narrow streets with buildings around, and it is hard for the receiver to get an accurate position in such places. It's like being in a narrow trench. A few times I had to stop and let it find it's way back to a 3D lock. A lot of recalculations also send it into a tizzy, such as when my friends suggested an alternate route to what the program reccomended. It's usually better to abandon a route and plot a new one than have it go through endless recalcs. Sometimes it ties up the computer when it does.
I'll never be without it when I travel again!
I've spent the past 2+ weeks touring all over Scandinavia while playing music, using Garmin Mobile PC to guide me on the road, and in the cities I've visited. I bought the program and maps from GPS City in Calgary, and installed it and City Navigator 2010 Europe onto my little Dell Mini 10 netbook. I power the computer with Belkin's 12 volt plug-in adapter in the car, and used the regular dual-voltage power supply with adapter for Western Europe voltage plugs.
Everything worked great as far as finding my way around! Earlier I had posted about the program's "reluctance" to include ferries in it's routing, but when I broke things up into short trips, things worked fine! Starting here in Trondheim, in northern Norway, I navigated across northern Sweden to Umea, from where I took the ferry across the Gulf of Bothia to Vaasa, then north in Finland, and back south again to Helsinki and Turku.
From Turku by ferry again across to Stockholm, around the urban area, which is very convoluted, and then to Oslo in southern Norway. Finally back here to Trondheim, where I started my circular tour. Garmin Mobile PC found streets in the tiniest villages, and contact numbers for .hotels (and the exact routes to them) that my Scandinavian friends admitted that they would have had trouble finding. My friends were amazed that there was so much information contained and accessible without need for internet connection. The pronunciation of Swedish and Finnish street names, however, sent them into gales of laughter. Especially the pronunciation of "vegen" which is a common street name suffix all across Scandinavia. It is literally translated as "way", such that Konigsvegen is literally "The Kings Way." They regaled me about my "vegan" computer and simulated voice, which it rendered "vejjen".
There were a few problems too. I had upgraded to version 5.00.70 and had some of the afore-mentioned crashes known to be a problem. They usually come at the most detrimental time. A lot of European cities have very narrow streets with buildings around, and it is hard for the receiver to get an accurate position in such places. It's like being in a narrow trench. A few times I had to stop and let it find it's way back to a 3D lock. A lot of recalculations also send it into a tizzy, such as when my friends suggested an alternate route to what the program reccomended. It's usually better to abandon a route and plot a new one than have it go through endless recalcs. Sometimes it ties up the computer when it does.
I'll never be without it when I travel again!
Thanks resophil. What a great review! So, now I'm curious...phonetically, how is 'vegen' pronounced in Scandanavia?
Terry
Terry
Vegen is pronounced "vay-genn" with a hard "g".
The other thing that caused a few problems in the urban areas of Stockholm and Oslo is that both cities have extensive tunnel systems which lead traffic into the urban core. Satellite lock is typically lost in these tunnels, and then when you are dumped out into the fresh air again, you find yourself without guidance, usually when you need it most... Quick decisions and accurate navigation are needed in the downtown core.
It's a wise idea to remember the names of upcoming streets and turns when going into a tunnel, so that you can catch your exit, while Mobile PC is powering up again at the other end.
The other thing that caused a few problems in the urban areas of Stockholm and Oslo is that both cities have extensive tunnel systems which lead traffic into the urban core. Satellite lock is typically lost in these tunnels, and then when you are dumped out into the fresh air again, you find yourself without guidance, usually when you need it most... Quick decisions and accurate navigation are needed in the downtown core.
It's a wise idea to remember the names of upcoming streets and turns when going into a tunnel, so that you can catch your exit, while Mobile PC is powering up again at the other end.
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