Thank you Don, my worst fears confirmed. I sent my VAT exemption form off today and gave my credit card details over the phone. I will certainly ring Pulsedate (I live in a rural setting in Est Lancs in the North-West of England in the UK), and unless I get some answers will cancel the order. As I've said on this list before, if this is how the system really performs, can you imagine a sighted car driver (or pedestrian for that matter) putting up with that from a product so highly priced? I somehow don't think if Autoroute or other similar had these faults that they would have many customers. I will report back on my talk with Pulsedata tomorrow.
--- TheJazzDen - the best UK, US and around-the-world jazz - www.thejazzden.org.uk now with broadband and modem streams! --- Broadband: put http://listen.thejazzden.org.uk:10025 into your player. --- Dial-up: put http://listen.thejazzden.org.uk:10023 into your player. --- Essentially Natural - Our own hand-made soaps and cosmetics using natural ingredients now accepting credit cards online: http://www.e-nat.co.uk. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Richard Bartholomew" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Braillenote List" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, November 12, 2003 9:22 PM Subject: RE: [Braillenote] gps mark 2. > Thanks for this rather disheartening eye-opener, Don, from a fellow > UK-dweller. Sadly, after many weeks of being messed around, my copy of V2 > was sent out to me this afternoon and will arrive tomorrow. > > What timing, eh? Had I read your experiences beforehand, coupled with the > service and misleading information provided over the past couple of months, > I may well have cancelled the order. > > Ah well, c'est la vie!!! > > Regards > > Richard Bartholomew > E-Mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: 12 November 2003 12:25 > To: Contribute Braillenote > Subject: [Braillenote] gps mark 2. > > > Hello Listers, Firstly, may I apologise for the length of this email, but I > would really like to know whether the GPS mark 2 system performs better in > other countries than it appears to here in the UK. All will be explained if > you read my precis of an email which I forwarded to Pulsedata several days > ago. I contend it raises some issues which demand comment, but, so far, > though I gather the matter is being discussed, no official comment has been > received. Of course, if the GPS system is of no interest to you, please > exercise your prerogative and use the delete command. I am not in the > business of knocking Pulsedata, but I am genuinely interested in knowing if > in the States, or in Ausralia, or indeed anywhere, the system works better > for you. Here follows the email: > > I fervently believe that I have not been specially picked-out by Pulsedata, > nor that the area of the Uk in which I reside is a special case. Therefore, > the multitude of faults and weaknesses I have detected in their gps mark 2 > system, recently released for use with the Braillenote family of units, are > definitely not the result of potential personal prejudice and undoubtedly > could be replicated countless times throughout this country. The system > purports to guide a person to the very door of a required address, whether > you make the trip by car or on foot. I live in a small village just south > of Shrewsbury, the county town of Shropshire in the west midlands some fifty > miles west of Birmingham in the UK. > The manual suggests that, in "virtual" mode, it can provide a route > from where you live, to where you wish to travel. I was told it was very > good on guiding one in cities. However, as I live in a rural village, I > telephoned a friend who lives in just such an environment. Having set in > his address as the starting point, I asked him to give me the address of a > house in his area, the route to which he knew. Firstly, we fed in the name > of the street, which was soon recognised, however, number 35 produced a > negative result. "number not recognised" said the machine, "will enter zero > instead". This seems to mean that one would be guided to the end of the > street in question. Well that's not too bad, one might say. We began to > follow the route suggested by the machine, fortunately not physically. > "Very good," my friend said, as turning by turning the route was divulged. > The snag came when we reached the actual street where number 35 definitely > existed. It guided us to the end of the said street, but unfortunately, it > was a very long street, and when we were at last told we had reached our > objective, we were almost two miles from where we wanted to be. I > subsequently checked whether it was a fairly new house, but was told that > the exact year wasn't known, but it was certainly built in pre-war times; > that is, before 1939. > I have a niece living in Solihull, just south of Birmingham. Anybody > travelling by car from Shrewsbury, would definitely use the A 5' followed by > several miles on the M54 motorway; it is a journey of just over sixty-four > miles. Our GPS mark 2 system, however, ignored both these trunk routes and > suggested a route which took us a long way south, almost to the town of > bridgnorth, before taking us east, and then north, to reach Solihull. Now > it was true that, had we followed the recommended route, we would eventually > have reached my niece, but the journey was considerably longer, being some > eighty-eight miles. > Why was the vital M 54 motorway being disregarded? it was in fact > opened in 1983. Are the UK maps provided with this system really over > twenty years old? that could be part of the problem. However, the > car-drivers in the area whom I consulted, said this was nonsense as even > before the M 54' the old A 5, laid-down by Thomas Telford in the early > 1800s, was always a more direct route than the excessively > convoluted route recommended. > > Another of my nieces lives with her husband and two children in a > village about four miles from Penzance in Cornwall. This was a trip which > my wife and I made only a couple of months ago; so we knew the distance was > 302 miles. The manual had warned me it would take some time for the system > to work out a route; it did. At last, however, a route was produced, it > seriously suggested a trip of some 474 miles. I will not bore you with the > precise route suggested, suffice it to say that it commenced by recommending > travelling over 40 miles in the opposite direction. No! it won't do. > > Finally, though surely no more examples are really necessary, (though I > gave more in my email to Pulsedata), I had to do some work for a customer > who lives on the other side. of Shrewsbury. Now my wife, having lived > around here for many years, knew the way; it was just as well. The GPS > system suggested a route with a distance of 13,49 miles; the actual clocked > distance on the generally accepted route was 9,3 miles. > > When one studied the lengthy route to Cornwall, one kept encountering > the word "ramp." I thought at first that it was a modern term for motorway, > however, nobody I've yet spoken to knows this term. I wondered if it was an > American term, but, consulting Webster's dictionary revealed that, if indeed > it was, then they were not aware of it. However, one can get used to new > terms, but surely, if the word "ramp" is synonymous with motorway, then at > least it should be accompanied by the number of that motorway. It is > obviously not helpful to be instructed to turn right and drive for miles on > "ramp", without indicating which one. > > A further suggestion is that when asked for a street, pressing an > agreed code, should establish the town centre as your destination. I feel > it is indeed a little curious that I cannot ask for a route, for example, to > Blackpool, (a well known seaside resort), unless I can quote the name of an > actual street. I know I can ask for a list of streets, you should try it, > if you can spare the time, and unless you know the town well, what would be > the point? and of course a postcode, (zip code) search should be included; > many houses have no numbers but are known by name. > Finally, may I say that I consider this system has great potential. The > satellite linkage with the route created in the "virtual" mode, I found > worked very well. However, the advantage of mark 2 over mark 1, is the > "virtual" mode; it must be made to perform better. Though the "points of > interest" file is rather disappointing, consisting as it does mostly of a > list of Petrol (gas) stations, Incidentally, most of these I have checked in > this area appear to have closed-down, in some cases many years ago, yet one > can add to this list, but of course one has to personally visit the would-be > location. > > Please do reply to the list if you have any comments or experiences which > will help make this system more useful. At the moment, I certainly can't > trust it. Don Cooper. > > > ___ > To leave the BrailleNote list, send a blank message to > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > To view the list archives or change your preferences, visit > http://list.pulsedata.com/mailman/listinfo/braillenote > > > > > ___ > To leave the BrailleNote list, send a blank message to > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > To view the list archives or change your preferences, visit > http://list.pulsedata.com/mailman/listinfo/braillenote > --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. 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