In article <3c6ca9af-34c8-462d-8ae4-74f7e1e372c5
@e23g2000prf.googlegroups.com>, mrripcurl@yahoo.com.au says...
> On Dec 19, 10:29 am, NightStalker <Nightstal...@somewhere.or.other>
> wrote:
> > In article <cucgm3d8n1g5oecev6ec3ji7il58cd6...@4ax.com>,
> > chris_bl...@spamfence.net says...
> >
> >
> >
> > > The Nokia maps are fine in some countries, but there are many parts of
> > > the world where they are so lacking in detail to be almost useless.
> >
> > Have you actually downloaded the maps for these areas? I have been on
> > around the world trips twice this year, including countries like
> > Luxembourg, Hungary, and many others. I downloaded the maps prior to
> > going, and never had a problem. I suppose if you're looking for a
> > street map of Vanuatu or somewhere, then there may be a problem - I
> > haven't tried. But I haven't found a gap in the coverage yet, of any
> > significance.
> >
> > Can you give an example of an area where the maps are so lacking in
> > detail to be almost useless?
> >
> > Not criticising or doubting you - just curious.
> >
> > --
> >
> > NightStalker
>
> Try New Zealand. I was over there the other month and whilst it
> guided me along the Auckland Motorway it got very vague whilst
> travelling in the Bay of Plenty. The Guide couldn't find Queen St in
> Auckland either which I found amusing at the time as I was driving
> less than a block from it (and it is the main st in the city CBD).
> The maps weren't useless, they just weren't accurate enough for a
> stranger (luckily for me I know the city well enough to ignore the
> blank spots)
>
> I've also had troubles with it in Wichita, KS for some reason. It
> showed the streets but couldn't find them by name.
>
> I've also had troubles in Sydney, Australia. I live here so I know
> where I'm going, but using the map to go around Woolloomooloo and on
> to the Harbour Bridge might be a problem for someone who was relying
> on it solely, as it's a bit wonky! Or to get from Elizabeth Bay to
> Circular Quay it "uses" a road that doesn't exist! It also tells me
> that Quay St in Haymarket joins Hay Street which it doesn't. It also
> can't find some of the newer parts of Stanhope Gardens but we live in
> hope it will catch up with those sometime this decade (they are only
> about five or six years old at the moment). Just little things, and I
> have to admit that I've never found a perfect GPS road system for the
> city. They are all either slightly out-of-date or add roads where they

OK - points taken. All good points too. But I have had both Navman
and TomTom GPS units, as well as the one in my Toyota Landcruiser
Sahara, and the one in my wife's Mercedes. And they have ALL had
problems similar to those you describe. The one in my Landcruiser tried
to get me to turn into a one-way street the wrong way, it has a blank
area between Ipswich and Boonah here in Queensland (neither of which is
all that far out of Brisbane). There are numerous non-existent roads on
the map, and existing roads that are missing. I have seen this with all
of the above-mentioned GPS units.

Given that they all buy their maps from third parties, such as Navtech,
Whereis, etc etc - then the problem is with the mapping companies. All
that TomTom and co do is apply their navigation algorithms to the maps.
So I'm not sure how putting TomTom or Garmin software on the N95 is
going to help. If you want it to work with the Nokia maps, then the
problems you describe above will remain. If you want to put the TomTom
maps, for example, on the N95, then that too will have its problems
related to the accuracy or otherwise of the underlying maps - Navtech,
Whereis, etc.

I would suspect - but don't know for sure - that the Nokia maps may be
updated somewhat more frequently than the Whereis maps, which are only
updated every 2 years, for example.

The problems you describe are inherent in the underlying mapping, not
the software used to compute the navigation.
--

NightStalker