GARMIN NAVIGATION SUCKS

7670777 said:

And, you have to find it by yourself in the map, there is no search box for address or POI. Why? 

It would kind-of suck to pick letters using buttons.

Wongataa said:

Because Garmin decided to not have those functions in the 530.  The 830 and higher units have them.  Why did Garmin do that?  Marketing reasons probably.

Those other units have touch screens. Historically, the 5xx line have been "limited in navitation" features. It's a cheaper option for people who don't care that much about navigation.

Agree,  I guess it depends on what people think of as navigation and expect a cycle computer to do.  For me, on a bike, I want to be able to follow a pre-defined route and for the unit to warn me when I deviate from it so I can get myself back on track (it's not like I'm doing 70MPH when I miss a turn).  The 520, 520+ and 530 I have owned have all done this to my satisfaction over many miles.     In a car, I want a sat nav to direct me the fastest route to my destination taking into account traffic, road works and anything else including me missing a motorway exit.  The 530 is perfectly capable of doing point to point navigation (for example the take me home option will create a good route using its cycling friendly maps and correctly re-route if you ignore it's instructions).  What the 5xx series has never had is a POI database and/or an easy way to select a free form destination from the map as it does not have a touch screen; that's what the 8xx series have had for many years and has always been a differentiator for those models and additional £££.    What is lacking from the 530 is the ability to use the Connect app to send a destination to the 530  'Saved location' list to make the sat-nav type function more accessible rather than the pain of using the buttons on the unit itself but I can't recall ever needing it myself (and is a function Garmin has never said it will have.)     For anyone choosing any sports-tech device I will always send them to dcrainmaker who publishes reviews of such depth that there is little scope for disappointment.

First time I used my 530 to navigate I mistakenly missed a turning and it rerouted me sensibly albeit it did mean tackling two steep climbs I had intended to avold. A week or two later I must have loaded an earlier version of a route and having gone off course according the Garmin it then continuously  insisted on a U turn despite me picking up the mistakenly loaded route fiurther on. To check where I was I had loaded the map screen and it became stuck on that requiring a restart to correct. What I canot work out is how by default set it to have directions pop up; seems that you have to do that indivudually on eacn route

 Turn guidance is on or off.  It is not per route.  It is per profile though.

Yes! I had the incessant U-turn demand also. even though I was on-course for the route.

I agree. I was riding a 140-mile race and riding a prepared route. I pulled into a a quickie mart to get a drink. I came back out to the road and Garmin device said I was off-course, make a u-turn. The road I was on was used for the outbound and inbound portions of the rac.e 

Finally, I proceeded in the last direction I had. The Garmin repeatedly said make a u-turn. Finally after 3KM it said I was on-course. What I am leaving out is that I traveled several directions and called the race director in an attempt to resolve. 

I had the make a u-turn happen multiple times. I had high hopes for the Garmin 530, but the software is low quality. Why wouldn't it take me to the next waypoint on the course. Why demand I go back to the last waypoint I had passed?

why didn't you read this topic where it is multiple times explained? It is no error, it a feature! If you don't want include your coffee break in your course, ifyou don't want is, disable it and grab your coffee ofcourse. This is NOT a car navi!

All people pointing everybody whos complaining about how badly is garmin navi software programmed are funny. You always can point to manuals,(lol,because no manual describes all this behavior) and forums(where users talk about it - USERS. No official statements of Garmin ((that is another sign of how it is bad)))
If you cant admit, there is soooooo huge room for improvment(s), then there is no discussion, because it is all about that. Hello, wake up, 21st century, Garmin. This company is living on glory of past and has rested on its laurels. (as we say in cz)

Exact same on my 530. Is the new 1040 any better?