lost in france

i have just returned to total pda my navman4410 withsmartst v2, it was not much better than useless, in Frrance it kept taking the wrong turns off main roads down side streets when we were heading to and from our destination. It got most roundabout exits mixed up and on some newish motorways it showed us traveling in a field, i am now stuck with a 2210 and a tom tom mount. do not buy this product

I travel in France with a navman and Ipaq 5450 on a regular basis, over 3k miles this year alone. The French governmment have a major road building project on at the moment, some roads are being rerouted during the rebuild, others are being extended hence the reason it showed you as being off road. The maps will need updating when the roads are finished. Some roundabouts have also had additional exits added. Its not that the setup you have is crap, its just the maps are out of date compared to the present roads. It also sounds like you may have had it set to avoid built up areas, hence the reason it kept taking you off the main roads. Also it will take the shortest route by default, which may not always be the main routes. I have found some great villages and sights simply by following the navmans route down the smaller N and D class routes. The answer is simple, cross reference what the GPS is telling you with the road signs. If the navman says to take the first exit from a roanabout, but the road signs say the second, then go with the road signs, the navman will soon work out the alternative route.

[Charlie]

Thanks for your views ken_smith...it's good to hear some feedback on Euro navigation.
Unfortunatley I don't get to try out the nav systems outside of the UK so have been unable to comment on issues such as this. Heres hoping Navman get some updated map information soon.