Lidl SatNav on Thurs 20th Dec '07

peking97

Anybody got any info/details on this unit.
The blurb looks good...
http://www.lidl.ie/ie/home.nsf/pages/c.o.20071220.p.43SatelliteNavigationSystem

fat-tony

The SilverCrest seems to have a similar spec to the TomTom 720 (4.3" screen, Bluetooth, FM transmitter, good battery life, European maps) and Navteq maps to Q2 2007 (I assume the TT maps are Teleatlas for Europe?). I can't seem to find an on-line manual for it on the SilverCrest site, though, so I can't verify features against the TomTom. It's 130 euro cheaper than a 720, so it's mighty attractive at that price!
Sharkman - would you have any ideas on this? Is it a rebadged unit from another manufacturer?

fat-tony

Trx wrote: »

Some more details on this site


http://www.myguide-navigator.de/en/kat.php?k=7

This is not the same unit advertised on the Lidl site.

radiospan

So does this have Navteq or TeleAtlas maps?

It looks good, but I can't find it on any Silvercrest site

divjoy

Hi to all,

Just a quick not to say that after a liitle research I have identified LIdl' silvercrest sat nav as the Binatone Carerra 430 with EUropean Maps.

The Binatone can be bought online for £149 = €220 approx. on Amazon.co.uk

Lidl's €269 ! sometihng wrong here, Lild is way over priced.

You can get a Sony 4.3 widescreen for less the €200!

THe price of these untis are dropping all the time so I cant see Lidl selling too many!.

We will watch and see.

Regards to all.

fat-tony

divjoy wrote: »

Hi to all,

Just a quick not to say that after a liitle research I have identified LIdl' silvercrest sat nav as the Binatone Carerra 430 with EUropean Maps.

The Binatone can be bought online for £149 = €220 approx. on Amazon.co.uk

Lidl's €269 ! sometihng wrong here, Lild is way over priced.

You can get a Sony 4.3 widescreen for less the €200!

THe price of these untis are dropping all the time so I cant see Lidl selling too many!.

We will watch and see.

Regards to all.

Similar unit but not the same as the Silvercrest:(

Sharkman - any ideas?

chalkitdown

Hi, i am considering buying one of these tomorrow, anyone have any review details on the Silvercrest unit?

chalkitdown

I've noticed that the mapping software is V.7 and it is now available to V.9, will i be able to upgrade for free or will I be charged for the update?

fat-tony

chalkitdown wrote: »

I've noticed that the mapping software is V.7 and it is now available to V.9, will i be able to upgrade for free or will I be charged for the update?

Does 2007 Q2 = v7? The ad in the Lidl mag says 2007 Q2. I thought that it was the current version, which I believe is v9 from what I've seen in this forum. The 2008 version seems to be available pre-loaded on some Garmin units. In any case it will be out of date for me straight away as the new Kilpedder / Greystones interchange is opening tomorrow or Friday and no satnav will have that set up!

chalkitdown

I have no idea, think i may have been confusing the unit with another that has different specs. I've been trawling for info but no one seems to know what model this is.
Is Q2 2007 V.9 mapping?
If not, is it usual to be able to upgrade a new purchase to the newest map version?

And just to make me more nervous, just noticed the stylus in the picture, will the touchscreen work without it?

chalkitdown

This appears to be the model, unfortunately no english pdf available, but at least the specs are readable.
http://www.service.targa.de/antworten.php?lang_id=1&faqid=3910&artid=792&artdesc=SilverCrest+PNA-M4310T&artpic=PNA-4310.jpg&faqquest=Handbuch+f%FCr+das+SilverCrest+PNA-M4310T&func1=1&func2=0&func3=2&baseid=214&serial=

b.harte

I picked up one of these in Mallow this morning, there was a few people waiting in line by the door but I was the only one who figured that they would be by the security desk, not on display.
Anyway, for 269 it's not a bad unit, the touchscreen is fine not overly sensitive and there was little to no glare on it when I tried it out today.
The Ui isn't too bad but planning a route with a "via" in it didn't work for me. I used it for a trip to a place I hadn't been to before and it routed me along rural roads instead of through the city. (Route was Mallow to Macroom-ish).
I would have been lost on most of the route if I didn't have it.
The bluetooth is great for the phone, calls are clear and work well.
The nav side is quick to tract sats and if you miss a turn (deliberately) it auto corrects within a few seconds / 100 mtrs or so).
The voice isn't too bad or annoying and it does give decent advance warnings for turns.
The only quirk I have with it is when the directions are "follow the course of the road for a while". Not messing, had myself and the wife in stitches near Bweeng. I tried to second guess the route it had planned for me but I was wrong and it did send me the fastest way, which was what I asked for.
I'm happy with it and the map data is accurate from what I saw today, even down to street level in mallow. I've been here 3 years and still don't know some of them.
Bertie

fat-tony

chalkitdown wrote: »

This appears to be the model, unfortunately no english pdf available, but at least the specs are readable.
http://www.service.targa.de/antworten.php?lang_id=1&faqid=3910&artid=792&artdesc=SilverCrest+PNA-M4310T&artpic=PNA-4310.jpg&faqquest=Handbuch+f%FCr+das+SilverCrest+PNA-M4310T&func1=1&func2=0&func3=2&baseid=214&serial=

Click on the old Union Flag:D
This will bring you to a UK Targa site, where you click SilverCrest products and then select the model PNA-M4310.

b.harte

After using it for a few days now, and having a good time testing it I'm still impressed with the mapping detail, especially down south where I live, it has roads that I hesitate to take my 4x4 on. And it re-routes so quickly.
The downside however has become painfully clear, the software is a bit picky about what I will allow you to do.
Specifically adding POIs is a pain. I have a CSV file with over 100 POI and there is no way to get it onto the unit. The maps are in either .CDT or .lg5 format.
The only option so far is for me to navigate to the location on the map and manually add them as bookmarks, there is no facility for creating a grouping of POIs.
I've used a few different poi edit tools (GPS utility and POIedit2007) to try to get a file format that works but no joy.
The .CDT are currently not supported by either, I'm guessing these are Smart2Go files (same as used on Nokia phones with Nokia map loader.
From trawling the web there isn't a way of making POI files for Smart2go.
It's a pain not being able to import POI but other than that the unit is acceptable.
Bertie:(

Dotfuscator

i just got one of these, are ya sure there's no way to add POIs to this unit? that would be kinda annoyin as they don't seem to have much stuff for the west at all.

b.harte

Dotfuscator wrote: »

i just got one of these, are ya sure there's no way to add POIs to this unit? that would be kinda annoying as they don't seem to have much stuff for the west at all.

I've been looking deeper into this for the last few days and there might be a way to add POIs, but no way to group them.
Aside from manually entering each POI by zooming to the location on the map and giving it a name, there is no easy way as far as I can tell.
However, if you do manually add a POI then it is saved to the prefs.europe file on the device. This is an XML file and can be read and edited on a PC. The problem is that the plain text information you enter on the device is encoded in the XML file. (Example below)
<g n="DEST1">
<g n="address">
<d n="city" t="bin">TQBhAGwAbABvAHcAAAA</d>
<d n="country" t="bin">AAA</d>
<d n="dbid" t="bin">AgAAOXHeUBY</d>
<d n="district" t="bin">UwBoAGEAbgBhAHYAbwBoAGUAcgAgACgAQgB3AGUAZQBuAGcAKQAAAA</d>
<d n="geopos" t="bin">ZTvFeUfuC2U</d>
<d n="housenum" t="bin">AAA</d>
<d n="street" t="bin">AAA</d>
<d n="zipcode" t="bin">AAA</d>
</g>

(Sorry it's a big piece)
from the above you can see there is no plain text after the headings. The important one is the "geopos" line, as if you can get it to display on the map you can manually edit / add a name. I've done some digging and the "geopos" line is similar to the UKOS datum. (I think it's WSG84 format or something). I say "similar" because there are 11 characters in the XML line, but as far as I can see there should only be 10 under UKOS standard. There are a few Excel worksheets that output this sort of data from a Lat/Lon geopos input. I'll post links when I dig them out.
Further Complicating this is the fact that the device uses Smart2Go / Nokia map in .lg5 or .CDT format. The smart2go maps (and most likely Nokia maps) are comprised of a series of grids making up a larger map, each index linked using a series of letters tags, so for the "geopos" above it may be may be grid "Z", subpos "Tv". Again I'm only guessing based on the limited info I can find on the web.
I'll be working on it for the next few days so I'll post how far I get, if anywhere.
I did contact Silvercrest support and asked if there was a way, they directed me to their FAQ section, which is rubbish, so I'm guessing it's a no for the minute. What I did find out was that since Nokia purchased gate5 and Smart2Go they have released the full map application as open source, complete with an SDK. In theory this will allow for the development of third party software to interact with the mapping software. I would guess that as more N series phones are purchased and used with the map stuff then some enterprising soul will release a POI tool, I know from reading Nokia forums that a lot of people as annoyed about the POI thing as well.
What this means for those of us with the Lidl unit is that a solution may be on the way.
Sorry for the long post, habit of mine.
As for the detail in the west, sorry, haven't tried it out up there yet.
Bertie

hashey

any ideas on how to unlock the european maps/ went to smart2go website as requested but found no way to enter code

fat-tony

hashey wrote: »

any ideas on how to unlock the european maps/ went to smart2go website as requested but found no way to enter code

What do you mean - unlock the European maps?

You can navigate seamlessly across Europe (and the Canaries) with the supplied map.

bajko

fat-tony wrote: »

What do you mean - unlock the European maps?

You can navigate seamlessly across Europe (and the Canaries) with the supplied map.

Same problem here... I installed full Europe map on the SD card from the DVD provided near device. When trying to access map from SD card (under premium menu) it says "map is locked" go to http://www.smart2go.com to activate it with the code M3E....

I can use only Eastern EU map at the moment which is unlock.

Which map are used by the SilverCrest PNA-E3510 and how map can be updated?

Robert

fat-tony

The maps on the Silvercrest device are stored on the internal 2GB memory, not on an SD card. If you load the supplied DVD, you can re-install the application and the European map and language files etc. on the internal memory via a USB cable. Just confirm that you are talking about the same device - PNA M4310. As far as I can see the SD card reader is used for displaying photos, videos or playing MP3s. You can load the application and maps etc on a 2GB SD card from the DVD loader and then use the "update firmware" option on the device menu to upload them into the internal memory.

bajko

fat-tony wrote: »

The maps on the Silvercrest device are stored on the internal 2GB memory, not on an SD card. If you load the supplied DVD, you can re-install the application and the European map and language files etc. on the internal memory via a USB cable. Just confirm that you are talking about the same device - PNA M4310. As far as I can see the SD card reader is used for displaying photos, videos or playing MP3s. You can load the application and maps etc on a 2GB SD card from the DVD loader and then use the "update firmware" option on the device menu to upload them into the internal memory.

I am talking abut SilverCrest PNA-E3510, please see manual at:
http://service.targa.co.uk/faq.php?lang_id=2&baseid=216&artdesc=SilverCrest+PNA-E3510&artid=794&artpic=479PNA-E3510.jpg

By default a cut of the european map (Eastern EU) is installed because the complete map is too large for the memory of the device (it has 1gB Flash drive). On the DVD provided with the device you can find 4 maps.

These can additionally be installed on an SD-Card to allow a map crossing navigation. The complete european map only fits on a 2GB SD card.

So I installed complete EU map (1.2 Gb) on SD card from DVD provided as suggested in manual, but is says "Map is locked, go to smart2go.com to activate ..." Strange!

East. EU map is unlocked by default.

Robert

davet

bajko wrote: »

I am talking abut SilverCrest PNA-E3510, please see manual at:
http://service.targa.co.uk/faq.php?lang_id=2&baseid=216&artdesc=SilverCrest+PNA-E3510&artid=794&artpic=479PNA-E3510.jpg

By default a cut of the european map (Eastern EU) is installed because the complete map is too large for the memory of the device (it has 1gB Flash drive). On the DVD provided with the device you can find 4 maps.

These can additionally be installed on an SD-Card to allow a map crossing navigation. The complete european map only fits on a 2GB SD card.

So I installed complete EU map (1.2 Gb) on SD card from DVD provided as suggested in manual, but is says "Map is locked, go to smart2go.com to activate ..." Strange!

East. EU map is unlocked by default.

Robert

I have the same problem with a PNA-E3510T. Have spoken to support at Targa and they admitted that this is a problem. I'm trying to find out when and how they expect to fix it but no news yet.

Dave

fat-tony

Ok - appreciate your issues about this particular device

However, this thread is about the M4310 which was sold in Lidl on 20th Dec

Shamrogue

Has anyone got any errors popping up with there M4310? Twice now on separate occasions it has given me an error. I didnt note the error as I was driving at the time.
1st time was when I reached my destination and entered a new destination, up pops an error, locks the screen, and when I unlock it all is fine.
2nd time was when I was putting the hands-free on during a trip, I closed the navigator, and clicked hands-free, Error. Again it locked the screen and when i click ok im just back in the main menu again. Very odd... and worrying.
Ive not done any modifications to the files on the sat nav so my guess is its silvercrests software problem.

Anyone else see or hear of this happening with the M4310?

Shamrogue

If i choose one of the female voices she voice gets distorted like its a bad quality speaker. If I choose the other female voice then all is ok. Another fault or mess up ive found with my sat nav.

fat-tony

I've had no problems like those you've mentioned shamrogue. I had an initial problem where my preferences were not being saved, so I got in touch with Targa. They suggested a re-install of the software and maps from the DVD. This didn't cure the problem :rolleyes:.

I played with the files in the prefs folder, saved them to my PC and copied them back again. Somewhere along the way the problem went away

Now the prefs survive even a hard reset, using the main power switch/reset on the bottom of the unit

My only real complaint is the poor battery life - says up to 4/5 hours, lucky if I get 2.

The maps are great and the tracking is excellent - much better than the tomotom 720. The user interface is not great though - tomtom is far better, IMHO.

hashey

hi had same prob as davet only cos i loaded the software m4310t from dvd and i didnt need to- then i loaded m4310 off dvd and the sat nav worked fine as when i got it- im glad cos there doesnt seem to be anywhere on the smart2go site to unlock the code which the device asked

SEEK

does anyone know if you can get maps for north america?

b.harte

If any Mods would prefer that I start a new thread on the poi issue just leave me know.
In the interim here's what I've been up to lately on the POI front.
Firstly, the .cdt files for the maps are not Corel Draw Templates as I spotted somewhere on the web, I downloaded the 220MB trial of Corel X3 to find this out.
Secondly, even though the smart2go maps are used by Nokia they are different, not sure how but the wont work on the silvercrest unit.
Thirdly, because of the above the nokia landmark file type, as used by Nokia maps will not work with the silvercrest unit.
There is currently no third party software available to convert a POI file, xml, csv or other into a format recognised by Smart2go, I would also assume that should one be written it will work with the Nokia version of the maps, but not with the silvercrest unit.
This is making pleasant reading so far, don't you think?
Now, down to the technical jiggery pokery.
In a previous post (the one with the XML stuff) I said that the encoded "geopos" has to be a lat/long value.
I can now confirm that this is so, the first five digits/characters (six in some cases) are longitude references and the final five digits/characters are latitude.
I worked this out by manually editing all my poi to have the same first five digits. When I checked them on the map they all moved (except for the reference point).
The next thing I did was to use my very accurate GT11 to find my decimal geopos xx.xx.xx.xxN/xx.xx.xx.xxW position, noted it and saved a POI to the silvercrest unit at the same location.
I then moved 100 mtr west, keeeping the same N bearing on the GT11 and recorded the second decimal geopos and saved poi #2 to the silvercrest.
I repeated this process twice more, moving 100 mtr north and then East to give four POI and 4 decimal geopos.
I then went home and examined the "prefs.europe" XML file.
I had hoped that there would only be a minor change to the encoded geopos line, as in maybe only one digit/character had changed.
Unfortunately this wasn't the case, while most of the character string remained intact, there were big changes and special characters were now present as well.
What all of this means?
Well, I think my next plan is to forget plotting a grid, instead plot a longer series of Latitude changes followed by a separate string of Longitude changes. I might try this down to a 5mtr interval as I suspect that the silvercrest unit is very accurate, hence the strange changes to the "geopos" line. I've to work this week so I may not get the chance to do much more until next week.
So, I guess for now that there is not obvious solution to importing POI to the unit, pity really as it is fairly decent for the price.
Until next time, Rambling (in more ways than one) on,
Bertie

b.harte

A quick post this time.
I said in a previous post that the "geopos" line was the only important one.
This is now not the case, the "district" line plays a role too, I manually added loads of random POI all over the country and when I changed the longitude reference they didn't all line up together as I had expected, instead poi that were close together in real longitude lined up, forming distinct north to south lines on the map, not one continuous line as I had assumed.
What this now means is that each "district" of the map has independent "geopos" coordinates, making this task just the little bit harder.
More time for me to sit at he computer, yippee.
Bertie

Dotfuscator

thanks bertie, but that all sounds a bit complicated
think i'll just have to live with a lack of POIs or i could just move east!

best of luck tryin to figure out a simple way