Most irritating thing about PC Miler

I like the PC Miler Navigator 550 routing capability, but one irritating thing about the PCM is when I am trying to scroll to a particular POI. The touch pad is so sensitive to pressure by the stylus, that it will click on an option while I try to (slowly) scroll. I have to flick up or down to stop this and then I have scrolled past the POI that I want. Then I have to click the back button and try again. When I am able to scroll, just a slight flick of the stylus and I shoot pass the option I want and have to keep going back. With Rand McNally's units, using the up and down arrow makes it very easy to get to the particular POI I need without hassle. I am seriously considering going to the Rand, for this reason alone.

 

If that's your only beef with the PC Miler you are one lucky dude. My 450 is IMO about a worthless piece of poo poo. Scrolling difficulty is there but never even made it on to my list of problems. I have had an offer from an expert to walk me through a checkout/update procedure but haven't yet done it so my bad for that. Maybe that would fix at least some of the serious shortcomings I've experienced from the PC 450.

 

Buckeye: The sensitivity of the 550 screen needs to be tweaked. You aren't the first to report this and I agree with you. It is even worse for drivers who have never owned a smartphone or other device that employs the "sliding your finger" technique to scroll instead of the traditional "up and down arrows." If I am holding that unit in my hands and use my thumb to slide the screen, then I have no problem, but if it is mounted in the cradle and you are in a moving vehicle and try to scroll with an index finger then it can really be a pain. This is in my current feedback and suggestions document to PC Miler.

Mark: Though it certainly isn't perfect, I get the feeling that 30 minutes on the phone with you and a probably much-needed map update is going to improve your opinion and its usefulness for you. Please get the latest map update first (see below.) It is VERY likely that you are still on Q1 or Q2 maps. (You can find that in the "About CoPilot" screen in "Settings.")

All: Another map update came out 2 days ago. They have been coming out every 90 days but I am finding that no one is getting them because they don't know how to find them in the CP Central application. Use CoPilot Central to update. See the attached screenshot. Go into "Get new maps" section. This is DIFFERENT than "program" updates which probably says "no updates available" in the upper-left when you first start CoPilot Central.

IMPORTANT: Don't try to get new maps (i.e. by clicking "Download" from the maps screen in CP Central) UNLESS you have the time and available bandwidth on your current internet connection to download a 1.57 GByte file! The process will take at least 2 hours on a good connection for download and transfer to the device. As a matter of fact, you should do a full backup of the unit onto your computer first so you could easily restore all files if something goes “pear-shaped” (as they say in Ireland.)

 

Thanks so much Mr Dieselboss. I just got a new 550. Upgraded from the 430. I have had a ##### of a time getting everything set up. I got an email from ALK that gave me some direction, then I read your post and learned even more. Hopefully I will get this thing working before I go on the road again. I have 4 days. Reckon that will be enough time?

Here is some of the info I got:

The unit you have purchased can be updated through a computer for free. You can find below the instructions to check/perform updates for tboth the software and maps on your PC Miler 550:




1) First of all, please download Copilot Central 2.0 to your desktop computer via the following link (you will need this desktop software to perform update on your PC Miler)::

http://rightwaygps.com/store/merchant.mvc?Screen=instructions&Store_Code=PCM

2) Please also make sure that you have Microsoft ActiveSync (Windows XP) or Windows Mobile Device Centre (Vista, Windows 7) installed on your computer if your unit is not recognised by your computer. You can download this for free online.

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Active Sync (download it if you have Windows XP):

http://download.cnet.com/Microsoft-ActiveSync/3000-2094_4-10031823.html

Windows Mobile Device Center(download it if you have Windows Vista or 7):

Windows Mobile Device Center 32bit computer:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...FamilyID=46f72df1-e46a-4a5f-a791-09f07aaa1914

Windows Mobile Device Center 64bit computer:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...56-7825-43B2-AC89-2030ED98ED95&displaylang=en

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3) Please make sure that your PCM 450 is fully switched off
4) Connect your PCM 450 to your PC via USB
5) Switch on your PCM 450 while it is still connected to the PC
6) After a few seconds, 3 buttons will appear on the PCM 450 screen - tap the one in the middle
7) Open Copilot Central 2.0 on your PC
8) You should see that your device is connected on the left of the Central 2.0 window
9) Log in with your existing Copilot ID or create a new Copilot ID using your e-mail address and a unique password
10) proceed to the map update by following on screen instructions

If you have any further questions, or feel that this incident has not been resolved to your satisfaction, please do not hesitate to bring this to our attention.

 

Dieselboss., I have been checking out the pc miller 550 and 750 over the last few weeks. I want to know what is the better of the two units. if it is the 550 can you get an ac power cord for it. need some advice from the people in the know. thanks. note: been to your web site found no testing info on 750 unit
to help with this buy.

 

See, now you went and made me update the chart again.
The 750 has only been out a short while, but since it has the same software as the 450/550 there wasn't much to change.

It did bum me out big-time when they stopped including AC cords with these x50 units, so I sympathize with you there. Te reasoning was to cut unit overall cost by a few bucks. An option is to to pick up an AC cord at just about any BestBuy / Cell Phone store / WalMart / even some truckstops now because they are so common. Mini-USB - 5 volts - 1.5 amps.

As far as "better" - the only difference between the two is the screen size and the speaker. The 750 has a 7" screen and a louder speaker. But the 550 is adequate as well. Both have the same software so there is no difference there.

 

Thanks Dieselboss., I will be ordering it tomarrow also going to get faster shipping.

 

Your not the only one with big problems with the nav. 550. My navigator 550 freezes all the time because it thinks im ' off road ' all the time! Thats how bad the mapping is. the second problem i have with it is: the way-points - when i pass by a way point the 550 tries to double back to the way point ( althought pointless to do so), the unit freezes! Ive updated the maps to Jan 2011 but it made no difference to performence. I bought the unit back in Nov 2010, 5 months ago and basically its only become an expensive paper-weight. Really disapointed! I posted my comments on PC Miller's Facebook but Pc miller took all my bad comments off

 

That says a lot about a company when they delete your review of a product like that. Makes a person wonder if they should buy any products from them at all!

 

1. OK, so I am seeing a ton of units that are running out-dated software because PC Miler does not make it inherently clear on what version a person has, or how to update it completely. So please humor me and tell me what it says in your "About CoPilot" screen on the unit itself:
Version: (at the top)
then Data under that: GRD_ALK.NA.????.?.?.?

2. Freezes "all the time": Like immediately when you turn it on? Or sometimes while navigating, or what? The only freezes I have seen are on a previous software rev when the user has chosen the "split-screen" view where it shows the map on the left and the turn itinerary on the right, but that bug has been fixed.

3. Shows you "off road all the time": If it never shows you on roads then it sounds to me like the GPS receiver inside has a problem. That would be a warranty issue including a free replacement and maybe that's why it freezes also. (just speculating here on why it would never show you on a road, because I've never seen it do that except in very isolated cases where they hadn't put a particular road into the maps yet.)

4. "Waypoints" verses "Stops": Are you sure that you are tapping the "Set as waypoint" on those middle stops during your trip plan? The only time I've seen it "double-back" is when I set them as an actual stop instead of a waypoint. It is SUPPOSED to double-back in those cases because I just told it that we missed a stop.

Please elaborate on these and perhaps I can help. I rather like the 550 model so I am curious as to the answers to the above questions.

Thanks.