Origin b2 Users - thoughts?
07 January 2006, 09:33 AM
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Origin b2 Users - thoughts?
Those of you with the b2, what do you think of it now?
Reason I ask is when I bought the unit some 2+ years ago, it was a the top of its game, with what seemed like very frequent and good updates, and they made a big thing of how they check all updates and do it quickly.
Now, I look at them and while their updates still seem ongoing, the best example I have is the M25 improvements (Heathrow airport expansion etc), that finished in November, and the 40 mph cameras went. Yet for nearly 2 months every time I drive past the old camera locations, it beeps like mad. I have deleted them on the screen and then done an update to origin, yet they still are on there.
I sent them emails, yet never get any response, and beginning to feel that they have set themselves up yet no longer seem to care about checking for updates. So if it's like this on Europe's busiest stretch of motorway, what's it like on smaller roads?
Anyone any thoughts or feelings as I'm beginning to get a bit pissed off with them, and thus, with a subscription due in the next month, may well start to look at alternatives.
What do you think?
Andy
Reason I ask is when I bought the unit some 2+ years ago, it was a the top of its game, with what seemed like very frequent and good updates, and they made a big thing of how they check all updates and do it quickly.
Now, I look at them and while their updates still seem ongoing, the best example I have is the M25 improvements (Heathrow airport expansion etc), that finished in November, and the 40 mph cameras went. Yet for nearly 2 months every time I drive past the old camera locations, it beeps like mad. I have deleted them on the screen and then done an update to origin, yet they still are on there.
I sent them emails, yet never get any response, and beginning to feel that they have set themselves up yet no longer seem to care about checking for updates. So if it's like this on Europe's busiest stretch of motorway, what's it like on smaller roads?
Anyone any thoughts or feelings as I'm beginning to get a bit pissed off with them, and thus, with a subscription due in the next month, may well start to look at alternatives.
What do you think?
Andy
07 January 2006, 10:39 AM
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M42 cameras in Bimrmingham were installed and appeared on Origin's database within a couple of days. Then they must have realised they weren't live so they disappeared again then came back when they went live. So they are certainly on the ball with updates in some areas.
I had a loss of sound problem in August (18 months or so old) and they repaired that free of charge prmoptly and without any hassle. So I'm guite happy with the service and response. I'd stick with them.
Someone did say they'd moved locations recently, perhaps poor service was while they moved? Not an excuse for neglecting customers but sh*t happens. Stick with it for a few weeks and see if it improves before jumping ship?
I had a loss of sound problem in August (18 months or so old) and they repaired that free of charge prmoptly and without any hassle. So I'm guite happy with the service and response. I'd stick with them.
Someone did say they'd moved locations recently, perhaps poor service was while they moved? Not an excuse for neglecting customers but sh*t happens. Stick with it for a few weeks and see if it improves before jumping ship?
07 January 2006, 03:16 PM
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To be honest Im with you guys.
I bought mine back in May. On the basis of the www.ukspeedtraps.co.uk review. It also appeared to have everything I wanted including the Radar add on. Heres my thoughts.
Buying
I got a discount on the unit from a local dealer. Which was good as everyone else wanted full whack for them, but 2 weeks later Origin discounted them on their site. Also I tried to register with them the unit, but eventually had to return to the shop and have them ring the local agent. To do it. That meant I could now update the unit in the 6 month freebie.
Updating
The connector plug/USB is terrible It locates well enough and the tabs "click" but I still have to manually hold it together to help the terminals meet. Otherwise it fails to initiate.
Installation.
I wanted to Hardwire it as soon as I knew it worked. They don't give you any parts to help you do this. A few spade connectors would be useful, as would a fuse holder and a 1A fuse. As Halfords don't sell that size. So mine currently has a 2A fuse. The other bug bear is the Laser Head. The wire comes out the top, which makes it look messy in the car. They KNOW you'll fir in low on the screen, so why not have it as un-obtrusive as possible. They should of followed Snoopers idea and made the unit external grille fit.
In-Use
I can understand GPS lock taking a while, but once I managed to drive for 40 mins before the damn thing knew where it was. Whether it was coincidence or not it started to work after the Policeman had targetted my car by Laser. Also it false alarms to often for my liking. The guy above mentioning the M25 Heathrow is right. Its never been changed and 2 months is un-acceptable,a s countless people must have told them. Also I found anywhere near Heathrow it keeps "Laser" alarming. Maybe its bounce back from the Airport, but I get it at other places as well. Places where I can see theres nothing.
Add-Ons.
As I mentioned above, I bought this over the RA because it did Laser as std and a Radar add on was optional. Well the Radar head wasn't released for 6 months. It kept being postponed. And they offered it for £100 as a bonus. No dealers I visited had one. The website said "put of stock" and then the price suddenly went up to £150 and they had some in stock. Again, maybe coincdence. But its irritating.
Back up
As ever no response to emails
Would I recommend one. No. I have it as a back up, I don't expect it to save me every time. But anythings better than nothing. Sure the actual unit is discrete, and being removeable is a very good idea. But its too many niggly things to recommend it over anything else.
I bought mine back in May. On the basis of the www.ukspeedtraps.co.uk review. It also appeared to have everything I wanted including the Radar add on. Heres my thoughts.
Buying
I got a discount on the unit from a local dealer. Which was good as everyone else wanted full whack for them, but 2 weeks later Origin discounted them on their site. Also I tried to register with them the unit, but eventually had to return to the shop and have them ring the local agent. To do it. That meant I could now update the unit in the 6 month freebie.
Updating
The connector plug/USB is terrible It locates well enough and the tabs "click" but I still have to manually hold it together to help the terminals meet. Otherwise it fails to initiate.
Installation.
I wanted to Hardwire it as soon as I knew it worked. They don't give you any parts to help you do this. A few spade connectors would be useful, as would a fuse holder and a 1A fuse. As Halfords don't sell that size. So mine currently has a 2A fuse. The other bug bear is the Laser Head. The wire comes out the top, which makes it look messy in the car. They KNOW you'll fir in low on the screen, so why not have it as un-obtrusive as possible. They should of followed Snoopers idea and made the unit external grille fit.
In-Use
I can understand GPS lock taking a while, but once I managed to drive for 40 mins before the damn thing knew where it was. Whether it was coincidence or not it started to work after the Policeman had targetted my car by Laser. Also it false alarms to often for my liking. The guy above mentioning the M25 Heathrow is right. Its never been changed and 2 months is un-acceptable,a s countless people must have told them. Also I found anywhere near Heathrow it keeps "Laser" alarming. Maybe its bounce back from the Airport, but I get it at other places as well. Places where I can see theres nothing.
Add-Ons.
As I mentioned above, I bought this over the RA because it did Laser as std and a Radar add on was optional. Well the Radar head wasn't released for 6 months. It kept being postponed. And they offered it for £100 as a bonus. No dealers I visited had one. The website said "put of stock" and then the price suddenly went up to £150 and they had some in stock. Again, maybe coincdence. But its irritating.
Back up
As ever no response to emails
Would I recommend one. No. I have it as a back up, I don't expect it to save me every time. But anythings better than nothing. Sure the actual unit is discrete, and being removeable is a very good idea. But its too many niggly things to recommend it over anything else.
07 January 2006, 05:10 PM
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rr_ww
Agree to them all. As Chelspeed said, they are good when you send them stuff - I'm on my third unit and they have replaced the others without an issue (but perhaps they should not have failed in the first place), and sent an additional base unit when I had a small problem, but the rest is now pants.
The M25 is very busy, so to get 5-6 false alerts for cameras no longer in position, with I'm sure many people telling them this but failing to do anything about it is ridiculous. Yet they are fine to request the £50 subscription - for what?
The laser thing is pants, to the extent I have disconnected it (and don't I know - it tells me everytime I turn the unit on), yet never once gave me a real alert but hundreds of false ones. That may be the nature of the beast, but it all adds up.
Agree with the connector plug - very poor design.
All in all, I think and know it was good once but it seems to be resting on its laurels and doing little about the future - including updates. And that's just wrong...
Agree to them all. As Chelspeed said, they are good when you send them stuff - I'm on my third unit and they have replaced the others without an issue (but perhaps they should not have failed in the first place), and sent an additional base unit when I had a small problem, but the rest is now pants.
The M25 is very busy, so to get 5-6 false alerts for cameras no longer in position, with I'm sure many people telling them this but failing to do anything about it is ridiculous. Yet they are fine to request the £50 subscription - for what?
The laser thing is pants, to the extent I have disconnected it (and don't I know - it tells me everytime I turn the unit on), yet never once gave me a real alert but hundreds of false ones. That may be the nature of the beast, but it all adds up.
Agree with the connector plug - very poor design.
All in all, I think and know it was good once but it seems to be resting on its laurels and doing little about the future - including updates. And that's just wrong...
07 January 2006, 06:31 PM
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Lots of good points made above, however may be worth checking some of these suggestions :-
I've had my unit for 2 years now and it works pretty well.
1) I tried emailing them several times in the first few months of ownership and got really pi55ed off at no reply. Then I phoned and they couldn't have been more helpful. I know they should be able to respond to emails, but they don't ! So don't bother emailing them - Give them a call and you should find things are OK.
2) I used to get false laser warnings on my Scooby, which was apparently a know problem. It featured quite a bit on scoobynet, two years ago. It is caused by voltage surges when you accelerate hard. If you call them and explain, they should send you a ferrite core suppression thingy, which you feed the power cable through a couple of times (loop) and the false alarms go away. Never had one since. Laser detector works fine - has only gone off a couple of times, always when being targetted - fortuantely after I'd seen the scamera vans. Although we'll all have to disconnect them anyway next year, when they become illegal
Won't actually be that much of a loss because generally, by the time it's warned you it's too late. I've also been past Heathrow with it and never had a false alarm.
3) I recently lost all satellite signal (after 21 months) - sent it back and it was back with me repaired within 6 days, which I thought was excellent service. However the post office still don't think it's been delivered
(sent "signed for").
4) Installation - I fitted the laser thing upside down, so the wire comes out of the base. It sits on the top of the dash and the bracket hooks under the clock surround. I had to bend the metal bracket a bit, but it looks much neater. 2 years ago the unit was supplied with a good selection of bits to hard wire it, although not the spades and fuse. Don't know if you get less bits now, but most motorist discount shops sell low amp fuses. I bought a holder and 3 fuses for about £1.50, which I know is a rip off, but was quick and convenient.
5) In use - I always find after an update it takes longer to get a lock. Even longer if you are moving. It has never taken more than about five minutes though. If after two minutes it hasn't locked, I lift it in the cradle and power it up again - normally locks on quickly. Shouldn't have to do it, I know, but hey it works.
6) They were stating they were running a few months late on availability of the radar detector 2 years ago. I was very keen on it then, but couldn't be bothered now at £150 or £100. There are so few mobile radar cameras around and I wouldn't speed past a camera even if the radar told me it was inactive. Guess that is going to die a death quickly with the legislation changing - maybe why it is more expensive - they're not expecting to sell many and they've spent about 3 years developing it that I know of !!
7) The best thing about it is it feeds GPS data to my PDA, which I run Sat Nav on.
I agree though that if they are not updating the camera data base, then what are we paying the subscription for - worth calling to complain.
Since I bought it I haven't looked much at what is on the market, so I don't know how it compares. I agree it is probably getting a bit old, but it still has all the features I want - warns of cameras and tells you the limit, it is small and very discrete and easy to fit/remove.
Cheers
Nick
I've had my unit for 2 years now and it works pretty well.
1) I tried emailing them several times in the first few months of ownership and got really pi55ed off at no reply. Then I phoned and they couldn't have been more helpful. I know they should be able to respond to emails, but they don't ! So don't bother emailing them - Give them a call and you should find things are OK.
2) I used to get false laser warnings on my Scooby, which was apparently a know problem. It featured quite a bit on scoobynet, two years ago. It is caused by voltage surges when you accelerate hard. If you call them and explain, they should send you a ferrite core suppression thingy, which you feed the power cable through a couple of times (loop) and the false alarms go away. Never had one since. Laser detector works fine - has only gone off a couple of times, always when being targetted - fortuantely after I'd seen the scamera vans. Although we'll all have to disconnect them anyway next year, when they become illegal
Won't actually be that much of a loss because generally, by the time it's warned you it's too late. I've also been past Heathrow with it and never had a false alarm.3) I recently lost all satellite signal (after 21 months) - sent it back and it was back with me repaired within 6 days, which I thought was excellent service. However the post office still don't think it's been delivered
(sent "signed for").4) Installation - I fitted the laser thing upside down, so the wire comes out of the base. It sits on the top of the dash and the bracket hooks under the clock surround. I had to bend the metal bracket a bit, but it looks much neater. 2 years ago the unit was supplied with a good selection of bits to hard wire it, although not the spades and fuse. Don't know if you get less bits now, but most motorist discount shops sell low amp fuses. I bought a holder and 3 fuses for about £1.50, which I know is a rip off, but was quick and convenient.
5) In use - I always find after an update it takes longer to get a lock. Even longer if you are moving. It has never taken more than about five minutes though. If after two minutes it hasn't locked, I lift it in the cradle and power it up again - normally locks on quickly. Shouldn't have to do it, I know, but hey it works.
6) They were stating they were running a few months late on availability of the radar detector 2 years ago. I was very keen on it then, but couldn't be bothered now at £150 or £100. There are so few mobile radar cameras around and I wouldn't speed past a camera even if the radar told me it was inactive. Guess that is going to die a death quickly with the legislation changing - maybe why it is more expensive - they're not expecting to sell many and they've spent about 3 years developing it that I know of !!
7) The best thing about it is it feeds GPS data to my PDA, which I run Sat Nav on.
I agree though that if they are not updating the camera data base, then what are we paying the subscription for - worth calling to complain.
Since I bought it I haven't looked much at what is on the market, so I don't know how it compares. I agree it is probably getting a bit old, but it still has all the features I want - warns of cameras and tells you the limit, it is small and very discrete and easy to fit/remove.
Cheers
Nick
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