As far as programming a route, I have to use a map to get a general idea of the route I want to take and then program my route in segments. My old TomTom use to try to take me 190 miles out of the way when I was travelling from Charlotte to Panama City. The only way I could get it to work correctly was to program my trip from Charlotte to Augusta and then go from Augusta to Panama City. Otherwise it tried to take me to Jacksonville FL and then west via I-10. I've had to do that to avoid big cities and routes with height and weight restrictions.