Tom Tom - yea or nay?

[Walkabout]

Is there any upside to owning/using a Tom Tom?

I have inherited one; quite an old model I would think judging by the bulk of it.
It does fine in a car using UK postcodes etc, but that is not necessarily much use on a m/bike.
A limiting factor is that it contains only Satnav type info for the highways, showing only representations of the roads and not true mapping.
From reading quite a few past posts in here I know that 99.9% of HUBBers are using Garmins (true??) - for the free maps downloads, the functionality or whatever.

So, is there anything good about a Tom Tom, new or old?

[tommysmithfromleeds]

I think with the amount of information available on modern mobile phones (navigation tools, shop locators, easy internet access) a dedicated GPS unit is kind of obsolete.

As a dashboard/handlbar mounted nav device it has deffinate advantages. Personally, I always use a map with a waterproof case. At least if you drop a map it will still work.

But it all depends, some folk find it quite hard to read a road map and prefer the ease of a 3d screen and a voice giving you directions.

[Threewheelbonnie]

It works where it's meant to work. You put the post code in or pick a point via google maps and it takes you there, no hassle, no getting locked out if you don't want to buy or can't remember a 47 digit code, no messages about your software version being over four hours old. It's designed for sales reps and holiday makers. You can tell it it's allowed to leave the road.

The downside is that ouside the area it was meant for it is a complete unknown. It certainly doesn't contain a map of every Touratech distributor between Benghazi and Bharain.

If that is a bad thing or not depends where you are going. I ditched Garmin three years ago when I realised I mostly ride in areas that Tom Tom covers. I won't switch back unless my riding habits change and even then I might just add a basic reciever to an I-something pad computer that'll do other stuff.

Andy

[Walkabout]

Originally Posted by tommysmithfromleeds

I think with the amount of information available on modern mobile phones (navigation tools, shop locators, easy internet access) a dedicated GPS unit is kind of obsolete.

As a dashboard/handlbar mounted nav device it has deffinate advantages. Personally, I always use a map with a waterproof case. At least if you drop a map it will still work.

But it all depends, some folk find it quite hard to read a road map and prefer the ease of a 3d screen and a voice giving you directions.

Tommy,
Thanks for the very quick reply! I adopted a personal policy some years ago of one tool for one job; too often for me multi-tools don't work - they get lost or stolen or broken and then all those tools are gone. So, for mobile phones I apply the same principle and I don't aim to have a smart phone any time soon.

Yep, I have used maps, a lot, and I will continue to have them as well, but I have inherited this Tom Tom - up to now I have lived without using that technology personally, but I know quite a bit about the principles from surveying and suchlike.

[Walkabout]

Originally Posted by Threewheelbonnie

If that is a bad thing or not depends where you are going. I ditched Garmin three years ago when I realised I mostly ride in areas that Tom Tom covers.

Andy

Understood Andy; this one is powered from the cig lighter socket and it has a rechargeable batt of undetermined life. So it is not too portable for, say, detaching it from the power supply and car mounting bracket and take it for a walk in the country - off road in effect.
But, more importantly, it doesn't have maps in any case.

Does/can your model of Tom Tom show maps? (for instance, to pick on one popular country, of Morocco).

[backofbeyond]

I'm using a five year old Tom Tom system quite happily on my bike and for use in Europe (inc UK) it's fine. It mostly works and on the occasions when it seems to go berserk an application of common sense seems to be all that's needed. If you're routing along a main road and it send you into a shopping mall (which has happened in Cambrai in northern France) just ignore it and it'll reroute soon enough.

Out of Europe it's useless. I'm not aware of any Tom Tom maps covering Morocco, Turkey or further afield and even if there are I'm not sure I could get them to run on the hardware anyway. But, horses for courses, within its limitations it's a useful piece of kit. It does nothing you couldn't do with a map (unless you start loading it up with POIs) but it does smooth progress as you don't have to stop every couple of minutes to check whether you've gone wrong. I've gone from being cynical about the advertised advantages to being fairly enthusiastic.

[ta-rider]

Hi,

I would not bay a Tom Tom. Not onely because the company sold the informationes of there users to the police

TomTom: Navi-Daten der Kunden an Polizei verkauft - News - CHIP Online

but also because there are much more free maps available for Garmin:

Free worldwide routable Garmin maps from OpenStreetMap

Tavel save, Tobi

[Rory799]

I've been useing my Tomtom one Europe on my bikes for 5 years.
It's taking me around most of Europe in all weathers
No probs.
Rory

[tommysmithfromleeds]

Originally Posted by Walkabout

Tommy,
Thanks for the very quick reply! I adopted a personal policy some years ago of one tool for one job; too often for me multi-tools don't work - they get lost or stolen or broken and then all those tools are gone. So, for mobile phones I apply the same principle and I don't aim to have a smart phone any time soon.

Yep, I have used maps, a lot, and I will continue to have them as well, but I have inherited this Tom Tom - up to now I have lived without using that technology personally, but I know quite a bit about the principles from surveying and suchlike.

No worries mate. Not big into smart phones myself, apparently my mobile has some navigation software but I wouldnt have a clue how to use it!

Would be good if you could get map updates for your model though, and with it being inherited you don't have too much to loose giving it a go.

[jkrijt]

I am a happy Tomtom user for the last four years. I use the Tomtom Rider 2 with maps of Europe on my bikes. I update the Tomtom everytime there is a new map and I used it in the Netherlands, Scandinavia, Belgium, France, Germany, Austria and Luxembourg.
I did change the 1Gb SD card that came with the Tomtom for a 4Gb SD card so I could have all Europe maps on the same card.

I am not sure if I would buy a Tomtom again if I have to replace this one but it would be on my shortlist. The main reasons why I may not buy it again is that is has not the coverage Garmin has.

I would however always buy a handlebar mounted bike GPS, a Garmin Zumo or a Tomtom Rider. I have a phone to make phonecalls and a GPS for navigating.

[Threewheelbonnie]

Originally Posted by Walkabout

.

Does/can your model of Tom Tom show maps? (for instance, to pick on one popular country, of Morocco).

Rider2, so it could if I wanted it to:

Travel Maps - TomTom

These maps would be fine for getting to a hotel in downtown Marakesh or getting you to the entry point of one of the Chris Scott rides, but once on the trail I doubt (unlike Western Europe where anything the government classifies is on there) it will tell you left or right when choosing between two equally small goat tracks. Last time I was in Morroco the Garmin detailed mapping was also limited to the N-roads. TT will use the same map agencies, the advantage of the Garmin is that you get past these to the full data on the free sites. Get to a point where that hotel looks tempting though and TT will get you back to the highway and there just from the post code, no need to try and find long&lat from a tourist centre receptionist who only knows it's near the cake shop (sorry that one was Belgium).

It's about ease of use and where you are likely to go. Nothing to stop you adding a hikers reciever to the free post-code-and-go TT unit. Have auto find for the hotel and long/lat for the deep desert for under £100.

Andy

[Walkabout]

Gentlemen,
Thanks for all the feedback and comment about Tom Tom. You have convinced me (confirmed in many respects) that the unit I have is fine for the highways and byways of Europe but outside of that area it is severely limited.
I forgot to mention that I can't add waypoints to this particular one.

In addition, the Tom Tom map coverage as shown in their own product website, is less than good. But, I don't know of any open source mapping that is in use for the Tom Tom, unlike the wide, and growing, range shown in other threads in here for the Garmin.

Overall, I can see that I will have to look toward Garmin for the future.

[jkrijt]

Today at the motorcycle show in Utrecht (in the Netherlands) I found another reason I may buy a Garmin.
With my Tomtom, I have to buy new maps every year but with a Garmin you pay almost the same but then you have all next updates included in that price !

[xtractif]

Just done a trip Nador Zagora and back through Todra on F800GS using my old
Rider with Morocco map, not very helpful, new tarmac pistes to Rich are 500m of route and it cut out when it got to hot, will be buying a garmin and taking my old XL12 loaded with fuel and hotel WP from Tim

Cheers

[oldbmw]

I have a garmin, with full Europe maps and it works quite well in the UK, although it can't find Argos in Worthing. takes you to a housing estate.
It manages about 50% of the destinations I want in France. All of the ones it can't find are easy to find on a Tom Tom, Viamichelin or google maps. Rather than pay the high price for a map update I will probably buy a Tom Tom to replace it. There is very little difference in price between map update and a new unit..

a really odd thing, it will find railway stations and aero ports but not ferry terminals. you have to input the co-ordinates after you get there. Oddly, as a motorist I use ferry ports more often than aero ports.

If you do get a garmin, you will need a fast adsl/broad band connection and a windows computer. I have neither the adsl or windows as I use Ubuntu on a long wet string for a line. a result of living in the country too far from the exchange. The tom tom usually offers upgrades using sd cards so no need for the computer.