Tom Tom Rider
 

A new content_equipment_review entry has been added:

[drupal=573]Tom Tom Rider[/drupal]

Tomtom Rider 2
 

I bought the Tomtom Rider 2 Europe two weeks ago, just before I left on a trip to Denmark and Germany.

The new RamMount hardware is perfect. I mounted it on the handlebars of my GoldWing GL1200 and it was very easy. It also has a safety cord so even when something goes wrong, you don't loose it.
Then I drove to Denmark and from Denmark to Berlin in Germany and then back to Holland, avoiding freeways. I loved it.
I don't think I'll leave without it anymore. The beluetooth headset that comes in the package works perfect for me. Even on high speed with earplugs in, it can be set loud enough.

Maybe a Garmin or other GPS has more options but for what I want, the Tomton is perfect.

Matt,
Congratulations are in order; you appear to be the first to write up a review!

A question about your paragraph shown here:

"Another small concern is that you can’t plan your route on your computer before you leave home, you can build an itinerary on the device or download ones other people have created… but when you tour as much as I do I want to be able to plan my route right down to which b road I’m going to take when - and that may not be the way the device wants me to go… as soon as they have that sorted I’ll be a very very happy man (maybe they could also let you see where you’d been too)."

I am not clear what you are saying in that first sentence; what is stopping you planning by using the T T? (you refer to being able to build an itinerary, so what is the problem?)

Cheers,

Ahh okay well what I meant then was - they've fixed it now - was that you couldn't use your computer at home - your laptop say - and plan a route before you left home and then download it to the Tom Tom - the only way to plan the route was to do it on the GPS itself - which is a pain in the bum for detailed rides...

However, a few months ago they integrated the Tom Tom Home software for the Rider so you can now plan everything from your PC and download it to the GPS.

Hope that's clear - as mud!

m

Planning it on a GPS is better for me since I won't have a laptop. No way of charging it on my 6 volt bike.

It is something I could use the 'Wanderlust GPS World Map' on, right?
2ridetheworld.com : diary

Hmmm... I might get off my ass and get myself a GPS. I love paper maps because I like taking notes on them and they look neat after the trip. But I also like wandering around with no maps and just aiming towards a general direction. A GPS would make up for that deficiency.

No I don't think it is actually - that's one of the major limitations of the device - you can only use the maps Tom Tom provide - the coverage is pretty good for what you need 90% of the time - but if you head off the beaten track then you can't use other maps.

You can download this app - which lets you navigate to long / lats as required - but with no map support

Le Web Bazar !!! GPS Tomtom !!!

Agreed Dave,
Still a lot to be said about the advantages of paper maps, but that is not a review that I shall be writing up!

Matt's latest info is a reason that I am holding off from GPSs. It is too early to say which technology and systems will dominate the market and make everything else redundant/out of date and with a consequent lack of applications in the future - bit like the videotape dichotomy of years ago -- VHS or Betamax; the latter was considered to be the better technology but the former "won the war" of the video recorder.

Matt,
Thanks for your latest info; by "navigating by Lats and Longs" I guess you mean comparing what the GPS says with a paper map or simply "cross-graining the country on a bearing".

Yeap quite right - although... having said all of that I've gone back and looked at the apps I spoke about earlier and it appears the off-road app does now support 3rd party maps...

Le Web Bazar !!! GPS Tomtom Rider !!! Applications !!! Offroad Navigator !!!

From that site...

I don't necesseraly agree it's too early to chose which tech will win... I don't think Tom Tom and Garmin are like Betamax and VHS, but I do think they are aimed at different markets.

The Tom Tom is for the general driver / rider who drives around Europe and the states but doesn't go too far afield.... the software is incredibly easy to use and in fact their latest Home software is even more simple and idiot proof than the last.

Garmin on the other hand has a steeper learning curve but a much greater degree of flexibility to be used in many more situations.

The Rider was perfect for me 2 years ago, it still is for day to day use, but it gets a bit limited if you want to head down to Morocco or go further east than Moscow.

Matt,
Thanks for the extra info; I agree that my analogy was not perfect and not totally relevant.
I also see your point in that the basic technology consists of those satellites "up there" and they are not likely to be superceded in the foreseeable future (although "Europe" wants to fly it's own satellite constellation so that it is not dependant on a US system - as if Europe has money/our taxes to spend!!).

So, yes it then becomes a choice at the end-user level; I have travelled with others who have been using the T T and the limitation of what amounts to European mapping has been identified by those owners - got to wonder when T T will have mapping available for further pastures. Good news though that the T T can accept other maps from other providers as per your last post.

Would be useful to see some more equipment reviews in that new section of the forum for, say, the Garmin.

Cheers,

I have the ttr2 and have found it excellent except for one item: The lcd screen cover.:thumbup1:

one question: When u press down in the centre of your screen does it feel spongy (flexible), i bought a rider 2 a month ago and this presented a problem. The plastic over the lcd screen had air between the plastic and lcd screen. When it got very warm the air expanded and made it very diffucult to enter information. I sent it back for repair and it returned with the same problem. I am now exchanging it for a new one but am wondering if it is the same with all ttr2.

Thanks for the input. I'll just get a Garmin 60cx so I can use the Wanderlust - Smellybiker maps.

How bizarre - I've not heard of that before... very strange... mine seems perfectly happy - but I have heard of TT sending stuff back not repaired properly..

m

GoogleEarth / TomTom
 

WalkAbout, have you tried the freeware software called 'TYRE'. it allows you to plan you routes on GoogleEarth and then directly inpot them to you TomTom.
Works really well and is easier to look and pick out the roads etc.
You can also create your own POI.:thumbup1:

Thanks for that - I guess this is what you mean:-

Tyre Help

Never heard of it, but it sounds interesting.

Something like it that does the same thing for getting TTs to work alongside, say, Microsoft's online maps would be good as well! Any chance, do you reckon?

BTW TYRE = trace your route everywhere (nice one!)

Cheers,

As I remember, TomTom made a bid for map provider TeleAtlas a few months ago, so that could seriously increase map coverage for the TomTom range (including the TomTom Rider 2). Must check thats still going ahead..

Thanks for that information.

Digital Mapping & Navigation Press Releases - Tele Atlas

It seems that the takeover is going to the plans of TT.
What effect do you envisage: free maps with a new TT for instance, or required to buy them as optional add-ons?

Cheers,

Not really sure, but I imagine TomTom want to branch out of Europe, where they're apparently just about dominant, into places like the USA, where their market share is quite small compared the incumbent, Garmin.. so they need improved maps, and ideally, they need them cheap (so buy the company that produces the map data!).

There's probably also an element of securing the map source (Tele Atlas) in case a competitor decided to try the same thing (Nokia buying Navteq springs to mind).


Just my 2c

Thanks Phoenix,

Yes, that all seems very logical - I had not realised that TT are Dutch until I read that article.
So, we have one Dutch company buying another Dutch company in order to improve their ability to compete on the world markets.

I didn't realise that TeleAtlas were Dutch actually.. it makes even more sense now.

tom tom rider
 

hi i bought my tom tom last year and my car mount at christmas i have had many problems with both first i could not download the free camera sites myself and two others tried to do this but found it impossible after many hours trying and finally downloaded it from an illegal site in less than 5 minutes, the unit works fine on the bike with bluetooth etc,car mount no one had one in england had to get one from holland,i have also had problems with this and it has now gone back to be repaired,there web site and help lines are a nightmare , even the people at tom tom say the site is to complicated , i have spent hours trying to get answers to problems, questions etc to the point where the lap top has nearly been through the window.:nono: all in all happy with my tom tom but would not buy another ,would certainly research a bit more and look at other makes,

I have a TTR2, upgrade from TTR1 under warrenty, I broke two of the TTR1s :)

What I would like to see is the ability to save tracks. That is my number one bugbear. I am having to keep my Garmin Map76S in the top box, just to keep a record of my tracks, for posting on blogs ride reports etc.

Does anyone know of a way to do this with the TTR2 ? I would like to just take one unit on my travels.

Cheers
TravellingStrom

Hey there - check this out

Le Web Bazar !!! Offroad Navigator !!!

It's third party software that allows you to track where you've been in a variaty of formats. It also lets you use third party maps and adds off-road navigation.

Keith - welcome to HUBB!

Sorry to hear about your problems with the TTR - I've not experienced the issues you've had, I've found the Tom Tom to be nothing but easy to use and simple to install - my only interaction with Tom Tom customer support was over the first version of their mounting bracket (which wasn't very good) - found them helpful and fast - they sent me the new version of the bracket within a week.

Hi

Thanks for the link, I will have a read.

The problems I had with TTR1 was exactly what you said. It was the mounting bracket at fault, I had 3 of these and two Riders. This is because the vibrations of the spring loaded pins, drilled holes in the contact pads, look here

http://vstrom.info/vsri-gallery/gall...omTomsmall.jpg

I fixed this in transit with gaffa tape, but the new TTR2 has a lock down type cradle, a lot better and I have not had an issue with it yet. I still have 4 more months warrenty, so I will be giving it a good test.

Cheers
TS

I use Tomtom Navigator on a Nokia N73 with a separate Bluetooth GPS receiver. It's definitely the budget option but if I was to buy a purpose built GPS, I'd go for a Garmin Zumo.

Was recommended to me a little while ago by someone here. Brilliant piece of software. You can use any placemark in Google Earth as a POI or even a complete folder to make a POI set. As well as creating you own POi's and itinerary files, you can download existing ones from the net and use TYRE to import and view them in Google Earth. You can then save, modify and update them as you wish.

Even if you prefer maps or don't have a GPS yet, you can still use this in Google Earth at the planning stage of your trip. When you do get round to buying GPS, it's easy to load them on. Well recommended :thumbup1:

I had the same issue on the TomTom Rider 1, and after a bunch of faffing around, a complaints letter, etc, they repaired the original TTR1, and over the space of the next 2 months, sent me out two (not one!) new TTR2s, with full European maps.. My girlfriend kept the original TTR1 for her car, I kept one of the new TTR2s, and gave the other one to a mate... I haven't had the same sorts of issues with the new TTR2 at all, but then I haven't used it to the same extent as I did the TTR1. The mounting design is a *lot* better now though.

Been looking at getting a TTR for the bike as i plan on taking to europe next summer for a month and would like something to help keep me going in the right direction

I was wondering if i get the standard TTR2 version what maps do you get free with it? How much is it to get a bigger/extra memory card that will take most of europe (ie france, italy, germany, swisterland)?

I had a quick look over the net but prices seem to change quiet alot depending on version and area!!!

Also is the mount for the standard TTR2 any good againist vibration? Just the bike i plan on using it on is an XT660R which when getting a move on does vibrate and alot of people on the XT660 forum how found many standard mounts to break.

tomtom have some very useful updates for the latest tomtom rider.. see here ..TomTom, portable GPS car navigation systems

I just bought a 2Gb SD card at a photo shop. Then I used the Tomtom PC program "Tomtom Home" to make a backup of the original 1Gb SD card.
Then I replaced the original card with my new 2Gb card and did a restore from the backup that I made before. Piece of cake!

On the Tomtom Europe I had detailed maps for all of Western Europe as standard. I switched to the 2Gb card because I want to add Eastern Europe in the future.

im with Matt
 

im with matt on this one, i spend many a wistful hour playing 'where to go' on my PC GPS software, usually when the wife has soap operas on. im sure she thinks im looking at porn or having an affair, but thats her fault.
admittedly i have a garmin quest that isnt much good for route planning, it takes forever to handraulically type in places with one button, but if i had a touchscreen bling gps i think i would still do it, i find it fun. go on say it, im a bit sad.

the SD card is the only thing that would make me trade the quest in, the memory isnt that great, 256Mb. i know quest2 has the whole of europe in it but its got a slower processor, not worth the trade off to me.

Well, a bit of bad news about TTR2. I was in the middle of a 7000km round trip and it just stopped, said to insert SD card. Tech support said the card needs replacing. When I looked at the card with my laptop, it said it was unformatted. I have to send it back to get a new one, they will not send one out before hand, useless. I am becoming very annoyed with TomTom, I may sell it and buy a Garmin Zumo :(

TS

Usefull update
 

Yesterday I installed the latest software update for the Tomtom Rider 2 and now it has some nice extra features like mapshare and "help me" with usefull information how to get to or call a doctor, the police etc. (these features were available on the car Tomtom's for some time, but now on the Rider too).
I have not been riding with it yet but I will soon.

sounds like tomtom are a company that listens and acts on customer feedback, rare these days- "this is what we make, take it or leave it"
everyone who got a rider1 should get an upgrade though, i think. (not sour grapes, i dont have one im a garmin man, though i do like the rider2, when its time for a new one it would be a matter of price between the zumo and tomtom)