Critise Tomtom? You Must Be Mad!

[+rutson]

Every now and again, people here and elsewhere have a pop at Tomtom's occasionally unorthadox routing.

 

Over the last week or so, I've travelled 4000k by car with Tomtom and a VERY expensive VDO Dayton system side by side.

 

Suffice to say,the owner of the 'other' system is ditching it in favout of Tomtom in the VERY near future. I think the BIG decider was late last night when we were travelling from the south of Germany to Sweden. First destination, Putgarden, NE Germany for a ferry to Denmark.

 

Tomtom produced asensible 9 hour route. The other system produced a 13 hour route involving two ferrys, nuff said!

[+McDeHack]

I love my Tomtom go.

I know that it has no knowledge of London, as on one route that I asked it to plan, it wanted to take me miles out of the way. The route was a vertual straight line.

( Waterloo Station to Wandsworth.) I won't bore you with what it wanted me to do.

But it found, when it sorted itself out, the road that I wanted.

I have since found that it pays to ask for an alternative route.

As for finding caches... PRICELESS, GREAT, LOVE IT.

[+Roberts-tribe]

It is an excellent product but it does have some flaws. For example, it seems to be major road fixated and seems to choose longer slower routes using major roads than quicker/shorter routes using minor ones.

 

Another is that it is largely clueless as to the roads it wants to use. For example, if I want to travel from SE Milton Keynes to NW MK, it tries to route via the centre roads which are 30MPH and heavily populated with traffic lights. Whereas, keeping to the dual carriageways around the periphery of the centre will result in a far quicker journey.

 

I wouldn't be without it now though.

[+rutson]

Interesting that is does the opposite in Newcastle. When crossing from say west to east it tends to take a hugely circuitous route around the north of the city whereas unless it's rush hour, the city centre is by far faster.

[+Pengy&Tigger]

In the past we have used TT3, and found it fantastic. We've had the odd detour down bridleways, but nothing too serious. In the last week we have been using TT4. Neither of them work in the Isle of Man, which is a great shame.

 

TT4, however, has caused us no end of problems. It doesn't seem to update quite as quickly, which is vital in city centres where you have to make a lot of turns. Say you have 3 turns ahead of you. It gives instructions for the first, and then you can see on screen where the next turn is. However, by the time it comes to take the 3rd turn, it still hasn't caught up with the first. I believe TT4 is the version that is on tomtom go, and is in most of the bought packages with PDAs. Also, you would have thought that the roads would be up to date, but there is still a big chunk of the A1(M) in Scotland missing.

 

The other thing is that the POI warnings don't give an arrow, as you would get using TT3 with Checkpoint. Not useful if you see a cache or trig coming up if you don't have the co-ords with you.

 

We will be reinstalling TT3 as soon as we get home. I also believe that when TT5 comes out, it will be an upgrade for TT3, not TT4, so we'll be waiting for that.

 

T

[+Learned Gerbil]

Can't say I have had the delay problem you describe with v4 on my PPC. maybe it has somethign to do with the reciever? My cable based reciever that came in the package gets all the bars full 99% of the time.

 

The only noticable delay I have seen was today - getting off the M25 onto the A10 which is immediatly after a tunnel. Predictably, the device had no idea when I got to the end of the tunnel and had to turn off until after I had done it.

 

The only reason I won't use TT3 is the maps ar so old.

[Moss Trooper]

Hi Peeps

 

TomTomGo is due for a revamp of firmware V5.0 some time this month (dont quote me on that)..

 

Has a host of changes involved. all of the better.. Check out This for the pucker gen

 

There is also a map upgrade but you will have to pay for it!!

 

Moss T

Edited April 9, 2005 by Moss Trooper

[+davy boy]

Just come back from Spain and used tomtom out there to find places to visit and caches,jane did ok navigating except for the new roundabouts and stuff.

Had to turn off the m/ways as she seemed to like to take us on them more than we wanted as it was a bit dear!!!!!!

But overall it was good and i was surprised!!!!

[+Sensei TSKC]

I run TTN3 on a pda and there is an option (can't remember exactly where) that asks you to choose as a default, the quickest route or the shortest route.

 

This may account for the strange routes people are getting i.e. Waterloo to Wandsworth or SE - NW MK.

 

Just a thought.

[+The Spokes]

If you want to go from Newcastle to near York it routes you down the A19 and when your on the A19 it then tries to get you on the A1. The faults in it are only apparent when you know the way. I just would like Wonder Woman to say

"What’s the point in me telling you the way when you take no notice, Please your yourself go whatever way you like and don't blame me if you get lost."

The best one was when we were coming back from Andorra. approaching Calais She said "Keep left" we ended up going back down the Auto route 15 miles and turning round paying a toll of 7 Euros to get back on and go back. I thought I got the directions wrong but no she went and said the same time again. This time I ignored her and went right. 1 mile to the ferry.

We call her The Dumb Blond

[+Pengy&Tigger]

Can't say I have had the delay problem you describe with v4 on my PPC. maybe it has somethign to do with the reciever? My cable based reciever that came in the package gets all the bars full 99% of the time.

That's not it. We have it connected to our old etrex yellow, which we also used with TT3. The only thing that has changed is the TT version, the hardware used is still the same. All other things being equal, it's slower to update position, even though there is no problem with the signal. If the roads were more up to date it might have been an acceptable trade-off, but I have seen no evidence that they are, at least where we have been travelling.

 

T

[+Learned Gerbil]

The 4.40 maps are much more up to date. I use the M6 Toll for example.

[oddsock]

I run TTN3 on a pda and there is an option (can't remember exactly where) that asks you to choose as a default, the quickest route or the shortest route.

 

This may account for the strange routes people are getting i.e. Waterloo to Wandsworth or SE - NW MK.

 

Just a thought.

If you want to find the shortest route :From map view tap the A to B icon..then tap "Type" this will then give the option to choose between "quickest" "shortest "or "walk" You can also force tom tom to take different routes by altering the default speed settings in the advanced section of "properties" eg If you want to avoid a certain road type change that speed to a lot lower setting

dave

[+Lowlander99]

I wouldn't be without 'Janie' now...and when firmware 5.00 is released shortly....she will be the 'bees knees'....with all the extra options....

[Sparticus]

We use tomtom 3 on our ipaq. I must say that the womans voice became very annoying after a time. So glad there was a mans voice to use instead of 'Janey'.

 

I suppose I get nagged enough by my wife at home without the machines starting as well.

[+McDeHack]

Hi Peeps

 

TomTomGo is due for a revamp of firmware V5.0 some time this month (dont quote me on that)..

 

Has a host of changes involved. all of the better.. Check out This for the pucker gen

 

There is also a map upgrade but you will have to pay for it!!

 

Moss T

I keep checking daily for the upgrade. It was supposed to have been in March.

All together now. " Why are we waiting,

oh why are we waiting.

Whyyyyyy are we waaaaiting

Oh why are we waiting".

[Sparticus]

Just noticed this on tomtoms website.

 

Upgrade to tt5 for the pda in May.

 

Upgrade to V5

 

Can't wait.

[+Roberts-tribe]

Re Voices.

 

For a bit of fun & variety, I've tried various other voices from the TT site. 'Sheela' is ok but that particular Ozzie accent can be a tad irritating after a while.

 

On the other hand, 'Valley Girl' aka 'Zappa' ( California ), made me want to defenestrate the iPaq withing half a mile! And I have no idea what word 'she' was using instead of roundabout. I know in New Jersey they are called 'circles' but Valley Girl was saying neither circle nor roundabout.

[+Learned Gerbil]

That reminds me - have you ever listened to all the voice samples that come with TT 4.40? They al lsay "You have arrived" or similar.

 

The Norwegian, Swedish, German and Danish voices all say something like "Am Komst". Obviously linked etymologically. But the German woman, unlike the German man, seems to want ot give you a 20 minute lecture on the subject!

[+rutson]

On the other hand, 'Valley Girl' aka 'Zappa' ( California ), made me want to defenestrate the iPaq withing half a mile! And I have no idea what word 'she' was using instead of roundabout. I know in New Jersey they are called 'circles' but Valley Girl was saying neither circle nor roundabout.

Could be 'rotary'?

[+Faye & Brad]

If it's different voices you're after, take a look here. A tad pricey at £9.99 each - but good fun, none the less!

 

And it's worth noting that some of them don't sound too great on a nice set of PC speakers, but on a PDA they really do sound the business! It's great having Captain Jean-Luc Picard direct you somewhere, and finish off with "Engage docking maneouvers"!

 

Brad (who only got his PDA yesterday - at long last!!)

[+McDeHack]

Tomtom Go V 5 is ready for download on the Tomtom site.

Got it, loaded it, and it looks good.

I found that the .exe file is easier to load than the .zip file.

[+plippy]

hi same problem with three sends you all over the place but good still trying how to find caches with it how do you enter coordinates? havent worked that out yet all help greatfully recieved

[+McDeHack]

Download from GCUK.(Stats.uk2.com/caches/download.php) Just copy the .ov2 and .bmp file into the GreatBritain folder of the Tomtom. Simple. there are regular updates of the caches so all you will need to copy over and over write each time is the .ov2 file

My question. How often are the cache file updated?

 

I am sure others on here will put the link so you can go there.

Hope that helps.. Next question?

[+McDeHack]

Forgot to tell you. you have to open the caches as POIs and you can add a sound to be warned as you get near. They show on the screen as chests.

So far as I know you cannot enter co-ords into tomtom. Shame.

[+Roberts-tribe]

You can enter co-ords in TomTom 3. On the map view, tools menu, there is a goto co-ords option. This'll display with a flashing 'target' which you can tap and you then get options to 'Navigate to ... ' etc. This function of TT expects the co-ords in ddd mm ss though.

[oddsock]

You can enter co-ords in TomTom 3.  On the map view, tools menu, there is a goto co-ords option.  This'll display with a flashing 'target' which you can tap and you then get options to 'Navigate to ... ' etc.  This function of TT expects the co-ords in ddd mm ss though.

From what I've read this feature will be dropped from v5 of TTN I don't know what the thought is behind that one !!!

Dave

[+The Wombles]

TT4 guided us round Florida on holiday Largely excellent but some junctions had little warning, particularly around Disney World.

 

My only reservation was that I couldn't find the US equivalent of GeocacheUK (Teasel's) excellent cache POI download which I use all the time. Well done Ian.

[+davy boy]

It is an excellent product but it does have some flaws. For example, it seems to be major road fixated and seems to choose longer slower routes using major roads than quicker/shorter routes using minor ones.

 

Another is that it is largely clueless as to the roads it wants to use. For example, if I want to travel from SE Milton Keynes to NW MK, it tries to route via the centre roads which are 30MPH and heavily populated with traffic lights. Whereas, keeping to the dual carriageways around the periphery of the centre will result in a far quicker journey.

 

I wouldn't be without it now though.

We had this prob in Spain on our days out,she just wanted to take us on the m/ways all the time so i just reduced the speed on road speed option,no more prob!

[+McDeHack]

You can enter co-ords in TomTom 3. On the map view, tools menu, there is a goto co-ords option. This'll display with a flashing 'target' which you can tap and you then get options to 'Navigate to ... ' etc. This function of TT expects the co-ords in ddd mm ss though.

You cannot enter co-ords in the Tomtom Go even with the version 5 that I recently installed. Still a shame.