How come tomtom rider is the same price everywhere?

[Gerontious]

do people think that sat navs are better than they used to be no more sending you down a track and into a canal (well thats what the tales used to be)

 

you mean like truck drivers heading for Gibralter and then finding themselves at the wrong Gibraltar near skegness. things like that are down to the idiocy of the driver/rider. Usually being fixated on the sat nav and ignoring the bloody road signs. or what small amount of common sense they might have.

[Beans]

I wonder why @Beans is even asking the question about GPS pricing?

Because I want to buy a dedicated gps unit, I don't want my phone on the handlebars, and because i'm not seeing any competitive pricing for such.

[Marino]

do people think that sat navs are better than they used to be no more sending you down a track and into a canal (well thats what the tales used to be)

 

Every computer or smart phone today is smart as operator that use it, unfortunately. For lot of people geography is black hole,

So just tipping destination in the device without thinking and checking is normal thing. If you blindly follow machine, than shit can happen.

[skyrider]

still not the be all and end all then

[Stu]

still not the be all and end all then

 

I have never had a sat nav send me the wrong way!

Wrong place due to user error yes but the sat nav always gets me to my destination so it's never the wrong way

[skyrider]

well i have an old tom tom but they no longer support it for updates so i will have to get round to re investing

[JRH]

I have a SatNav and a smart phone.

Don’t use google for nav because don’t have unlimited data. Also been in many areas, mainly Scottish highland where there is no phone signal. (Also have an old small Garmin unit used for hill walking in the lakes and Scotland. Number of times had no phone signal but the Garmin GPS has always had a signal for route guidance).

SatNav always has a satellite signal so can always find a route.

Does link to phone so can receive traffic updates and does not use much data for this. Mounted on the bars so in line of sight.

Can change options on the go without stopping and taking gloves off.

I’m old school so I use a camera to take pictures, a SatNav to find my way and the phone to make calls.

 

I have 50 Gig so I can afford splash it around a bit . Interesting comments about the Scottish Highlands . A few short years ago I would have agreed with you but just recently I have seen massive improvements . In fact I can't recall anywhere at all where there has been no data and I've done most of the NW500 .Same in the more remote parts of Wales .

Went from Killin to Huntley. Lost phone signal a few times never lost SatNav.

But you are correct over the past few years phone has greatly improved in Scotland The Lakes and Wales.

[fastbob]

Road signs are still available . Here's my personal favourite . I was cycling at the time and decided to go East which was stunning scenery but hilly . West is much flatter .

[Marino]

Google maps are working off line as well, if you have downloaded the area than you can use it without any signal or in airplane mode to preserve the battery.

[anth_85]

I have just tried to create this route in google maps on my phone and failed!!

Google maps only allows 10 points on a route! totally inadequate for shaping a route to where you want to go!

basecamp.jpg

This route only has a handful of shaping points I think the limit on my sat nav is around 300!

 

I've just created this on the maps.google.com page,

Looks pretty similar to me. I didn't need to add any destinations, I just dragged the route where I want to go. Obviously I can add upto 10 places during that but If i wanted to go places where I didn't know where I was going, I could use the suggested route as a baseline then adjust the route if I want something more scenic. There is then a button on the left to sent that route to my phone.

The argument for cost depends on what phone you have already, I am a bit of a geek so I usually have the latest iPhone, I'd have that regardless of whether I used it for a sat nav. It seems pointless spending another £300 every few years on a sat nav where the maps stop getting updated. The sat nav built into my XC60 costs £180 from volvo to be updated, which has took me wrong a few times trying to go along roads that are no longer there and I've had to fallen back onto google maps, so updates are pretty important. If you have a phone that is only capable of calls and texts it's a different argument.

The lack of signal or data allowance argument also comes up, but that falls down when you learn google maps lets you download the whole area around the route your taking so you have a local copy before you leave the house, you don't need to use any data while you are out.

[Mississippi Bullfrog]

Someone on our local FB group has suggested Here We Go app - which looks better than Waze.

[raesewell]

It is possible to combine the best of both worlds (almost) I have the Tomtom Rider 550 which I use extensively, I also have the Tomtom App on my phone (Samsung S8). So if you want to use your phone the Tomtom App is almost as good as the dedicated unit.

[Gerontious]

This morning my poll stands at

Sat nav - 208

Phone - 71

Paper maps/written directions- 19

42 comments which seem to fall into 3 camps. Those who use phones exclusively and have no problems at all or ignore them. Those who used a phone, couldn't deal with the limitations and bought a sat nav

Those who use a sat nav with phone as back-up mainly for extra mapping instead of or in addition to paper maps.

[Stu]

I have just tried to create this route in google maps on my phone and failed!!

Google maps only allows 10 points on a route! totally inadequate for shaping a route to where you want to go!

basecamp.jpg

This route only has a handful of shaping points I think the limit on my sat nav is around 300!

 

I've just created this on the maps.google.com page,

Untitled.jpg

Looks pretty similar to me. I didn't need to add any destinations, I just dragged the route where I want to go. Obviously I can add upto 10 places during that but If i wanted to go places where I didn't know where I was going, I could use the suggested route as a baseline then adjust the route if I want something more scenic. There is then a button on the left to sent that route to my phone.

The argument for cost depends on what phone you have already, I am a bit of a geek so I usually have the latest iPhone, I'd have that regardless of whether I used it for a sat nav. It seems pointless spending another £300 every few years on a sat nav where the maps stop getting updated. The sat nav built into my XC60 costs £180 from volvo to be updated, which has took me wrong a few times trying to go along roads that are no longer there and I've had to fallen back onto google maps, so updates are pretty important. If you have a phone that is only capable of calls and texts it's a different argument.

The lack of signal or data allowance argument also comes up, but that falls down when you learn google maps lets you download the whole area around the route your taking so you have a local copy before you leave the house, you don't need to use any data while you are out.

 

Similar but not the same! and as you have found out you can only add upto 10 places! some of my routes have had more than 100 shaping points!

I tried to create the route using my phone and it was a pain in the arse to be honest! maps on the computer are much easier but still limited.

If you want to talk about the cost of sat nav then bear in mind that my old tomtom rider cost £350 new (I only paid £100) and it lasted 10 years so thats £35 a year (or £10 for mine)

My zumo 590 cost me £423 and if it lasts 10 years then £42.30 a year is a good price for me!

[anth_85]

I have just tried to create this route in google maps on my phone and failed!!

Google maps only allows 10 points on a route! totally inadequate for shaping a route to where you want to go!

basecamp.jpg

This route only has a handful of shaping points I think the limit on my sat nav is around 300!

 

I've just created this on the maps.google.com page,

Untitled.jpg

Looks pretty similar to me. I didn't need to add any destinations, I just dragged the route where I want to go. Obviously I can add upto 10 places during that but If i wanted to go places where I didn't know where I was going, I could use the suggested route as a baseline then adjust the route if I want something more scenic. There is then a button on the left to sent that route to my phone.

The argument for cost depends on what phone you have already, I am a bit of a geek so I usually have the latest iPhone, I'd have that regardless of whether I used it for a sat nav. It seems pointless spending another £300 every few years on a sat nav where the maps stop getting updated. The sat nav built into my XC60 costs £180 from volvo to be updated, which has took me wrong a few times trying to go along roads that are no longer there and I've had to fallen back onto google maps, so updates are pretty important. If you have a phone that is only capable of calls and texts it's a different argument.

The lack of signal or data allowance argument also comes up, but that falls down when you learn google maps lets you download the whole area around the route your taking so you have a local copy before you leave the house, you don't need to use any data while you are out.

 

Similar but not the same! and as you have found out you can only add upto 10 places! some of my routes have had more than 100 shaping points!

I tried to create the route using my phone and it was a pain in the arse to be honest! maps on the computer are much easier but still limited.

If you want to talk about the cost of sat nav then bear in mind that my old tomtom rider cost £350 new (I only paid £100) and it lasted 10 years so thats £35 a year (or £10 for mine)

My zumo 590 cost me £423 and if it lasts 10 years then £42.30 a year is a good price for me!

 

it's similar because I don't know the route or area you want, the point is it can be done just as easily with unlimited 'shaping points' when you are sitting on a computer then just send it to your phone and you are away. You can even look on street view to check places out in advance.

For the cost the important thing was that tomtom gives you 2 years of map updates, then what do you do? You either put up with out of date maps that could take you wrong, or you spend another 350/423 on a new one. With google maps, it's always updated for free.

[Stu]

it's similar because I don't know the route or area you want, the point is it can be done just as easily with unlimited 'shaping points' when you are sitting on a computer then just send it to your phone and you are away. You can even look on street view to check places out in advance.

For the cost the important thing was that tomtom gives you 2 years of map updates, then what do you do? You either put up with out of date maps that could take you wrong, or you spend another 350/423 on a new one. With google maps, it's always updated for free.

 

Youu can't have unlimited shaping points on google maps! plus you can't do shaping points on a mobile phone they have to be a via point! everything I can do to manipulate a map in basecamp ( garmins routing software) I can do on my sat nav

Garmin and tomtom have lifetime free updates!

[Stu]

Including a start and finish you can have 14 points on the pc and 10 when doing it on a mobile!

[Stu]

I have just created this route in google maps and clicked send to mobile, when it comes to the mobile and clicking on the route all the intermediate points are missing and it does a direct route from point A to point B!

So the shaping points are ignored and you would need to put in via points that would limit you to 10 in total

 

 

[Mississippi Bullfrog]

I have found that lifetime updates only means - until we decide it's time you bought a new one and stop issuing updates for the one you've got. Their definition of 'lifetime' is a bit dubious.

[raesewell]

For Tomtom "Lifetime" is 10 years.

[Gerontious]

No... It's when they decide. When they made the announcement that lifetime only meant as long as they choose to offer maps or software updates and then, rubbed salt in wounds by trying to sell these owners new models, they hadn't actually thought through the implications. There were people who had bought new 'old' sat navs just 2 years before, whose 24 month old devices were suddenly obsolete.

TomTom moved the goalposts because they were too tightfisted to invest a bit of their software designers time producing updates and mapping for older models.

I have an 11yr old Garmin, it's still fully supported. When it bricks itself one thing is certain. I wil not be replacing it with a TomTom. I'm not going to give my cash to a company that treats its customers in such a cavalier manner.

[Stu]

[mention]Gerontious[/mention] which one do you have is it the 660?

[Six30]

iv'e got some good routes , can pm them if any one wants one ....here's an example

[Gerontious]

@Gerontious which one do you have is it the 660?

 

Yes. The first one, there were 3 versions. The second had more internal memory. The third more memory and lifetime maps.

Mine actually ran out of memory a few years back and wouldn't update. I rang Garmin, they told me to send it by registered post to their centre in Southampton. They put in a 32Gig mini SD card and updated the software and maps. They also put in a new battery. They charged me £25 and returned the device to me within the week.

The software is now split between the SD card and the devices flash memory. I did a map update last year and it went very smoothly.

[Mickly]

Does this seem like a good deal?