Tom Tom GPS

[Reddog170]

Does anyone here have or use the Tom Tom gps units? I am looking at one that a friend of mine has. It works good but I am unfamiliar with them. He only wants $30 for it so I cant get burned to bad here. Shaun

[bluerstd08]

I use a Tom Tom One model. Its made to be used in a car and not water resistant but it still works. I paid $40 for mine and use it on long trips.

[kevin-vic-b.c.]

Does anyone here have or use the Tom Tom gps units? I am looking at one that a friend of mine has. It works good but I am unfamiliar with them. He only wants $30 for it so I cant get burned to bad here. Shaun

 

My son has a Tom Tom in his truck for traveling... he loves it ... it does trafic delay reroutes and weather. BUT.... you gotta know there is more modles that you can shake a stick at..... I say google the modle of the unit to see if it is what you think it is or want. The other side of the coin is.... if you need one and don't have one it is a GREAT deal. The 100$ unit I have will tell me where I am and where I want to arrive at and a route from its' programing.... I cannot plot a route and follow it like many higher end units can do. So it depends on what you need and what you are looking for...... they become addictive... you will soon be using it to find your way to the nearest pub and how to get home from work that you have been able to do for the last 10 years all alone.

 

And does it come with the software for the computor ?

Edited March 26, 2011 by kevin-vic-b.c.
forgot important part

[Reddog170]

Thanks. I know how electronics can be addictive. Look at cell phones, never used to need or want one. Now you will turn around after a half hour driving to get it. I just wanted a simple unit to help out on long trips. Shaun

[Yammer Dan]

Whats a Cell phone???

 

I have a Tom Tom One. 1st time I used it I entered a tunnel and it said "Turn Left" It does help a lot but can and will make mistakes!! I though it was because maps needed updated. Paid I think 76 bucks to get them updated and its worse!!! I think it is my unit itself. Other people don't seem to have the problems I do. Or maybe it is my operator. YOU tell the Warden that!!

[MikeWa]

That is a very good price. I use a TomTom Rider 2. It has some serious deficiencies which would cause me not to purchase another. Unless I could get it for $30. Here is the short list.

Bad

a) No auxiliary speaker connection. Limited Blue Tooth only.

b) When not navigating to a location, just trying to use it as a map. You cannot zoom out more than a couple of blocks. It will auto zoom back to it's default setting which cannot be changed. It does this when navigating too but it's not as critical.

c) When off road as in a parking lot or unmapped road it will try to fix your location on the nearest street even though that may be some distance away and give you directions from there. This can and does send you off in the wrong direction.

d) Hard to see in any kind of sunlight.

e) Only works with some SD cards

Good

a) Rain sealed

If you buy one of these find the TYRE mapping program and download it. TomTom Home has no way to plan an itinerary or trip TYRE does.

Mike

[Reddog170]

That is some good stuff, Thank You. I will look into the Tyre map program you mentioned. I am not worried about the external speaker much so that will not be a worry but having it send me in the wrong direction might be. Shaun

[MikeWa]

The no external speaker is partialy a problem because there is no internal speaker either. It does work with a Scala Rider Blue Tooth headset. But wouldn't ya know it the Scala Rider Blue Tooth headset does not work with the RSV sound system.

Mike

[Freebird]

Unless I missed it, you didn't say which model the Tom Tom is. I would think that most any of them would be worth the $30.00.

 

That being said, the no external speaker output on their motorcycle units was the killer for me. My wife bought me a Rider II a few years ago for Christmas. When I noticed that it didn't have the speaker output, I returned it and ended up buying a Garmin. With the external speaker output you can plug it right into the aux jack on the RSV and hear everything through the speakers.

 

The Rider II would only work with Bluetooth. Some here have Bluetooth headsets and really like them but I have no desire at ALL to change over to Bluetooth. Just something else that I have to worry about charging.

[muaymendez1]

I have a tom tom one for my car and one for my work truck.

i hate leaving home without them.

I am soon buying a mount for the bike.,

You have the ability to get lost and pick different route if the screen shows that they look promisiing and no worrie.

You just hit your destination and it reroutes it instantaniously.

great fro exploring nice roads. then when you get home you can download you trip on to the PC and either highlight some roads or just have a log for the day.

[fwbpastor]

Here is a good site for all types of motorcycle mounts for the Tom Tom.

 

http://www.mountguys.com/category_s/1095.htm

[slick97spirit]

I had a TomTom that was their "motorcycle model." Don't remember the actual model name.

Personally, I didn't care for it. I thought it was slow and difficult to use.

 

I've since purchased another Garmin with bluetooth and an MP3 player and like it much better.

[royalstar09]

I have a tom tom one xl and love it EXCEPT for in severe cold conditions. It has a wild screen for about 15 minutes until it "warms up". May be getting old not for sure. Other then that I like it for simple directions. Easy online updates. Of course there are many TomTom models. Without knowing that dont have high expectations and you will be fine.

[dz]

I too have a tom tom one xl. I love it. I really haven't used the battery to tell for sure how long it would last. I've had it for about 3 years, don't leave home without it. I used to have it in my service van and its been "roughed" around a bit. No complaints.

[Reddog170]

Ok this one is a TomTom one. The original. Now it does have a rather loud speaker built in, guess some do and some dont. I planned a trip into it for a test. Just a normal trip I would take. It routed me weird so I just went my normal route and it changed it by itself when I was back home.

My question, I know the roads and how to get around this area. This allowed me to still take the short route even though this GPS had me routed to go almost 20 extra miles. Is this normal? This is the point where I admit that I have no experience with a GPS so this may be a normal thing for them, then again it may be a tomtom thing. The third choice may be operator error. But I am sure that I was right and this little electronic fangled thing was wrong, LOL. Thank You for the input, Shaun

Edited March 29, 2011 by Reddog170
spelling

[royalstar09]

Ok this one is a TomTom one. The original. Now it does have a rather loud speaker built in, guess some do and some dont. I planned a trip into it for a test. Just a normal trip I would take. It routed me weird so I just went my normal route and it changed it by itself when I was back home.

My question, I know the roads and how to get around this area. This allowed me to still take the short route even though this GPS had me routed to go almost 20 extra miles. Is this normal? This is the point where I admit that I have no experience with a GPS so this may be a normal thing for them, then again it may be a tomtom thing. The third choice may be operator error. But I am sure that I was right and this little electronic fangled thing was wrong, LOL. Thank You for the input, Shaun

 

Connect it to your computer and update it first of all. Their are free updates on tom tom website. Also check the settings for fastest, or shortest routes. I learned that the fastest by tom tom standards is based on real world speed limits and tends to not be the fastest. In town I choose shortest routes, highway long trips I choose fastest.

[Reddog170]

Yep did that. Made a huge difference. Did not notice the ways to plot your route. Thanks for the info. Looking forward to putting this to the test. Shaun

[royalstar09]

Yep did that. Made a huge difference. Did not notice the ways to plot your route. Thanks for the info. Looking forward to putting this to the test. Shaun

 

If memory serves correctly you cannot Specify which route to take per say. However once you have a route in destination in there you can go to "find alternate route" and it will give you some options.

[dz]

On my tom tom, you can have it calculate by shortest distance mile wise or least amount of time. You have to go into the options and see how its set to calculate.