Routing on TTGO is a joke

[kunderboy]

Anybody else seeing that the routing is a joke? In-town, the tomtom algorithm to calculate a route seems completely lost. It takes detours of close to 50% of what I should drive, and does that over roads that are absolutely not faster. My old garmin was accurate. My new TT.... well less than accurate is a very very rosy statement. My Garmin also could adjust average speeds for use in calculating. TomTom doesn't. On a 5 hour trip, arrival time is off by 3 hours. Who needs that kind of help.

Sure, from city to city, tt will find your way, but for that I can read road signs. If I have to go to some little street in a town, I better make sure I filled up the car. Absolutely useless.

Asked TT, and all they say is that teleatlas is trying to update their maps as fast as possible. My problem is that without an accurate map and routing software, who needs a GPS. And my Garmin (2002) calculates routes perfectly!

I love the user interface of the TT, but it's useless without the correct application. So my suggestion is to skip tomtom if you use it in-town.

Kunderboy

 

[battom]

Sorry to hear of your troubles... welcome to the site.

Question. Are you using the option to choose what type of route you want to take? i.e. fastest, shortest, Avoid freeways, walking routes (THIS is a problem one I think) Bike route....

Sounds like your TT is sending you off on walking routes or bike routes...

 

[fanchee]

Hi kunderboy, and welcome. I can agree that some route calculations seem a bit odd, but I can also tell you that with the new maps (and the old maps didn't do that poorly) the calculations more closely resemble that of Garmin's. In fact, I've been testing my ONE against a Nuvi and the route calculations have been almost identical with a few exceptions.

Since I travel to a new city often, I'm of the mind that I don't really care if it takes a few more minutes to get there, as long as it gets me there without having to print and fumble through paper maps!

 

[hitophikers]

TT510 Questionable Directions

I too, have found the TT510 gives questionable directions for some in town driving. However, it DOES finally get me to my destination. What I have found out is that it seems to want to avoid congestion or traffic lights. Apparently TeleAtlas "weighs" the roads based on the ability to smooth traffic flow.

Recently, even though I had a pretty good idea of where I was going (been there only once before), it took me around the downtown area of a small town and through a residential area. The route was somewhat convoluted, but it avoided several unsynchronized traffic lights and had only one stop sign.

Even from the downtown area at home, it wants me to turn a block before my street to avoid a traffic light apparently. But, it doesn't "know" about such traffic lights, or does it?

The TT does correct my arrival time the longer I drive. Of course the arrival time and current time always agree when I get to my destination. It also, adjusts my route as I take a road other than the one suggested, sometimes telling me to make a "U Turn" as soon as possible until it figures out that my head is harder than it thought and finally figures out a new route.

This past weekend, it did cause me some concern. It was night time and I was about 100 miles from hone and in a city I was not totally familiar with. I told it to Navigate To HOME and it figured out a route of about 1 mile to a dead end street. Of course I didn't even start the trip using the TT. But once I traveled about half a mile from where I started, I told it to take me HOME again and this time it was dead on. Got me to the freeway very quickly and headed home. Very interesting situation.

Overall, I find that it works quite well getting me to a place that I've never been. It proved to me recently that a route I had been taking in a large city was not the best way to get from point A to B. The TT gave me a much shorter and faster route using major streets that I had never tried before.

 

[lec510]

Hi Kunderboy.
I am not only a TomTom newbie, but also a GPS newbie.
Before getting my hard earned money out of my pocket, I did lot of research and came up of the decision to choose between a Garmin C330 & TomTom 510. I think I am lucky that I made the right choice (I purchased the Go510, despite the fact that I knew the TeleAtlas map was a mess).
Trust me , live with the TomTom for a few months, you will never come back to Garmin again.
I cannot forgive Garmin for (except their handhelds) the inability to enter the destination by GPS coordinates, inability to enter the POI by hand (except by computer). I could be wrong because I did not live with one long enough.
I set the TomTom to ask me to choose the navigation mode all the time, within a city I'll choose 'Shortest route' , between cities I choose 'Fastest route' . But usually I use 'semi automatic' mode - when I have partially knowledge about the area - I override the TomTom's decision on the fly when I can, and things work out like charm. Also after planning a route, look at the map, if you don't like it, do a browse map, locate a point that you want - and force the TomTom with a 'Travel via' , it will reroute to your liking, or simply ask it to recalculate.

 

[battom]

I subscribe to consumer reports. They are a great help...
Helped me in my decision on my ONE v2

 

[kunderboy]

Thanks

All,

Thanks for your information. I checked (just to be sure) and the tom tom is set for fastest route. And I will get where I want to be, just not in a very fast/smart way and with really bad predictions. I do believe that the problem is for the biggest part in the Teleatlas data. This morning I drove to the office and once on the freeway TT told me I needed just over 20 minutes for 12 miles of freeway (65 mph allowed). That should take about 12 minutes or so. So is Teleatlas telling me I can only do an average of about 35 on the freeway? I am afraid the cops will pull me off the road.

Now, I do live in an area where a lot of roads are constructed or upgraded (Phoenix, AZ), but this is a brand new freeway, only on the map since the last update. Is the poor teleatlas data also the reason for making really bad choices. If I choose to drive to the other side of the city, it wants me to go straight through the city, on a road (45 mph max) with a light every 1/4 mile or so. Will take at least about 2 hours. And there is a nice freeway running around the city. Driving that will take less than an hour....... explain.

So, I really like the user interface of tomtom, but the map information (at least in my area) just sucks? My old Garmin was far superior in this area. Much more flexible in setting it up. That is useable for that purpose

 

[lec510]

Hey Kunderboy.
I guess you should go back to Garmin. If one like one I don't think he'll like the other, too much difference in mentality. It's just plain miserable to drag on.
During my whole life I got caught in such duels, VHS vs Beta (I chose Beta), Nikon vs Canon, Mac vs PC ...
If someone wants work-right-out-of-the-box GPS, he should go with a Garmin. Otherwise someone wants one that can be hacked to death, to get the uttermost value, he should go for TomTom or better still (don't brand me a traitor ) ... a Mio.
I just hate Garmins because they are overpriced for what they give.
PS: I said set the TomTom to ask you before routing, setting to 'Fastest route' all the time won't work.

 

[battom]

If someone wants work-right-out-of-the-box GPS, he should go with a Garmin.

um...

my ONE works GREAT.... right out of the box.

now it works OUTSTANDING after I tweaked it!... thankyouverymuch!

I too have my ONE to ask for the routing type each time...

 

[fanchee]

I find that Garmin's time of arrival is much more accurate. But that's not important to me, I MUCH prefer the TomTom user interface.

 

[battom]

My time to arrival is always dead on as well...

 

[Pedro2NR]

My TT worked straight out of the box. No problem finding the Sats.

 

[fanchee]

I've had a few times where my ONE would SAY to go straight on through an intersection while the maps SHOW to turn right just to get back on the main road. It's strange.

 

[lec510]

It happened to me too, in these cases I trusted the arrow, not the woman (Bonnie).

 

[fanchee]

LOL - mine was the opposite, I trusted John Cleese to go "straight on" rather than trusting the arrows, which would have me turn right, make a u turn, to get back on the main road again...

 

[battom]

LOL - mine was the opposite, I trusted John Cleese to go "straight on" rather than trusting the arrows, which would have me turn right, make a u turn, to get back on the main road again...

He's a Brit... what'd you expect! hahaha

 

[kunderboy]

I find that Garmin's time of arrival is much more accurate. But that's not important to me, I MUCH prefer the TomTom user interface.

So, if I have to modify the route I take, and the time of arrival is not (even close to) accurate, why would I use this?

I agree, the user interface is much nicer than the Garmin user interface. I do however think that my Garmin was much more flexible as in tweakable user settings etc, and the maps of the TT seem to be really bad for me. I still think that the maps are a major issue. Is there another map provider that can be used with the TT?

 

[kunderboy]

He's a Brit... what'd you expect! hahaha

Hope he did keep you on the right side of the road.......

 

[lec510]

> Is there another map provider that can be used with the TT?

For the moment, no.
But if they could dump that Sirf-III in TomTom One V3 for a not very well known Hammerhead , anything is possible.
They do very well in Europe with TeleAtlas, so it might takes time to go NavTeq here in NorthAmerica. Navteq is better in N/A, but in Europe TeleAtlas is better. TomTom is an European company, while Garmin is American.
I also wish for a better map and ... a better support. Push all kind of buttons, then wait for hours really sucks.
For the moment my aim is to roam around in my RV, all I need is Walmart, FlyingJ, cheap campgrounds (like COE), free wifi ... so my TomTom serves me well with the custom POI's posted by nice fellow surfers.
What I like most about TomTom is when you deviate from a route, it just recalculates (very fast too) instead of nagging you to U turn or do some funny things... I bought it to avoid my DW's nagging, not to be nagged by another.

 

[battom]

I also wish for a better map and ... a better support. Push all kind of buttons, then wait for hours really sucks.

...and what are we here? Chop liver? hehe... we try to make up for TT Support's short comings here at TTF.. don't we?