took the TT out for a test run

[dennis-96gt]

so i got every map update and correction that i was supposed to home tells me its all up to date. i decide to take the wife to a time waste trip to branson which as some of you might know is a major tourist town here in missouri. it has been this way for many years most of the attractions have been there for multiple years. well to my surprise the TT was absolutley no help what so ever. it did not acuratley show a single gas station the entire trip. i tried to get directions to a handfull of places with no luck the main strip in the town it said street address numbers were unavailable. the one attraction it did find and gave me directions too was on the complete opposite end of town. i gave up on that and we decided to stop by the wifes parents house in the middle of nowhere so i punch in address no shock it did not locate the exact address but it did locate the road which is good enough for me being in such a remote part of nowhere. well by the time we make it we have been taken the longest way possible including a gravel road that was completley useless to take. in the long run if we were going to a place we have never been it would have served its purpose. comming back into town i noticed the TT does not have our wal-mart super center or lowes which are beside eachother for 6 years now in it.
i must say for a lattest map guarantee i am not impressed i expected alot more out of a so well known and highly praised GPS system

 

[Smokiewolf]

so i got every map update and correction that i was supposed to home tells me its all up to date. i decide to take the wife to a time waste trip to branson which as some of you might know is a major tourist town here in missouri. it has been this way for many years most of the attractions have been there for multiple years. well to my surprise the TT was absolutley no help what so ever. it did not acuratley show a single gas station the entire trip. i tried to get directions to a handfull of places with no luck the main strip in the town it said street address numbers were unavailable. the one attraction it did find and gave me directions too was on the complete opposite end of town. i gave up on that and we decided to stop by the wifes parents house in the middle of nowhere so i punch in address no shock it did not locate the exact address but it did locate the road which is good enough for me being in such a remote part of nowhere. well by the time we make it we have been taken the longest way possible including a gravel road that was completley useless to take. in the long run if we were going to a place we have never been it would have served its purpose. comming back into town i noticed the TT does not have our wal-mart super center or lowes which are beside eachother for 6 years now in it.
i must say for a lattest map guarantee i am not impressed i expected alot more out of a so well known and highly praised GPS system

You said it right in your post, "in the long run if we were going to a place we have never been it would have served its purpose."
That's exactly what it's for. You will not find a GPSr that is 100% perfect.

 

[dennis-96gt]

i understand not being 100% accurate but out of 10 things i looked for it found 1 so 10% is nowhere near the latest map guarantee thats boasted by the company

 

[flyer1024]

Your problem is you took your wife with you on a tomtom test drive. You never do that! ask me how I know!

The unit is great at taking you to a distant town or city, but finding an exact poi or address in that city is another matter. Usually when it says you've arrived at a certain POI, you can generally see it somewhere nearby, but not always. In fact not always enough to give you 100 percent confidence in it's ability to find that certain poi. Every time I look something up in a strange city I wonder whether it's really going to take me there. sometimes it takes me close enough. sometimes it's out by several kilometres.

so when your wife is along, drive smartly up to the ones it finds, and when it doesn't, pretend the business used to be in that building over there and has moved.

 

[dennis-96gt]

so what im gathering is i should just accept spending my money on a inferior GPS system and live with it. i know for a fact garmins are more accurate i have been with people who have them and their great. i wanted a gps due to being in cars with garmins and was under the impression when i found a good deal on this one that the top 2 gps companies should be on the same level of quality. so i now have a brand spanking new TT one xl for sale will this ting still do its update for a year crap for a second owner

 

[flyer1024]

Before you sell it go to this thread

http://tomtomforums.com/showthread.php?t=4998&page=7

post #64 and download the far larger POI set there. Try that for a bit and see if it is any better. far far more POI's in that file. Everything I've ever looked for. I'd say 80-90 percent listed in this set will be within visual distance when the unit says you're there. Sorry, but if you're looking for spot on accuracy with POI's it just isn't there.

I am pretty happy with my tomtom but it took the NA map and those poi files to do it. not sure which map version you have but the NA 710 is what I have and IMHO that map is as good as it gets.....no matter which gps you have. Canada/USA whatever version was pretty poor in my area.

I did have a much older garmin and I have to agree with you in the POI area....it was very good. Far more details on my older garmin maps also, even more than on my NA710 tomtom map. But, because of that detail which showed even trails through wooded areas, the garmin sometimes tried to take my vehicle over those trails. I don't miss that feature.

After nearly a year with the tomtom, I'd buy another. I do miss the poi accuracy, but the ease of use and the maps I now have are my reasons for that.

 

[dennis-96gt]

ok downloading the poi file now but heres a question with such a large file will it fit on the TT or does it just replace the old one when i use home to instal it

 

[flyer1024]

I have everything comfortably on a 2gig card. I'm presuming your unit has an sd card ad that POI (2 files) when expanded will be 450 or so megs.

I made a backup of my original system and then deleted the two old poi files, adding the new ones. works fine. I don't use home for this kind of thing, just a file manager.

 

[Garry]

Hello Flyer 1024
I have a XLS and the mapping in Canada, especially Alberta is terrible.
Before I file my just recently purchased (X-mas of 2007) in the garbage, I was wondering if the link you provided would help my lack of mapping problem.
I have the 710 version maps, but some of TeleAtlas maps are 20 years old in my area.
I've talked to Teleatlas and Tomtom on this. I've even sent in map corrections, but as of yet nothing has improved. It's getting very frustrating.
Friends of mine who have units that use Navtek (Garmin, etc.) have no problem with mapping.
I realize that nothing is 100% perfect, but 20 year old maps in absurd!
I am not about to spend anymore money on "better" maps.
I tried the link to the POI's, but it didn't work?? Came up with some "cute girls" site??
I am willing to give this TomTom one more try, then it will make it's final trip and I'll look at a different brand and mapping. I am sure hoping that you or someone can help me out.
This unit has not been very good PR for TomTom and TeleAtlas.
Thanks in advance and I'll wait for your reply.

 

[GarCor]

Hello Flyer 1024
I have a XLS and the mapping in Canada, especially Alberta is terrible.
Before I file my just recently purchased (X-mas of 2007) in the garbage, I was wondering if the link you provided would help my lack of mapping problem.
I have the 710 version maps, but some of TeleAtlas maps are 20 years old in my area.
I've talked to Teleatlas and Tomtom on this. I've even sent in map corrections, but as of yet nothing has improved. It's getting very frustrating.
Friends of mine who have units that use Navtek (Garmin, etc.) have no problem with mapping.
I realize that nothing is 100% perfect, but 20 year old maps in absurd!
I am not about to spend anymore money on "better" maps.
I tried the link to the POI's, but it didn't work?? Came up with some "cute girls" site??
I am willing to give this TomTom one more try, then it will make it's final trip and I'll look at a different brand and mapping. I am sure hoping that you or someone can help me out.
This unit has not been very good PR for TomTom and TeleAtlas.
Thanks in advance and I'll wait for your reply.

Before you throw the baby out with bath water I would suggest you go to Google Map and take a trip it is powered with the lastes 2008 maps by Navtek the same info you will find on a Garmin. Try and find buiness locations and look at the arial view as well and see where thay have buisness located. You will find Garmin isn't perfect either.

As far as maping on TT verses Garmin I think it depends where you are, my TT has far more correct map info on it than my friends Garmin here in small town Nova Scotia.

I think you will find teleatlas improve more & more in North America as time goes on now that it is owned by TT.

 

[flyer1024]

Thanks in advance and I'll wait for your reply.

Hi Garry. I just checked the link and the files are still there. it's a megaupload site and yes, there are cute girls on the front page, but you just type in the code indicated at the top and continue from there.

the files are an updated POI database and won't change or help with any street problems you might have. they just give you a lot more businesses, etc to locate.

I agree with you about the mapping in Canada. the canada/usa maps in the tomtom leave a lot of stuff off the maps in canada.

 

[flyer1024]

As far as maping on TT verses Garmin I think it depends where you are, my TT has far more correct map info on it than my friends Garmin here in small town Nova Scotia.

I'm in small town Nova Scotia as well and found it took several map upgrades to even get my street and 25 year old subdivisions nearby on the maps. I've finally got my tomtom to where I'm satisfied with it, but I was extremely disappointed initially after coming from an old garmin that had and in fact still does have more map detail.

I have a friend who has a newer garmin and I find it pretty much identical to my tomtom at the moment. We used his unit on a trip to Ohio last summer and it is very similar in functionality and accuracy to my tomtom.

However, even his newer garmin has far less detail than I was used to on my poor old garmin V. I suspect garmin does as tomtom does...cut map detail so the files fit on the internal memory.