I have a TomTom GO 920t there are a few things that bother me. I have a 920t /currently running Navcore 8.01 and the newest north american maps.

My Background:
I work for an alphabet agency. I spend countless hours on surveillance and travelling to arrest badguys and take their contraband. I can say for the most part the 920 is great. However their are a few things that cause me concern and will prompt me to sell the TT and get a Garmin.

The 920 has all the Bells and whistles. I love the map share feature but the biggest problem I see right now is that TT is running off Tele Atlas. Tele Atlas maps are not as accurate as Navteq. I hear a lot of people saying their are limitations to both providers but I can tell you that in my experience that is not true. Tele Atlas is not as good on the West Coast.

It has been my experience that Navteq and Tele Atlas bring back similar results in established neighborhoods but in new places Tele Atlas has some problems. The address/block information is off. So if you search for an address that is not well established you could be 1/2 mile away from where you need to be.

Which is why the TT POI database is filled with errors. I just got the new maps and attempted to put in new POI's "By address." Doing so places the POI about 1/2 mile away from the actual location. I conducted a search of POI's in the Database and learned that 7/10 poi's in that area were off by almost a 1/2 mile. (The POI's appeared to be in the middle of the dessert). It's not the device. It's Tele Atlas. Was easy to figure out. I used Yahoo maps (Navteq) and Google Maps (Tele Atlas) to search for the same address. They were off by almost 1/2 a mile.

Don't believe me try it yourself (758 S Watson rd, Buckeye, Arizona) type it in your TT or google you get sent to rattlesnake land. Type it in Yahoo maps / Garmin you get the right location.

I'm not bashing the TT. The device is great. The tele atlas maps the TT's are based on are off at least where I was trying to put these POI's in.

I will say this, the new maps and IQ routing makes a big difference on routing. Understand that I have a government issued Garmin Nuvii 205 that I compare the routes to on a daily basis. With IQ routing the TT's routes in my local area are very close to the routes I would drive on a daily basis. The Nuvii 205 routes are not as good as the TT with IQ but are better than the TT's without IQ. (I know quality of routes are subjective. This is just my opinion based on about 90-100 routes travelled).

So here is my summary. If TT finds the address. My experience has been that it will get you there using the best route. Again this is compared to a Nuvii 205 without traffic and without any advanced routing like what is found on the high end Nuvii's. I have always found the address using TT (100 or so trys) with one exception. I was searching for an address for a search warrant and put in the correct city and address. Unfortunately according to Tele Atlas I was not in the city of Goodyear I was in Buckeye. Well I didn't know that and I had no idea which city to search for because I'm not from that area. Caused me to have to get to the location with the assistance of another agent. Shoudn't ever have that problem when I have a GPS not a deal breaker though I just have to realize the limitations of the search engine. Didn't have the Garmin then so I couldn't compare.

The POI database is where the Garmin 205 is leaps and bounds ahead of the TT. I'm not certain how many POI's the 205 has preloaded. I can say this though I have never been driving in circles looking for a meet location since I picked up the Garmin it has always been spot on.

Two weeks ago a got the auto restart bug. Couldn't use the GPS until I came home and reloaded the OS, Maps and flashed the device. All is well now but I would have been PO'd if I needed to get to a meet or travelled out of town while it was bugging out like that.

Again I'm not down on the TT I'm just aware that there are some limitations. The mapshare function is absolutely awesome. There are a lot of things that make the TT a great device. I just think in a year or so when it's time to get a new device I'm going to test the waters with a high end Garmin.

And if this thing start bugging again Ebay and a new Garmin sooner than later. I can't afford to have an unreliable device.

Just my .02

 

You have made fair comments and, while indeed it's true that TeleAtlas does have better mapping than Navteq in some areas, the important thing is that the mapping is not better in areas where you need accuracy.

In that case, perhaps your decision to go with a Garmin is appropriate for you.

Allow me to direct you to http://www.gpsreview.net/forums for a general gps forum where experienced users can direct you to the best model for your needs.

 

I'll let others reply to the rest of your post but I'm affraid the Navteq and Tele Atals became equally bad with the introduction of their ©2008 maps.

In March Google still used Navteq maps and they moved my street address 86 m to the west (about 100 yards).
I was in the market for my first GPS and had an eMail exchange with Navteq about that. When I asked if that had to do with the DoD that they moved me with their new map they ended up saying that they would have to make a physical check about my contention and that that may take two years as they only had two employees for all of Ontario.
Funny as it is, checking a few business addresses not far from me, they are almost all correct.

After Google changed to Tele Atlas maps and their 2008 deviation is about a yard away from Navteq's.

If you know the exact location beforehand you could make a POI with Tyre and move the coordinate in Tyre to the exact spot.

I have a hunch that this may not be of much use to you if you are in the field and have to move to a different address received over the phone.

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GO 930, reverted to 8.302, NA 850 + W&CE 805, XP Pro SP3

 

I can completely echo this - there are going to be discrepancies in between between the two map providers, but you can't immediately call Tele Atlas the inferior of the two. I hear just as many complaints about Navteq maps as I do about Tele Atlas's - and Tele Atlas is the company I see moving in the right direction, partnering with TomTom and Google to try to produce better maps for its consumers. Have you tried submitting corrections on Tele Atlas's Map Insight page?

 

I don't know how many times that I posted for the exact same topic.
Let's say one more time.

Before ONE decide to buy a GPS, please do homework.
Search your own address, your best bud's address, all addresses that you ever need to see if Tomtom has all, if Garmin has all, if Magellan has all, then decide which unit to buy.
In my area, TeleAtlas covers much more in detail than NavTeq so I bought Tomtom, not Garmin or Magellan.
If yours in the opposite way, then buy Garmin or Magellan and not Tomtom.
So simple, isn't it!

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Tomtom GO920 + SE NavCore 9.026.4834 + NA v850.2781
Tomtom GO920 + SE NavCore 9.025.4834 + NA v850.2781

 

Appreciate the info I just don't need it. I own a 920T (my personal GPS). I also have a basic Garmin Nuvee 205 (Government Issue). I'm not dropping anymore money on a GPS.

Again, with a limited sample. Trips to Texas, California, Georgia, Indiana, Arizona, Florida (of course) in the past few months. I am telling you the TT has been off more often than the Garmin. So I hear what you are saying I'm just saying out of 100 or so attempts to locate an address without prior knowledge of where the address lies the Garmin has been more accurate. The accuracy difference is the maps. Just my experience yours may be different.


You are correct. When I need the GPS I don't have time to make check the location and set a poi based on the coordinates. That is simply impossible. I have other thing to worry about.

I am just reporting back what I have observed. I'll put it like this in plain black and white. When I need to get to an address I can usually find it with either GPS about 98% of the time. They may be off a house or two but common sense and simply looking at the addresses listed on the house usually gets you where you need to go. However, when you don't have an address on the house, curb, or mailbox. I have observed the Garmin to get me to the right address more often than the TT. That's all. I'm not saying one is better, worse, or inferior. I'm simply stating the facts as I have observed them.

There is no way that I can search all the addresses I need to search. (Basically every address in the united states and half of europe.) I won't bite on your condescending post. I'll just say this. I have had more luck being "spot on" with the Garmin. It's not a huge margin. I have been at the wrong location a few times with the TT and once with the Garmin (actually today - went to a rural area in Arizona and garmin put me 3 houses away from the target). Either way I'm splitting hairs both are very good, just not perfect. 7 years ago we were using MAPSCO.

 

When someone offers advice (which happened to be sound, btw), you can choose to accept it or not; that is your choice, of course.

However, to label advice you don't accept as 'condescending' is hardly appropriate or correct.

You've made your point. For your needs, a Garmin provides you with more confidence. Fine. There has to be a reason why that brand is the biggest seller in North America.

I offered you a link to another forum where all gps types are discussed. You said you didn't need it. Okay. All these gps forums are not just about what brand to buy but how to use your brand better.

 

That is exactly what I was going to say. I'm on the east coast and I have used both Garmin (Navteq) and Tomtom (Teleatlas) (others as well), both have mapping errors. There is no such thing as a perfect GPS device. It is basically what works best for you and in the area you most frequently drive.

 

No way???
You're telling me that you don't know how to use Google Maps and search for a few addresses that you need???
Both Garmin/Magellan and Tomtom have the beauty of it. If you cannot simply perform an address search on Tomtom, how would you do on your Garmin anyway?
Garmin comes up with some needed addresses and Tomtom doesn't, so it is an easy choice, throw your Tomtom away and if you ever want to buy another GPS device, go with what you like best.
Don't buy a BMW then complaining if loving Lexus so much.
Don't buy a Sony TV then complaining if loving Panny so much.
DO YOUR HOMEWORK AND MAKE YOUR OWN DECISION WHICH ONE TO GET.

__________________
Tomtom GO920 + SE NavCore 9.026.4834 + NA v850.2781
Tomtom GO920 + SE NavCore 9.025.4834 + NA v850.2781

 

I never said one was perfect or best. I said that I have noticed a considerable amount of mapping errors with the TT. I don't blame the device I blame the map.


No I can't search them all. I went to 15 addresses today. TT was perfect BTW.

Are you not paying attention to what I'm saying. I bought a TT after researching everything including coming to this and a ton of message boards. I listened to opinions and felt the 920 was best for me. IT IS WHAT I CHOSE TO PURCHASE. To say I love Garmin or favor them in any way is ridiculous. I had no favorite. I chose the TT. Gov't provided me with a Garmin and I am pointing out my experience with them both. If I have a bias it's toward the TT I paid big $$ for it a year ago. I actually gave the Garmin to a subordinate today so I'll be putting the TT to the test at least for the next few weeks.



And you are calling me condescending?

Are you guys daft? I love the TT. I love mapshare and some of the other great features I'm just comparing my "real time" experiences with two products. There are good and bad about both.

You guys seem really defensive. You shouldn't be, I'm not attacking the TT I'm just reporting the facts. It's what you (taxpayers) pay me to do. You might not like what I'm reporting and my report may be different If I worked in the Pacific Northwest but I don't.