how a tomtom thinks . . . .

[nedjinski]

I have a rider 2.

sometimes I use it as a point to point guide and it does okay as long as it recognizes the roads I want to go on. actually this is something I am not wild about with the tomtom because it figures out and decides what roads you should be taking otherwise you get the dreaded "turn around when possible" or "turn right and then turn right" - it does whatever it can to get you on that road it thinks you should be on instead of calculating a new route based on where you are.

but anyhoo . . . . I need help understanding how the totmtom thinks when different Planning Preferences are chosen. for example, what are the differences between a walking route and a bicycle route? or between a fastest route and a shortest route, for that matter.

previously I have used a garmin and I like the ability to enter a bunch of waypoints and have the garmin show me a compass and a heading and a distance to the next waypoint, no questions asked. if I do this on the tomtom the thing tries to figure out where it thinks I want to go based on it's internal maps and then seems to over ride the waypoints, and tells me to "turn around when possible".

maybe the tomtom is incapable of functioning like the garmin? I don't know, but it's very frustratiing. on a recent semi off road trip I programmed both units using mapsource for the garmin and tyre for the tomtom. it's a good thing I took the garmin because the tomtom had no idea of what was going on and just stayed confused and was totally useless.

so if I program a route in tyre marking lots of waypoints along the way, what Planning Preferences setting do I use to get the tomtom to follow a waypoint by waypoint route?

 

[tukatz]

Fastest route in time and shortest route in distance should be fairly obvious. I don't know about bicycle route, but walking route will take you the wrong way on a one-way street.

 

[mvl]

If you choose "fastest" in planning preferences, Tomtom always plans the fastest way from where you are to your next waypoint or destination in your itinerary.

If it's telling you turn-around-when possible, it thinks that there's no faster way in front of you. The rider is a pre-IQroutes model, and Tomtom was known for weird routing (including a huge aversion for non-highways) in pre-IQroutes routing. IQroutes is a huge improvement, and now Tomtom is the best GPS in fastest-time routing. But no IQroutes Riders are avaialble yet.

If you set a wapoint, Tomtom will considered it visited (and route you to the next stop in your itinerary) once you are within around 50 feet of the waypoint. But if you are on a divided highway you must be driving on the side of the waypoint to consider it visited, so be careful to pick the proper side when setting waypoints.

 

[rsforkner]

I have often wondered how TomTom figures out its routing choices.

Around home I have used it to understand what to expect. I picked locations 3-5 miles from home. In every case the TomTom picked the route with the most traffic lights. In one case the TT route had 9 traffic lights while the other route (same distance) had 2 lights.

It seems to me that fewer lights will, almost, always be faster. Both routes are main roads for getting through the area. Perhaps TT doesn't take lights into account. It should be said that the TT always got me to my destination.

Bob

 

[mvl]

I have often wondered how TomTom figures out its routing choices.

Around home I have used it to understand what to expect. I picked locations 3-5 miles from home. In every case the TomTom picked the route with the most traffic lights. In one case the TT route had 9 traffic lights while the other route (same distance) had 2 lights.

It seems to me that fewer lights will, almost, always be faster. Both routes are main roads for getting through the area. Perhaps TT doesn't take lights into account. It should be said that the TT always got me to my destination.

Bob

Only IQroutes models will compensate for traffic lights. Pre-IQroutes models (like your Tomtom 125), won't compensate and don't give as good directions.

Check out your route on routes.tomtom.com, and you'll see the route an IQroutes model would have chosen. The IQroutes successor to the Tomtom 125 is the Tomtom 140.