I am officially TomTomless

[Michael Quinlan]

I just packed up my Go 740 Live after selling it on eBay - I am officially without a TomTom device. After almost 3 years (1 with the Go 920, and the remainder with the Go 740 Live) I am going to depend on my Android device (Motorola Droid) for navigation for a while, using some combination of Copilot Live USA, NDrive, and Google Maps Navigation.

I'm sure there will come a time when I curse my latest choice, but TomTom's "support", map "updates", software "updates", and Live Services that often seem more dead than alive, finally drove me to abandon TomTom - at least for the foreseeable future.

I would like to thank all the moderators and users here for their effort in helping us all along, and the moderators for maintaining a forum in which we can do so. Though my activity here wained since getting the Go 740 Live, I still think I'll miss this place. I already know I miss having such an active place to discuss my current navigation solution.

Thanks again - maybe we'll run into each other somewhere down the road (no GPS pun intended).

 

[gatorguy]

Still stop by once in awhile if for no other reason than to gloat over your choice.

By the way, GPSReview.net does have a forum discussion area for mobile navigation topics. You're certainly invited.

 

[mvl]

Central NJ? You should be fine as long as you don't head north much.

When you see how many hours you waste in NYC with non-Tomtom routing, you just might switch back

I'm driving Boston to Washington DC Friday, and don't blink about driving straight through NYC on New Year's Eve, because I'm sure Tomtom LIVE traffic will guide me well.

I agree with you, Tomtom's reliability stinks, especially on LIVE models. Tomtom's been on a massive hiring binge the past 12 months, and I've already seen the uptick in device reliability. Hopefully they can get their act together by this summer.

I just got my second Android device (to retire my beloved Palm TX), and I'm learning to really like the OS. Haven't tried out the navigation much, but last I heard Google still doesn't auto-avoid traffic in its routing.

 

[Rick F.]

Michael,

We'll miss you around here. I remember some of your postings 3 years ago when I was still using my 3rd edition.

My daughter in-law just sold her Garmin last month because she loves the navigation app on her Droid so much.

Good luck to you and stop in once in awhile and say 'hi'.

 

[Michael Quinlan]

Central NJ? You should be fine as long as you don't head north much.

When you see how many hours you waste in NYC with non-Tomtom routing, you just might switch back

I'm driving Boston to Washington DC Friday, and don't blink about driving straight through NYC on New Year's Eve, because I'm sure Tomtom LIVE traffic will guide me well.

I agree with you, Tomtom's reliability stinks, especially on LIVE models. Tomtom's been on a massive hiring binge the past 12 months, and I've already seen the uptick in device reliability. Hopefully they can get their act together by this summer.

I just got my second Android device (to retire my beloved Palm TX), and I'm learning to really like the OS. Haven't tried out the navigation much, but last I heard Google still doesn't auto-avoid traffic in its routing.

I avoid Manhattan like the plague, particularly with my work van; commercial vehicle restrictions are a pain, and parking garages are out of the question with a work van and ladder rack. Copilot has an RV mode which helps a lot, since it's clearance based, as are most (if not all) the commercial vehicle restrictions in NYC (all 5 boroughs).

One thing I have noticed on a trip I took every day this past week is that Copilot's traffic avoidance was "aggressive" - abandoning most of the original route. Since I'm only just noticing it, I suspect it may be that the routes I have been taking are similar in travel time, and that there is no reasonable route that bypasses only the congested area(s) but maintains the rest of the original route.

One day a state highway was closed due to a traffic accident and multiple utility poles blocking the roadway. Copilot reported a 217 minute delay on what would normally be a 40 minute trip. I really wished I had access to TomTom's traffic info at that time for comparison purposes.

Out of curiosity I just decided to see if I could view routes.tomtom.com on my Android phone. It works as well as I would expect on a small screen device. But comparing traffic nearby I see that for NJ-18 between NJ-34 and I-95, TomTom shows it completely red, Copilot shows it almost all green (with 2 specs of yellow), and Google Maps shows some green, some yellow, and some "no information". Given that we has snow earlier, I'm suspicious of the "mostly green", but still am baffled by such varied reports.

 

[offthegrid]

I read they were hiring 500 for their push into Asian markets but have not seen a thing about local US hiring. Did you see a press release about massive hiring here or is this inside info?

I'd love to stay with TomTom (using an old one now) but these Live outages were all to often and despite their finally updating their maps locally that left a bad taste in my mouth.

Their insistence on making customers jump through hoops such as removing and reinstalling the app when there is evidence of a Live services outage on a wide scale is absolutely ludicrous.

They appear to be plagued with ongoing issues that they will neither admit nor resolve.

At this point I'm waiting to see some 2505 Live reviews once thats released here and to see what their US incarnation of 'HD Traffic' actually consists of. According to the US head of traffic who was interviewed by GPS Passion some of the routing of that unit will be taken off board to servers. Well hows that going to work when you can't contact the servers?

I could die waiting for Navteq to upgrade their US traffic which is the only thing keeping me from getting the 1695.

Central NJ?
I agree with you, Tomtom's reliability stinks, especially on LIVE models. Tomtom's been on a massive hiring binge the past 12 months, and I've already seen the uptick in device reliability. Hopefully they can get their act together by this summer.

 

[ThatPerson]

I just sold my XL340TM LIVE tonight as well. I just wasn't happy with it. I would get me close to where I wanted to go, but never right infront of. One time I was going to a hotel and it told me I had arrived, but I could see the sign of the hotel another block down. It also kept rebooting itself. Sometimes right when it was needed, like during a complicated junction. Guess I'll stick with my old Navigon or my new Droid X phone with Google Navigation.

 

[Michael Quinlan]

The current crop of smart phones and navigation apps are presenting a viable alternative to dedicated navigation devices for many people. No manufacturer can afford to be perceived as having unreliable devices and/or services.

Increasingly, people are using navigation devices/apps as their sole navigation aid, leaving paper maps behind. When their device takes a *#&% in the middle of a trip they can be left "stranded"; if their (traffic) service does the same, they can find themselves in the middle of an infuriating traffic jam. I recall that one time my Go 740 rebooted on me about 10 minutes into a trip home; I drove for another 30 minutes before it got a GPS signal - leaving me directionless the entire time. Fortunately I knew way, and was only using it to help avoid traffic.

If TomTom isn't already losing market share, they soon will be if they don't get their act together.