I have an XL350TM that I got about a month ago. I've noticed a few things that seem a bit odd to me, but since this is my first TomTom device I wasn't sure if this is indicative of a problem or is just the way they work.
First off, I notice that there are places where the direction of travel and the "towards" statements don't match. For instance, I frequently enter interstate 75 in central Georgia at exit 181 (Rumble Rd.), which is about 15 miles north of Macon and 60 miles south of Atlanta. The device always sends me the correct way, but states to turn and take "interstate 75 north towards Macon". Of course, this is really towards Atlanta, as I'm already well north of Macon.
The second thing I encounter is a bit more troubling to me. If I'm traveling north on interstate 75 on the south side of Atlanta and will be taking interstate 20 west, the device always tells me to take interstate 20 east for 7 miles then take interstate 20 west. Once I reach a point exactly 2 miles from interstate 20, it corrects itself and changes the upcoming turn to read correctly (to take 20 west instead of east). This same behavior happens when traveling on 20 east and taking 75 south (it tells me to take 75 north towards Chattanooga until I'm exactly 2 miles away from 75, when it switches and says take 75 south). In both of these circumstances the errors can even be seen in demo mode and it corrects at the same 2 mile out point as it does when actually navigating. Additionally, the map display never shows the route going in the wrong direction, but it appears when reviewing the route as text and voices the wrong instructions until that 2 mile out point.
And the third anomaly happened to me yesterday when I added a "via a point on the map" to an existing route. This was to take me 1 exit further up the interstate than would be normal to get gas. Upon exiting the interstate, the voice instruction was "turn left then make a u-turn" (which makes sense as my point was just on the opposite side on the interstate and from that point the best route to continue to my destination would be take that surface road back and not get back on the interstate). However, once I got my gas and started back in the other direction, the device did nothing but constantly turn me around (and around and around). As soon as I was back on the road and started moving, the device stated "turn around when possible" and the arrows on the route reversed, though I was traveling in the correct direction and on the correct road. It never stopped telling me this, so I actually did turn around to see what would happen. As soon as I started moving back in the other direction, it just said "turn around when possible" yet again and again reversed the arrows to show that I should be traveling in the other direction. After heading back in the correct direction for my destination and ignoring it, it then started routing me around blocks to turn me around (take the next right, then left, left again and left again, so that I'm back on the same road heading the other direction). Of course that was followed by telling me turn around again, then routing me right back through that same neighborhood (this time left 3 times, then right, so that I'm again back on what would really be the correct course). This continued all the way to my destination, where it was still telling me to turn around and trying to route me around blocks to turn me around.
While I'm not currently having to rely on the device to get me around, I have to say some of this doesn't instill me with a lot of confidence in believing that it would really be adequate if I decided to head out into a strange place. My previous in-vehicle gps has always been through a laptop in a motor home using a gps receiver and either DeLorme Street Atlas or Co-Pilot, so maybe my expectations are just a bit off.
I guess what I'm really wondering is if these types of anomalies are normal for such devices, or is there something about Atlanta and TomTom's that they just don't get along well?
First off, I notice that there are places where the direction of travel and the "towards" statements don't match. For instance, I frequently enter interstate 75 in central Georgia at exit 181 (Rumble Rd.), which is about 15 miles north of Macon and 60 miles south of Atlanta. The device always sends me the correct way, but states to turn and take "interstate 75 north towards Macon". Of course, this is really towards Atlanta, as I'm already well north of Macon.
The second thing I encounter is a bit more troubling to me. If I'm traveling north on interstate 75 on the south side of Atlanta and will be taking interstate 20 west, the device always tells me to take interstate 20 east for 7 miles then take interstate 20 west. Once I reach a point exactly 2 miles from interstate 20, it corrects itself and changes the upcoming turn to read correctly (to take 20 west instead of east). This same behavior happens when traveling on 20 east and taking 75 south (it tells me to take 75 north towards Chattanooga until I'm exactly 2 miles away from 75, when it switches and says take 75 south). In both of these circumstances the errors can even be seen in demo mode and it corrects at the same 2 mile out point as it does when actually navigating. Additionally, the map display never shows the route going in the wrong direction, but it appears when reviewing the route as text and voices the wrong instructions until that 2 mile out point.
And the third anomaly happened to me yesterday when I added a "via a point on the map" to an existing route. This was to take me 1 exit further up the interstate than would be normal to get gas. Upon exiting the interstate, the voice instruction was "turn left then make a u-turn" (which makes sense as my point was just on the opposite side on the interstate and from that point the best route to continue to my destination would be take that surface road back and not get back on the interstate). However, once I got my gas and started back in the other direction, the device did nothing but constantly turn me around (and around and around). As soon as I was back on the road and started moving, the device stated "turn around when possible" and the arrows on the route reversed, though I was traveling in the correct direction and on the correct road. It never stopped telling me this, so I actually did turn around to see what would happen. As soon as I started moving back in the other direction, it just said "turn around when possible" yet again and again reversed the arrows to show that I should be traveling in the other direction. After heading back in the correct direction for my destination and ignoring it, it then started routing me around blocks to turn me around (take the next right, then left, left again and left again, so that I'm back on the same road heading the other direction). Of course that was followed by telling me turn around again, then routing me right back through that same neighborhood (this time left 3 times, then right, so that I'm again back on what would really be the correct course). This continued all the way to my destination, where it was still telling me to turn around and trying to route me around blocks to turn me around.
While I'm not currently having to rely on the device to get me around, I have to say some of this doesn't instill me with a lot of confidence in believing that it would really be adequate if I decided to head out into a strange place. My previous in-vehicle gps has always been through a laptop in a motor home using a gps receiver and either DeLorme Street Atlas or Co-Pilot, so maybe my expectations are just a bit off.
I guess what I'm really wondering is if these types of anomalies are normal for such devices, or is there something about Atlanta and TomTom's that they just don't get along well?
