What do you use your Tom Tom for?

[geocacher]

Just wondering what most people use their TT for?

 

[ChillyCat]

To direct me from point A to point B, for the most efficiant routing plan.
When you're spending $4.06+ per gal and getting 7-8 MPG, there's no wiggle room for routing errors.

For me, TomTom is a tool. No difference than a carpenters hammer.

 

[Bama Rambler]

I use mine for getting me from where I am to where I want to be. A more important function for me is directions from where I am to a POI. POI's are the reason I buy a GPS, knowing where to find fuel, food, campgrounds, and of course "Wal-Mart", etc . You can't get that on most maps.

 

[Smokiewolf]

I use mine to get somewhere without wasting time getting LOST!
Real men never stop and ask for directions!

 

[Jimbowmac]

Those days I use mine to test TT buggy firmware updates

 

[Smokiewolf]

Those days I use mine to test TT buggy firmware updates

Good one!!!

 

[geocacher]

How do you become a TT tester?

 

[Smokiewolf]

How do you become a TT tester?

Your title depends on how many posts you have made.
Post Rankings

The rankings are as follows (they are always subject to change):

TomTom Newbie - 0
TomTom Tester - 50
TomTom User - 100
TomTom Novice - 200
TomTom Fanatic - 300
TomTom Pro - 400
TomTom Expert - 500
TomTom Elite - 1000

 

[dhn]

How do you become a TT tester?

Apparently, just owning a TomTom product, my friend. You become a tester by default, whether you meant to or not!

 

[geocacher]

True, so true................

 

[feejo]

- I use it to go to place that I would think to go if I din't have a GPS.
- Sometime I go visit some POI to see how they are doing, If they don't exist I try everything to locate them back.
- I update once a week every POI and update them in MapShare.
- My life was so borring before I got my TT, I din't know where to go in car. Now I have 1m POI to visit. There is alot of Gaz stations I din't know they exist before.

 

[Smokiewolf]

- I use it to go to place that I would think to go if I din't have a GPS.
- Sometime I go visit some POI to see how they are doing, If they don't exist I try everything to locate them back.
- I update once a week every POI and update them in MapShare.
- My life was so borring before I got my TT, I din't know where to go in car. Now I have 1m POI to visit. There is alot of Gaz stations I din't know they exist before.

I wonder if anyone from Tom Tom marketing is reading this! A perfect advertisement! "I had a boring life, before I bought my Tom Tom!"

 

[MrGrumpy]

To direct me from point A to point B, for the most efficiant routing plan.
When you're spending $4.06+ per gal and getting 7-8 MPG, there's no wiggle room for routing errors.

For me, TomTom is a tool. No difference than a carpenters hammer.

I guess it depends on the brand of hammer. I just updated the software in my hammer (Estwing) and, unlike my TomTom, didn't end up with more glitches than I started with.

 

[Smokiewolf]

I guess it depends on the brand of hammer. I just updated the software in my hammer (Estwing) and, unlike my TomTom, didn't end up with more glitches than I started with.

 

[(COP)Sli]

I use my TT as a door stop it does good. Less headaches with the thing that way. No glitches holding a door open.

 

[Lighty269]

I use my TT as a door stop it does good. Less headaches with the thing that way. No glitches holding a door open.

WOW we have a clown on board!

I use to have a Garmin and did not know what a real GPS was like till I got my TT720. I do a lot of traveling so this baby comes in handy.

 

[Smokiewolf]

I use my TT as a door stop it does good. Less headaches with the thing that way. No glitches holding a door open.

 

[Gilbert]

I remember someone who had written that no intelligent person needed a gps system and that paper maps with a good compass was all that was needed. Fine when walking but driving and reading a map is a different matter.

I do have paper maps but the most annoying problem can be to know where you are on the map... When on an unfamiliar road, at night and the lighting always seems to be on the wrong side of the street sign or on the highway in a snowstorm or pouring rain or dense fog with bare visibility, where are you _exactly_? I often travel at night and using a paper map is not always easy to do. You can't stop on the busy highway to start looking at your paper map! Sometimes you are stuck between a few semi trailers that prevent you from seeing down the road for the proper signs and when you see them, it goes so fast you don't have the time to read the full five lines on them. Getting off the highway to read the map may be hazardous, the highway exit you take may not have the entrance near where you stop and trying to get back on that highway may prove quite a chore. The paper maps you got before leaving on a long trip may not have the detailed city street level you need when you make a mistake.

The last time I went to Florida, from Montreal, via Niagara Falls, I had printed the whole MS S&T itinerary. When we arrived in the Pittsburg area, we were supposed to take a certain exit to avoid the city. Suddenly I realised we had missed that exit, got off the highway and ended up near downtown. The city map we had was not detailed enough to determine exactly where we were... I had not planned to go there at all and did not have the proper paper map. I estimate the time lost at about 2 hours because we ended up in heavy traffic trying to get back on course. Four hours later, somewhere in West Virginia, I came to the conclusion my wife was not too good at map reading as another mistake happened and decided to get to my known route of I95... A few days later, wanting to get from Lake Park to Key West, I came to the conclusion not too many people are good at following maps as a male friend of mine was rather lost and we ended up some deserted road South of Miami that did not lead to where we wanted to go...

 

[Sextant]

Day to day I use it mainly for listening to MP3's in the car. I know my way around town and don't need navigation help to get to the store. I used to use it for the Bluetooth handsfree but since they mucked that up in the firmware it's useless for the telephone now.

On trips I use Google Earth and TYRE to create Itineraries. I plan my route in advance and have it all set to go. I like having the TT warn me of exits and get me onto the right secondary roads to get to my destination. My wife has made a few road trips by herself and I set up the itinerary for her and I'm much more confident about making sure she doesn't get lost.

As a police officer I love having it in the car with me. The situational awareness of where I am exactly is necessary and life saving. Even a short chase with a couple turns can get you turned around about where you are. A quick glance and the TT gives me the street I'm on and my next cross street. It also helps give a great bird's eye view of the streets near me. Sometimes I'll get a call on a street I'm unfamiliar with. A quick entry and I have a route planned. I usually can get into the neighborhood more efficiently than the TT but it's nice having it help me make the last turn or two in the right direction and a good idea of where in the block the house I'm going to is.

 

[Smokiewolf]

Day to day I use it mainly for listening to MP3's in the car. I know my way around town and don't need navigation help to get to the store. I used to use it for the Bluetooth handsfree but since they mucked that up in the firmware it's useless for the telephone now.

On trips I use Google Earth and TYRE to create Itineraries. I plan my route in advance and have it all set to go. I like having the TT warn me of exits and get me onto the right secondary roads to get to my destination. My wife has made a few road trips by herself and I set up the itinerary for her and I'm much more confident about making sure she doesn't get lost.

As a police officer I love having it in the car with me. The situational awareness of where I am exactly is necessary and life saving. Even a short chase with a couple turns can get you turned around about where you are. A quick glance and the TT gives me the street I'm on and my next cross street. It also helps give a great bird's eye view of the streets near me. Sometimes I'll get a call on a street I'm unfamiliar with. A quick entry and I have a route planned. I usually can get into the neighborhood more efficiently than the TT but it's nice having it help me make the last turn or two in the right direction and a good idea of where in the block the house I'm going to is.

I like running code and not having to stop and look at the mapbook to see if I'm making a right or left!