Hi Allen, I've had a TomTom 5" model for a few years and I totally love it. I cannot speak directly to the Garmin experience. However, I rode with someone on a trip with a Garmin and the continually speaking of RECALCULATING if you deviated from course was very annoying. The TomTom I have doesn't say recalculating, it just does it, with an indicator on the screen, and usually very quickly.
Regarding accuracy, someone mentioned military degradation of the signal. I think they turned that off years ago. Of course, they can do whatever they want in times of crisis. They could re-degrade it. But, for now, I routinely get sub 20' accuracy on a handheld unit when I'm walking. Some areas have local ground based augmentation which also helps. My TomTom in the car can easily tell which side of a divided highway I'm on. It is true that if you're in the city, with small size city blocks and roads every 100', it can be a challenge to know where to turn. In this case, I watch the name of the next turn and the distance to turn indicator. If you miss it, the unit will direct you another way. Definitely get one with lifetime map updates. At this point, I pay $ 40 / year to update my maps. One reason I haven't upgraded to a new model is that TomTom pushed out a software update that I didn't like which changed the UI in ways that drove me nuts. I had the unit backed up on my PC and retrograded back to the old software. The feature I didn't like was a matter of personal preference and some other people may like it. But, in the past, I'd set the zoom setting and leave it there, so, for example, the particular circular drive that we live near, and city blocks, are a certain size. I always leave it on the same setting and I like it that way. The new software added an auto zoom feature. So, whenever you slowed down near a turn, it automatically zoomed in the screen. This totally drove me batty. So, I went back to the old software. The updater program on the PC doesn't want to allow you to update the gps maps without upgrading the gps software. So, I have to trick the updater into allowing itself to be an older version so I can update my maps without updatin g the gps software. But, I really do like the gps unit itself. The only other qualm I have with it is that it can only store 48 waypoints. Newer models may be better in that regard. Also, the units used to have a signal strength indicator on the main screen like a cell phone. They no longer have that, although you can get it on another screen. By the time I found that out, I was not able to retrograde back because I had already updated my backups to the version I have now. Anyway, I do really like TomTom, so you might want to try them. If you do, and you need help with the menus, I'd be glad to help. But, you can figure a lot of things out by just going to every menu in the settings screen. Some people may say use a tablet or smart phone. I think its nice to have a dedicated unit in the car that you don't have to boot up and set up when you crank up. Also, the TomTom has a better louder speaker than any phone or tablet I've seen. I don't know about new units, but mine has a resistive touch screen. This can actually be an advantage if you want to activate a button with your fingernail or with gloves on. Since a capacitive screen has to sense the flesh of your finger, it might be harder to use, but I don't know since I haven't tried it. Sincerely, Ron Allen Beddingfield <[email protected]> wrote: >I have an aging (about four years old) Garmin Nuvi that has not had a >maps update since that time. I had considered replacing it or updating >the maps on it. Given that the maps update costs over half what I could >buy a new one for, I'm leaning toward replacing it. I'm wondering if >they have improved very much in the past few years? I really like the >interface on the Garmin, and I can tell from playing with a few of them >in the stores that the interface has not changed that much. Right now, >I'm wondering if the few annoyances that have made me want to smash >it/throw it out the window still occur. Here is a list of problems with >the current one: > >1. If I'm zipping down the highway at 50mph, and I miss the turn, it >will say "recalculating..." and start counting up the percentage >finished... if the next turn is in 1/4 mile or so, it may not have >finished calculating by the time I get to it, it says recalculating >again, and at that point the thing's mind is blown...it will >perpetually recalculate, unless the next possible turn is miles down >the highway. I have to pull over and let it "catch up" or power cycle >it. >2. If I select a destination while sitting in a parking lot near a >street, it will highlight the street and say "please drive to >highlighted route". The problem is that when I get on the street, >sometimes I've gone a few blocks before it "figures it out" and >realizes where I am. The display will spin around, zoom in out, say >recalculating a few times, etc.. then all is well, unless the next turn >is nearby, and then I get into the situation I mentioned in #1. >3. It doesn't handle detecting which road I am on if they are both side >by side. For example (I've seen this one in Atlanta a lot), when you >are on a frontage road that runs right along the highway, it will get >confused and recalculate, thinking that you have magically jumped onto >the highway. >4. Sometimes when I select a destination, it just doesn't calculate the >time to arrive..there is just no value on the screen. Usually when this >occurs, it also doesn't show the current speed. Some bug in the >software, I'm guessing. > >In summary, the thing is super-laggy, and takes a long time to deal >with recalculations. >Are they any better now? Is this just a Garmin thing, and should I look >at another manufacturer and just deal with getting used to a different >interface? > >Allen B. > >-- >Allen Beddingfield >[email protected] > > -- Sent from my Android Acer A500 tablet with bluetooth keyboard and K-9 Mail. Please excuse my potential brevity if I'm typing on the touch screen. (PS - If you email me and don't get a quick response, you might want to call on the phone. I get about 300 emails per day from alternate energy mailing lists and such. I don't always see new email messages very quickly.) Ron Frazier 770-205-9422 (O) Leave a message. linuxdude AT techstarship.com _______________________________________________ tech-chat mailing list [email protected] http://lists.linuxmoose.com/mailman/listinfo/tech-chat
