Why I Hate My TomTom GPS - Comments Page 2

I bought a Tom Tom One 125, 3.5" unit, because I just couldn't beat the price--I bought it on Black Friday from Amazon for a flat $99, out the door, no shipping costs. And I guess for that reason and the fact that I've never owned another GPS unit for comparison, I have to say I'm fairly pleased with mine. It DOES sometimes take me the long way around, I admit. But if I don't know where I'm going, I don't know it's the long way around either, you know? And if I'm looking for someplace that is not listed on my POI's, then I find the address and plug that in instead. For me, for $99, I can't complain...it serves its purpose. In your case, however, for the amount of money spent, I suppose I'd be a little perturbed too.

My Sunday School class bought me a NUVI from Garmin last Christmas. It works pretty well. One time it took me down a road that was closed for repair, but I turned around and it recomputed and gave me a better route. While on vacation in the mountains it tried to take me down "cowpaths", tiny mountainous roads, but I ignored its advice and after recomputing it gave me a highway route. Go with Garmin - works great!

I have a TomTom One V3, also bought at a Black Friday sale. It finds most of the places I want, has a reasonable POI listing, and can find both Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts for me.

Most of the time it takes me on the right route, but occasionally it routes me around a block for no apparent reason. I've played with the route planning and in those cases, it looks like it thinks the road is either blocked or one way for a short stretch. I suspect the problem is more the map source than the GPS electronics.

One thing I really like about the TomTom is it is programmable and there are a lot of free third-party programs available. I have one that allows me to record my route.

Incidentally, mine can usually pick up the satellites inside my house in the rain, so no reception problems. Sounds like you got a lemon. TomTom should replace it free.

My cousin has a Tom Tom (don't know what model) and loves it. My own GPS navigation system consists of a Garmin eTrex Vista hooked up to my notebook computer running Street Atlas USA. I can tell you that the weird routing is not unique to Tom Tom, because I frequently get similar ridiculous routes from Street Atlas software. That's why I just use the GPS and software to show me my location on a good map, and pick my own route. My system works great for that, and since I already had the notebook and Street Atlas software, the addition of an inexpensive hand held Garmin GPS made for nice navigation system with a screen that's way larger than any Tom Tom or Nuvi.

I bought a TomTom one a while ago because YOU recommended it, Bob!
:)
And yes, the map updates are expensive, too. And "does not have unlimited points of interest in the database" is putting it very mildly. But overall my experience hasn't been as bad as yours. It's not great, and And I once got to the aquarium in Camden *without* getting into the very worst section of Camden :)

My mom has a Tom Tom. It has taken me forever to get used to the Turn right. Turn right. Turn right. Turn right. (or left) It announces the turns streets ahead, and you are trying to turn right way before the turn actually is or you completely miss the turn. (if you are in a busy part of D.C. trying to negotiate traffic: I am listening for a verbal cue)

I have a Garmin, and it hasn't steered me wrong yet...She clearly states Right turn ahead... then turn right...

I love my Tom Tom. I have no innate sense of direction; hence my Tom Tom is my best friend. I've loaned it to others who have been awed and amazed by its wonderfulness. Admittedly we've only used it to get from Point A to Point B-- but it's never taken me out of the way, or made me take a longer route than I should have-- I have relatives who never fail to quiz me about routes and time spent traveling, so believe me I'd hear about that. Tom Tom always confirms what my map-happy folks think I should have done, but I don't have to think about it. I'll never miss an exit again. The only drawback is, it says I've reached my destination when I'm within a few hundred yards of it, so depending on what I'm looking for, finding the exact spot can be a little tricky. I'm surprised yours made you so unhappy though.

I have a TomTom 130. I don't hate it but I can't honestly say I entirely love it either. I didn't have any epic problems like you experienced, but then I haven't really attempted to use the POI related features. My difficulties were more in the nature of annoyances.

I've had a couple of weird routing experiences but they were of the "shortest vs. fastest" variety and most likely my fault.

But I do notice that TomTom is very urban-centric. Changes to the road system in cities show up quickly in updates. Changes in rural areas, not so much. Case in point-- In my part of upstate New York, a spur road was built between the local airport and the nearest Interstate, with a new intersection between the (rerouted and expanded to 4-lanes) road and the highway and an entirely new 4-lane road from that road into the airport itself. Part of the original road was "orphaned" and is now a dead-end with a cul-de-sac. It took TomTom about 20 months from end-of-construction to register any of this. There are going to be major changes to the intersection between the 2 local Interstates in the next couple of months. I wonder how long that update will take.

The other un-rural-friendly feature of the unit is that the minimum brightness setting is just too &#^* bright for unlighted roads out in the countryside. I guess that it just doesn't get anything like dark at night anywhere in the Netherlands.

And what is with having to manually reinstall MapSettings.cfg after map updates? Why doesn't the program do this automatically? I do get the impression that they don't really care. And I do wonder about the competence of their programmers.

One thought on your "Camden Adventure". I suspect that if someone living in that neighborhood bought a GPS unit and asked it to guide him/her home and it asked something to the effect of "Are you sure you want to go there?", the owner might just be a little less than satisfied with the product. BTW, I think I found that neighborhood last year without any help from the TomTom I didn't yet own.

I'm going to echo Anna. Bought the TomTom One 125 for the same reason, price, at about the same time. Like Anna, this is my first one and I'm fairly pleased. Our expectation that it won't have every POI but that you can substitute an address works for us.

Occasionally I ignore TomTom's instructions because I can see a better way. I'm often amused that TomTom always chooses the Interstate as the fastest way and am obliged to ignore the directions to "turn around". On one occasion TomTom failed to resolve an intersection where there were two right exits, one to get on the Interstate going south, and another one in about 100 feet going north. We needed to go north and TomTom sent us south.

I have found that its instruction that a left turn is coming is very helpful and timely. And the direction to "keep left" has saved me from an untimely exit on several occasions.

Overall, "fairly pleased."

I pay as I go for Verizon Navigator since I only need a GPS a few times a year. It has most of the same features as a "real" GPS including voice recognition where I just say Pizza Hut. It finds hotels and restaurants and gives me the phone number so I can call and make reservations. There are no upkeep costs and only one piece of equipment for me to carry. Once it didn't work in Louisianna and I called customer service and they gave me verbal directions and were very pleasant. It is only $2.99 a day or $9.99 a month. You can turn it on or off from your phone very easily. I can get a lot of months for the $400 you spent. A friend loaned me their GPS (don't remember the brand) to try but it was more difficult to use. Verizon gets my vote. Hope you find a solution.

I bought a Tom Tom One a couple of years ago, and it is has been a love-hate relationship.

I was cautioned about not buying map updates (not worth the $$$) and have not. I have used the unit to navigate from Florida to Colorado to Chicago, to Boston and back to Florida (and to specific points within specific cities along the way) and the unit got me there- eventually- and I think most "detours" were minor- not like the Camden NJ one (but who wants to go to Philadelphia anyway? Consider it a feature ).

Actually I HAVE used it to not only get to Phila, but to specific points within the city, and as an ex native I know it did it fairly well.

But in my (now) native Florida, it has taken me to some dead-ends miles from where I was supposed to be.

I know there are only a couple of data bases used for all GPSs, and when my "One" dies, I honestly don't know what brand I will choose.

Bought a Garmin some time ago and it could not find any satellites! I was stuck with Dorothy in Kansas forever. Returned it for a refund. Got a TomTom One in the US with US and Canadian maps loaded on it. Works fine in both countries.

Why do you need a GPS? Can't you read a map? There are several services on the net that will give you turn by turn directions and maps from any address to any other address, for free. I have been "lost" in 20 countries driving a car or a motorcycle and a few times it was the best part of the trip. Be an adult. Make your own decisions. Ask directions. What a concept.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Dang it... why didn't I think of that? A good old fashioned paper map... I feel like such a jerk. If only maps could talk, warn you that your exit is approaching, and tell you where the nearest gas station was, and give you phone numbers, and route you around traffic jams. Maybe someone will invent a paper map that does all that cool stuff.

I bought a Garmin Nuvi 265W refurbished for about $130. It does everything you wanted your TomTom to do, and does it well. The one minor issue I had which needed Customer Service* was resolved quickly and correctly via email. Sounds like you got a bum deal.

* The minor issue was that the unit reported it's in-service date to be 5 months in the future, thus making it difficult to get my free map upgrade. Problem solved within 24 hours with only one email message.

I got my TomTom 125 for $59 refurb, and it has worked flawlessly.
It get the links every time and has all the POIs I've asked it for.
They have a good website, and, as a computer tech, mu experience with customer reps as a whole is dismal, not limited to any company. There are exceptions, but most are poorly trained and unprofessional.
However, I'd buy another in a minute!

I use a Garmin Nuvi 255 which I love. It is an upgrade from my previous Garmin streetpilot, which I also liked. No gps is perfect, but we have used both units throughout California and Puerto Rico, and they work well. We find that having the GPS (especially in Puerto Rico) takes all the stress out of driving in unfamiliar territory. Even if it takes you on a back road, you know you will eventually get to your destination.

Dear Bob,

You are a techy guy, you should have bought Garmin in the first place. Not that it is without any problems, but based on popularity you know.

I have had a TomTom 720 for more than a year and early on realised I had made a big mistake. I had a new job that meant I was driving all over Scotland. The OS version when I bought it was OK and on the first free upgrade I noticed that every time i plugged or docked the TT into my PC it told me I had to restart my TomTom and if I did't some features would be impaired. Restarting my TomTom made no difference. The the volume control and sound quality on the MP3 player did not work and was worse. I used their on-line help service and their advice was to reset and re-install all software on 720 and PC.

The fix they suggested managed to change things so that on switch on, the Tomtom logo and drum sound effect no longer ran so it was difficult to determine when to release the switch on button. The MP3 playback was distorted at the high end. The MP3 volume control was ineffective when playing through the radio transmitter. The audible voice instruction for the unit speaker no longer worked. This did not change when I change the type of voice. The map directions are good fortunately.

I voiced my concern that what started as a firmware upgrade to improve operation has resulted in a continuing growing list of things that didn't work and asked for a complete and effective solution.

They gave me a list of instructions ending with the warning that "if you do not have a backup to restore and you have lost the CD, a repair fee may be applied by our Repair Centre to reflash your TomTom with the Text-to-Speech as the software is not covered by the Warranty. For more details on our limited Warranty, please view the following link:- http://www.tomtom.com/legal/?Page=Warranty"
Which I thought was less than helpful.

They then gave me instructions that led to me downgrading the OS back to the original version. Most things were restored.
Joy.
I was happy to have an operating unit because I needed it every day. Since then (1/4/08)I have not upgraded the firmware for fear of it screwing the unit. It still occassionally refuses to switch on and occassionally offers unusual routes. The bluetooth hands free link is temperamental, no matter what phone I use. Unpredictably when calls come through there is complete silence when i try to answer meaning that I am distracted from driving and keep a wired hands free lead handy.

So that's the story so far. I bought the market leader and a top of the range unit. Sometimes I feel like throwing out of the car window. I can't afford to buy another one and if I ever can, it will not be a TomTom. K

Well, I have a Tom Tom One...I found it very intuitive...never bothered to read instructions (not even sure if it came with any)...It has always gotten me where I wanted to go....I do home inspections all over southwest Florida...never a major hitch although a few hiccups I admit. It is the only GPS I have ever owned....I did use a relatives Garmin once when I was in France....I stayed lost with it. The Tom Tom maps are too expensive and that is why I didn't take it to Europe with me....Even at half their price I may not have purchased the maps.

If you have not already bought a TomTom DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT buy one! They are pretty bad, I had a similar experiences as Bob mentioned above, strange back road routes to no where and not being able to find Kinko's or the local mall. Constantly seeing the screen say "POI not found!" is infuriating. I also do not like the way it tells you to turn in so many yards but does not give the street name either in text or vocally. *shakes head* I guess that is what I get for not reading reviews first...