Are cheap TomToms really this rubbish?

Are cheap TomToms really this rubbish?

Author
Discussion

jurbie

Original Poster:

2,338 posts

200 months

Thursday 7th June 2012
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I have 2 satnavs a Tom Tom 1 third edition and another one which included European maps. Both have recently died and attempts to revive them by unplugging the battery and the various other fixes have failed so I guess it's time for a new satnav. I'm not interested in fancy bells and whistles I just what to install my own POI files and have the satnav help me find them so I'm looking for something that would be a direct replacement.

I was very happy with both my satnavs so I am looking for direct replacements but it seems all the new generation models in the £100 - £150 price range seem to be plagued with all kinds of software problems ranging from not enough memory for full European maps to simply being incapable of finding satellites.

Have Tom Tom really got this bad or have the problems been resolved? The satnavs I've been looking at are the Start 20 and the XXL Classic 5 but the reviews on Amazon and other places are really quite scathing and it does seem to be a luck of the draw thing whether you get one that works or not.

Is it worth looking at a different brand and if so how easy would it be to convert my POI files?

M3DEV

1,434 posts

194 months

Sunday 10th June 2012
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I have just gone from an old Garmin to a XXL Classic 5".
Build quality seems okay and some features are good, but I have to say the screen definition is absolutely c**p!
My old Garmin was clear and defined in any light conditions, but the Tom Tom has no screen definition at all!
I have tried all settings any ideas from Tom Tom experts?

Apache

39,731 posts

283 months

Sunday 10th June 2012
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I have a TomTom Classic and it's dire, I wouldn't bother

VR46

289 posts

142 months

Sunday 10th June 2012
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Garmin is much better tham tommy tit.

robsa

2,253 posts

183 months

Sunday 10th June 2012
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I hate my TomTom, it taken eons to boot and gets confused if leaves gently float down toward my car...

Apache

39,731 posts

283 months

Sunday 10th June 2012
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Another thing to remember with TomTom is they will happily rip you off when you try and do an online update with an old machine, I did this and was told (after I downloaded it for £49.95) that it will not work on my unit. Needless to say there was no response from customer support fwiw. AVOID!!

lestershaw

1,591 posts

157 months

Sunday 10th June 2012
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ive got an app called satnav 2 on my ipad and iphone. i think for the money its very good. not as slick as the main tom tom machines. but for a total of about £9 you get the app, and nearly every map you will ever need, includes more or less the whole world in maps for about £7 even as a back up i think its well worth it
Les

John_W

121 posts

232 months

Sunday 10th June 2012
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jurbie,
I'm on my 3rd TomTom and it's their last chance.

My original TomTom one (6 years old) eats batteries at a prodigious rate (they are replaceable if you take it apart, but they don't last long) and really only works if it's plugged into a power source. Standalone battery life is measured in seconds. Also it's UK only and effectively obsolete as far as updating is concerned (not a problem in Scotland with the rate new roads get built - I could still probably navigate using my father's 1960s RAC map).
5 years ago I bought a Garmin before a family holiday abroad because it had european maps and was cheap. It's still on its original battery, lasts an hour unplugged and I've never had a problem with it.
18 months ago I bought a TomTom XL because my wife prefers the interface. It lasted a year before it died completely - no battery life (OK I could live with that) and then it just stopped finding satellites (searched the web, tried all known fixes). It's as though it knew that the guarantee had just run out.
I replaced it with another TomTom XL at my own expense, but if this one goes belly-up it's bye-bye Tom Tom and my wife will just have to get used to Garmin.
John

Pooky67

577 posts

158 months

Sunday 10th June 2012
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I love my Tom Tom! I don't use it very often, only a few times a month, but it's quick and easy and works well. I updated the firmware a little while ago and now finds satellites almost instantly after switching it on! It's a XL Classic by the way.

I was thinking of selling it and just using Google Navigation on my Samsung Galaxy S2 but it's much easier using a proper sat nav.

MrBrightSi

2,912 posts

169 months

Sunday 10th June 2012
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When i decided to buy my own satnav, i went from borrowing my fathers very classic tomtom to a garmin thing with a wide screen. The difference between something at the budget end and something in the mild to mid range is unbelievable. Spend a few £ more and live an easier life with satnav woe.

croyde

22,641 posts

229 months

Sunday 10th June 2012
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I have the old original Tom Tom, the one that looks like an old CRT television set, cost £500 new and only came with the UK but you can add other countries at a cost. It still works and is absolutely fine.

Apache

39,731 posts

283 months

Sunday 10th June 2012
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croyde said:
I have the old original Tom Tom, the one that looks like an old CRT television set, cost £500 new and only came with the UK but you can add other countries at a cost. It still works and is absolutely fine.
No you can't, see my previous

Lordglenmorangie

3,053 posts

204 months

Sunday 10th June 2012
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On my second Tom Tom, the first one was dire and eventually would not switch on , seeing as I was in the South of France a replacement was necessary to get home ( I would still be there otherwise) had to buy a Tom Tom as all that was a available.
The new one is just as bad as the old one, on ocassions will not start up.

I am not a fan grumpy

HereBeMonsters

14,180 posts

181 months

Sunday 10th June 2012
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I've had two - an original from about 2002 and a One XL from about 2005-ish?

The original one (no idea of model number) got that bug where it turns itself on for no reason, and then starts to direct you, but in a really slow, haunting voice like it's possessed. I forgot to tell this to my mate who I lent it to for his camper van trip around Europe. Of course the first time it did it was when they were parked up in the middle of nowhere, he'd gone off to get firewood in the dark, and his missus was alone in the van.

The One XL however is still working perfectly. Needs a map update - so it may be cheaper just to get a new device tbh - but other than that, works well. Takes a while to boot up and find the satellites, but I'm alright with waiting 2-3 mins to save myself a couple of hundred quid on a new one.

In fact, when replacing it, I'll probably try some of the iPhone apps first.

2.5bluenob

1,620 posts

175 months

Monday 11th June 2012
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I just purchased a tomtom for about £200 and although its got good features. the reason i bought it was for a road trip to poland. and on the german/poland border it stopped working. i think iot got to hot as the back of it was really hot as was my windscreen. I was stting myself as we were still a few hundred miles from our destination and didnt have a clue how to get there. 30 minutes of driving with it held out of the window and it finaly worked. I do feel that it has been a right let down.
steve

croyde

22,641 posts

229 months

Tuesday 12th June 2012
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Remember when we used road atlases biggrin

I think its becoming a lost art.

mmm-five

11,217 posts

283 months

Tuesday 12th June 2012
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croyde said:
Remember when we used road atlases biggrin

I think its becoming a lost art.
It's a bit more difficult to prop the atlas on the dashboard though, and doesn't warn you of speed cameras/traffic either.

croyde

22,641 posts

229 months

Tuesday 12th June 2012
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Agree about the speed cameras but in an 'emergency' just 5 mins with a road atlas and jot down the main directions on a post it note and stick it on the dashboard. That's how I survived as a courier in the 80s for nearly 10 years. biggrin

I know myself that using my Sat Nav has made my brain turn to mush and I just rely on it too much. I remember passing the road that led to a friend's village with my then wife shouting that I had missed the turning as the Sat Nav had told me to continue. Blind faith had made me believe that it knew better and that's why we ended up parked by a field 5 miles away. I had input the postcode incorrectly.

So in the 80s it was a Road Atlas and post-its to get me across the country, pop into a services that had a WH Smith to look at and memorise the route to the exact location (I had got fed up of buying local A to Zs by then)and finally ask a couple of passers-by directions. Pretty easy and it worked in Europe and the USA, well for me it did anyway. biggrin

mmm-five

11,217 posts

283 months

Tuesday 12th June 2012
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Can't really blame the satnav for making people stupid - those same people would probably get lost using a paper map, or cause a crash as they've got it on the steering wheels trying to navigate & drive at the same time.

I still use my large scale paper maps to plan routes - especially for my hoons - but I plot that info into the satnav so that I can concentrate on driving and not worrying about stopping every 5 minutes to check that I'm on the right B road through the hills. It's also useful for showing me the road ahead, so that I know there's a twisty section coming up.

For longer journeys then it's purely there to advise me of traffic/cameras/diversions/changes to roads/etc. and I won't blindly follow the satnav.

Mine is stuck to the shiny dash on the passenger side of the car at about radio/air-con height, so it's also not directly in my line of sight, and any instructions it gives are taken in an advisory context only.

croyde

22,641 posts

229 months

Tuesday 12th June 2012
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I have seen people that have it stuck on the windscreen directly in front of their face. Maybe they get surprised when they realise that it doesn't show them the other cars or pedestrians biggrin