Tomtom,garmin user experience

[john877]

Hello all

I am tempted to buy a Garmin 760 in preference to a Tomtom 720 despite it being over £70 more .

1 --I wonder if the extra outlay is worth the cost ??

2--- With Tomtom acquiring teleatlas can we expect better mapping in the future from Tomtom as at the moment tomtom maps are not very up to date even after paying for the latest maps are garmin more accurate??

3---- I have a tomtom 700 and I find the directional next turn on the status bar very useful but the garmin does not have this!!but has the next turn direction on the top of the sat nav in writing do any members who have used both garmin and Tomtom miss this feature( I know you can tap the garmin to get a panel with the next turn )

4 ---Tomtom sell more sat navs in Europe than Garmin I would think !!!but is reliability as good as garmin as you seem to hear more faults with tomtom !!! is it really just down to more sales

!! I know the forum gets swamped with requests of which is the best sat nav and it may be a personal choice but you cannot beat user experience

Many thanks for any help or advice anybody could give me

[philpugh]

I swapped from TomTom (Nav 6) to nuvi 660 one yer ago - I will try to relay my impressions

[john877]

philpugh

Thank you very much for your reply

The Tomtom 720 in halfords for £175 was just too tempting especially as it would have cost me £40 just to update to the current maps on the Tomtom 700 I have !!but once again thanks for taking the time to reply

[Andy_P]

john... I think you've made a good choice, but can I make one suggestion?

If you intend using the "hands-free" phone features at any time in the future, it would be wise to check it all works NOW.

The one major problem with the 720's has been a quite large number have had a fault where the caller at the other end cannot hear you, often accompanied by a loud buzzing.

If you have that problem, take it straight back and get it swapped, as Halfords can be a little "difficult" with returns after a few days. (You would be perfectly within your rights to take it back later, but if a fight can be avoided by checking sooner, it's worth it!)

[john877]

Thank you Andy P2002 for the tip

No the hands free is not something I would use but when passed onto another member of the family they may use it .
After reading about the "latest map guarantee" saga on the forum I was hoping by now all the niggles would have been sorted out .

Thanks for your reply

[Andy_P]

They may well have been....
I didn't want to alarm you and I've not heard anyone have the problem who's bought one recently.
Just thought, as you say, it might be something you don't check straight away but might need one day.

[john877]

Thanks Andy

[john877]

My love affair with the Tomtom 720 lasted just 2 days

Yesterday I decided to do any updates on the sat nav that needed doing after reading Andy_P2002 suggestion to check the device over .
After backing up in home first I downloaded the updates only to find the update had corrupted the software ( the dreaded red cross).

After an attempted reset which did not work!! and a restore of the back up which also failed the sat nav was returned to Halfords and I was given the option of a refund or new Tomtom .
I took the refund and will now get the Garmin 760 as reading through the many posts this does not seem like an isolated case

I have used the Tomtom home software before so I do not think you can put it down to a user error
I really liked the Tomtom720 as it had every feature which I wanted so it was disappointing to have to return it

[mikealder]

It is a little late to say this now, but for the benefit of others,

DO NOT TRUST TOMTOM HOME SOFTWARE

To backup the device, this software is very hit and miss in operation, if the R&D department want to fix something they should start with this flawed PC package.

It doesn't support MAC users in its latest incarnation, neither will work with a PDA correctly, users with a PNA and PDA have to have two versions installed to get updates, users of MACs have to deal with customer support - I won't use it full stop, my reasons are that I simply don't trust it to do anything correctly - Mike

[john877]

I was aware of the poor reputation Tomtom home has !! but I have used it before for updating maps ,adding voice warning for the speed camera data base ,etc and never had a problem on the old tomtom 700 I had .

Also not being that computer literate I thought it was best to leave it to Tomtom home and if there software messed it all up its down to them .

Thanks for your advise and its a shame that they could not get there act together and spoil a good sat nav with substandard software

[john877]

Thank you " mikealder" "Andy_P2002" "philpugh" for all your good advice which i took on board.
I decided to have another go at the Tomtom and picked a Tomtom 520 up from john Lewis for £159 using a £20 discount code which I found .
I did what I was advised to do and backed up in windows rather than home I then put it straight on a high speed Sd card which I had spare .
With the spare card in the GPS the new back up which is on the card is now recognized as another map so its a belts and braces solution.
I connected up to tomtom home and updated to the latest software etc and all went without a hitch this time .
I am waiting a little before I do the latest map guarantee update as the map is 7.05!! as I will see if they release a new map version in the next three weeks .
But once again thanks for everyone's help

[Robin2]

I wouldn't keep your backup on the SD card, in case it becomes corrupted. Copy it to your PC in case you need to restore it to your device one day
Robin
_________________
TomTom One v3 Europe, Navcore 7.903, Western Europe 835.2420
TomTom Go 720 Europe, Navcore 8.351, Western Europe 855.2884
Satmap Active 10
Plus a lot of other PDA GPS kit, seldom used

[john877]

Hello Robin

I did also keep a copy on the PC as well and I will probably burn it to a disc just in case

Thanks

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