The Good The Bad....and the Not So Bad

[topgazza]

For the purposes of chatting, if you like, about the perils of buying Sat Nav today. There are three main suppliers I suppose...TomTom, Garmin and the Navman amongst the all in one sat nav products. Can't speak much for Navman but TT and Garmin seem to have contradictory problems.

TomTom...good mapping but rubbish, company, support and product updates. Far to many problems with their current update and a company who seem to care less about its customers. Better off coming here for support. Bit hit and miss whether you have a good experience or not with the product and they seem to be dumping older models, refurbs, on the market with teh same potential experience.

Garmin - good mapping again...perhaps not quite as good as TT but close enough. Seem to have similar issues with updates and complaints of lagging when driving on the newer models. Better cust support but thats not saying much.

This is very unscientific and I note that many people have widely different experiences with any and all of the problems. There is a consistent....inconsistency...in these products and companies. My personal view is that the addition of all the gizmos such as bluetooth, voice recog and FM have only added to the complexity of the software and the devices are struggling. The whole basic thing of sat nav map direction almost seems to have taken a back seat (pun intended).

I have just canceled my order for a refurb TT720 because totalpda have not delivered it in 3 days even after me paying a high £11.65 for delivery. I will sit and wait to see what happens in the market although I expect the pattern to continue and this ignores the many who have no problem with their devices. But for something that I use from time to time I just expect it to work and not go back to being a software engineer again. I had Co-Pilot 5 on my old PDA and had very little problem with that...I then had TT6 on my Nokia E61 and that worked a treat....I wanted an all in one so the whole family could use it.....I'm not so sure now
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TomTom 720

Nokia Lumia 800 with Nokia Maps, iPhone 4S with Apple Maps (sigh)

[mikealder]

Go and have a look at the XL 22 from TomTom, it doesn't have the bells and whistles, but as a nav unit they are great. I used one for a few months and have to say it never crashed, it just worked without a fault.
Great screen devoid of reflections, nice speaker volume - OK so it doesn't have the IQ or IQ2 Routes, FM Tx, Bluetooth, Handsfree or mp3 player but what it does do is work very well for navigation - Mike

[topgazza]

Thought about that Mike. I do like the 720 because of the TTS and can disable the FM/BT.....had a play around with one as you recommended it before and it felt very easy to use as did the XL. It would still be my fav....

In reality I guess the update issues will never go away regardless of what model you choose. It just seems that these companies just do not do any meaningful testing. It really comes down to the support people get here to make the whole thing bearable. It's remarkable...TT, Garmin all seem to have these problems...its a fairly mature market now and its inexcusable. I'd love to ask what TT say about this but as with Co-Pilot before they will never put their hands up...which is a shame becuase they would gain a lot of kudos and sales if they did and worked harder on the firmware. Programs like the Gadget Show never mention the software problems when they push this technology..nor do the mags. They should. In most cases people can get a distorted picture from web sites because , generally, its posts from people with problems...which is quite right of course. In this case though there is some justification for concern. What on earth do people who don't know PGPSW exists...I presume they return the sat nav to the shop....explains alot of the refurbs appearing.

I'll check the XL 22 again...but that 720 keeps calling me.
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TomTom 720

Nokia Lumia 800 with Nokia Maps, iPhone 4S with Apple Maps (sigh)

[mikealder]

[topgazza]

And thats the shame. The 720 still looks good and I could use it on the old maps and they would be fine. A lot of companies who make technology stop supporting older models for possibly the very reason the x20s are having problems. New firmware and software requires the more up to date technology in new models. Maybe TT are trying to "have their cake and eat it"

Maybe "we" are as well. We buy kit and don't want to hear a couple of years later that we can't have the latest functions. Its a difficult call for a manufacturer but to me thems the breaks. Its when it happens too often or too soon that you have to question the policy of the manufacturer

Updating maps to cope with new roads and changes should work on any device and should never be a problem. Maybe the likes of TT and Garmin etc should just be up front and tell people that at any given point future improved functionality will not be available for your device, where thats the case, but improved maps will be. I'd accept that after a decent period of owning a sat nav.
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TomTom 720

Nokia Lumia 800 with Nokia Maps, iPhone 4S with Apple Maps (sigh)

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