Using TomTom Go for walking?

rkm_hm · Posted: Mon Nov 29, 2004 12:06 am Post subject: Using TomTom Go for walking?

I have just bought a TTG for in-car navigation, but would be interested in also using it to navigate when walking on unmapped moorland etc.

Is there any way in which a TTG can be used like a conventional GPS for displaying the compass bearing and distance of a specified waypoint (POI) from the current position?

If not, does anyone feel that this would be a useful feature to request in a future software release? Even better if it could maps tracks and forests etc. in national parks such as the Lake District, Peak District or New Forest.

Regards,
Roger

lbendlin · Posted: Mon Nov 29, 2004 3:27 am Post subject:

The GO is specifically designed for street navigation. It is not suited for what you want to do off road. It's also a little too bulky to be carried around.
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rkm_hm · Posted: Mon Nov 29, 2004 2:04 pm Post subject:

I am aware that it was designed for street navigation - but when you pay 400 quid for a device, you want it to do as much as possible - rather than having to purchase seperate devices for other navigational applications!

Whilst it is certaining a bit bigger and heavier than a conventional GPS, it *could* be carried in a walker's pocket to get a fix when lost.

If it had a bit more general navigation capability it could be used in-car by off-roaders - or even in a boat to navigate from A to B over open water. Any such capability would then be useful to walkers.

nej · Posted: Mon Nov 29, 2004 4:21 pm Post subject:

For that kind of thing either a hand-held mapping GPS or a PDA with Memory-Map would be best.

If that's what you wanted it to do then it would've been worth doing a bit more research. A PDA with GPS and TomTom could have been had for the same price as the GO (maybe even cheaper), and would also have given the ability to load memory-map and so on, giving a good multi-functional device.

rkm_hm · Posted: Mon Nov 29, 2004 4:58 pm Post subject:

No, the principal requirement was for an all-in-one in-car device for which a PDA with bolt-on bits would have been less good.

However, that doesn't stop me also saying " wouldn't it be nice if . . ." etc.

If enough people think this way, who knows what might appear in future software releases!

I'm sure that, at the moment, Tomtom can sell all they can make. However, there may well come a time when they need a few more bells and whistles in order to keep ahead.

I am simply trying to flag up possible functionality extensions which they may care to consider.

VeloVenom · Posted: Mon Nov 29, 2004 5:05 pm Post subject: se Tom Tom Go for Walking?

Last week I returned from Zeebrugge on the North Sea Ferry to Hull. As I was in an outside cabin I placed The Tom- Tom go on the window ledge and was able to check the progress of the ship across the North sea. The speed was showing as 18mph and the progress up the Humber was facinating to watch. This proves that you would never be lost at sea as long as you have the correct map installed. With the Map of Europe selected the coastline was readilly visible both sides of the crossing.

Graham
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TomK · Posted: Mon Nov 29, 2004 5:32 pm Post subject:

TTG will show your current position in Lat & Long. With a good map - never lost.

TomK

nej · Posted: Mon Nov 29, 2004 5:35 pm Post subject:

rkm_hm · Posted: Mon Nov 29, 2004 5:53 pm Post subject:

Don't suppose you asked it to navigate you to a point on the mainland whilst at sea, did you?

I would be interested to know what it would do under those circumstances.

Whilst it can tell you where you *are*, I'm not sure that it can tell you how to get somewhere else when there are no roads to drive along.

VeloVenom · Posted: Mon Nov 29, 2004 6:27 pm Post subject:

Don't suppose you asked it to navigate you to a point on the mainland whilst at sea, did you?

gingernut777 · Posted: Tue Nov 30, 2004 7:06 am Post subject:

rkm_hm · Posted: Tue Nov 30, 2004 10:51 am Post subject:

DavidW · Posted: Tue Nov 30, 2004 7:02 pm Post subject:

Go is sold as a street navigation device. TomTom software on the Pocket PC doesn't do some of the things mentioned here - such as working with OSGB positions.

If you want to use your setup for walking, you'd be better off with a Bluetooth Pocket PC, a Bluetooth GPS and software such as Memory Map 2004 (as well as TomTom Navigator 3 or similar for street navigation use). The alternative would be a Mitac Mio 168 and TomTom Navigator 3 - which, by the time you've bought an SD card, probably costs around the same as a Go.

It is highly unlikely you're going to see any of the capabilities wished for here on Go. It's a proprietary platform running a customised Linux kernel, and it's built to run the TomTom street navigation software supplied with it and not anything else.

If you want a general purpose device, buy a general purpose device. I appreciate the argument that all the necessary hardware is there for other applications, but Go was never designed to be an extendable platform from a software point of view.

David

gingernut777 · Posted: Tue Nov 30, 2004 7:44 pm Post subject:

mjd · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jan 05, 2005 Posts: 1

Just a thought, from the status display you can view lat and long, so you have 2 options, mark your maps with lat and long, or use a program to convert them to OSGB. It's probably not what u want to hear but, at the end of the day it's a door to door device for in the car. A good OSGB device is the Garmin etrex, for about 80 quid! I use it a lot for off road stuff in and out of car and it's an angel. I wouldn't expect the TTG to be too rugged in the outdoors in the rain and after being dropped a few times who knows (the etrex bounces pretty well!).

All the Best!

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