Tomtom Rider experience?

[Whealie]

In the market for a replacement Sat Nav and called Garmin to check if the later models have enough memory and can cope with European maps. Because they are designed for the US they cannot cope with Europe. My Garmin 660 had just 4gb of internal memory so could not take the European maps. Nor could it process the close-knit city streets or even some motorway junctions fast enough. It went back, was replaced, went back and was tested and then they told me why. There was nothing wrong with it, it was just designed for US road maps. The entire US has fewer roads than Europe.

Anyway. I called this morning and they refused to say how much memory was in the new units. Yep - refused. Amazing. I recorded the call so if you want to listen, feel free. https://audioboom.com/boos/4650258-garm ... s-products

So I am thinking of switching to Tomtom Rider 410 Great Ride. Anyone any experience of it, or Tomtom in general?

 

[Ian Porter]

I've no experience of that model but I have it's predecessor

my first one went faulty and had to be replaced but since then has worked fine

can't really say any more than it does what it's supposed to,

the advanced planning using "Tyre" take a bit of getting used to but once you have got the hang of it it 's fine

I pre-planned a two week tour of Scotland and had no issues at all

the battery life isn't what it used to be after being powered on my bike for the best part of 25,000 miles but that's not an issue if it's plugged in all of the time

 

[Lutin]

Just plugged my Garmin Zumo 340LM into my computer and it reports that there is 4.6 GB used of a total of 7.7GB.

This model comes with practically the whole of Europe - Sweden isn't covered . Extra maps can be installed by installing microSD cards.

It also does the bluetooth connecting to phone malarky and there's a traffic reciever add-on apparently.

The "LM" in the model name indicates LifeTime map updates - the small print indicates that LifeTime equates to 30 years.

Got mine from Aldi for £200.

Not used it in anger yet, just had it switched on whilst I've been bimbling about.

 

[austin]

I have a Garmin montana and currently have all of USA, Canada, UK Discovery (ordnance survey 1:50,000) and an OSM UK Map spread across an 8gb card and the devices internal memory (4gb IIRC). I borrowed a card off Stuart that had all of europe on it so it can be done. Garmin don't really recommend more than 8Gb card but I have read on many forums that 32gb works fine if a little slow on start up.

I do agree with you on the device's processing pwoer/speed. Even at a modest mph speed where turns follow in quick succession the routing can quickly get left behind. I think that's the processor not the memory though.

The only experience I have of a TomTom is following Phil whisky drinker when he has his on "twisty roads" setting. We have had some great rides just following the sat nav on this, long rides mind, but we got there in the end.

 

[Rubberchicken]

I've got a zumo 220 and a 590 and they come with plenty of maps. Sure it's possible to confuse the thing if you take a few quick unscheduled turns, I thought that was a matter of "they all do that" and it's certainly gotten a lot better than the aging creaking StreetPilot III I started out with. That one was put on automatic recalculation at your peril and would need 5 minutes by the side of the road to get its bearings again.

That said, the 590 has a dim screen that's just a bit hard to read through a sunvisor and the software has grown a rather annoying quirk when used with premade routes. Where on some of the older Garmins if it turned out you'd put a waypoint in a field you could just drive past it and as long as you followed the route it would pick that up again. The 590 is relentless and will keep looping back to that "missed" waypoint until you stop and interact with the device. The process of manually skipping that waypoint is rather involved and I'm not quite sure I've figured it out yet. It seems to involve picking the next waypoint out of a list of names, none of which will mean anything to you if you plan your (scenic) routes the way I do. And it comes with a stupid mount which has more wires and plugs than the loom on my GS. Wouldn't recommend it...

They are sturdy units though. It survived my crash with just a scratch on the case, so I couldn't well claim it on the insurance and go try my luck at tomtom for a change.

 

[stuart]

Hi Chris, I've recently bought the latest rider, the free map handling software is not compatible with Mac and they have no intention of issuing the software that is, cheers

 

[Ian Porter]

Hi Chris, I've recently bought the latest rider, the free map handling software is not compatible with Mac and they have no intention of issuing the software that is, cheers

Are they still using "Tyre" for route planning

If so they have stopped developing it in favour of a web based app that's cross platform compatible

 

[Whealie]

Hi Chris, I've recently bought the latest rider, the free map handling software is not compatible with Mac and they have no intention of issuing the software that is, cheers

Cheers. That may have just saved me a lot of wasted money.

 

[Whealie]

TomTom tell me you can use My Drive Connect for all new devices. You use online maps to plan routes and save them to your email account. The TomTom connect via smartphone and updates whatever map data is attached to your email address. The instructions for My Drive do include Apple.

 

[-XP-]

Hi Chris, I've recently bought the latest rider, the free map handling software is not compatible with Mac and they have no intention of issuing the software that is, cheers

What? You've bought a TomTom? I feel faint...

I wouldn't buy another TomTom product if they were the last GPS company in the fekkin universe and my only other option was a 13th century map by candle light!

 

[stuart]

Garmin went tits up and I thought I'd see if they had improved because tom tom on the iPhone is pretty good, although they're messing with that now

 

[Richie B]

I have the Garmin Zumo 340LM like Lutin. Has pretty much all of Europe, free lifetime upgrades and has been awesome over the past couple of years I've owned it.

Also works well planning routes with Garmin Basecamp. Have also imported routes from Memory Map using OSGB mapping.

 

[Rubberchicken]

If so they have stopped developing it in favour of a web based app that's cross platform compatible

That'll be horrible on an aging and/or low-power computer then. Google seems to be the end all be all of online mapping at least when measured by the budget, and that has me wheeling out Chromium because it brings Firefox to a grinding halt. Not sure Tomtom would be better at it, nevermind wanting to bring the laptop and edit routes on a campsite in the Valley of No Reception.

 

[Chewbadger]

I've got co-pilot loaded on my iPhone, pretty pleased with it actually. Much better than the mystery tour free one I was using last year. Eh Ian?


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[Ian Porter]

I've got co-pilot loaded on my iPhone, pretty pleased with it actually. Much better than the mystery tour free one I was using last year. Eh Ian?


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Thank Feck you binned the free one

Although it's "easy" routing was different to say the least

 

[Chewbadger]

Thank Feck you binned the free one

I couldn't afford the petrol.


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