Not overly impressed by Tomtom 720

[Ambrosius]

Well I decided to take the plunge with the tomtom 720. I used to have the magelan 360 from costco but after having it for over a year an no map updates I gave up on it and decided to upgrade my map by buy a whole new GPS.

The problems I have had so far:

1) My neighborhood is not mapped at all. When I am in my neighborhood it looks like I am driving on empty lots.
2) It has roads that don't exist, having to remove these manually.
3) So far I have mapped it to three destinations.
Destination 1: OK getting me there but it said that the location was 1/4 mile further up the street.
Destination 2: same as destination 1.
Destination 3: It was a POI to Target, it told me to get on the freeway, but it never told me to get off. Luckily it was just a test and I knew where I was going so I got off the freeway where I was supposed to and got to my destination otherwise I would have over shot my destination.

One of the reasons why I got the tomtom 720 is because of its mapsharing capabilities but I never realized how much work the end users where needing to do to keep the maps up to date.

Ambrosius.

 

[Robm]

Well I decided to take the plunge with the tomtom 720. I used to have the magelan 360 from costco but after having it for over a year an no map updates I gave up on it and decided to upgrade my map by buy a whole new GPS.

The problems I have had so far:

1) My neighborhood is not mapped at all. When I am in my neighborhood it looks like I am driving on empty lots.
2) It has roads that don't exist, having to remove these manually.
3) So far I have mapped it to three destinations.
Destination 1: OK getting me there but it said that the location was 1/4 mile further up the street.
Destination 2: same as destination 1.
Destination 3: It was a POI to Target, it told me to get on the freeway, but it never told me to get off. Luckily it was just a test and I knew where I was going so I got off the freeway where I was supposed to and got to my destination otherwise I would have over shot my destination.

One of the reasons why I got the tomtom 720 is because of its mapsharing capabilities but I never realized how much work the end users where needing to do to keep the maps up to date.

Ambrosius.

hhhhmmmm, I am new to TT as well and have had a magellangps 700 for about 4-5 years until it just gave up and I had to get something. I had always heard great things about TT and figured I would give it a shot. I have not had the same issues that you describe so far. Where are you located, in the states or what country? What version of the maps do you have? Did you install the Home software and make sure that the maps were the latest and greatest...check the latest map guarantee. After you do all of this and nothing changes, you either have a defective TT or it just doesnt like where you live...

Good luck

rob

 

[kenca]

I agree with you Ambrosius I have similar problem even with the latest map for canada. Lots of errors like missing streets, wrong street name, routing is such big time. Tomtom even lead me to a dead end because of map error. There is one road in my area that end on one side of the river and continue on the other side where you have to go around to a major road to cross the bridge to get to the other side tomtom just doesn't know the road end and tell me to go straight on that road (i would if my car float over the water lol). Therefore I return my 720 after 3 weeks.

 

[Ambrosius]

You are right Rob it probably doesn't like where I live. I live in El Paso TX and I do frequent updates to the tomtom.. I have the latest maps, 7.1 US 2g maps. I like how customizable the tomtom is and can see its potential. I hope it gets better.

 

[Medic]

Just a reminder that you should not rely on your TomTom for navigation, you should always have a backup. Roads change all the time, roads are added or closed.

Remember to utilize your mapshare to get errors corrected. I also recommend reporting the map errors to TeleAtlas at http://mapfeedback.teleatlas.com/

Cheers,
--Phil

 

[Ambrosius]

Just a reminder that you should not rely on your TomTom for navigation, you should always have a backup. Roads change all the time, roads are added or closed.

Remember to utilize your mapshare to get errors corrected. I also recommend reporting the map errors to TeleAtlas at http://mapfeedback.teleatlas.com/

Cheers,
--Phil

I understand about road closures or additions, but it should at least tell me when to get off the freeway to reach your destination.

I just tried another address and used the demo to show me the path of the route. It gave me a ridiculous route. It had me leave my house, turn right, turn into a another neighborhood, then out of the neighborhood, back past my house and ahead to the destination. Why didn't it just tell me to turn left to the destination instead? ODD!!!

I am afraid that in a strange town that you don't know your whereabouts, that the unit may take you into dangerous parts of town (neighborhoods) instead of taking you directly to your destination.

Routing logic is just not where it needs to be for a product like this. I hope that they can do some future updates that help resolve this. Unfortunately returning my tomtom is not an option, otherwise I would have done it by now.

 

[sam0329]

Same problem with my 720 and Garmin 760. Whenever I Navigate to "home" from my company s parking both device will direct me to a highway next to me ad than tell me to make a "U turn". And its non sense because I have to make a right turn and then right turn again to get to that highway and its like a block away from me. However if I wait until I hit a "Road" than both device show my almost identical correct route. I always confirm other people 's problem with both device so that I can try to understand the "error".

 

[Tryton]

I have the one Le, and I have found that she don't like left turns. lol, it would rather make me go around the block rather than down my road and out to the main street., but all in all it hasn't been too bad. Yeah the poi's are sometime alittle off, etc. Keep this in mind. There is NO perfect GPS. There only as good as there maps, now that tomtom has purchased teleatls, as well as having map share, you will have the best one. + This is one of the only gps's I know of that has such a huge following, so you can always get help (Like this awesome forum!) I want to get a 920, my one is great but I want hands free calling and all the other cool stuff. I know this can be a real pain in the ass, but since you cant return your unit, try to make the best of it. Remember it will only get better with age. Like us

 

[dhn]

Also, there may be different results depending upon whether you set the route for Fastest or Shortest. Test routing both ways.

 

[flyer1024]

Yes, a GPS is only as good as it's maps and the maps in my Tomtom are pretty darned poor. Yesterday drove to my sisters community in Nova Scotia and was surprised to see the tomtom missing every turn in town. On close inspection every street, every poi...everything in that community....the whole town.... is off by 50 to 100 yards depending on which direction you're driving. My sisters whole subdivision about a half kilometer off from it's actual location.

Enroute to her hometown the unit wanted me to drive about 50 kilometers further around an extended route because portions of the secondary highway I wanted to use were not on the map. I've been driving that route for more than 40 years and only some of that road is on the map.

On my return home last night I took the Trans Canada highway to check the accuracy there and again a section of that road which has been in existence for ten years or more is not on the map. The unit is useless in that section of northern Nova Scotia!

I'm disgusted! MY old garmin has all of those roads and I've been using it in the same area without problems for years. Those people who disagree with my experience luckily must live in areas where the maps are useful.

I've already upgraded my tomtom maps in hopes of a cure, but while that upgrade corrected some problems near my home, I discover more each time I take it out. I have to say the newer (675) north american maps find most of the POI's I look for but almost always locates them some distance away from their actual location.

I'm extremely reluctant to buy the latest 710 maps as I seriously doubt these errors will be addressed in that version.

And mapshare isn't any use. How would I move a whole community 100 yards further west?

I'm disgusted!!

 

[Ambrosius]

I am planning on providing my feedback to tomtom support on every discrepancy. Hopefully they will start fixing some of their errors. Here is a generic email they sent me after I sent them my concerns:

Dear


Thank you for taking time to report your comments on the map data of your TomTom product. Your feedback will be sent to our supplier of digital maps.


TomTom aims to provide you with the most current and highest quality maps available in Europe, North America and Australia and your feedback is one important part in meeting that goal. Unfortunately, at this moment we cannot keep you informed of the progress, e.g. if your issue will be solved in the next upgrade or update.


Please do not reply directly to this e-mail.

For questions and information concerning TomTom products, please visit http://www.tomtom.com/support


Again, thank you for sharing your feedback with us.



Best regards,


TomTom Customer Support Team

 

[Boyd]

Sounds like the Canadian coverage isn't what it should be. I've used a 720 and a 920T in Philadelphia, New Jersey and the New York City area and found the maps are very good - comparable to Garmin's (have driven over 100,000 miles with Garmin GPS'es). In fact, one thing I particularly like is that the one way streets are marked with arrows when you zoom in. Garmin's maps don't show that kind of detail.

I'm curious - did you try the 720 in a store before you purchased it? When I decided to switch to TomTom from Garmin I spent quite awhile at Best Buy playing with the different versions from TomTom. I was specificially interested in browsing the maps in the area around my home since I am so familiar with those roads. If the coverage had been poor I simply wouldn't have bought it.

This is one advantage to buying locally instead of on the internet. Saving a few dollars on a GPS is a small consolation if you aren't happy with the product. Caveat Emptor.

 

[shed]

i agree, i bought mine locally and the map is spot on, i have just loaded the 7.10 free upgrade and will test tommoz

 

[flyer1024]

I bought my tomtom at best buy on a trip to the US last October. A friend of mine has had a new Garmin for a while and it was so much faster than my old Garmin GPSV I decided to get a new unit.

Frankly I liked the tomtom operation and size better...so I bought it. I was dumb enough to assume that a new unit would have at least the map quality I was used to in a ten year old unit.

The BIG selling feature was the touted detailed door to door navigation in the US AND canada. None of the Garmin units in the store had canadian maps.

I did browse the maps in the store for some time and found my son in law's address. I had no way of knowing then that would be one of the many many POI's not where the tomtom says they are.

Frankly there were less problems with the maps when I was in the US and it took me flawlessly from city to city...BUT there were some poi's which caused a problem on that trip, notably one where the unit failed to take me to a restaurant for a farewell breakfast with the grandkids. My wife still has not forgotten that one! The POI was in the unit and since we had done it before with the older GPS I never expected any problems getting there.....My wife cried most of the first day on our way back to NS.

I've had some flack here for expressing my disappointment with tomtom. Even accused of posting inaccurate information, but my experience is exactly as stated. My experience with an old Garmin map is far far better than that with this new tomtom! Tomtom maps are poor! I'd like to use a stronger word!

 

[lec510]

I prepare before I leave home, GPS or not, rely on one tool, you brace for surprises.
TomTom gave you headaches, Garmin can give headaches of another type or in another area.
Even topnotch search engines like Google have problem sometimes.

 

[Ambrosius]

I prepare before I leave home, GPS or not, rely on one tool, you brace for surprises.
TomTom gave you headaches, Garmin can give headaches of another type or in another area.
Even topnotch search engines like Google have problem sometimes.

You say that as if mediocre service should be expected and accepted.

 

[Boyd]

Personally I think lec made a good point. You should never be completely dependent on a gadget like a gps. I always have paper maps or directions if going to an important meeting. Couldn't you have just called and asked directions?

If everything is as you describe I can understand why you aren't happy with your GPS, but having a "plan B" could have helped avoid the problem.

 

[flyer1024]

The problem with a GPS is that you get used to using it, especially when it works for you. You're right, plan B would have been better our last day In the Phillie area. But I'd gotten used to running around the area with the garmin for a few years and it'd worked pretty well for me, including going to this particular restaurant. of course because of this I can't take you anywhere down there from memory.

I'm retired and the first thing I did back then was dump the cell phone. Never needed it until that day. My daughter in law and the kids left the driveway the same time we did and having GPS which worked there before shouldn't have been any problem. the restaurant was listed in the tomtom...ditto for the garmin. difference was the tomtom didn't really know where the restaurant was....nor unfortunately did I. separated in traffic, no cell phone...well we never made that breakfast. Don't ever, ever, anywhere tell your wife how great the thing is....she'll only remember when it isn't!

In Nova Scotia I don't need any GPS...but you all know they're fun to run with....you get arrival times etc, always know where on your drive you are...despite fog and rain....or as is happening at this moment snow. I have it in the car most of the time. Should leave it on the dresser, wouldn't be quite so unhappy with it.

 

[geocacher]

Maybe TT needs to use a different mapping company? You would figure that a road that has been there for years would be on the most current map available.

 

[quartztser]

Maybe TT needs to use a different mapping company? You would figure that a road that has been there for years would be on the most current map available.

What different mapping company? They ALL have their problems