Save location

[AHENDLER]

I had a Garmin that if I was at a location you could touch the screen and you could save and name that location as a favorite. Just got a Tomtom 340xltm and can't seem to do that. Is there any way to save a location you are at without the address:
Alan

 

[dhn]

You have full menus on that model so:

Manage favourites-->Add favourite-->current location.

 

[billconant]

Tap the screen
Tap "Add Favorite"
Tap > the triangle to go to the next menu page
Tap "My Location"

That should do it.

Bill

 

[mikealder]

Make sure that you are located on a road when you do this or the device will store the location but the next time you try to route to it the unit won't be able to compute a route - This is important for car parks and such like, you would be better to store the entry point of the car park where you leave the road rather than when inside the car park as you will be off the map as far as the device is concerned - Mike

 

[vlbaindoor]

Make sure that you are located on a road when you do this or the device will store the location but the next time you try to route to it the unit won't be able to compute a route - This is important for car parks and such like, you would be better to store the entry point of the car park where you leave the road rather than when inside the car park as you will be off the map as far as the device is concerned - Mike

Aha!

Let me recount the experience I once had.

I had marked my location while I was inside a car park (and where the GPS signal was just lost a few seconds ago) and then I wanted to navigate back to my home - and the Tom Tom told me that it could not find a route! I had to drive my car some distance away and park is safely while GPS signal was still available and then start the route calculation process all over again.

So this is a very useful point to note.

When you want to mark your present location, make sure the device still has GPS signal - if not move away - on foot to a location where the GPS signal is available and then mark the location.

If the location is marked when either the GPS signal is lost or when the device is unable to show a proper map of the exact location then marking such location is pointless.

Tap the screen
Tap "Add Favorite"
Tap > the triangle to go to the next menu page
Tap "My Location"
That should do it.
Bill

As such this is still not as convenient as simply tapping the screen and being offered an option to save present location - this is what Garmin allows you to do. But not sure whether Garmin is able to find route from any such location - as against Tom Tom which seems to have above mentioned limitation.

I no longer have my old Garmin with me - would have been interesting to try it myself.

Garmin also had a feature where I could find the nearest parking lot (whether or not any space left there was not handled) but I could get to parking lot near the destination in a strange town. But Tom Tom has this feature hidden away as POI and even more hard to navigate to.

 

[canderson]

Aha!

Let me recount the experience I once had.

I had marked my location while I was inside a car park (and where the GPS signal was just lost a few seconds ago) and then I wanted to navigate back to my home - and the Tom Tom told me that it could not find a route!

Actually, I think that Mike is referring to a normal "car park" where it's all open space, but your point is also well taken. But even the roof of a multi-story car park won't work if it's far enough from any mapped road.

Once you are far enough away from a road you won't want to try to lay in a "point" there. Your TT will not be able to find a route to it later.

I had a friend with a new TT take his unit out to a new race track in Byers, CO. The track had just been built and the one mile road up to the track from the highway wasn't on any map yet. He set his "favorite" at the track itself when he finally arrived. That point was out in the middle of nowhere per the map.

The next time he was planning to visit the track, he chose to Navigate To and his favorite that he'd located at the track, and was told "No route found".

It takes nowhere near a mile to get the TomTom confused in that way about a Favorite, so exercise care. A hundred yards can cause it. If in such a position, you always want to mark the point where your TomTom still sees itself on a road on the map somewhere.

 

[vlbaindoor]

Once you are far enough away from a road you won't want to try to lay in a "point" there. Your TT will not be able to find a route to it later.

I agree fully - but can't stop wondering what a Garmin would do under such circumstances.

Is this an area where Garmin has a small advantage over Tom Tom in terms of routing?

When I had my old Garmin, I do remember using this "tap the screen and save as a favourite" feature. And can't remember having to take care of it being part of mapped road etc before marking it as favourite. As I remember I used to mark positions like that and navigate back to that point without much difficulty.

I think the difficulty comes because the navigational capability of Tom Tom seems to be mainly "road and vehicular" whereas Garmin is more of a general purpose navigational aid - without much emphasis on either vehicular or walking routes.

While I had been in Paris recently, I tried to use the Tom Tom to get to nearest Underground Metro station and it always used to give me directions based on motorable roads - even though I had selected the option to show me walking route.

The Tom Tom seemed to direct me onto the main roads even though there were pedestrianised lanes etc close by - so much so that I wanted to ask for directions from nearby people or look at road signs rather than rely on Tom Tom.

Due to this after one or two more attempts I gave up and I had my Tom Tom with me all the time (as a just in case aid) but did not switch it on at all.

 

[dhn]

Selecting a Walking Route may result in the TomTom taking you the wrong way on a 1-way street.

 

[vlbaindoor]

Selecting a Walking Route may result in the TomTom taking you the wrong way on a 1-way street.

Well, if that was the only change that is done to routing algorithm then the routing is useless for walking.

My point is that for walking the device should be able to plot a route not only through roads that are the wrong way for a vehicle - but also possibly up the steps or narrow lanes which can not be done using a vehicle etc. Which means the map should be so detailed.

But the Map in reality probably does not have so much detail and hence relies on motorable roads.

The other point is possibly that Garmin device is able to plot such a route - as Garmin seems to have a legacy of being a device of choice for people who explore the countryside on foot - at least with their old legacy devices.

May be Garmin being a very general purpose routing device is a drawback when it comes to specialised vehicular routing which is what Tom Tom seems to be.

So it may be that Garmin is a more general routing device meant for walking as well as motoring whereas Tom Tom is specialised for Motoring and hence better for that purpose.

All of this is just educated guess nothing else. People who have some experience in developing such routing may be able to give better analysis.

 

[canderson]

My point is that for walking the device should be able to plot a route not only through roads that are the wrong way for a vehicle - but also possibly up the steps or narrow lanes which can not be done using a vehicle etc. Which means the map should be so detailed.

... and they are in some places. Have you ever noticed "roads" on your TomTom that have purple dashed lines? Those indicate that they're either close to vehicular traffic or are in fact walking paths. Switching to ped mode allows my 720 to send me down those routes.

The other point is possibly that Garmin device is able to plot such a route - as Garmin seems to have a legacy of being a device of choice for people who explore the countryside on foot - at least with their old legacy devices.

Don't confuse their handhelds with their automotive gear. The closest thing they make in an automotive unit that really works as a "dual purpose" device is the Nuvi500/550. Only the handhelds (and not all of those) are really useful for both trail and road routing, but the screen size is a problem for a lot of folks. Trying to use one for the other's purpose is inevitably a compromise.