What sorts of POIs do you have visible on your TomTom?

[grcboy77]

Just for a bit of discussion, what sorts of POIs do you show on your TomTom? For example, I have gas stations and fast food. How about you?

 

[grcboy77]

I think my screen looks too cluttered with too many POIs, I am just wondering which I should show and if I'm missing any...

 

[- et -]

I think my screen looks too cluttered with too many POIs, I am just wondering which I should show and if I'm missing any...

The two categories that you list are probably the two that have the most locations per square mile, so you are rather likely to be getting a cluttered screen in an urban area. Personally, unless I have a need at a specific time, I uncheck the display of almost all POIs, and normally the ones that I DO display are custom files that I may have downloaded from web sites such as this one.

When taking a trip that involves driving on the Interstate, I enable a custom POI file called Rest Areas. If I am in a strange area and in the mood for a specific type of food, I will enable display of the appropriate custom POI file such as "BBQ Restaurants" instead of just displaying a generic "Restaurants". Both of those files in this example happen to come from another web site that specializes in POI files created from inputs of people like you and me. No matter what your preference of subject matter, there is almost certainly a POI file somewhere on the Web that will have that as its focus, so just figure out what is important to YOU.
- Tom -

 

[canderson]

I think my screen looks too cluttered with too many POIs, I am just wondering which I should show and if I'm missing any...

You have the advantage of being able to turn them on and off at will, but we have found that on some models, if you turn on too many, it slows down the ability of the unit to render the map and hurts performance generally. On the whole, most of us only turn on the POI that are relevant to us more often than not, and then, only when we don't already know where they are. For example, if you are a Starbucks addict, and are traveling around home where you know their locations, there's really no need to turn those on. But if you're in a part of town (or a different city altogether) where you don't know their location, it might be handy to enable them for that period of time.

 

[grcboy77]

Tom what web site has those good POIs for download? Thanks.

 

[dhn]

Try these:
http://www.gps-data-team.com/poi/
http://www.pocketgpsworld.com/tomtompoi.php
http://www.poi-factory.com/ <-- you have to register but it is free

 

[grcboy77]

Thank you very much for all your help

 

[- et -]

Try these:
http://www.gps-data-team.com/poi/
http://www.pocketgpsworld.com/tomtompoi.php
http://www.poi-factory.com/ <-- you have to register but it is free

Yup, there are other places, but these are the best that I have found that are still alive. (There was a very good site in Canada that folded up a couple of years ago.)

I tend to use POI-factory almost exclusively, but that is probably as much habit as anything else.

- Tom -

 

[Andy_P]

My POIs....

Kept visible all the time - All PGPSW Speedcams

Ones that usually get turned on automatically when I do a "Navigate to" - Friends and Family. Walking and birdwatching sites

Ones that get turned on manually when I need them - Petrol Stations, Cash Machines, Supermarkets, DIY stores and Electrical/computer shops

 

[grcboy77]

Andy wheres a good site for speed traps etc in Canada? Do you know? You seem to have better sites for this in EU and UK

 

[dhn]

http://www.gps-data-team.com/poi/canada/safety/index.php

 

[Andy_P]

^^ Wot he said ^^

You could also try PocketGPSWorld too, they do have data for the US and it's pretty good, but they are probably better in the UK/Europe