TomTom GPS vs Garmin

[HikerToo_imp]

I saw this new motorcycle specific TomTom Rider MSRP of $400
http://www.tomtom.com/en_us/products/your-drive/motorcycle/#tab:highlights
That compared to the outrageously expensive Garmin Zumo's which go from $600 to $800
I know iPhones have GPS functions, but a dedicated GPS is always nicer to use...plus the one for our car needs to replaced...
Anyone have thoughts or experience on either the TomTom Rider or Garmin Zumo's?
Motorcycle GPS Navigators | GPS Navigation Motorcycles | Garmin

 

[A440_imp]

I investigated these before a solo trip. I'd been using my Android phone to navigate when necessary, but I was interested in a dedicated GPS for when I was out of cell phone range. I also wanted to plan my own route and have satellite weather. The Zumo 665LM comes with these features, but is an older model and I hesitated to spend so much on older technology (with lukewarm reviews). The latest Zumo has weather and traffic only through a smartphone app--not much use when you're out of cell phone range. In the end I purchased the Copilot app for my phone. It took about 30 minutes to download all roadmaps for the US; after that I had no need to access phone towers. The app has a motorcycle mode that will route you the long way round. It works OK, but I must admit I usually just study a paper map.

 

[ClassicVW_imp]

I saw this new motorcycle specific TomTom Rider MSRP of $400
http://www.tomtom.com/en_us/products/your-drive/motorcycle/#tab:highlights
That compared to the outrageously expensive Garmin Zumo's which go from $600 to $800
I know iPhones have GPS functions, but a dedicated GPS is always nicer to use...plus the one for our car needs to replaced...
Anyone have thoughts or experience on either the TomTom Rider or Garmin Zumo's?
Motorcycle GPS Navigators | GPS Navigation Motorcycles | Garmin

Funny. I just received my TomTom Rider last week. I installed it on my Honda NT but only used it once on a trial run. This may be because I took delivery of my CB1100 around the same time! I haven't ridden the NT or used the GPS since! I plan on purchasing a second mounting kit from Tom Tom so I can swap it between both bikes.

For my uses, only a few trips a year, I figured the Rider was a better use of my checking account. I also found an eBay seller and bought one brand new for only $339 which pushed me further in the. TomTom's direction.

 

[HikerToo_imp]

Well, let us know how you like it, also how you mount it and which wires you splice into for the power.
I'm used to Garmin's.......but can not justify those prices, crazy.

 

[AzBob_imp]

I have a Garmin Nuvi 2495LMT. I think they retail for around $200 (edit: apparently, they're barely over $100 now). It's not a motorcycle-specific model, however, it gets bright enough to see in the glaring Arizona sun at midday (if it's hooked up to power, it's even brighter, but I haven't done that, yet). Also, while it doesn't say it's "glove friendly," the touch interface works fine while I'm wearing my gloves. I wouldn't really want to type on the thing while riding because the virtual buttons are small, but if you set your destination before you leave, then there's no need to do anything while riding other than follow the prompts. It has Bluetooth, and if it happens to rain, just throw a ziplock over it. In addition to being brighter while hooked to power, it also has traffic when configured that way (the traffic antenna is in the power wire).

 

[the Ferret]

I have a Tom Tom for my ST and a Garmin for my truck. Both seem to get me where I need to go.

 

[Cormanus]

I have a Tom Tom iPhone app which works fine. It doesn't require network access as all the data is stored on the phone. It cost less than $100.

 

[Barkingshins_imp]

I have a Tom Tom iPhone app which works fine. It doesn't require network access as all the data is stored on the phone. It cost less than $100.

Just took in the peek in the App Store and saw that the TomTom U.S.A. app that I think you're referring to is available at a promo price of $24.99 right now... usually $49.99. There's also a 30-day trial version of the app available for $0.99. I may have to give it a try.

 

[HikerToo_imp]

I have a Tom Tom iPhone app which works fine. It doesn't require network access as all the data is stored on the phone. It cost less than $100.

Just took in the peek in the App Store and saw that the TomTom U.S.A. app that I think you're referring to is available at a promo price of $24.99 right now... usually $49.99. There's also a 30-day trial version of the app available for $0.99. I may have to give it a try.

Just took in the peek in the App Store and saw that the TomTom U.S.A. app that I think you're referring to is available at a promo price of $24.99 right now... usually $49.99. There's also a 30-day trial version of the app available for $0.99. I may have to give it a try. I guess for this to work properly on a motorcycle you would need some kind of blue tooth device so you can hear the directions as they are announced by the phone? Maybe a Bluetooth headset like this and my iPhone is the best solution. Bluetooth Communication for Motorcycle Helmets - Intercoms & Speakers - RevZilla

 

[wildezt_imp]

I have the zumo220 (now expired model) Garmin ..it cant manage between 2 Bluetooth connxns.. i guess the new ones can but they are $$$

 

[Barkingshins_imp]

I have a Tom Tom iPhone app which works fine. It doesn't require network access as all the data is stored on the phone. It cost less than $100.

Just took in the peek in the App Store and saw that the TomTom U.S.A. app that I think you're referring to is available at a promo price of $24.99 right now... usually $49.99. There's also a 30-day trial version of the app available for $0.99. I may have to give it a try.

Just took in the peek in the App Store and saw that the TomTom U.S.A. app that I think you're referring to is available at a promo price of $24.99 right now... usually $49.99. There's also a 30-day trial version of the app available for $0.99. I may have to give it a try. I guess for this to work properly on a motorcycle you would need some kind of blue tooth device so you can hear the directions as they are announced by the phone? Maybe a Bluetooth headset like this and my iPhone is the best solution. Bluetooth Communication for Motorcycle Helmets - Intercoms & Speakers - RevZilla

Just took in the peek in the App Store and saw that the TomTom U.S.A. app that I think you're referring to is available at a promo price of $24.99 right now... usually $49.99. There's also a 30-day trial version of the app available for $0.99. I may have to give it a try. I guess for this to work properly on a motorcycle you would need some kind of blue tooth device so you can hear the directions as they are announced by the phone? Maybe a Bluetooth headset like this and my iPhone is the best solution. Bluetooth Communication for Motorcycle Helmets - Intercoms & Speakers - RevZilla
I suppose that would be the ideal setup but, I wonder how necessary voice prompts really are. Not sure which one scares me more... having audio in my helmet that could be a distraction or having to glance down at phone/GPS periodically to know when turns are coming up. Then there's the additional cost of the Bluetooth device. I'll probably start with just a phone mount and a USB power port and see how it goes. Who knows... I may find that all of the GPS options available are more of a distraction than I'm comfortable with.

 

[Cormanus]

Barkingshins, check out this post.

The guts of it is that, on Pterodactyl's recommendation, I bought a set of Bose noise cancelling in-ear headphones to deal with high levels of wind noise in my helmet. One of the reasons was that I wanted to be able to use them to get voice instructions from my GPS app on the occasions (pretty rare) that I use it. I've attached the phone to the bars with a Lifeproof mount and it is relatively easy to see, but it is not nearly as effective to have to look at it as it is to get voice instructions and look if there is some ambiguity.

Having started from the position that I didn't really want to listen to music on the bike, I now have it playing lots on long rides. If the GPS app is running, it interrupts when it needs to.

 

[Offroad]

I'm glad to see this post.....I ran into problems using my Android when riding east and south of Knoxville, TN in the national parks there, including of course, the dragon, skyway etc. I mounted a water resistant 12 volt / 5 volt USB on my handle bars and ran the wires under my tank to my battery. Worked out great except when out of cell phone tower range.....so I was wondering if a truly GPS unit would work up in those hills and mountains?
I use a "Riggs-Nelson" tank bag I saw first on this forum that has a phone and GPS tilt up zipper pouch with a clear window that works pretty good...I could see it pretty easily when riding, but sometimes I would be happy to pull off just to see where I was at.
I was lost once going up out of Gatlinburg, TN (it was a STILL a nice 60 mile ride on extreme curvy roads) and the cell phone was not much help....a GPS unit would have been nice!

 

[Cormanus]

offroad, it looks like Tom Tom makes its app for Android as well as the iPhone. It's big—around 250MB—but I find it works well. I've also found the turn-by-turn feature in Google maps a bit of a problem in that I can't seem to get it to let me use waypoints. I've a suspicion it doesn't need the network once you've loaded the route, but I've not really tried it as I've had the Tom Tom app for about 3 or 4 years.

 

[HikerToo_imp]

I'm wondering on the ones that download the map to your phone, how it can track your exact position if it does not need or have cell contact, how would it know where you are ?

 

[rboe]

I use the TomTom app on my iPad. Works, but the screen is so big I've gone back to the dedicated TomTom GPS.

 

[Cormanus]

I'm wondering on the ones that download the map to your phone, how it can track your exact position if it does not need or have cell contact, how would it know where you are ?

HikerToo, these new fangled smartphones have a dedicated GPS chip which, while it works better when it has cell contact, can work OK without it.

I use the TomTom app on my iPad. Works, but the screen is so big I've gone back to the dedicated TomTom GPS.

Haven't figured out how to mount the iPad on the bike yet. I see people have car mounts for them, partly so they can use the GPS apps.

 

[AzBob_imp]

I'm glad to see this post.....I ran into problems using my Android when riding east and south of Knoxville, TN in the national parks there, including of course, the dragon, skyway etc. I mounted a water resistant 12 volt / 5 volt USB on my handle bars and ran the wires under my tank to my battery. Worked out great except when out of cell phone tower range.....so I was wondering if a truly GPS unit would work up in those hills and mountains?
I use a "Riggs-Nelson" tank bag I saw first on this forum that has a phone and GPS tilt up zipper pouch with a clear window that works pretty good...I could see it pretty easily when riding, but sometimes I would be happy to pull off just to see where I was at.
I was lost once going up out of Gatlinburg, TN (it was a STILL a nice 60 mile ride on extreme curvy roads) and the cell phone was not much help....a GPS unit would have been nice!

A GPS (or a cellphone with the maps downloaded previously) works perfectly as long as it has clear line-of-sight to the sky. The only reason a phone GPS may not work so great is usually the map data are downloaded dynamically, so if the data connection drops (usually due to not having cell towers near by or being blocked by mountains), then, while the GPS chip and radio in the phone can tell you your coordinates, it can't plot them on a map because it doesn't have and can't get the map data; dedicated GPS devices always have the maps on the device.

 

[Elipten_imp]

But you can get apps and download the maps in advance so no need for cell or wifi. I use one for my travels all around the world. Just requires planning in advance.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Cormanus]

As I said earlier the Tom Tom app comes complete with the maps so they're on board the phone all the time.