If you are thinking about getting a TomTom one, be aware that the majority of them seem to be taken back to stores for a replacement. The errors:

-Cannot read the card/card is corrupt
-Complete freezing
-Wont turn on

You are told to press the reset button, which only sometimes works. If it does, then you havent lost any data - its the equivelent of rebooting a pc.

The problem persists almost every other time you turn it on.


Thats just half the problem. The next problem is TomTom themselves.

They requested we sent it to them for repair, so we did, recorded delivery. After 3 months, they cant find the damn thing.

Every email we send them, they reply with "we will look into it.". They never answer the phone. So far were at a stage where, they've lost the TomTom, and they wont do a bloody thing about it, not even giving us our money back. Dixons dont want to get involved.

A google search found others with serious problems with their customer support - they only seem to react if you threaten them with legal action, and even then they seem to have a poor understanding of the law.


Halfords told me that out of 20 TomTom's sold, 17 have been returned with the SAME problem. On the other hand, out of 12 Garmin's sold so far, only one has been returned, because the user dropped it in a puddle.

If you do get a TomTom one, good luck. Im unsure if it only happens to the regional version (TomTom UK), but it is such a common problem (which TomTom have been aware of for a good while now).

Diagmato said:

If you are thinking about getting a TomTom one, be aware that the majority of them seem to be taken back to stores for a replacement. The errors:

-Cannot read the card/card is corrupt
-Complete freezing
-Wont turn on

You are told to press the reset button, which only sometimes works. If it does, then you havent lost any data - its the equivelent of rebooting a pc.

The problem persists almost every other time you turn it on.


Thats just half the problem. The next problem is TomTom themselves.

They requested we sent it to them for repair, so we did, recorded delivery. After 3 months, they cant find the damn thing.

Every email we send them, they reply with "we will look into it.". They never answer the phone. So far were at a stage where, they've lost the TomTom, and they wont do a bloody thing about it, not even giving us our money back. Dixons dont want to get involved.

A google search found others with serious problems with their customer support - they only seem to react if you threaten them with legal action, and even then they seem to have a poor understanding of the law.


Halfords told me that out of 20 TomTom's sold, 17 have been returned with the SAME problem. On the other hand, out of 12 Garmin's sold so far, only one has been returned, because the user dropped it in a puddle.

If you do get a TomTom one, good luck. Im unsure if it only happens to the regional version (TomTom UK), but it is such a common problem (which TomTom have been aware of for a good while now).

Click to expand...

Oh Shoot.
Just bought one and waiting for delivery. Ive looked into all of them, and Tom Tom came out well. Regarding yours. If you bought it from Dixons, as they are an agent for Tom Tom [they sold it you], then legally they are oblidged to be involved. Under the current law, a company has a limited time to put your goods right, or they must refund you or replace new for new. And you will proberly be entitled to compensation if you took legal action.
I knew i should of bought a Garmin!!

Andy.

Yes this is true, we have very very few Garmin units back, out of the 50 or so we sell every week. So far we've managed to fix every one in store by just resetting the unit and the user hasn't had a problem since. TomTom's and Navman's however are in a completely different world, both of which we have problems with. Navman's customer service is better than TomTom's, but nothing like Garmin's

I'd rather pay the extra money for the Garmin C510D (£20 or so) and get a wholly better unit, with better features, better mapping and is backed up by great after sales service. Did you know, if you go on holiday, whether it be via plane or boat, guess what satellite navigation gets you there?... You've got it... Garmin

Just been reading some forums, and it seems there are updates to fix known problems. Once these are downloaded, the unit works ok. It mainly a software problem.

Andy.

No problems on the two Tomtom One units I have access to, both V2, one europe, one UK only. I use them in preference to my PDA w/ tt6.

Diagmato said:

They requested we sent it to them for repair, so we did, recorded delivery. After 3 months, they cant find the damn thing.

Click to expand...

Well you'll be able to claim back something with the Royal Mail, if you sent it recorded then only £32 as thats the limit of the cover, they send a legal document to the company asking them if they have it or not. Just been through this with Pixmania. Or see if they have received it!

If you sent it special deliver you should be covered for the full amount.

Get onto customer services after conformation via royal mail that they received it tell them you want a FULL refund plus costs.

Did you know, if you go on holiday, whether it be via plane or boat, guess what satellite navigation gets you there?... You've got it... Garmin

Click to expand...

Apparently the military use the same system which Garmin uses - its more accurate than TomTom (2 feet, instead of 12 feet), and uses 100% of the GPS satellites available, instead of TomTom's 60%. It also uses EGNOS, which seems to allow the device to find GPS even when inside a building with 5 floors above you.

Just been reading some forums, and it seems there are updates to fix known problems. Once these are downloaded, the unit works ok. It mainly a software problem.

Andy.

Click to expand...

Tried the updates, but it made it far worse . After applying the updates, the device wouldnt even reset. I followed the instructions to the dot.


With regard to Royal Mail, will certainly chase that up! Right now its as if ive paid £390 for a GPS device (the TomTom, then the replacement Garmin) - its not Garmins fault though.

Things I preferred with the TomTom:

-Directions are clearer - it tells you to keep left, keep right more often than the Garmin, and tells you which exit on a roundabout youll need whereas Garmin only tells you when youre entering the roundabout
-TomTom knew about FAR more points of interest
-Far more portable - flat screen
-Could charge by connecting it to the PC, rather than only from in car

Things I prefer with the Garmin:

-For the first three months, you get speed camera notifications, then after that, its £20 per year - TomTom is 35 euro's per month for the same service (from what i remember)
-Garmin seems to be able to tell your speed more accurately than the car! The Punto seems to add 10% to the speedometer. Ive tested the Garmin in a Corsa, and the speed was spot on. Only way I could trick it was to accelerate or brake hard
-Garmin allows for different vehicle sizes, so it wont guide a truck down a tight road (i cant remember if this was true with the TomTom)
-Can see the screen even in direct sunlight

Diagmato said:

Dixons dont want to get involved.

Halfords told me that out of 20 TomTom's sold, 17 have been returned with the SAME problem. On the other hand, out of 12 Garmin's sold so far, only one has been returned, because the user dropped it in a puddle.

Click to expand...

If it was bought from Dixons then your contract is with Dixons. Sale of Goods Act.

If 17 out of 20 have been returned, perhaps there is a manufacturing fault affecting a batch? It's unlikely that a product would be released if it was ALWAYS that unreliable.

I've had a Garmin eTrex for years now, for walking (not that I've done much of it recently). I also have a TomTom Go700.

The impression I get is that Garmin is a GPS receiver company. Over the last few years their products have evolved to include mapping.
TomTom is a mapping/navigation device company, whose products happen to contain a GPS receiver.

Though they aren't comparable, the Garmin has been got wet, knocked, dropped, and taken down a ski slope at 68mph! Wouldn't like to try any of those with a TomTom product (except maybe the Rider).

H

sinse the lauch of the tomtom one GB in my store we have had 16 returned... and in one month we sold 100.

In my experience Tomtom's customer support were incredible, infact i even sent them an email telling them that afterwards.

the screen went in my old tt1 after a year and a half (because i dropped it... but shhhh)

so i phoned them, and got an empty box sent down the next day, with a TNT bag (already printed and paid for) in the box, all i did was put the tomtom in the box, put the box in the bag and phoned TNT to collect it the next day.

had the unit back with in 7 days.

really are top notch.

when it comes to mapping data, tomtom uses a company called [cant remember will edit in a sec], which i have been told will only release maps with 96% completion. where are Garmin's mapping data will release at 83% completion.

I took this as PR blagging, untill i had a customer with a Garmin 660 (£400 worth) that didn't show their house in france. when i tested it on a tomtom the house was included.

i'm still not 100% sure about those figures.. 83% seems a little low to me. i'll ask the Garmin guy next time he's in store ..

Owen

hmallett said:

The impression I get is that Garmin is a GPS receiver company. Over the last few years their products have evolved to include mapping.
TomTom is a mapping/navigation device company, whose products happen to contain a GPS receiver.

H

Click to expand...

you are right, Garmin are the worlds leading company when it comes to sat nav. but never really marketed products for today's market... their market was more fishing vessels than audi's.

tomtom saw this and created products with more of the features that the general pubic want.

and managed to create these, and make a name for themselves before garmin realised what was happening.

now, garmin have released their MK2 range (310D 510D 660 etc) which have taken complaints about the old range of tomtom's and fixed them.

mainly size (still an issue with tomtom's)
and having to use an additional mic with the handsfree kit on the tt500 and 700.

i always find myself comparing tomtom to Microsoft
and Garmin to Apple... people buy microsoft products why... because they are advertised, because everyone else uses them, and because, lets be honest if you've spent £400 on a sat nav... your going to tell everyone it's indredible

Oxcide strange you should mention Garmin mapping. They use something called Navteq and the way they map data is to drive it. They have teams of cars around the UK and Europe who drive around new and changed roads day in day out using GPS trackers and voice recorded notes (for speed limits etc.).

After a recent update of my Garmin, 2 local roads that had changed updated on the unit - never ever had that happen on a TomTom.

We all have our different views, I personally prefer the Garmin's but hey everyones entitled to their own opinion

If TomTom found the one I sent in, and sent it back after having a good look at it, I wouldnt mind it in all honesty - it gave clearer instructions, and knew the road layouts a bit better. WIth the Garmin, its told me to turn left a few times, when in fact the road carries on that way. It seems to get confused if the road bends hard to the left or right, and if theres a give way entering this road on the bend.

TomTom seem to be investing alot more into customer support, but it really couldnt come fast enough. TomTom have caused such a headache with this problem, for a number of people.

The garmin frustated me the other day when I was in a rush to get somewhere - it happened to have every hospital EXCEPT for the one I was trying to get to (in the Penarth Road area, in Cardiff). It also has a much harder time finding postcodes.

I've just done a qucik bit of research, turns out NavTeq is a US company and is the No.1 in the US.

but Teleatlas is a european company, and among being cheaper is currently the No.1 in Europe.

Most of the sites i have visited state that if you live in the US use NavTeq

but if you live in europe use TeleAtlas.



Hope this clears it up.


and yesw yor right that is how the companies gain their GPS data. as shown here:

http://www.teleatlas.com/Pub/Products/MobileMapping/index.htm

and here:

http://www.navteq.com/ (click "no.1")

Ive just had a weekend in Leeds, and the Garmin really sent us some terrible ways.

It insisted we took a long country road which looks as if it has never ever been maintained - the pot-holes were just EXTREME. The road actually seemed to be a far longer route than when we took a detour (this was around Otley).

The Garmin complained there was a traffic alert on the route, yet where it was, there was no traffic problems at all. About 2 hours further along, there was quite a big traffic build up, enough to grind a motorway to a standstill. Yet the Garmin wasnt aware of it.

We were told that Garmin couldnt be fooled, yet even when we came off a roundabout, it didnt realise this until we had been off the motorway for roughly 2 mins. The TomTom was never that confused.

Im very undecided now - just wish tomtom werent being so awkward.

Diagmato said:

Ive just had a weekend in Leeds, and the Garmin really sent us some terrible ways.

Click to expand...

Well it took you to Leeds!
H

hmallett said:

Well it took you to Leeds!
H

Click to expand...

TBH i'm suprised it wasn't nicked whilst you were in the traffic jam...

hmallett said:

Well it took you to Leeds!
H

Click to expand...

haha, true, true .

Although Leeds did look pretty tidy from what I saw of the city - around the Hard Rock cafe area. Were some nice scenic routes further out from the city.

Strangely, the road with all the pot-holes was called "Buckle Lane". No joke! Perhaps its name was a hint to what the road would do to the wheels

What you have to remember is that the Garmin, nor the TomTom can pick up on the state of roads and then decide not to take you down them. That road would have been driven by a Garmin Mapping Car at some point and probably when it didn't have that many pot holes. The Garmin isn't fool-proof - it uses the RDS network to pick up on traffic alerts, so it's up to the big organizations like the AA, Police and the local road authorities to update the information on the Network. If they don't update it's not the Garmin's fault... don't shoot the messenger so to speak

Tom Tom were taken to court recently by Garmin and lost big time

I have used the V2 since it was released with no problems

i keep mine updated,you can also change the splash screen and other stuff

not sure if you can do that with the garmin

bazza660 said:

Tom Tom were taken to court recently by Garmin and lost big time

Click to expand...

Over what? Also, losing 'big time' - how is this different to just losing?
Recent cases are: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/12/28/tomtom_wins_us_lawsuit/
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/11/02/tomtom_loses_design_case/

H