How good is TomTom Rider:

paddymick

Guest
I've just purchased a new 1200gs and have been thinking of adding a GPS unit. The TomTom Rider is going for £299 from Comet at the moment, is this a good enough unit and can I download all the data I'll need?

To be honest I can't see me going far out of the UK, I will be travelling in the Republic of Ireland so would like to be able to access data for there, will the TomTom allow this?

And finally is the TomTom easy enough to install?

Any thoughts greatly appreciated.
 
Personally I reckon its great... I used to have a BMW Nav II which got nicked (like a plank I left it on the bike !) and I couldn't afford another so I got the tomtom which I prefer.

Unless you're planning to go off road or you want to set out routes on your PC at home (which I don't think can be done on the tomtom) its as good as anything. Route finding is very quick,much quicker than my old nav II.


Only downside is the quality of the earpiece which is not great - mines wired into an autocom so I don't have that problem but its something to bear in mind. The bluetooth connection to the phone isn't great, but as a GPS unit I think its excellent.

Now standing by for abuse from garmin fans....>>!
 
Bugger TomTom, have you read this site?

I've just browsed through some of the horror stories on this site http://www.yournav.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=6512

Seems as if TomTom rider suffers from a serious mounting problem! I think I'll look at the Garmin range.

What really annoyed me about the posts on the above site was the way TomTom pretty much denied any responcibility for their own poor design. They even tried the old 'your the first one to report this fault' lie.

When a company responds like that to what seems a genuine and serious design fault I'm certainly not going to buy into their product.
 
I like it

I’ve had my Rider for nearly 6 months now and to be honest it’s been fine. The only ‘issues’ I’ve had with it has been the crap original fixing mount and no coverage of the Republic of Ireland. The fixing issue was remedied by using a RAM replacement and as for Eire… well; it’s back to a map!

I use mine in the car also and I can’t think of a time when it’s lost a signal or played up in any way. As they say - there’s always two sides to every story.
:)
 
paddymick said:
I've just purchased a new 1200gs and have been thinking of adding a GPS unit. The TomTom Rider is going for £299 from Comet at the moment, is this a good enough unit and can I download all the data I'll need?
Ask yourself this question; What is the purpose with having a GPS navigator on your bike?

Is the purpose only is to find the quickest way from your current position to a given address? Then you can buy any navigator including the TomTom. They will all do the job.

Is the purpose also to reach your destination on nice curvy countryside roads? Then it's only the Garmin models that will do the job. The reason for this is that it's only Garmin that supports detailed road planning on PC. What garmin to buy? Not very important. They are different OK but they will all do it.

:type
 
Serious question; do you guys actually use your GPS to plan your day/weekend rides ?
Why ?

I use my GPS only to find meeting points or obscure turnoffs.
And at the end of the day to get home quickly.
I deliberately do NOT plan my route down to every turn.

It is called enjoying the freedom of riding a bike.
Why would you do it any other way ?
 
Tom Tom uses teleatlas mapping for Ireland rather than Navteq which garmin use. Last time I looked TeleAtlas Ireland mapping was crap. Might have changed/be changing soon as they are rumoured to have done a deal with OSI and OSNI for digital mapping (the whole Island is already digitally mapped by these agencies) Naveteq do there own mapping which is pretty near complete for NI and fairly good for the ROI. Rumour has it that ver9 of the Garmin maps will have full Ireland coverage. For what its worth being able to pre plan interesting routes on the PC and download them into the GPS is a great feature I wouldn't do without. :) So I use a Garmin unit.
 
HMR said:
Is the purpose also to reach your destination on nice curvy countryside roads? Then it's only the Garmin models that will do the job. The reason for this is that it's only Garmin that supports detailed road planning on PC. What garmin to buy? Not very important. They are different OK but they will all do it.

:type

Not sure about Tomtom rider, but I use a PDA running Tomtom 5 (which I think is fundamentally the same software as Rider ) and it is quite possible to input a particular detailed route / rideout, including all the twisties by creating an itinery and using waypoints. This is something that can be done either at home on "out in the field".

On a recent tour of the Alps, my mate's Garmin was useless for this as

a/ we had no laptop with us and

b/ his Garmin (27something I think) has no internal battery so it wasn't even possible to put in the next day's circular route in the comfort of the pub.

We used the Tomtom instead......
 
I’ve just been away for a week on the bike with a TomTom Rider.
Initially it was great especially navigating around town and city roads (being a country boy I tend to get confused in towns).
But after two days it started cutting out continuously, at first I thought it was because the mountains and trees were blocking the signals but then I noticed it was happening with a clear view of the sky. When I investigated I found that the left-hand pin on the mounting was discoloured and the corresponding connection pad on the back of the unit had small hole in it. I came to the conclusion that there had been arcing across the connection and the hole was due to spark erosion. I tried cleaning the contacts to improve the connection but the damage is already done, it works fine on the internal battery but that’s no good when you’ve got four hundred odd miles to go. I would also say that the headset provided for helmet fitting is totally inadequate.
 
<<Mark_C>> said:
b/ his Garmin (27something I think) has no internal battery so it wasn't even possible to put in the next day's circular route in the comfort of the pub.

Next time suggest he packs the power lead with a plug on the end and then take a continental adaptor.

It's easy when you know how :D
 
BurnieM said:
Serious question; do you guys actually use your GPS to plan your day/weekend rides ?
Why ?
Sometimes but not always. My main purpose with up-front road planning is to aviod booring roads.

A typical example:

1. Plan a nice road to an area where I have not been before. Use the GPS to get there.
2. Ride around randomly i the area. Use the GPS to logg the roads.
3. Get home again on a alternative preplanned set of nice roads. Use the GPS to guide me home.
4. Downoad the logg to the PC. Create a nice trip in the area. Upload it to the GPS. Call a few friends and show them the nice roads in the area the next weekend.
:type
 
<<Mark_C>> said:
Not sure about Tomtom rider, but I use a PDA running Tomtom 5 (which I think is fundamentally the same software as Rider ) and it is quite possible to input a particular detailed route / rideout, including all the twisties by creating an itinery and using waypoints. This is something that can be done either at home on "out in the field".
This is a good point. For planning any PDA-based navigator should be better than most GPS-devices without sufficient user interface. In theory it should be possible to plan routes directly on a 276C or a SP2610 but, after spending many hours trying, I would say it's not! Even if the Garmin MapSource PC software is far superior todays PDA software for route planning it's not worth carrying a laptop on the bike.

<<Mark_C>> said:
On a recent tour of the Alps, my mate's Garmin was useless for this as
a/ we had no laptop with us
To benefit from the up-front route planning capability of the Garmins you really have to do the planning up front! :confused:

<<Mark_C>> said:
b/ his Garmin (27something I think) has no internal battery so it wasn't even possible to put in the next day's circular route in the comfort of the pub.
I agree. Battery power is one important reason for choosing 276C, 60CX or Quest. To my opinion carrying a 230V power supply will not help in the pub, in the TV-sofa, in the tent, etc. :type
 
BurnieM said:
Serious question; do you guys actually use your GPS to plan your day/weekend rides ?
Why ?

I have preplanned entire routes for several touring holidays throughout Europe, western USA and Morocco. Seperate route sections for each day etc..

I also pre-plan routes which mixed road and off-road sections.

I find it invaluable to look at all waypoints, places of interest etc.. when preparing a complex itinerary.

You can also prepare a route and share it with others.

If someone else takes me somewhere interesting then I "record the track" and save this/convert it back to a route for future reference.

If all you need to know is how to get to an address or postcode by the quickest possible route with no or limited via points (and that is all a lot of people use a GPS system for) then many of the cheaper PDA based, Tom-Tom or even the Garmin i3 will suffice.

If you want to do more, then Mapsource + a Garmin system is the only real choice.
 
BurnieM said:
Serious question; do you guys actually use your GPS to plan your day/weekend rides ?
Why ?

I've planned and led a number of ride-outs for 2 advanced rider groups. I will usually plan it on the PC in advance, then take a trial run to see if any alterations are needed.

Once happy, I can send the route to any other Garmin GPS user, and also print off detailed directions and an overview map for all the participants. (The trial run is particularly useful for investigating decent pubs for lunch).

Works for me.
 
Tricky said:
The only ‘issues’ I’ve had with it has been the crap original fixing mount. The fixing issue was remedied by using a RAM replacement.

Apologies to Tricky for a heavy edit :D The RAM mount can be used to attached onto the TT Rider cradle, as the diamond base attaches onto two diagonal fix holes, as their 4 hole sq pattern does not marry up with any known standard. I have knowledge of a few users who have commented back to TT that the cradle cracks ( I have seen it one user has gone thru 3 alone ) and also the gps device can jump out the cradle. These have happened on a nice smooth 6 cyl Goldwing 1800 and a 1500 thumpy Harley. I have heard TT are sending a lanyard to registered users. I do not have the answer but there as many GSer's who have not had a problem whereas other bikers have had a different experience.

There is no RAM cradle to hold TT Rider, so do bear in mind and use the lanyard (like those used on old nokia 101 mobile phones) just in case.
 
Mine jumped out of the cradle whilst I was in France, travelling at well over 100mph. Could have been that I didn't secure it in the cradle correctly, don't know, all I do know is that it narrowly missed my mate about 30ft behind me :eek: Give the TTR it's due though, despite bouncing down the road and denting every corner of the casing, it still works fine :bounce1

Use a lanyard

John
 
I've used my TTR across France, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Poland and Germany. Often without the headset. I think it's OK, it fits easily on my KTM 990 and is easy to read in all weathers. Sure, it makes the odd mistake when confronted with road works and occasionally can't cope with new roads but it's never fallen off the bike or cut out. Bad side is that the TT website is shite (poetry?) - no info on updates or new mapping (no Ireland or Baltic States). Overall it's a compact, reliable unit for travel across European tarmac.
I've also got a cradle for my car and have used it in Spain. Again a perfect solution for tarmac trudgers. 8 out of 10, possibly 10 out of 10 is you get it at £299.
 
Mzokk said:
Tom Tom uses teleatlas mapping for Ireland rather than Navteq which garmin use. Last time I looked TeleAtlas Ireland mapping was crap. Might have changed/be changing soon as they are rumoured to have done a deal with OSI and OSNI for digital mapping (the whole Island is already digitally mapped by these agencies) Naveteq do there own mapping which is pretty near complete for NI and fairly good for the ROI. Rumour has it that ver9 of the Garmin maps will have full Ireland coverage. For what its worth being able to pre plan interesting routes on the PC and download them into the GPS is a great feature I wouldn't do without. :) So I use a Garmin unit.

From TeleAtlas site:
What exactly will Navteq be supplying to TomTom?
In addition to the North American and European maps Navteq currently provides for the TomTom Rider, Navteq will supply map data for a new version of the TomTom ONE that ships with Western European data.

Tele Atlas is the supplier for all remaining products, including the ONE with regional (country) maps in Europe, the ONE in North America, the GO 910 in Europe and North America, GO 710 containing European maps, GO 510 in Europe and North America, the Navigator for PDA in Europe and North America, Navigator for Mobile in Europe, and TomTom WORK web fleet application.
 
Route Planning

<<Mark_C>> said:
Not sure about Tomtom rider, but I use a PDA running Tomtom 5 (which I think is fundamentally the same software as Rider ) and it is quite possible to input a particular detailed route / rideout, including all the twisties by creating an itinery and using waypoints. This is something that can be done either at home on "out in the field".

On a recent tour of the Alps, my mate's Garmin was useless for this as

a/ we had no laptop with us and

b/ his Garmin (27something I think) has no internal battery so it wasn't even possible to put in the next day's circular route in the comfort of the pub.

We used the Tomtom instead......

:clap Here, Here. I was going to make exactly this comment. I use a Medion PDA which has it's own software but I think it's a TomTom clone. Route planning is easy to do either on the PC at home or while out on the bike on the PDA it's self. Used it last year in France to plan routes on the hoof, whilst enjoying a lunch time drink. :beer:
 


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