Tom Tom Go vs Co-Pilot on 10"Tablet

DiskDoctr wrote:
I've been using CoPilot for many years and many versions.

Recently I have become more and more disappointed. Especially with the saved destinations (favorites) and routes.

Not even a way to search your favorites and terribly organized.

I am looking for something else that works offline.

I was considering Sygic

Add that to your test list ;)

Does it have an RV function? Low bridges,truck routes etc, I did not see one on there web site.

Gjac wrote:
Does it have an RV function? Low bridges,truck routes etc, I did not see one on there web site.

In the settings there are options to change "Vehicle Routing Profiles"

Auto
RV
Motorcycle
Bicycle
Walking

I'll have to try the RV profile to see if anything changed. It *used* to be simply travel speed and routing preferences like avoid toll roads, etc.

The latest version(s) have the extremely annoying tendency to not show road names or route numbers, forcing zoom in or out to find them. Grr...

This will be the killer for me. As soon as I find something decent to replace it, it's gone. I don't need squiggly lines moving on a screen to entertain me while I drive, I expect route names and numbers on the maps.

On the pro side, this latest version update seems to have put favorites in alphabetical order. Still can't search and many times older saved favorites are gone (!)

It does not have a "reverse route" or "return via same routing" option. Driving somewhere and coming back...all new routes and out of the way turns on one way streets (ie Waterfront in Pittsburgh tries to route you on one way street, then when you go around the block it tries another one way street)

The alternate route options that allow you to select which route you want has potential, but on a phone it is so small and only allows you to drag the route, so pretty much unusable.

Changing destinations methods have changed. Not sure what procedure they expect you to follow, but it no longer gives you the option to 'set new destination' instead your new destination is now a waypoint on your current route, which may or may not be the 'next destination' leading to some really odd and sometimes very wrong routes and double-back instructions :(

Of course, when you look at these routes, very little street information is displayed.

Most of the time it looks on the map like you're driving in a big white desert with a few unmarked b/w snakes in view. If I'm zoomed in to see turns in 2D mode, I expected to see street names/numbers. Duh!

Old, OLD POIs.

The Walmart in York, PA moved quite a few years ago. Guess which one CoPilot routes you to? Restaurants? MANY times I've been mislead to closed or non-existent locations.

If you want to find a restaurant, do an online google search, then enter the destination into CoPilot. If you find in the the grossly outdated POI system on CoPilot, you'd better CALL to make sure they are still in business.

Non-standard keyboard entry. CoPilot uses its own keyboard and entry system. It capitalizes automatically and you cannot override it, including caps is not indicated on the keyboard.

Nearby or very NOT nearby?

It seems when searching for a destination, it always wants to trap you in a nearby search loop (remember the suggestion to use google, then enter the address? This is another reason why)...

But yet when you are entering a town or city name, you often have to enter most or all of the name because it wants to suggest "Blairsville, GA" instead of "Blairsville, PA" while you are in Pennsylvania. Guess which one is at the top of the selection list, too? But you can scroll down...NOT with a finger drag as a normal android function, but via their proprietary scroll buttons. Don't try to move a screen at a time, it's very unreliable.

As some users have posted, the company is extremely UN-responsive to suggestions or 'map corrections' though it has a marketing label in the program that claims to download map corrections or methods to submit a correction (website maybe?) to them. Don't hold your breath, I'm quite a few YEARS without corrections implemented.

GPS location finding has been quite good the past few updates. It used to be unreliable, sometimes requiring exit, toss it from recent programs, turn off gps, wait, turn on gps, relaunch program, wait up to 2 minutes for a location, then start finding a destination. MOST of the time it finds location quickly and reliably in these past few update versions.

Update WARNING! If you are planning on a trip and want to update the program, be sure to RUN the program BEFORE you go. Sometimes without notice, the next time you run it you will be prompted to download or unpack an update, which could be in the GIGABYTE range "you cannot use routing until you run this" type of message = UNUSABLE program until you get to a high bandwidth WIFI connection and sometimes take a LONG time to download because of their server speed. Gotcha :(

It has potential and loyal followers, but they can't live on "we're the only offline gps program" forever. They are burning us out a handful at a time.

I suspect many are like me- once we find a better solution, we'll pay MORE and flock to it. How hard is it to display street names, and how obtuse and stubborn does a "GPS Company" have to be to refuse to do so?

That's my take on the CoPilot for Android as of today. Looking for better solution...actively ;)

Have had a Tom-Tom for years. Very little confidence in it....a gift I wish they hadn't bought me.

What I've found is,my VERIZON phone with Google Maps is far more accurate. Of course it has no overpass heights feature..stuff like that...but as a general rule, IMO is better than most of the expensive things out there. Just keep that little battery charged.

However, I REALLY depend and use in my coast to coast runs is (every nite, checking the next days' run)using my laptop (BingMaps) combined with a map book (GoodSam Road Atlas)they get me there every time.

Just me...FWIW

Still playing with my TomTom Go and, for me, much superior to the CoPilot but not nearly as good as my standalone Gramin Nuvi for ease of operation.

They all seem to get me from A to B about the same, just that the Garmin is so much easier to use while driving. The large 10" screen has some advantages no question but still, just wondering it it's worth it. For example: I'm tooting along thinking it would be nice to find a rest stop....read over press the "where to" button, select near my current route, auto services, than rest stop. Bingo, all the rest stop along my current route pop up. Can't do that on either CoPilot or Tom Tom. Or, if I can, it certaily isn't obvious.

Now that someone has mentioned another option I may give it at try also.