Turn left, then make a U-turn. Say what?
Just a rant on the wonders of the technology age... Arrived in Reno yesterday after a fantastic 3 day drive from BC. Never been here before and planned on relying on the Tom-Tom GPS to get us qui...
Forum Discussion
I've used both TomTom and Garmin and prefer Garmin. As a fellow camper/pilot once pointed out, airplane GPS uses Garmin. GPS is really great at putting a bomb on a Lat-Long point which is what it was originally designed for, but when used for land navigation it needs to rely on human generated/processed maps and updates. Because of this it isn't error free and one needs to be careful using it as your only source of information. Also the earlier TomTom and Garmin units relied on the USAF satellites which were positioned for best results in Europe and Asia where the military thought they'd be needed most. (There are null spots in the US with the USAF constellation.) Newer units and most phones also use the Russian and European satellites. The Russian ones probably give a lot better locations for the US since that's where they thought they'd need them for military use.
What I noticed comparing TomTom and Garmin in the RV was they use different approaches to navigation. I may be wrong, but as I recall TomTom navigates to city center whereas Garmin navigates to the closest city boundary. Not a big difference for small cities, but it can make a lot of difference for large ones. And I think TomTom picks the route first then applies your desired detours and lockouts like no tolls, no unimproved roads, etc. Garmin plots the route applying your desired options segment by segment which is generally the way most of us navigate with paper maps. I do know that in my experiences the Garmin almost always seemed to provide solutions that were more acceptable to me, although TomTom gave me views of the country I'd never considered exploring before. :-) However, in the end I liked the Garmin so much better that I yanked the TomTom in-dash unit in my RV and replaced it with a Kenwood/Garmin.
Antenna placement and unmasked line of sight view of the satellites by the GPS is also critical. A portable unit sitting on the dash may not be able to "see" the satellites directly overhead or behind you because of the cab. Loosing connections will cause the GPS to "coast" for a short period of time offering a solution which may not be current. So they keep giving to directions to proceed in the same direction, but if they then pick up a good connection, do a recalculation and discover you're past your exit point you start getting the "left turn Clyde", "U-turn as soon as possible", "recalculating" messages.
I'm reminded of the first trip I took with my GF with GPS. Her comment was that it was really annoying with all that chatter. I turned it off and handed her the paper maps and told her to navigate, which she didn't like doing. The next trip we took her first question when we got in the truck was Where is the GPS?
What I noticed comparing TomTom and Garmin in the RV was they use different approaches to navigation. I may be wrong, but as I recall TomTom navigates to city center whereas Garmin navigates to the closest city boundary. Not a big difference for small cities, but it can make a lot of difference for large ones. And I think TomTom picks the route first then applies your desired detours and lockouts like no tolls, no unimproved roads, etc. Garmin plots the route applying your desired options segment by segment which is generally the way most of us navigate with paper maps. I do know that in my experiences the Garmin almost always seemed to provide solutions that were more acceptable to me, although TomTom gave me views of the country I'd never considered exploring before. :-) However, in the end I liked the Garmin so much better that I yanked the TomTom in-dash unit in my RV and replaced it with a Kenwood/Garmin.
Antenna placement and unmasked line of sight view of the satellites by the GPS is also critical. A portable unit sitting on the dash may not be able to "see" the satellites directly overhead or behind you because of the cab. Loosing connections will cause the GPS to "coast" for a short period of time offering a solution which may not be current. So they keep giving to directions to proceed in the same direction, but if they then pick up a good connection, do a recalculation and discover you're past your exit point you start getting the "left turn Clyde", "U-turn as soon as possible", "recalculating" messages.
I'm reminded of the first trip I took with my GF with GPS. Her comment was that it was really annoying with all that chatter. I turned it off and handed her the paper maps and told her to navigate, which she didn't like doing. The next trip we took her first question when we got in the truck was Where is the GPS?
