Choosing Between TomTom and Garmin GPS

WallaceandGromit

WallaceandGromit

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I'm a newbie had a wobbly box when adam was a lad
My tom tom camper died so I need a new one. I had a Garmin years ago and the routing was awful compared to tom tom so have they improved or should I stick with TT
Cheers
 
Ask a Garmin user and they will probably say Garmin. TomTom users probably TomTom, so rather subjective. I would stick with what you are/were happy with. Personally, in the motorhome, I use Co-Pilot (with a subscription) on my personal communicator.
 
Tom Tom and Garmin are the two companies that provide the underlying map data to most other companies.
Both are very good.

(The other two big ones are Google and Apple, both of which have shear number of users and live traffic as advantages, but are nowhere near as good when it comes to driving restrictions, speeds, tolls, heights, actual drivable roads, turn restrictions, one ways, Emission zones etc etc)

What really matters is the quality of the software driving whatever base map provider you choose.
On the basis that Tom Tom and Garmin are not only providers of the map data, but also the driver software and the hardware I would stick with just their products (which are sometimes badged by others)

If you then only select the Garmin and TomTom products designed for the type of vehicle you have
IE Their product designed for a motorbike is not suitable for a motorhome.
Likewise Car or HGV SatNav's are also not suitable for a motorhome.

Therefore you will find the number of Garmin and TomTom products designed for what you want will fit on one hand.

Personally, having looked at all the options (and the prices) I went for the
AVTEX Tourer 3 Plus.
Which if you are a member of the C&MHC you can get about £30 off the RRP.
(Also this gives you the location of all the C&MHC Campsites, which is a surprisingly useful feature we found.)

This is a Garmin product, also sold by Gamin as the CamperCam 795 and RV 795
(Same product, just does not have the added C&MHC sites)

I suspect Garmin sell the product in other countries with different badge names and no doubt extra features that people from that country want.
(The German version may show nearest nude beaches, the French version does resturants, and the Spanish version shows parking places for siestas .... :LOL: )

So hunt around, the price may vary.

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Brains said:
Tom Tom and Garmin are the two companies that provide the underlying map data to most other companies.
Both are very good.

(The other two big ones are Google and Apple, both of which have shear number of users and live traffic as advantages, but are nowhere near as good when it comes to driving restrictions, speeds, tolls, heights, actual drivable roads, turn restrictions, one ways, Emission zones etc etc)

What really matters is the quality of the software driving whatever base map provider you choose.
On the basis that Tom Tom and Garmin are not only providers of the map data, but also the driver software and the hardware I would stick with just their products (which are sometimes badged by others)

If you then only select the Garmin and TomTom products designed for the type of vehicle you have
IE Their product designed for a motorbike is not suitable for a motorhome.
Likewise Car or HGV SatNav's are also not suitable for a motorhome.

Therefore you will find the number of Garmin and TomTom products designed for what you want will fit on one hand.

Personally, having looked at all the options (and the prices) I went for the
AVTEX Tourer 3 Plus.
Which if you are a member of the C&MHC you can get about £30 off the RRP.
(Also this gives you the location of all the C&MHC Campsites, which is a surprisingly useful feature we found.)

This is a Garmin product, also sold by Gamin as the CamperCam 795 and RV 795

So hunt around, the price may vary.
Click to expand...
TomTom bought TeleAtlas, so they do produce (and re-sell) their own mapping.

Is the same true of Garmin? I thought they bought mapping from various sources?

It is true that there are very few original sources of road mapping data. Most satnavs are using the mapping from one of the big boys. The differences then end up being how their routing algorithm works, how good they are covering for and interpreting the inevitable inaccuracies (all maps have them!) and how good they are at integrating traffic data.

I'm also yet to be convinced that any satnav is reliable at providing routing based on motorhome width. It's easy to do for HGVs because there's plenty of telematics data. But that doesn't exist for motorhome sized vehicles. I've got evidence that TomTom mapping being incorrect on routes that are signposted width restricted, which gives me very low confidence that they can accurately estimate how difficult a country lane is.
 
bigtwin said:
Wise words.👍

Ian
Click to expand...
Switching satnavs can be a pain because you are used to a certain way of doing things. And you often don't have the spare mental capacity to figure out what your new satnav is trying to tell you when you're in the middle of a complex junction in a foreign land.

However, sometimes it's worth the effort of trying
new things...
 
Guigsy said:
TomTom bought TeleAtlas, so they do produce (and re-sell) their own mapping.

Is the same true of Garmin? I thought they bought mapping from various sources?

It is true that there are very few original sources of road mapping data. Most satnavs are using the mapping from one of the big boys. The differences then end up being how their routing algorithm works, how good they are covering for and interpreting the inevitable inaccuracies (all maps have them!) and how good they are at integrating traffic data.

I'm also yet to be convinced that any satnav is reliable at providing routing based on motorhome width. It's easy to do for HGVs because there's plenty of telematics data. But that doesn't exist for motorhome sized vehicles. I've got evidence that TomTom mapping being incorrect on routes that are signposted width restricted, which gives me very low confidence that they can accurately estimate how difficult a country lane is.
Click to expand...
TomTom and Garmin will no doubt buy data from others, but they produce their own data, and are the two biggest suppliers of road data to most of the other companies.

One could argue that TomTom is better in greater Europe and Garmin is better in the Americas, but I doubt there is much to choose between the two.
They both have large departments that spend all day, every day adding in roads, correcting roads and improving the base map.

As you say, the most important thing, once you have a decent quality map, is the map driver software and the base data it is loaded with (and how fast it updates). Which then should drive the algorithm so as not to send a vehicle of the chosen size and type down a road unsuitable for the vehicle.

American based software does not really understand size restrictions, they don't have footpaths, they don't have entire towns where only a donkey can navigate, in the USA, there are very few roads a HGV could not drive down.

Hence where both appear to be equal I'd choose Tom Tom over Garmin
(That said, my latest SatNav is Garmin)

I would not buy a satnav for a motorhome that does not include size and weight as part of the initial set up.
Hence Google maps and similar phone aps are currently unsuitable.

I use a known route, where I know the pitfalls, and see what the SatNav comes up with

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Guigsy said:
However, sometimes it's worth the effort of trying
new things...
Click to expand...

I agree, if there’s evidence that the new thing is better in some material manner, otherwise my advice remains unchanged. 😎

Ian
 
Brains said:
I would not buy a satnav for a motorhome that does not include size and weight as part of the initial set up.
Hence Google maps and similar phone aps are currently unsuitable.
Click to expand...
How would you go about deciding the travel time along a country lane for a 2.05m van compared to a 2.3m wide coachbuild? There are so many factors that'll make a difference beyond the physical width of the tarmac.

I've got Sygic Truck running on a tablet as a backup (uses TomTom mapping). But most of the time, I find the routing on Google Maps more reliable. Even though it doesn't factor in my vehicle width.
 
This is one of my checks

1730483489336.png


In a motorhome the 10.8 mile is the only realistic route.
The 10.9 mile route take you down a narrow lane and through a ford.
The 8.7 mile route is mostly single track high hedge canyons, only good if you can reverse 100m around corners with 2" on either side.
 
Brains said:
This is one of my checks

View attachment 973032

In a motorhome the 10.8 mile is the only realistic route.
The 10.9 mile route take you down a narrow lane and through a ford.
The 8.7 mile route is mostly single track high hedge canyons, only good if you can reverse 100m around corners with 2" on either side.
Click to expand...
I've got a few in Norfolk and one in Bicester where TomTom, Road Lords and Sygic Truck will happily take you past a 6'6" width restriction.
 
Having had both makes camper specific models, my preference is for Garmin, currently a camper 795.
For a good number of years I was a staunch TomTom buyer / user until around 2019 they changed the basic layout and display format. I purchased the new version and was very unhappy with it and couldn't get used to it, luckily around this time I changed the van and the buyer wanted the TomTom left in place (I always build them in on a dedicated mount and supply) decided to try the Garmin and have been satisfied since then.

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Guigsy said:
I've got a few in Norfolk and one in Bicester where TomTom, Road Lords and Sygic Truck will happily take you past a 6'6" width restriction.
Click to expand...
I am a member of the Garmin, TomTom, OSM and Google map groups.
When I find an error of this type, I update each the maps.
I now have over a million hits on my corrections in Google alone.
 
Brains said:
I am a member of the Garmin, TomTom, OSM and Google map groups.
When I find an error of this type, I update each the maps.
I now have over a million hits on my corrections in Google alone.
Click to expand...
In the early days of OSM, I walked and drove a lot of areas with a GPS logger to contribute to the project. The level of detail it has these days is fanatical!

Have you found that in the past year or so, Google will accept your changes. But they never seem to change the public maps? There's an error that means northbound M6 J11, the routing is correct, but the guidance tells you to turn off. I've reported it several times. Always accepted. Never improves.
 
TomTom v Garmin
Apple v Android

Very similar argument and very difficult to agree. Both have their strengths and weaknesses.
If you like one, it’s very difficult to like the other.

Personally, I’m a Garmin & Apple person.
 
I have both, with on occasions Google maps and Waze. The most annoying is Garmin which gives the full name of streets which can be lengthy and useless. Waze is very quick and Google maps seems best informed. With free updates they are all good but I like TT Jane’s voice.

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I suspect like others when in Europe we program in Longitude and Latitude or locate in map view. Both are good on Tomtom
 
WallaceandGromit said:
But when are they going to use 3 little words
Click to expand...

What benefit would there be in using W3W? Co-ordinates are available from all the Apps and from Google maps and work perfectly well. I’ve never felt the need to obtain/use W3W.

Ian
 
bigtwin said:
What benefit would there be in using W3W? Co-ordinates are available from all the Apps and from Google maps and work perfectly well. I’ve never felt the need to obtain/use W3W.

Ian
Click to expand...
If you're passing the location by voice, writing it down, or trying to remember it, W3W is useful.

If it's all staying digital, then coordinates are better.
 
Guigsy said:
If you're passing the location by voice, writing it down, or trying to remember it, W3W is useful.

If it's all staying digital, then coordinates are better.
Click to expand...
Not sure I what happens with W3W when using another language- does it translate?

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Brains said:
I am a member of the Garmin, TomTom, OSM and Google map groups.
When I find an error of this type, I update each the maps.
I now have over a million hits on my corrections in Google alone.
Click to expand...
This seems like a very good thing to do! If we all did it maps would improve very rapidly!

I update OSM whenever I can (https://help.openstreetmap.org/questions/5558/correcting-map-errors)

Could you do a quick summary of how to do this for Garmin, Tom Tom and google? Also I think Microsoft and Here are map providers - do you/should we correct them as well?

Thanks for bringing so community minded!
 
Re: Making corrections to the main online map providers (TomTom, Garmin, Google, OSM)

In each case you will need to set up an account, which may take a while, you also need to start off making changes that can be verified quite easily by the verifier being able to simple look at google earth and zoom in on a street sign, or see from the satellite view that what you have proposed is correct.

After awhile they will recognise your login and presume you are correct most of the time.
I guess a large percentage of the 'corrections' they get, they ignore, as it does not help 'their view' overall map.

I think they also wait for a few more people to ask for the same correction before they make the change.

Very oddly, certain changes that I gave, for example to TomTom, years ago have still not been implemented. I can only presume once automated vehicles come into regular use they will then make the changes.

(For example: A dangerous crossing of a 'A' road in Cornwall, gets zero warning on TomTom, as a driver, if you missed the hedge covered Give Way sign you would presume the A road was a side turning on either side and you had right of way.)

1730547141326.png

Spot the A road with the right of way!
As the road ahead has the same name, there is zero warning given that you are about to cross a major A road with 60-80mph traffic.

I worked for a company that built the maritime version of google maps, so we had to identify every port in the world, and every ship berth in every port, and the road/rail freight entrances to each port. Hence we ended up exchanging hundreds of items each day with the major providers.

The TomTom link is here
The Garmin link is here
The Google maps link is here
OSM link is here
 
Last edited:
Decision made ordered a TomTom GO Camper Max 2nd Gen Campervan and Caravan Sat Nav from Halford's only £300
https://www.halfords.com/technology...nd-caravan-sat-nav-266619.html?plpPlacement=2
sorted some of the grips I had with mine like the touchscreen lag and the layout of the various functions, and they are only 8 miles away so I can fire it back if I don't like it one thing that still annoys me is you can't tell if you're in car or MH mode
 
matbic said:
This seems like a very good thing to do! If we all did it maps would improve very rapidly!

I update OSM whenever I can (https://help.openstreetmap.org/questions/5558/correcting-map-errors)

Could you do a quick summary of how to do this for Garmin, Tom Tom and google? Also I think Microsoft and Here are map providers - do you/should we correct them as well?

Thanks for bringing so community minded!
Click to expand...
The TomTom link is here
The Garmin link is here
The Google maps link is here
OSM link is here

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