GPS - TomTom One - Quality of Maps

Author

TomTom One - Quality of Maps

Amos Soma

2007-01-09, 10:33 pm

All,

I just got a TomTom One and love it so far. However, I'm concerned about the
quality of the maps. I was coming home from work this evening and my normal
exit ramp off of a major highway in Ohio didn't even show up on the TomTom.
This exit ramp has been in existence for at least 10 years.

Can anyone who has used the TomTom One for awhile comment on the quality of
its maps?

Thanks.

Mark Hewitt

2007-01-10, 4:33 am

Amos Soma

2007-01-10, 7:33 am

Can you point me to one of the "millions of threads"? I looked at all
message headers from 1/10/2007 back to 11/16/2006 and don't see any that
refers to mapping quality.

"Mark Hewitt" <nomail@here.com> wrote in message
news:1168419870.551837@ucsnew2.ncl.ac.uk...
>
> "Amos Soma" <amos_j_soma@yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:ucadnQi_ytEVqDn
YnZ2dnUVZ_qKknZ2d@bu
ckeye-express.com...
>
> See millions of threads on this and other forums.
>
> Quality of the maps seems to form 95% of the discussion about all sat
> navs.
>
>
>

anyone@nowhere.com

2007-01-10, 10:33 am

If you just purchased your unit, then you probably qualify for a free map
upgrade being offered at the TomTom site:

www.tomtom.com

Jack Erbes

2007-01-10, 10:33 am

Amos Soma wrote:
> Can you point me to one of the "millions of threads"? I looked at all
> message headers from 1/10/2007 back to 11/16/2006 and don't see any that
> refers to mapping quality.
>

It is sometimes upsetting to newbies when they find their brand new
expensive mapping and the real world are not in complete agreement. So
it comes up here from time to time and some folks are intolerant and
irrational enough that they want to take their frustrations out on a
newsgroup. And maybe some newsgroup members are thin skinned about the
question.

A search for mapping errors may bring up more hits.

That said, omissions and mistakes in mapping are not uncommon at all. I
don't consider them to be of a high order of magnitude, but they are
there. My estimate is that in the U.S. it can take two to five years
for new roads and road changes to get from the real world into the
NavTeq and Tele-Atlas data and then to the mapping products from Tom
Tom, Garmin, or whoever. If they ever show up.

Here are some places where you can report it:

http://mapreporter.navteq.com/dur-web-external/

http://www.teleatlas.com/MapInsight/index.htm

Jack

--
Jack Erbes in Ellsworth, Maine, USA (jackerbes at adelphia dot net)
(also receiving email at jacker at midmaine dot com)

Amos Soma

2007-01-10, 10:33 am

Jack,

Thank you for you intelligent reply. I'm not really a newbie when it comes
to navigational devices. I've owned a Garmin 76cs for over a year. In the
year I had it, I don't recall ever seeing such a glaring ommission as an
exit ramp (that has been in existence 10+ years) off a major expressway in
Ohio. In fact, in the year or so I had the Garmin, I never had a reason to
believe there were any errors in its maps. There were always very accurate.

I think what really struck me as odd is that I've taken my TomTom through
some very rural farm roads in Ohio and all these roads show on its maps.
After seeing this exit ramp missing on the TeleAtlas maps, I got to
wondering how much other stuff is missing, and how much I could trust it.

"Jack Erbes" <jackerbes@adelphia.net> wrote in message
news:0- OdndqOK4rIkTjYnZ2dnU
VZ_rKvnZ2d@adelphia.com...
> Amos Soma wrote:
>
> It is sometimes upsetting to newbies when they find their brand new
> expensive mapping and the real world are not in complete agreement. So it
> comes up here from time to time and some folks are intolerant and
> irrational enough that they want to take their frustrations out on a
> newsgroup. And maybe some newsgroup members are thin skinned about the
> question.
>
> A search for mapping errors may bring up more hits.
>
> That said, omissions and mistakes in mapping are not uncommon at all. I
> don't consider them to be of a high order of magnitude, but they are
> there. My estimate is that in the U.S. it can take two to five years for
> new roads and road changes to get from the real world into the NavTeq and
> Tele-Atlas data and then to the mapping products from Tom Tom, Garmin, or
> whoever. If they ever show up.
>
> Here are some places where you can report it:
>
> http://mapreporter.navteq.com/dur-web-external/
>
> http://www.teleatlas.com/MapInsight/index.htm
>
> Jack
>
> --
> Jack Erbes in Ellsworth, Maine, USA (jackerbes at adelphia dot net)
> (also receiving email at jacker at midmaine dot com)

Jack Erbes

2007-01-10, 3:33 pm

Amos Soma wrote:
> Jack,
>
> Thank you for you intelligent reply. I'm not really a newbie when it comes
> to navigational devices. I've owned a Garmin 76cs for over a year. In the
> year I had it, I don't recall ever seeing such a glaring ommission as an
> exit ramp (that has been in existence 10+ years) off a major expressway in
> Ohio. In fact, in the year or so I had the Garmin, I never had a reason to
> believe there were any errors in its maps. There were always very accurate.
>
> I think what really struck me as odd is that I've taken my TomTom through
> some very rural farm roads in Ohio and all these roads show on its maps.
> After seeing this exit ramp missing on the TeleAtlas maps, I got to
> wondering how much other stuff is missing, and how much I could trust it.

You're welcome, and I didn't mean to say you were a newbie although it
does read that way. I've used a mix of mapping in the last 10 years or
so from a variety of sources.

Now it seems to be coming down to that the most of the data now is
either from Tele-Atlas or NavTeq and sometimes both of those companies
are credited (M$ Streets & Trips 2006 for example).

I used Tom Tom 5 Navigator on a PDA a lot in the last 2-3 years. I
always had a nagging feeling that it was just okay but not great. But
when I go back and look at things that were missing in TT5 I didn't find
a great disparity between Tom Tom (Tele-Atlas) and Garmin (NavTeq).

I recently bought Garmin's City Navigator 8 and found it to be the most
up to date mapping I've seen to date. It finally shows some 4-5 year
old residential streets near my home on it, it also finally got the I-95
exits numbered right (they were all renumbered about 3 years ago).

But NavTeq is still missing a great big bridge and a couple of miles of
new divided, four lane, roads that connect I-95's Exit 113 to Maine
Highways 3/220. And that bridge has been there about 5 years now.

DeLorme maintains their own mapping databases last I knew. I quit using
Street Atlas after V9 but have looked at it several times in the
following years. I tried SA 2007 again this year and their data, at
least for the state of Maine (they are headquartered in Yarmouth, ME),
is not very good. They did not have the I-95 exits numbered right, they
did not have the new residential streets around me, and they did not
have the new roads and bridge I mention above.

I'm going to get a chance to look at Tom Tom 6 sometime in the next
couple weeks and it will be interesting to see how well it compares to
City Navigator 8.

But any comparisons are generally going to be a snapshot of one small
area or place and maybe we are as much to blame as anyone if we don't
report the errors we see.

Jack

--
Jack Erbes in Ellsworth, Maine, USA (jackerbes at adelphia dot net)
(also receiving email at jacker at midmaine dot com)

A Reed

2007-01-10, 10:33 pm

The Navteq maps Garmin uses are more accurate in the US than TomTom, that
has been my experience as well after using both.

"Amos Soma" <amos_j_soma@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:Y6ydnfi- LrDYiTjYnZ2dnUVZ_vSh
nZ2d@buckeye-express.com...
> Jack,
>
> Thank you for you intelligent reply. I'm not really a newbie when it comes
> to navigational devices. I've owned a Garmin 76cs for over a year. In the
> year I had it, I don't recall ever seeing such a glaring ommission as an
> exit ramp (that has been in existence 10+ years) off a major expressway in
> Ohio. In fact, in the year or so I had the Garmin, I never had a reason to
> believe there were any errors in its maps. There were always very
> accurate.
>
> I think what really struck me as odd is that I've taken my TomTom through
> some very rural farm roads in Ohio and all these roads show on its maps.
> After seeing this exit ramp missing on the TeleAtlas maps, I got to
> wondering how much other stuff is missing, and how much I could trust it.
>
>
> "Jack Erbes" <jackerbes@adelphia.net> wrote in message
> news:0- OdndqOK4rIkTjYnZ2dnU
VZ_rKvnZ2d@adelphia.com...
>
>

Nate

2007-01-10, 10:33 pm

"Amos Soma" <amos_j_soma@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:ucadnQi_ytEVqDn
YnZ2dnUVZ_qKknZ2d@bu
ckeye-express.com...
> All,
>
> I just got a TomTom One and love it so far. However, I'm concerned about
> the quality of the maps. I was coming home from work this evening and my
> normal exit ramp off of a major highway in Ohio didn't even show up on the
> TomTom. This exit ramp has been in existence for at least 10 years.
>
> Can anyone who has used the TomTom One for awhile comment on the quality
> of its maps?
>
> Thanks.
>

I've been using Street Atlas 2006 for navigation and they use the Delorme
database and maps. When I turn into my neighborhood the map starts barking
at me to turn around...I missed my turn. My drive way is over a mile from
where the map thinks it is.

I sent the error data to Delorme and have been able to use a friend's SA
2007 to check...sure enough,...the whole neighborhood has been updated and
my drive way is where it is supposed to be.

Help them make TomTom better. I would assume there is a feature on your
unit to submit error corrections. If not, jot down the coordinates and send
them an email.

Be part of the solution.

Nate

Nate

2007-01-10, 10:33 pm

"Amos Soma" <amos_j_soma@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:Y6ydnfi- LrDYiTjYnZ2dnUVZ_vSh
nZ2d@buckeye-express.com...
> Jack,
>
> Thank you for you intelligent reply. I'm not really a newbie when it comes
> to navigational devices. I've owned a Garmin 76cs for over a year. In the
> year I had it, I don't recall ever seeing such a glaring ommission as an
> exit ramp (that has been in existence 10+ years) off a major expressway in
> Ohio. In fact, in the year or so I had the Garmin, I never had a reason to
> believe there were any errors in its maps. There were always very
> accurate.
>
> I think what really struck me as odd is that I've taken my TomTom through
> some very rural farm roads in Ohio and all these roads show on its maps.
> After seeing this exit ramp missing on the TeleAtlas maps, I got to
> wondering how much other stuff is missing, and how much I could trust it.
>
>

I think you'll find that TomTom is no more error prone than any of the other
software out there. But now one of the errors has hit close to your home.
I'm about to purchase TomTom because my Street Atlas 2006 has errors near my
home...and TomTom is more accurate in my neighborhood. See the difference?
It's not that one is better than the other...it's more that one is better
for your personal situation.

But see my other response. There is a way for you to be part of the
solutiion.

Nate

Bello

2007-01-11, 4:33 am

You might want to update your map. which version is it? The latest teleatlas
for the US/Canada is 6.50.1109

"Jack Erbes" <jackerbes@adelphia.net> wrote in message
news:S- ydnbgtdfenzzjYnZ2dnU
VZ_rylnZ2d@adelphia.com...
> Amos Soma wrote:
>
> You're welcome, and I didn't mean to say you were a newbie although it
> does read that way. I've used a mix of mapping in the last 10 years or so
> from a variety of sources.
>
> Now it seems to be coming down to that the most of the data now is either
> from Tele-Atlas or NavTeq and sometimes both of those companies are
> credited (M$ Streets & Trips 2006 for example).
>
> I used Tom Tom 5 Navigator on a PDA a lot in the last 2-3 years. I always
> had a nagging feeling that it was just okay but not great. But when I go
> back and look at things that were missing in TT5 I didn't find a great
> disparity between Tom Tom (Tele-Atlas) and Garmin (NavTeq).
>
> I recently bought Garmin's City Navigator 8 and found it to be the most up
> to date mapping I've seen to date. It finally shows some 4-5 year old
> residential streets near my home on it, it also finally got the I-95 exits
> numbered right (they were all renumbered about 3 years ago).
>
> But NavTeq is still missing a great big bridge and a couple of miles of
> new divided, four lane, roads that connect I-95's Exit 113 to Maine
> Highways 3/220. And that bridge has been there about 5 years now.
>
> DeLorme maintains their own mapping databases last I knew. I quit using
> Street Atlas after V9 but have looked at it several times in the following
> years. I tried SA 2007 again this year and their data, at least for the
> state of Maine (they are headquartered in Yarmouth, ME), is not very good.
> They did not have the I-95 exits numbered right, they did not have the new
> residential streets around me, and they did not have the new roads and
> bridge I mention above.
>
> I'm going to get a chance to look at Tom Tom 6 sometime in the next couple
> weeks and it will be interesting to see how well it compares to City
> Navigator 8.
>
> But any comparisons are generally going to be a snapshot of one small area
> or place and maybe we are as much to blame as anyone if we don't report
> the errors we see.
>
> Jack
>
> --
> Jack Erbes in Ellsworth, Maine, USA (jackerbes at adelphia dot net)
> (also receiving email at jacker at midmaine dot com)

John William Hughes

2007-01-11, 10:33 pm

A Reed wrote:
> The Navteq maps Garmin uses are more accurate in the US than TomTom, that
> has been my experience as well after using both.
>

Again after using both, a Garmin 6COX with Topo GB 2 and the New Edition
of the Tom Tom One, the Tom Tom maps are vastly superior to the Garmin
maps in both Liverpool, Manchester and Doncaster after using a bike to
cross the Trans Pennine Trail and a Car to travel from Liverpool to Hull.

Turning both on in my back garden shows three newish estates on the Tom
Tom which don't exist on the Garmin software within 3 miles of my house.
I have to use Tracklogs to plot the TPT on my 60CSX since it shows no
off-road trails for bicycles and less than 0.5% of hiking off-line
trails in the country which makes external 3rd party software yet
another expense got Garmin units.

helena

2007-01-12, 10:33 pm

Nate wrote:
> I've been using Street Atlas 2006 for navigation and they use the Delorme
> database and maps. When I turn into my neighborhood the map starts barking
> at me to turn around...I missed my turn. My drive way is over a mile from
> where the map thinks it is.
>
> I sent the error data to Delorme and have been able to use a friend's SA
> 2007 to check...sure enough,...the whole neighborhood has been updated and
> my drive way is where it is supposed to be.
>
> Help them make TomTom better. I would assume there is a feature on your
> unit to submit error corrections. If not, jot down the coordinates and send
> them an email.
>
> Be part of the solution.

You're right - there is a way. Go to the Tele Atlas web site. Go to
the Map Insight section and locate the incorrect point on the map -
provide them with the necessary information to correct it. They are
incorporating this information into new map updates and it's really
useful if we can help them along the way...

As for the TomTom ONE, Amos...Glad you're enjoying it! I've heard such
great things about it...Seems like a great portable GPS device!

Nick

2007-01-16, 10:33 pm

If it is the One Regional, then it is TeleAtlas. But if it is the One
Europe, it has Navteq maps which are much better.

"John William Hughes" <lancs567@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
news:pUBph.29649$k74.14641@text.news.blueyonder.co.uk...
>A Reed wrote:
>
> Again after using both, a Garmin 6COX with Topo GB 2 and the New Edition
> of the Tom Tom One, the Tom Tom maps are vastly superior to the Garmin
> maps in both Liverpool, Manchester and Doncaster after using a bike to
> cross the Trans Pennine Trail and a Car to travel from Liverpool to Hull.
>
> Turning both on in my back garden shows three newish estates on the Tom
> Tom which don't exist on the Garmin software within 3 miles of my house. I
> have to use Tracklogs to plot the TPT on my 60CSX since it shows no
> off-road trails for bicycles and less than 0.5% of hiking off-line trails
> in the country which makes external 3rd party software yet another expense
> got Garmin units.

helena

2007-01-17, 10:33 pm

Nick wrote:
> If it is the One Regional, then it is TeleAtlas. But if it is the One
> Europe, it has Navteq maps which are much better.

I don't know, I've heard differing opinions on each major
provider...I've heard really great things about the ONE in general, and
also really good things about Tele Atlas maps in general...They may
both have their own individual issues, but I think TA gets a bad rap
sometimes...

LinkBot