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Cellular forums Home > Archive > GPS > December 2007 > Navman or Tom Tom?
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Navman or Tom Tom?
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Total novice at this and wondering which brands makes them better?
Thanks
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| Russell Patterson 2007-08-02, 7:33 am |
| On Thu, 02 Aug 2007 11:40:25 GMT, "Tony" <Tony@yahoo.com.> wrote:
>
>
>Total novice at this and wondering which brands makes them better?
>Thanks
>
Whatever features are important to you is one thing to base your
choice on, but a further consideration is the cost to update the maps
over time. I have a Tom Tom one, but if I had known it would cost
~$100 to download a map update I would never have purchased it. How
strupid can they be to not realize they would make more money pricing
it at a reasonable level. Once the updates are ready to be uploaded
to the site where you can download, them their costs are fixed. If
they can get ten times the sales by reducing the price to 1/4th what
it was, they would make tons more money.
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| AndyNospam.co.uk@forteinc.com 2007-08-03, 7:33 am |
| Russell Patterson <me@privacy.net> wrote:
>On Thu, 02 Aug 2007 11:40:25 GMT, "Tony" <Tony@yahoo.com.> wrote:
>
>Whatever features are important to you is one thing to base your
>choice on, but a further consideration is the cost to update the maps
>over time. I have a Tom Tom one, but if I had known it would cost
>~$100 to download a map update I would never have purchased it. How
>strupid can they be to not realize they would make more money pricing
>it at a reasonable level. Once the updates are ready to be uploaded
>to the site where you can download, them their costs are fixed. If
>they can get ten times the sales by reducing the price to 1/4th what
>it was, they would make tons more money.
Though I agree with you, the last time Christmas 2005 I got a Map update
from Navman that cost just shy of 100 GBP (approx 200 USD) so they were not
exactly cheap either.
Andy
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<AndyNospam.co.uk@forteinc.com> wrote in message
news:sg66b3toio9a60l
jalk85tld0vgacuhid1@
4ax.com...
> Russell Patterson <me@privacy.net> wrote:
>
>
> Though I agree with you, the last time Christmas 2005 I got a Map update
> from Navman that cost just shy of 100 GBP (approx 200 USD) so they were
> not
> exactly cheap either.
>
> Andy
but how often really would you need one unless travelling to new estates all
the time? Maybe just new roadwork's?
Sounds like a typical technical rip-off to me
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| Darren Griffin - PocketGPSWorld.Com 2007-08-04, 4:33 am |
| On 2007-08-03 13:06:59 +0100, AndyNospam.co.uk@forteinc.com said:
> Though I agree with you, the last time Christmas 2005 I got a Map update
> from Navman that cost just shy of 100 GBP (approx 200 USD) so they were not
> exactly cheap either.
TomTom offer some of the cheaper map update deals. The map data isn;'t
cheap to buy and why would it be? It's the essence of the GPS
navigation function and the map data providers charge for it! Each end
vendor such as Navman, TomTom etc then have to compress it and
customise it for their platform before producing the uopdates and a
method of distributing them. I can never quite understand why some
people think this could or should be free?
But in answer to the original question the only thing I can suggest is
finding someplace where you can try out the interface, access the menus
etc and get a feel for the device.
--
Darren Griffin
PocketGPSWorld - www.PocketGPSWorld.com
The Premier GPS Resource for News, Reviews and Forums
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"Darren Griffin - PocketGPSWorld.Com" < darren@pocketgpsworl
d.com> wrote in
message news:200708040909574
3658- darren@pocketgpsworl
dcom...
> On 2007-08-03 13:06:59 +0100, AndyNospam.co.uk@forteinc.com said:
>
>
> TomTom offer some of the cheaper map update deals. The map data isn;'t
> cheap to buy and why would it be? It's the essence of the GPS navigation
> function and the map data providers charge for it! Each end vendor such
> as Navman, TomTom etc then have to compress it and customise it for their
> platform before producing the uopdates and a method of distributing them.
> I can never quite understand why some people think this could or should be
> free?
>
> But in answer to the original question the only thing I can suggest is
> finding someplace where you can try out the interface, access the menus
> etc and get a feel for the device.
>
> --
> Darren Griffin
> PocketGPSWorld - www.PocketGPSWorld.com
> The Premier GPS Resource for News, Reviews and Forums
I agree you should pay for it but a whole 300 page street directory that
comes out every year updated costs 1/4 the price of a 'computer' program.
Sounds like a typical rip off.
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| John Tserkezis 2007-08-04, 7:33 am |
| Tony wrote:
> I agree you should pay for it but a whole 300 page street directory that
> comes out every year updated costs 1/4 the price of a 'computer' program.
> Sounds like a typical rip off.
I thought about this recently, and it might not be the case you specify.
Yes it certainly does cost more, but you're covered (in the case of
Australia), the entire country, rather than a typical street directory where
you get just one city, and perhaps some surrounding peripheral towns.
It's their buy-all-or-nothing model that get me. What if I'm not interested
in the entire country? What if you leave it up to ME to decide what bits I want?
The early electronic maps we had here were like that, but they've since
combined the entire country in on. (at an increased cost of course)...
And if you look at the marketing model, and likely sales, they would make
bucketloads more money with the all-or-nothing model. Even if it is better
value for money (verses individual purchase).
--
Linux Registered User # 302622
<http://counter.li.org>
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| Darren Griffin - PocketGPSWorld.Com 2007-08-04, 10:33 am |
| On 2007-08-04 12:19:06 +0100, "Tony" <Tony@yahoo.com.> said:
> I agree you should pay for it but a whole 300 page street directory that
> comes out every year updated costs 1/4 the price of a 'computer' program.
> Sounds like a typical rip off.
You are comparing two wholly different products! A GPS map has turn
instructsions, road data, speeds, one-way information etc as well as
address information.
That's a much more complicated thing to collate than a paper map that
contains none of that information.
--
Darren Griffin
PocketGPSWorld - www.PocketGPSWorld.com
The Premier GPS Resource for News, Reviews and Forums
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| Russell Patterson 2007-08-04, 12:33 pm |
| On Sat, 4 Aug 2007 09:09:57 +0100, Darren Griffin - PocketGPSWorld.Com
< darren@pocketgpsworl
d.com> wrote:
>On 2007-08-03 13:06:59 +0100, AndyNospam.co.uk@forteinc.com said:
>
>
>TomTom offer some of the cheaper map update deals. The map data isn;'t
>cheap to buy and why would it be? It's the essence of the GPS
>navigation function and the map data providers charge for it! Each end
>vendor such as Navman, TomTom etc then have to compress it and
>customise it for their platform before producing the uopdates and a
>method of distributing them. I can never quite understand why some
>people think this could or should be free?
I never said it should be free nor has anyone else said that! What my
complaint is that their business model needs to be looked at. You
develop a product that the end user has to DOWNLOAD. They have
already paid for the platform and the first "product". There is a
slight need for regular updates for some people. The more time that
passes after the initial purchase the more need there is for the
updates. The key is in determining the best price so that more people
will DOWNLOAD your product and achieve greater profit.
2x < 10(x/4)
or
2x < 2.5x
Not that many people spend there entire time travelling all over the
country on business and need the most current updates all the time.
Most people won't pay one third of the initial cost of a product to
DOWNLOAD the updates unless the changes are so dramatic that it proves
to be necessary. By then the newer models have many features built
into them they will probably buy a new one, and guess what - they will
probably NOT buy the same manufacturer's GPS because they feel they
were being gouged for the updates!
The reason I capitalized the word DOWNLOAD over and over is to
emphasize that, once the distribution method for downloading the
updates is set up, the increase in cost to the manufacturer to sell
100x more upgrades in miniscule in comparison to mailing out a CD.
I have to assume that most people who purchase a gps system are like
myself. They have weighed the cost of such a system against the value
before they finally purchase one. As the costs come down more people
see that they can justify the purchase. Once they have it and see the
value of the unit, they can see how critical an update might be, but,
they can never be sure, because there is no data anywhere that states
what changes there are in the data for the areas that they need it in.
This makes the update an unknown value. People will take a chance on
it if it is priced reasonably, but at the current prices they will
continue using the old data until they have a problem with it. Then
they will probably buy a different model.
Speaking for myself, I would buy the upgrade every year if it were
under $30, and I could download it at my convenience. At that price
it is a good insurrance premium.
>
>But in answer to the original question the only thing I can suggest is
>finding someplace where you can try out the interface, access the menus
>etc and get a feel for the device.
| |
| Mike McGarvey 2007-08-04, 3:33 pm |
| A few weeks back, I bought the european maps for my tomtom one at halfords
for £9.99
"Russell Patterson" <me@privacy.net> wrote in message
news:dmi3b3disg6s5kk
58579345mq9f7bp0ln3@
4ax.com...
> On Thu, 02 Aug 2007 11:40:25 GMT, "Tony" <Tony@yahoo.com.> wrote:
>
> Whatever features are important to you is one thing to base your
> choice on, but a further consideration is the cost to update the maps
> over time. I have a Tom Tom one, but if I had known it would cost
> ~$100 to download a map update I would never have purchased it. How
> strupid can they be to not realize they would make more money pricing
> it at a reasonable level. Once the updates are ready to be uploaded
> to the site where you can download, them their costs are fixed. If
> they can get ten times the sales by reducing the price to 1/4th what
> it was, they would make tons more money.
| |
| AndyNospam.co.uk@forteinc.com 2007-08-07, 4:33 am |
| "Tony" <Tony@yahoo.com.> wrote:
>
><AndyNospam.co.uk@forteinc.com> wrote in message
> news:sg66b3toio9a60l
jalk85tld0vgacuhid1@
4ax.com...
>
>but how often really would you need one unless travelling to new estates all
>the time? Maybe just new roadwork's?
>Sounds like a typical technical rip-off to me
>
True, there again the reason I buy GPS systems (now use Tom Tom and Navman)
is due to the fact I travel a lot so new roads etc are important.
The point I was really making was that whilst one poster commented that the
Tom Tom update was expensive at 100 USD so were the other major players
updates. Personally I do not have a problem with the cost, the price per
mile of driving makes a wrong journey more expensive by the day.
I guess you could but some cheap dataset and save money, it would probably
cost you lots more in wrong directions though :-)
Also I should say that the Navman update was the full EU maps not regional
so we may be comparing apples and oranges :-)
Andy
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| anyone@nowhere.com 2007-11-19, 10:33 am |
| The maps upgrades are going to be expensive no matter which make of GPS you
buy. None of the manufacturers make their own maps, but purchase them from
3rd parties (TeleAtlas or Navteq). Just don't feel that you have to upgrade
constantly. Every few years, perhaps.
I have a TomTom One which I like very much. It is the number one seller,
especially in Europe where they dominate the market. Europeans are a few
years ahead of North Americans in purchasing these gadgets.
You should also consider a Garmin or a Mio unit, which have also had good
reviews. Unless Navman has made big improvements, I wouldn't consider it
(according to what I have read).
The TT One is an inexpensive basic unit. Other models have features like
mp3 player, hands-free cell phone connection etc. Don't go paying for
features you aren't going to use! The fancier models can get quite pricey!
Sometimes these units will give you strange routings and you will also find
map errors. Nothing is perfect, but they are a marvellous device if you
ever have to venture off to a strange city. Use it as a guide and use your
head.
| |
| Uncle Ben 2007-11-19, 12:33 pm |
| <anyone@nowhere.com> wrote in message
news:zPKdnZLCSc_pO9z
anZ2dnUVZ_hCdnZ2d@go
lden.net...
SNIP
.... Nothing is perfect, but they are a marvellous device if you
ever have to venture off to a strange city. Use it as a guide and use your
head.
SNIP
Sound advice, well put!
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| anyone@nowhere.com 2007-12-15, 3:33 pm |
| The maps upgrades are going to be expensive no matter which make of GPS you
buy. None of the manufacturers make their own maps, but purchase them from
3rd parties (TeleAtlas or Navteq). Just don't feel that you have to upgrade
constantly. Every few years, perhaps.
I have a TomTom One which I like very much. It is the number one seller,
especially in Europe where they dominate the market. Europeans are a few
years ahead of North Americans in purchasing these gadgets.
You should also consider a Garmin or a Mio unit, which have also had good
reviews. Unless Navman has made big improvements, I wouldn't consider it
(according to what I have read).
The TT One is an inexpensive basic unit. Other models have features like
mp3 player, hands-free cell phone connection etc. Don't go paying for
features you aren't going to use! The fancier models can get quite pricey!
Sometimes these units will give you strange routings and you will also find
map errors. Nothing is perfect, but they are a marvellous device if you
ever have to venture off to a strange city. Use it as a guide and use your
head.
| |
| Larry G 2007-12-18, 3:33 pm |
| On Dec 15, 1:42 pm, any...@nowhere.com wrote:
> The maps upgrades are going to be expensive no matter which make of GPS you
> buy. None of the manufacturers make their own maps, but purchase them from
> 3rd parties (TeleAtlas or Navteq). Just don't feel that you have to upgrade
> constantly. Every few years, perhaps.
>
> I have a TomTom One which I like very much. It is the number one seller,
> especially in Europe where they dominate the market. Europeans are a few
> years ahead of North Americans in purchasing these gadgets.
>
> You should also consider a Garmin or a Mio unit, which have also had good
> reviews. Unless Navman has made big improvements, I wouldn't consider it
> (according to what I have read).
>
> The TT One is an inexpensive basic unit. Other models have features like
> mp3 player, hands-free cell phone connection etc. Don't go paying for
> features you aren't going to use! The fancier models can get quite pricey!
>
> Sometimes these units will give you strange routings and you will also find
> map errors. Nothing is perfect, but they are a marvellous device if you
> ever have to venture off to a strange city. Use it as a guide and use your
> head.
do we have any idea how much it costs TT or Navman to obtain map
updates?
could it be very costly for them to obtain the updates and they don't
really make a whole lot on them even if downloading is cheap?
I truly don't know.. The updates must cost an arm or a leg or they
might not cost much and folks ARE being ripped off.. so I'm asking..
does anyone know?
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| anyone@nowhere.com 2007-12-18, 3:33 pm |
| If you go to the TomTom website, they have maps prices. There is a sale on
at the moment on the U.K. site.
USA & Canada Map - 35 Pounds
Western Europe - 40 Pounds
(Just double it to get the US$ price equivalent)
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| Russell Patterson 2007-12-19, 10:33 am |
| On Tue, 18 Dec 2007 21:03:34 GMT, anyone@nowhere.com wrote:
>If you go to the TomTom website, they have maps prices. There is a sale on
>at the moment on the U.K. site.
>
>USA & Canada Map - 35 Pounds
>Western Europe - 40 Pounds
>
>(Just double it to get the US$ price equivalent)
Not long ago I saw an ad for a new TT One for $149 after an instant
rebate. I wish I had jumped on it. However, the newer models of GPS
systems have so many better features that I may just wait a couple
more years and buy a new model rather than pay a ridiculous price for
a downloaded map upgrade.
HEAR THIS TOM TOM: Because of the experience with high upgrade prices,
I probably will try a different brand! If the next brand does the
same thing then there will be two brands to avoid the next time
around. If everybody else would do the same, the prices will come
down.
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| Darren Griffin - PocketGPSWorld.Com 2007-12-19, 10:33 am |
| On 2007-12-18 18:54:25 +0000, Larry G <gross.larry@gmail.com> said:
> do we have any idea how much it costs TT or Navman to obtain map
> updates?
>
> could it be very costly for them to obtain the updates and they don't
> really make a whole lot on them even if downloading is cheap?
>
> I truly don't know.. The updates must cost an arm or a leg or they
> might not cost much and folks ARE being ripped off.. so I'm asking..
> does anyone know?
I'm given to understand that the map licences are a considerable
expense and that updates do not bring much profit at all.
--
Darren Griffin
PocketGPSWorld - www.PocketGPSWorld.com
The Premier GPS Resource for News, Reviews and Forums
| |
| Larry G 2007-12-19, 10:33 pm |
| On Dec 19, 9:38 am, Darren Griffin - PocketGPSWorld.Com
<dar...@pocketgpsworld.com> wrote:
> On 2007-12-18 18:54:25 +0000, Larry G <gross.la...@gmail.com> said:
>
>
>
>
> I'm given to understand that the map licences are a considerable
> expense and that updates do not bring much profit at all.
>
> --
> Darren Griffin
> PocketGPSWorld -www.PocketGPSWorld.com
> The Premier GPS Resource for News, Reviews and Forums
If you think about what it would take to gather the actual data for
new roads... corrections.. etc.. and filter it back to be integrated
with the existing data... it sounds like a lot of work... but then
again it might be like that printer/inkjet business model too.. I have
no clue.
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