Tom Tom Sat Nav Rip Off

[Michael Shillabeer]

As for using a smart phone, I have had my smart phone shut down because it got hot in the windscreen mount on a hot day, never had that with the TomTom.

When I worked for Nokia we tested our prototype by leaving it in the hire car's armrest during a summer lunchbreak in Florida - we returned to a phone that was almost too hot to hold, but it was still working 

An advantage of satnav on a smartphone is real time traffic updates. I use mine all the time on my commute (well, when I commuted...) to avoid traffic. My car displays the phone's satnav on the centre dashboard via Android Auto while the voice is over the audio system - it mutes the radio/streaming audio.

[Markthetog]

I used a Tomtom daily up until 2 years ago - I was driving touring coaches around Europe. It mostly did the job and avoided roads I couldn't drive along.
I use another Tomtom regularly on my Motorbike, it does the job well though the journey timings are less accurate (They don't account for being able to go past 50% of traffic jams!) It's fully waterproof and has operated well in temperatures I'd rather not have been out in.
Both suffer from desperately outdated software (Firmware, not maps) and woeful PC/Mac software that struggles to do it's job.

In the car I'd never use one - pop the phone on it's mount and off I go. Faster reactions to changing traffic conditions and faster & more efficient routing.
A Pay as you go Smartphone capable of running Google Maps can be had for far less than the price of a Tomtom, one doesn't need to use the other features or negotiate the seemingly steep learning curves accompanying said features.

[Trainfish]

my first use of satnags was when I was on the AA, and to be honest I was not impressed.

I can just hear you now, "Hi, my name is Alan and I'm an alcoholic......."

[Bealman]

I always take my unit to NZ when I go there, as I did load NZ maps onto it. We were driving between Auckland and Rotorua once, with me quite happily listening to directions, when my wife said "she doesn't read all that into it, does she"