Review of Tom Tom Mobile (from a Navman user)

[itsamac]

I got my free Tom Tom for Windows Mobile card and Palm Bluetooth GPS receiver for free for buying a Treo 750 (you can also get it if you buy the Treo 680 or 750v - Vodafone version). Overall, I am pleasantly suprised with the software and the receiver work really well and very quickly.

Besides the Tom Tom/Palm combo, I also have a Navman iCN-530 which is pretty good besides a few quirks - wont start up from being flat until the battery has reached a certain level, alphabetic keyboard rather than a qwerty one, slow recovery (sometimes) when you make a wrong turn, and inconsistent directions around central London (map tells you to turn one way, the voice the opposite way).

Installation was pretty easy. Just plug the card in and the software installs itself. There is a pretty easy guide to setup your preferences such as language, voice, yards vs metres, etc. It's great that the desktop software is available for PC and Mac (vs the Navman which only supports Windows). The desktop software is pretty easy to use and allows you to add functionality such as speed camera, music and photos which I thought was pretty cool.

Using the unit is pretty easy though I think there is a little room for improvement. The Navman interface is pretty slimline (it uses a list view with simple buttons - no icons) whereas the Tom Tom uses a friendlier interface with big icons. It's downfall, for me, is that you have to scroll across through multiple screens. I think it comes down to personal preference. Inputing postcodes is pretty easy thanks to the Treo's keyboard.

On the road, the unit is pretty fast. It is alot faster than my Navman to work out that I have made a wrong turn and to re-route - the Navman could take a few seconds before realising you have made a wrong turn. The voice is a little faint for my liking (I am using UK English - Jane) but as long as I don't have the radio too loud, I can hear.

I really like the speed camera functionality. It works alot better than the Navman one. The Navman will just beep once quietly whilst the Tom Tom unit beeps repeadly 300 yards out and flashs. It also shows the speed at upcoming cameras on the map whereas the Navman will show that there is a camera up to 1500ft away.

The ability to download traffic information over GPRS is great. I was tempted to buy the TMC add on for the Navman but I thought £99 was a little unjustified.

Signal strength is great. I still had one bar of signal strength through most of the Blackwall Tunnel. The Navman would lose signal strength about 100m into the tunnel. With exits immediately after this tunnel in particular, it's really handy that the ability to latch onto signals is strong.

Overall, I would give the Tom Tom 4.5/5 vs 3.5/5 for the Navman. If you are looking for a sat nav system for your Windows Mobile device, I would really recommend the Tom Tom software with the Tom Tom/Palm Bluetooth GPS receiver.