Well. I should have listened to the chaps at RadioWorld in Toronto.
They said that I would go through several gps devices built for cars, and eventually buy one made for motorcycles. Guess what. In 60,000km I broke two Garmins, and a TomTom.
So I bought a TomTom Rider 400.
My advice - DON'T DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You will NEVER see your GPS co-ordinates. I know. A GPS device that never gives gps co-ordinates. Weird or what!
Entering GPS co-ordinates will only give you a destination IF TomTom knows of something at those co-ordinates. TomTom does not know a lot. So entering GPS co-ordinates rarely gives a meaningful and accurate destination.
TomTom takes a while to understand where you are. This is really annoying at junctions, turns and roundabouts. I have even seen my TomTom CHANGE IT'S MIND about which junction to take.
One example was in Heidelberg, when crossing a bridge. No tall buildings nearby. TomTom clearly told me to take the left turn on the other side of the bridge. Halfway across the bridge, TomTom changed it's mind. Told me I should have taken the left BEFORE the bridge. Truth.
Entering an address is a risky business. TomTom can be 100metres or more out of the correct location.
And whatever you do, make sure you UPDATE your maps BEFORE you go on the road. TomTom updates are 6Gigs or more. Try that in an iffy location, say Isle of Islay. Where download speeds are INTERMITTENT and 12Megs at best. TomTom state that you need 20Meg download speeds as a minimum! hahahahahahaha. Idiots. Obviously designed by Mommy's boys, who still live in the basement in some suburbian location.
TomTom ASSUMES you have your mobile phone connected to your gps ALL THE TIME. Obviously, the programmers have never been to Britain, where coverage is spotty at best.
Nor have they been to North America, where vast tracts of land are without a mobile phone signal.
Talking of coverage, some time in 2013, TomTom took off all the street names in Ukraine. I kid you not. Today, you can see streets in Ukraine, but not their names.
OK. So maybe you don't want to go to cheap and fun Ukraine. Morocco? Sorry. The stupid Dutch programmers have maps for Morocco that do not work on the Rider 400. My Rider 400 is less than 6mths old. Still. On the good side. Why would I pay 49GBP for a Moroccan map?
Want to add Points of Interest? Best of luck. Garmin accepts a regular CSV file. TomTom wants a specific format, for which you need to download a conversion program. And that is just the good news.
And while the Rider 400 works without a ziplock bag, rain on the screen will change the map, every now and again. You will never know when. But the map will change at the most inconvenient moment.
SHORT VERSION: Never, ever, buy a TomTom!
