...but TT has "holiday themed app store icons" aka big news. Navigon only has new version and NO XMAS ICONS aka not news worthy...
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'TomTom U.S. & Canada' Price Temporarily Cut to $69.99
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...but TT has "holiday themed app store icons" aka big news. Navigon only has new version and NO XMAS ICONS aka not news worthy...
1. I agree that 95% of the time IQ routes does nothing... however playing with it extensively in the Cleveland area DOES show that during rushhour times it chooses better routes. For example, from my house to downtown it will avoid a stretch of highway during rushhours that is always congested. During off-peak times it will route my down that highway.
2. Can you s how me how to avoid a selected road in Navigon on the iPhone? Maybe because I had a Navigon PND I'm just looking in the wrong place, but I can't for the life of me find it. The BLOCK function is the only thing even close I've been able to find.
3. You didn't find version 1.3 of navigon to be slow on the button presses? Mine was really sluggish... even more so if I was playing music in the background.
I wish I could see this in action, because it sounds awesome. However, every route I had it calculate ended up being the same as Navigon. I think it avoided a school zone the other day for me, but I'm not 100% sure. Still, it generally takes me to traffic-clogged areas even at rush-hour.
It only has Block, which does not avoid specific roads. The new turn list doesn't let you avoid any of the segments, which was a major disappointment. I don't know how this can't be in there yet.
Navigon 1.3 was painfully slow most of the time. It got to the point where I just couldn't even use the iPod controls. By the time I got it to add songs and play them, I was at my destination. I found it better to just load my iPod up beforehand and then load Navigon.
I have to say 1.4 seems a lot faster. It loads a little faster, but the options menu comes up really fast now. It recalculates me almost instantly if I go off the route and the voice instructions don't lag behind.
Now, that's not to say its acceptable, because it's not, but it's a lot better.
What "advanced features" does TomTom lack besides traffic? I can't think of much that Navigon does that TomTom can't do... they both have reality view, which is really the only "advanced" thing I can think of. I personally think Navigon does most of these things better (i.e., better TTS, better instructions, better map, etc), but I don't really see what TomTom can't do. In the area of re-routing options, TomTom destroys Navigon unless you take traffic into consideration.
Go to routes.tomtom.com this is a near mapping application from tomtom that lets you set your departure to different times of day to see the effect IQ routes has. Like I said, 95% of the time you won't see if... but for some routes time makes a difference.
Hmmm... it must just be the area I live in because it just keeps taking me the same way regardless of what time of day I specify. I know that some of the alternates might not be fast enough to make it recalculate, but one of the trips I planned I know is absolutely faster to go around the interstate... weird. Maybe they don't have enough data for my area.
Cool app, though. I was able to get it to calculate a different route for one trip I planned, even though I never actually make that trip, and I agreed with its alternative.
Google POI search, pedestrian mode, real signpost view (or what ever they call it), coordinate input etc. Advanced meaning more then pure straight forward basic navigation. As I said before it seems TomTom isn't willing to compete with their high end models hence the TT One comparable features. Regarding general feature comparison check out what Navigon and TomTom have in their stand alone lineup. Kind of gives you idea what they could incorporate if they really wanted to. If you mean manual re-routing its true TomTom has advantage. However, I really haven't had any major issues with Navigon (and I have the Live Traffic service).
2. Unfortunately it doesn't allow you to block by long sections. You have the street blocking and avoidance by road type (but I guess you mean blocking by sections).
3. I have used 1.2 with 3G but when 1.3 was released I already had my 3G S... So no 1.3 has been "snappy" aka no delays at all with or without music.
If you're talking about the "reality view" where the app switches to a view of the lanes and signs you need to follow, TomTom has that as well in the newest version. What they don't have that Navigon has is the green text at the top when you are navigating on the map that tells you the sign text to follow. That is an advantage Navigon has, but the lane assist thing is in both.
I personally don't care about pedestrian mode or coordinate input... I can use Google Maps for pedestrian mode as I think it actually works better.
The Google Search is a big feature for Navigon, but I think everyone would just prefer a better POI database. The Google Search results don't have phone numbers in them, which limits its usefulness a bit, and if you lose your data connection for some reason, you're in trouble. I don't mean to minimize what it does, but TomTom's stock POI database is ridiculously huge... Navigon is using Google to bail their pitiful database out.
Google local search about finding "random" business locations. I can't see Tele Atlas or Navteq adding all those ever changing locations that Google Local Search gives you. It more useful that they are dynamically updated. Regarding POI databases in general it seems to depend on location. In Europe at least Navteq has far superior database compared to Tele Atlas which is crap and out of date (I have TT stand alone, TT iPhone and Navigon iPhone). Regarding the baling out aspect I don't think its what you said. After all TomTom's top of the line navigators have Google Local Search.
... but still missing RT traffic so basing decisions on history ... hard to drive only looking through the rear view mirror
Nuvi, I think the problem isn't the size of Navigon's POI database but rather the retarded implementation.
For example. If I'm further than 10 miles away from my local Marriot, then I will NEVER find it in Navigon's standard (non-google) poi DB.
Example:
Nearby search -- No good, I'm too far
Search in City -- No good, I put in Cleveland when the hotel I want is in a suburb called Beachwood. I should have searched for beachwood as the city, but I didn't know that city even existed till just now.
Search in State -- Will only find Significant landmarks like Parks, airports etc.
That Navigon critically needs google.
TomTom's database I think is just as good/bad as Navigon's but their search for a poi function isn't as finicky about knowing the exact city name.
... i use "on route POI" 90% of the time and then it comes down to # and accuracy of POI ... Navigon is sufficient; tho Google is much better (but not avail 'on route' currently)
... the other 10% are to look for something very nearby, so Navigon's distance is fine; and Google is perfect
if i'm planning activities in a different city or particular area, i typically use a computer
I think both TomTom and Navigon are crap at categories when it comes down to searching the POI's. IMHO, the only difference I have noticed is that Navigon (Navteq) has the POI data and TomTom (TeleAtlas) doesn't. Honestly, what I've noticed is that TomTom is the one that needs the Google search since the lack of POI's. There must be huge differences in regional data.
Honestly I have to say its a tossup. I always test POI DBs by throwing a handful of places I go to frequently at it. I'll try a mix of restaurants, hotels, shopping centers etc to see how easy it would be to find these if I didn't know the area.
I have to say as far as POIs being in there, it is a tossup. I like the way Navigon allows you to zoom in and out of the minimap. Helps me to see if the POI I've selected is indeed the one I want before navigating to it.
However, ever since my Navigon 8100T the city name thing was a real problem. on the 8100T PND it was easy to fix though, I simply changed the config file to make "nearby" be 50 miles.
On the iPhone program having to know the exact city name as it appears in the address is a MAJOR MAJOR problem IMO. Like the example I gave, even if you know the name of the POI exactly, unless you search the exact correct suburb name you ain't gonna find it... even if its in there.
It seems that Navigon makes its query look something like this:
select POIs from POIDB WHERE City = "Whateveruserputin"
whereas TomTom's query is more like this
select POIs from POIDB WHERE POI IS NEAR("Whateveruserputin", 100 mile radius)
Is that restaurant my friend invited me to in Westlake or Avon Lake? hmmm lets try Westlake... nope. Lets try Avon Lake... nope. How about just Avon... aah there it is!
That scenario is much less of a pain in the ass on the TomTom.
Again, my gripe is not the contents of the DB. I think Navigon and TomTom's POI DB are sufficient for my purposes. The implementation gets me.
PS. If I'm in a strange city not looking for a specific POI but rather just browsing... I prefer Navigon because of how it groups POIs by major Chains.
embarrassing ..Anyone else find it funny that since this sale has ended, TomTom set it's "normal" price to $79.99 (down from $99.99) - undercutting Navigon's $89.99?
Yes, a signal that they realize they're providing less "value" than Navigon (hopefully! otherwise they're just being random about their pricing strategy, vry embarassing) ... TomTom leading price compression, who would have thunk it.