| Author | Message | ||
     Kravfighter |
I would like to put a TOM Tom on, but I know there's been some charging issues. | ||
| Zac4mac |
Check its specs, i bet it only draws milliwatts. You should be fine. Heated gear draws several watts, eg. the Buell heated grip kit says allow 3 Amps - that's 36 watts at 12 volts, 41-42 watts at "normal running voltage" of 13.8-14 volts. Power(watts) = Volts X Amps = (Amps) squared X Resistance (Ohms) Zack | ||
| Az_m2 |
Electronics draw little power. As Zack mentioned, it's the heated gear that pulls all the juice. | ||
| Jackbequick |
Tom Tom, stupidly enough, does not include the power requirements in the specs sheets or user manuals. But if you get one with an DC adapter that has a fuse in it, and that has a 1 or 2 Amp fuse in it then you can use it without any worries. Working the fuse size backwards, a 1 Amp fuse means it is a 12 Watt device and 2 Amps a 24 Watt device. Those would be max draw figures and also allow for some surges. So in reality, it will draws much less than 12 or 24 Watts nearly all the time. And especially if you start with the TomTom battery in a fully charged condition. The Rider is the only ruggedized and waterproofed TomTom model. The 910 has a hard drive in it and would be a poor choice for that reason alone (motorcycle vibrations will probably kill it). The various TomTom One variants or any of the other models that store data in flash memory and/or on SD cards should be OK. Keep a plastic bag and a rubber band handy for wet weather. I actually like the TomToms better than the Garmin nuvis. Their Itinerary Planning feature will give you full control over routing and also let you plan the routes on the GPS or on a PC before you travel. Here is a review of the TomTom One: http://www.gpsmagazine.com/2006/09/review_tomtom_o ne.php The review has all the good and bad news. I tend to ignore the frequent criticism of Tele-Atlas map data when it is compared to NavTeq map data. I've used both and find them both to be adequate but neither is perfect. When people cite reasons for staying away from TomTom (Tele-Atlas) and recommend Garmin (NavTeq) they invariably cite examples where knowlege of local traffic patterns, peak loadings, and the like would let you spot a "bad" route because of your knowledge of the local situation. So if you know it is a "bad" route, don't take it. Go the better way and the GPS (TomTom or Garmin) will start recalculating your route as you go because you appear to be lost or off the route. Eventually, it will give you directions that are the better route. If you did not know route was "bad", you've not lost anything and got to where you wanted to go, right? While the Garmin may have offered the better route to begin with in the example in the review above, I still consider the TomTom to be the better GPS of the two because of the Itinerary Planning feature. And I generally like user interface on the TomToms better than the Garmins. Another factor with the TomTom line is that you get the TomTom HOME service with it and that gives you maps and route planning on a PC (and also access to additional optional services at extra cost) without having to buy an optional mapping package as you would for a Garmin. Also, I'm told that TomTom HOME is Mac compatible now and Garmin is not. I'm not a Mac user but Garmin has really riled those folks up with empty promises in the last few years as far is getting Garmin useful on Macs. So many choices on GPS, so little time... Jack | ||
| Reepicheep |
Thats a huge deal. Buying $80 updates every two years, only to find that my 5 year old sub division is ***still*** not right, gets old. It gets even older when I look at older garmin data (3.1 or something?) and see that two roads near me which garmin currently (incorrectly) shows as going right through I-71 were correctly shown 5 years ago. I wish Garmin would partner with Google. Garmin builds the units and the unit software, Google builds the web based mapping tools. | ||
| Baggermike |
I have the garmin zumo 550 and has weather, traffic, xm radio mp3 player and can download to google to see your trip on google earth, bet there could be a good discussion about which one is better, but the name tom tom just turns me off. Mike | ||
| Jackbequick |
The TomTom name probably offends native Americans and is a little hard to figure out. http://www.tomtom.com/ But the company started in The Netherlands a few years ago and has been moving into the American and global market for the last few years. Sorry to be the one to tell you Reep, but, like Garmin, TomTom does not give away free updates for the mapping packages. You can buy the upgrades at similar frequencies and prices to what Garmin charges. I guess that makes sense since they have to buy the map data and process and package it. And they are a business and trying to make money. I've not used TomTom Home (that is a fairly new feature) and have not owned any of the TomTom units. I liked their Navigator software very much when I was using it on PDAs but I moved away from that when I bought a Garmin. But the Navigator software running on PDA would, version for version, be the same user interface and mapping data you would be seeing on a TomTom One, Rider, Go, etc. Google is slowly becoming, or has become, the best source for the most up to date mapping. You can look at it online, look at photo imagery of the same place too, and it costs nothing. In fact, there are some systems and hacks in place now that will let you download the google maps and use them on tablets and cell phones like the Nokia N800 and N95. It is not the way google planned it and it may even be illegal to do it. But with those, the maps can be downloaded from google as you travel. Of course, you have to pay for the cell phone time and bandwidth. But you can also download the mapping to the tablets and phones at home via a broadband connection and take it with you too. All of this is centered around maemo.org and the use of tablets and phones with linux based operating systems. Beyond that, like Sargent Schultz, I know nothing... Here is some NITNOI about the zumo that I stumbled on recently. The ZumoForums has been accumulating a list of wanted features for the zumos. Their intention is to submit a list the 18 most disliked things about the zumo to Garmin in the hopes that Garmin will fix them in a future software update. So the list, as seen at the link below is basically a list of things that are either missing from the zumos or wanted on them. http://www.zumoforums.com/index.php?topic=3792.0 Jack |
