TomTom go 910 : Irish coverage?

DannyD

According to http://www.expansys.ie/d.aspx?i=134030 Expansys there is no Irish coverage for the TomTom Go 910 :

"Coverage:
Great Britain, Belgium, The Netherlands, Luxembourg, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Italy, Spain, Portugal and all of the USA and Canada (incl. Hawaii, Alaska and Puerto Rico).
• Street network coverage:
A: 99%, AND: 99%, B: 99%, CAN: 99%, CH: 99%, CZ: 99%, 99%, DK: 99%, E: 99%, F: 99%, FIN: 99%, FL: 99%, GB: 99%, H: 40%, I: 99%, L: 99%, MC: 99%, N: 99%, NL: 99%, P: 84%, PL: 26%, RSM: 99%, S: 99%, SCV: 99%, SK: 16%, USA: 99%."

According the Komplett http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=320968 "Tomtom covers the maps of Europe except for Ireland".

Is this correct? If so can anyone recomend a gps which includes Ireland and also offers bluetooth support? Thanks in advance.

Flying

Have the 910 with Version 6.75 Mapping and is perfect ask Sharkman he knows quite a lot about the auld Tomtom.

I was always a Garmin man but steering towards Tomtom for the moment

keefg

I got a go910 last week and can confirm that it defo comes with Irish maps - I had the same concerns as you

djfarrell

Hi folks, I go to France twice a year - TomTom's are fantastic in UK & mainland Europe but are brutal in Ireland unless you just use the TomTom in urban areas like Dublin & Cork. I live 25km north of Cork City and according my TomTom Go 910 - I live in a field 10km from a road!!! I recently sold my TomTom GO910 and bought a Garmin 360T instead... way better, has full coverage on all Irish roads. If you're buying a Garmin make sure it has the City Navigator Version 9.0 Maps, these were up to date as of Sept 2006. It doesn't have the new M8 motorway in Cork or some of the newer roads in Dublin but is spot on other wise! So forget TomTom think Garmin! cheers!

Buffer

Hi all,

Until less than a year ago, the TomTom Europe maps didn't include Ireland. Now, however, they do and they claim 99% coverage for Ireland just as they do for other European countries. See details here.

Djfarrel, what version maps do you have on your TomTom? I have a TomTom 510 that I bought in the US, and I've recently put the latest Ireland & UK maps on it, V6.75. I've used it in Galway, Dublin and around:
- All city details fine
- Full coverage of motorways between Galway and Dublin at least
- Small rural roads included, though not all named
- Some miscalibration of rural roads, so that I am occasionally shown driving in a field parallel to the road.

By the way, the 510/710 have bluetooth support, but not the text-to-speech feature of the 910 that allows it to read out street names and SMS messages.

Buffer.

Mister Sifter

so is the tomtom coverage for ireland inferior to garmin's???

Aquos76

Graeme1982 wrote:

so is the tomtom coverage for ireland inferior to garmin's???

After using both, I would say that Garmin's coverage is far better than Tom Tom's but I'm sure others will disagree. I guess it really comes down to where its mainly used.

On a recent trip from Waterford to Galway, I used the nuvi 350 v9 maps and my brother in law used his TomTom, not sure what version or maps he has, but he said he spend a good bit of the journey driving through fields and along unknown roads. Whee as all roads were named correctly and accurate on the Garmin. There was one section of road going into Galway that was a little off, however, I think thats a new section of road which runs along side the old road.

sharkman

DannyD , I have a 910 and can assure you that it's coverage is every bit as good as any Garmin( You can see it working if you like) .

The long and short of the arguement is that nobody wants to say that their unit is inferior to anyone elses .

I've had Navman , Garmin and TomTom units and I just prefer the way the Tomtom presents the maps to you. The maps used on a lot of the units are the same (once updated) .

Aquos76

sharkman wrote:

The long and short of the argument is that nobody wants to say that their unit is inferior to anyone else's .

The true est statement I have read here on boards in a very long while. At the end of the day its all about personal preferences.

Gregor Samsa

Buffer wrote:

By the way, the 510/710 have bluetooth support, but not the text-to-speech feature of the 910 that allows it to read out street names and SMS messages.

...and just a quick FYI on this point, the new TomTom 520/720 that replace the 510/710 have both bluetooth and text to speech (for street names and SMS). Got my 720 from pixmania. A few anomolies (I've come across one road on it that doesn't exist in the real world at all, and it has some dual carrageway exits in Ennis on it that are still under construction, so the unwary could be directed through a wall of traffic cones into a building site until they're open later in the year), but very happy with it so far.

damo86

@sharkman

What version tomtom maps are using,i know its v6.75,but whats the exact version?cheers

Damo

sharkman

Damo , I actually use 660.1256 , but have 675.1409 also loaded . I find that they both have slight inaccuracies but all my fav's and pois are tied into my original .

damo86

he he, thats funny..exactly same maps Im running!
Using 660.1256 mainly because better detail in rural areas.

Zimmerframe

Anyone who has a Tomtom 910 or indeed any other Tomtom unit with teleatlas maps and are claiming the coverage is as good as a garmin are simply wrong.

The only Tomtom map which has proper coverage of Ireland is the ONLY map made for Tomom by Navteq (who supply Garmin). It is the map used in the Tomtom V2 Europe and the lateest version is V6.75.1322.

All of the Uk/Irl sold units use the inferior teleatlas data which is fine for the cities but NO good for rural Ireland.

Zimmerframe

The map Sharkman and Davo are using v6.75.1256 is the Navteq map, its just the 6.75.1322 is the newest version of that same map.

sharkman

Zimmerframe , where do you get your information from .

Because I can tell you that you are WRONG .

Aquos76

I have used 2 different versions of Tom Toms, and I can also say that outside of the main cities, their coverage of Ireland was crap. Both were using teleatlas maps.

sharkman

Which maps are you using . Both 660.1256 and 675.1409 have Very good coverage of Rural Ireland .

Aquos76

sharkman wrote:

Which maps are you using . Both 660.1256 and 675.1409 have Very good coverage of Rural Ireland .

No longer have the units. So could not say.

Zimmerframe

sharkman wrote:

Zimmerframe , where do you get your information from .

Because I can tell you that you are WRONG .

Could you elaborate please, do you think 675.1256 is a teleatlas map ?

sharkman

No , Western Europe Map V660.1256 (delivered with TomTom One II Europe) is by NAVTEQ .

I would like to know what you are basing "Anyone who has a Tomtom 910 or indeed any other Tomtom unit with teleatlas maps and are claiming the coverage is as good as a garmin are simply wrong." on ?

Zimmerframe

I am basing it on Teleatlas not having as good coverage of Ireland as Navteq.

And I base that on having owned a Nuvi 660 and a Tomtom 910 and two Tomtom One's both Uk & Irl versions and Europe versions and two Palm Treo's and a Dell Axim X51v all running Tomtom/Route66/Destinator and Navigon.

But if I am wrong, I am willing to learn, just give me the number of the Teleatlas map version that is better than Garmin or v6.75.1322 and I will check it out tonight.

sharkman

As I have stated many times I use 660.1256 . It has 99.9% coverage of Ireland , I've used it anongside a Garmin running the latest maps and found no difference .

Zimmerframe

sharkman wrote:

As I have stated many times I use 660.1256 . It has 99.9% coverage of Ireland , I've used it anongside a Garmin running the latest maps and found no difference .

I agree fully, then why did you say I was wrong when I stated clearly

"anyone who has a Tomtom 910 or indeed any other Tomtom unit with teleatlas maps and are claiming the coverage is as good as a garmin are simply wrong"

I stand by that and it is 100%correct. You are using a Navteq map, albeit not the latest version available, and thats why it is as good as the garmin.

So I repeat , where am I wrong.

sharkman

675.1409 is Teleatlas and has Good coverage of Ireland , The reason I dont use it is that for Swords (Home) it has a couple of mistakes , However on two recent trips , Belfast and Kerry . I switched to 1409 and found it excellent .

This is I believe the map loaded on UK/Irl units .

Zimmerframe

Nothing personal Sharkman, just friendly banter, but I think we have established that I wasn't wrong.

I have never met anyone yet who thinks Teleatlas mapping of Ireland is superior to Navteq apart from yourself, despite the fact that you use Navteq yourself "because Teleatlas has mistakes".

If you get the latest Navteq map, v1322 as supplied with Tomtom Rider you will like it even more.

To anyone else, the important point in getting a gps is to get the most coverage for your money.

I repeat again any Tomtom supplied with Teleatlas data and that certainly includes map version v675.1409, while fine in the cities and much better than their previous offerings in the country, it is NOT as good as the garmin data.

The only way to get to Garmins level of coverage on a TomTom unit is by getting a Tomtom unit like the Rider or One V2 Europe which ships with Navteq mapping.

It is important for people to know for example, that the Tomtom One V2 with the dedicated Uk/Irl map has inferior coverage of Ireland to the same unit supplied with a Western Europe map, because of where TomTom bought their maps.This is confusing because you would expect the dedicated UK/Irl map to have the best coverage.

Teleatlas are catching up, but they are not there yet, so I recommend getting a unit with Navteq data, or if you like the hardware one could aquire the map later.

Am considering getting the Tomtom 720 myself, but if I do, it will be getting an instant map transplant with my v6.75.1322 map.

sharkman

Just waiting for v6.75.1322 to arrive , I'll let you know how I get on .

testicle

Zimmerframe wrote:

But if I am wrong, I am willing to learn, just give me the number of the Teleatlas map version that is better than Garmin or v6.75.1322 and I will check it out tonight.

Google Maps (http://maps.google.co.uk) are TeleAtlas maps for Ireland.

Zimmerframe

testicle wrote:

Google Maps (http://maps.google.co.uk) are TeleAtlas maps for Ireland.

??

Yes I know that m8, and that proves what ?
that TeleAtlas does indeed supply maps of Ireland to Google.

Anyway hopefully Google maps will someday have the detail of the Navteq maps too.

Maybe it's just the late hour, but I can't see what google maps have to do with the topic being discussed, or do you know of a good method of using google maps for sat navigation.

kevmac

Agree with Zimmerframe.

Have had a look at a lot of Tom Toms lately, Halfords sold a lot of them off cheaply but TelaAtlas maps can't compare with NavTeq.

Halfords GPS bloke says they are scaling back on Tom Toms because they get so much hassle with people complaining about the coverage.

He says that will restock them fully when the TeleAtlas maps are 100% coverage.

The reason for the difference is one of priorities.

TelaAtlas always maps urban areas first and then eventually move on to rural areas.

Navteq map a whole country in one go - it takes longer but their coverage is always better.

Loads more on this on http://www.pocketgpsworld.com/

But TeleAtlas will be up to date very soon and then we can really compare with NavTeq.

Then again v10 Garmin NavTeq maps are on the horizon so the cat and mouse game will start again!

Zimmerframe

@Kevmac
You got it in a nutshell.

As I said in earlier posts, anyone who thinks Teleatlas overall coverage of Ireland, is better than Navteq's are simply wrong, it's a non contest.

It's pretty annoying though, the way Tomtom market these units in Ireland though. It's not a problem for many people here who know how to "aquire" maps, from one unit and get them onto another unit which wasn't meant to have those maps, but many people are not in this position.

It's an unusual situation here in Ireland, because normally when you buy a company's flagship product, it should do the job better than it's lower priced stablemates.

However if you bought Tomtom's flagship 910, and find out for it's main purpose i.e sat nav that it doesn't perform as well as the much cheaper Tomtom One V2 Europe, then you would be pissed off.

So to wrap up the subject, anyone in the market for a new gps in Ireland at this present moment, until TeleAtlas catch up.

1. Make a list of units with Navteq mapping (or ones you can modify)
2. Then choose the hardware you prefer.