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Michael
Hello All:
Way back at the beginning of 2020, I purchased a TomTom Rider 550, and wrote a post describing my initial impressions of the device (TomTom Rider 550 Initial Impressions, & Comparison with Garmin Zumo 590). I've now had the opportunity to ride with the device for about 3,000 miles. Here are my thoughts about the Rider 550, and the 'Garmin vs. TomTom' question in general.
All things considered, I think both devices have equal capabilities, and there is not a lot of functional difference between Garmin motorcycle navigators and TomTom motorcycle navigators... they both support route creation on an external device & downloading to the navigator, they both support looking up addresses & POIs, and they both offer speed camera and traffic jam warnings. In other words, for a person buying a motorcycle navigator for the first time ever, they are both equally competent.
Having said that, there are BIG differences in how the two companies handle route creation & downloading, and knowing the difference between how Garmin does it and how TomTom does it might significantly influence the decision to go with Garmin or with TomTom.
Garmin's philosophy is that you create routes on your PC, without needing an internet connection (this because you have previously downloaded the Garmin BaseCamp application and the maps that your device uses to your computer), then you connect your device to your computer using a USB cable and transfer the routes and/or waypoints you have created to the navigator. Using the same cable, you can upload records of tracks you have followed and save these records to your computer.
TomTom's philosophy is very different - you do everything online, creating routes using the TomTom 'MyDrive' website that you access via your web browser, then, you connect your navigator to the internet (using Wi-Fi) and it sucks the routes and waypoints down 'from the cloud'.
In other words, Garmin is off-line based - you need a laptop and a USB cable - and TomTom is online based - you need a device that has access to the internet (computer with web browser, tablet, even a smartphone), and you must also have internet access via Wi-Fi for the navigator to retrieve the routes you have created. If you don't have internet access via Wi-Fi for the navigator, you can tether it to your smartphone to give it internet access. You cannot upload records of tracks you have created (where you have ridden) from the TomTom navigator - it just ain't possible.
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In theory, both philosophies work well. In reality, you can sit at a picnic table at the side of a road with your laptop, USB cable, and Garmin device and create routes & transfer them to the device, but you can't do that with a TomTom unless you have cellular data access (to create the routes on a tablet, computer, or smartphone) and you also have a way of tethering the TomTom navigator to your phone to enable it to fetch the routes you have created.
TomTom's Wi-Fi requirement can be a real PITA if the Wi-Fi network you are trying to log into needs anything more than just a password. For example, most hotel Wi-Fi services, most restaurant Wi-Fi services (think McDonald's, etc.) require you to check a box accepting terms and conditions before you can log into their Wi-Fi network. This is a barrier the navigator itself cannot overcome, because it does not have the capability of displaying the log-in screen - all it can do is access a network that requires a password and nothing else.
If you have an unlimited data plan on your phone, tethering the navigator to your phone might not be a problem. But if you have no data plan, or a limited data plan with expensive overage charges, or even an older phone that doesn't handle data quickly, that's a deal-killer for the TomTom device.
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There is one other major consideration, and this one applies to 'Switching Brands'. Earlier I mentioned that for folks who have never used a motorcycle GPS navigator, either brand is equally capable - after having considered the issue of Wi-Fi access I just described.
But, if you have been using Garmin navigators for a while and have become competent at both using the devices and using your computer and BaseCamp (or MapSource) to create routes and transfer them to the Garmin navigator, the need to 'forget everything you know and learn a totally different philosophy' will be a massive PITA that cannot be underestimated. It's worse than just switching from using Windows to using a Mac (or vice-versa) - it's more like switching from speaking English (and being competent at it) to speaking French or Spanish (and being competent at it).
For that reason, if you have a lot of experience with Garmin, don't consider switching to TomTom (or vice-versa).
One last consideration is that with the Garmin devices, you can download and save your routes, tracks, and waypoints to your computer, and look back at them years or even decades later, even if you have changed devices numerous times or don't even have a Garmin device anymore. TomTom does not offer any method of saving tracks you have travelled for later review, and you can only save routes and waypoints on the device itself... where it is difficult to review them after the fact.
I hope these observations & thoughts are useful to others who may be considering purchase of a GPS navigator.
Michael
Way back at the beginning of 2020, I purchased a TomTom Rider 550, and wrote a post describing my initial impressions of the device (TomTom Rider 550 Initial Impressions, & Comparison with Garmin Zumo 590). I've now had the opportunity to ride with the device for about 3,000 miles. Here are my thoughts about the Rider 550, and the 'Garmin vs. TomTom' question in general.
All things considered, I think both devices have equal capabilities, and there is not a lot of functional difference between Garmin motorcycle navigators and TomTom motorcycle navigators... they both support route creation on an external device & downloading to the navigator, they both support looking up addresses & POIs, and they both offer speed camera and traffic jam warnings. In other words, for a person buying a motorcycle navigator for the first time ever, they are both equally competent.
Having said that, there are BIG differences in how the two companies handle route creation & downloading, and knowing the difference between how Garmin does it and how TomTom does it might significantly influence the decision to go with Garmin or with TomTom.
Garmin's philosophy is that you create routes on your PC, without needing an internet connection (this because you have previously downloaded the Garmin BaseCamp application and the maps that your device uses to your computer), then you connect your device to your computer using a USB cable and transfer the routes and/or waypoints you have created to the navigator. Using the same cable, you can upload records of tracks you have followed and save these records to your computer.
TomTom's philosophy is very different - you do everything online, creating routes using the TomTom 'MyDrive' website that you access via your web browser, then, you connect your navigator to the internet (using Wi-Fi) and it sucks the routes and waypoints down 'from the cloud'.
In other words, Garmin is off-line based - you need a laptop and a USB cable - and TomTom is online based - you need a device that has access to the internet (computer with web browser, tablet, even a smartphone), and you must also have internet access via Wi-Fi for the navigator to retrieve the routes you have created. If you don't have internet access via Wi-Fi for the navigator, you can tether it to your smartphone to give it internet access. You cannot upload records of tracks you have created (where you have ridden) from the TomTom navigator - it just ain't possible.
---------------
In theory, both philosophies work well. In reality, you can sit at a picnic table at the side of a road with your laptop, USB cable, and Garmin device and create routes & transfer them to the device, but you can't do that with a TomTom unless you have cellular data access (to create the routes on a tablet, computer, or smartphone) and you also have a way of tethering the TomTom navigator to your phone to enable it to fetch the routes you have created.
TomTom's Wi-Fi requirement can be a real PITA if the Wi-Fi network you are trying to log into needs anything more than just a password. For example, most hotel Wi-Fi services, most restaurant Wi-Fi services (think McDonald's, etc.) require you to check a box accepting terms and conditions before you can log into their Wi-Fi network. This is a barrier the navigator itself cannot overcome, because it does not have the capability of displaying the log-in screen - all it can do is access a network that requires a password and nothing else.
If you have an unlimited data plan on your phone, tethering the navigator to your phone might not be a problem. But if you have no data plan, or a limited data plan with expensive overage charges, or even an older phone that doesn't handle data quickly, that's a deal-killer for the TomTom device.
------------------
There is one other major consideration, and this one applies to 'Switching Brands'. Earlier I mentioned that for folks who have never used a motorcycle GPS navigator, either brand is equally capable - after having considered the issue of Wi-Fi access I just described.
But, if you have been using Garmin navigators for a while and have become competent at both using the devices and using your computer and BaseCamp (or MapSource) to create routes and transfer them to the Garmin navigator, the need to 'forget everything you know and learn a totally different philosophy' will be a massive PITA that cannot be underestimated. It's worse than just switching from using Windows to using a Mac (or vice-versa) - it's more like switching from speaking English (and being competent at it) to speaking French or Spanish (and being competent at it).
For that reason, if you have a lot of experience with Garmin, don't consider switching to TomTom (or vice-versa).
One last consideration is that with the Garmin devices, you can download and save your routes, tracks, and waypoints to your computer, and look back at them years or even decades later, even if you have changed devices numerous times or don't even have a Garmin device anymore. TomTom does not offer any method of saving tracks you have travelled for later review, and you can only save routes and waypoints on the device itself... where it is difficult to review them after the fact.
I hope these observations & thoughts are useful to others who may be considering purchase of a GPS navigator.
Michael
