Review on TomTom XL 4 3 Inch Navigator Packaging by Jeff Bremmer

I consider myself a good GPS test rider for several reasons. The first reason is that I use GPS at least 5 times a day, 5 days a week to find addresses during high traffic. And second, because my sense of direction and memory are probably below average. Since my Zumo stopped working, I borrowed my son's TomTom and used it all week without prisoner traffic in Orange County. The TT and Garmin program for entering a destination is slightly different. And I've found that TT is faster and has fewer bugs. TomTom instructions while driving are much clearer and easier to understand while driving. Garmin's voice prompts give you street names, which sounds good in theory but only gets harder in practice. For this reason I have disabled voice prompts on Garmin. I also stopped using the map display on the Garmin and started using only text directions because it was the only way to get far enough ahead of where my next turn on the freeway should be. That way, I could read the text, bypass any updates of what I was going through, and move on to the next "real" change of direction I needed to make. I actually booked a TT in Palm Springs on my no text to speech trip because my Garmin experience was so poor. Later, after using the borrowed TT, I canceled this order. And have reordered TT with text-to-speech because it worked so well on a borrowed device. The TT also offers clearer visual guidance and a long enough countdown to the next turn that I don't have to wear reading glasses. I dangled my nose to read them. I figured buying a dedicated motorcycle GPS would give me a much more reliable device. And that's because it's waterproof and has a much more durable body and mounting system. But otherwise I don't think they are any more reliable than a car block (my Zumo broke twice) which is 1/6 the price. Garmin has a $150 repair fee, I'm ordering a new TT for $100. And they make a lot of aftermarket motorcycle mounts for it. The last time my Zumo broke a friend, he was kind enough to point me towards a replacement touchscreen and I ordered one from China. Hopefully Garmin will fix that and I'll probably put it up for sale. I can attach some photos of the touchscreen replacement. So in the end I would say don't be like me and spend $700 on a dedicated motorcycle GPS. Get your car device of choice (I recommend TomTom), buy an aftermarket mount and protect it from the rain. If it breaks, $100 will replace the device. Being able to get directions from a Garmin map source was difficult enough for me, so I decided not to use it. I've followed a few routes. Like the ones Chuck made and emailed me. It was a shore excursion to Alice's restaurant which was fun to follow. So it was that we parted at the beginning of the journey and each walked the same path and met at Alice's. I think the ability to download Google Map tracks with Tomtom could be a plus for me. But I'll have to wait and see. Or it could make the Garmin map source easy by comparison. But when it loads. There are some great routes on Google Maps that I'd like to use as-is. What I did with Zumo was find the streets on Google Maps, then display them on my Zumo (not the map source), then touch the screen, point to the street and save it as a favorite. Then when I'm in range, I select favorites and it lists them in order of proximity. Then I can decide which one to choose next. That way I let the GPS do what it does best, straight to the destination, not a specific route. I can change my mind and find a road that looks better along the way and it will just recalculate until it uses the road I chose to get to the selected point. I actually wanted to turn Google Map Tracks into something I could use on Zumo since I've had Zumo.