GPS for Treo: TomTom Navigator Vs. Mapopolis U.S. NavCard - Part 2
(Note: I've split this article into two pages due to its length and limitations within my weblog editing environment - plus the fact that updates may be neccessary periodically)
While this list may look like it gives an edge to TomTom, the list is somewhat arbitrary and subjective. My suggestion is to be even more subjective than this, but a lot less arbitrary and look at these applications yourself. One can download a copy of Mapopolis 2 with demo maps that expire after 9 days. The interface will not be exactly like the Navcard, but it will be close enough. You'll just have to keep in mind that the detail control and the 3D maps are things that aren't available on the Navcard, and that map file management (which is kind of a pain in Mapopolis 2) is no longer an issue with the NavCard. As for TomTom, unfortunately there is no trial software, which is unfortunate. However, you might actually be able to test a very similar software out by going to your local Circuit City, Best Buy, or Car Audio/GPS shop. These places often carry the
Update: As you may have seen in one of the comments below, Doug Kozlowsky has added a couple of important clarifications to my review regarding TomTom Navigator. Specifically he says:
But more importantly:
"Mapopolis has a huge incompatibility with the Treo 650 in that it loads maps into memory to work with. Any map over 12 MB or so crashes the 650. I couldn't use it in LA for example since the LA County map is over that size. Perhaps it is related to what else I had loaded."
If this is accurate, while this will probably only be a problem for a few very dense maps like LA, it is still a big problem considering the Treo 650's memory issues. Those memory issues will probably be alleviated some on GSM models as they already have with Sprint models via a firmware update, but 12MB is still a lot to keep free even so.
Another Update: There has been a lot of talks in the comments about another version of TomTom coming out, called TomTom 5, which apparently fixes some of the previous limitations (like address book interaction), and adds some tantalizing new possibilities, like access to traffic and other information. This supposedly will be a free upgrade to current TomTom 2004 customers, but I'm not counting on anything until there is an definitive official statement, which there really hasn't been yet. The new TomTom 5 comes with a GPS which contains a newer chipset than the 2004 package, one that theoretically should mean even better reception, faster response, etc. Any additional news I get will be posted as another update.
I hope you read this...I have both Mapopolis and Tomtom Nav 5 on a Treo
650. There is no comparison. Tomtom is like a Rolls and Mapopolis is like
driving a 40 year old car without tires! Just not even close.
FYI
Tiger
I Have a Dell Pocket pc and I tell you what the Mapopolis program works
great. Lets see Tom Tom 599.00
Pocket pc 200.00
Nav Card 129.00
Car Adapter 15.00
Total 344.00 Humm Think Ill stay w/ Mapopolis
I Have a Dell Pocket pc and I tell you what the Mapopolis program works
great. Lets see Tom Tom 599.00
Pocket pc 200.00
Nav Card 129.00
Car Adapter 15.00
GPS Reciver 43.00 sorry forgot this too
Total 387.00 Humm Think Ill stay w/ Mapopolis
Jim, I think you're getting confused. Where do you get $599? You can buy
the TomTom 5 software (no GPS) for as low as $120 if you look around. Even
if price were your only issue (which it seems to be), then it still seems
like you can get TomTom for a similar price as Mapopolis. But if you like
Mapopolis better, that's of course up to you. I tried to give an objective
view and while Mapopolis does have some things that TomTom doesn't, I gave
TomTom the edge. This review was also before TomTom 5 came out, and so the
edge may have increased even further by now. But there are some people who
are just going to like Mapopolis better, and far be it from me to tell
anyone they have to prefer TomTom...
I have a Garmin Street Pilot III that has slid off the dash one too many
times I am afraid. Since I am in the market for a new phone I have been
looking at the Verizon TREO 700w and the Sprint TREO 650. I thought it
would be a good time to consider a new GPS unit as well which got me
thinking about combining a GPS with a TREO. I started reading your article
and wanted to thankyou for the information.
You can buy bundles that include the cradle, charger and GPS receiver as
well as the software for about $300. My confusion lies in how the
communication takes place. One Sprint saleman told me that it would cost
$15 dollars for the vision plan and additional $10 a month to use the GPS.
Another said just $15.
Do I really need to pay any of the subscription fees ? If the GPS bundle
comes with the Maps and a receiver do you communicate with the GPS
satallites through the internet (subscription fee) or through radio waves
direct to satilites (essentially free)?
Doug, the Sprint rep had no idea what he was talking about GPS has nothing
to do with cellular networks. You're just getting data from satellites,
and that is free. Why would you want it based on the cell network which is
far from ubiquitous when you can communicate with sattelites which are, as
long as you have line of sight more or less? Why are you just considering
Sprint or Verizon, by the way? Why not Cingular or even an unlocked GSM
Treo 650 that you could use with either cingular or Tmobile?
Great article and threads, very helpful. Here is what I am still not quite
clear on. If I get TomTom Navigator 5, is it married to a particular device
and cannot be moved to another one if I upgrade the smart phone later? If I
have a computer crash, say lose my hard drive, can this be reloaded on my
computer? The reason I ask is all the comments about registration both on
the computer and the hand held to get it to work. I don't think I'm
intrested in something that I can't move if I upgrade computers or hand
helds. Same questions for the Mapopolis, can it be moved to another hand
held device if I upgrade? Seems pretty likely that people are going to do
that or have phones replaced because they are defective, would hate to have
software that is essentially throw away in that event.
I have TOMTOM Navigator 5, a Palm TX, and a GlobalSat BT-359 GPS reciever.
TOMTOM Nav 5 will work with ANY bluetooth GPS reciever. Plus, TOMTOM Nav 5
costs only $149, compared to an earlier comment of Mapopolis costing $344.
TOMTOM Nav 5 is a clear winner hands down. There is no comparison with
ease of use, features, useablity, etc.