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Mini Review of TomTom GPS navigation for Pocket PC

Version 1.

We have been testing software for GPS navigation for Pocket PC made by Dutch company TomTom:

As you can see above this software has both 3D-view (three dimensional) and regular 2D-view. While driving the car software quickly finds new route if you by by accident turned into wrong street.

However we would like to warn you: this software has some usability problems, and to judget it only on the basis of the fact that it offers 3D view, which some other programs don´t have is a mistake. The fact is that we don´t like TomTom software! Even though it has that 3D view. This 3D view requires some using to it, but generally we prefer 2D view - after all we are driving a car that moves in 2D, not an airplane that flies in 3D...

Remarks regarding TomTom company and its products:

TomTom offers also "TomTom GO" product which is a separate device with touch screen dedicated to car navigation. Actually TomTom has bigger margins (bigger profits) from selling TomTom Go, rather than selling software or hardware for PDAs and Smartphones... another reason not to buy TomTom software? Maybe.
currently TomTom offers wired GPS solutions only for Pocket PC. Bluetooth GPS solutions are offered not only for Pocket PC but also for Palm OS based PDAs.
apart from "TomTom Navigator" software that is for PDAs (Pocket PC and Palm), TomTom offers (coming to market yet in September 2004) "TomTom Mobile" which is for smartphones: Microsoft Smartphone and Nokia Symbian Series 60.
unfortunately there is no trial version of TomTom software, so unlike some other GPS navigation software vendors, in case of TomTom you can´t try before buy!
TomTom Navigator is available currently on the market in versions 2 and 3, but TomTom provides no upgrade paths for users of version 2, to version 3. It is not very customer friendly...
TomTom offers also full range of hardware: car kits, with holders and power connections, etc. All these products are "Made in China" but branded by TomTom. Of course it may be good to buy such hardware from TomTom because you have everything from one hand and if you have wired or Bluetooth GPS receivers also from TomTom (yes, TomTom sells now 2 models of GPS receivers - one wired GPS with typical tentacle from, and one Bluetooth with typical "long box for glasses" form), then you can spare yourself additional cables in a car and you can power both PDA and GPS receiver from just one power cord (cars usally have only one power socket)
we were using in our tests mainly wired GPS branded by TomTom, but TomTom Navigator software works also with non-TomTom Bluetooth and wired GPS receivers.

Final conclusion: DO NOT BUY any GPS car navigation software until you have possibility to try it out. Or at least research many reviews of such software on the Internet (which is not ideal though...). Without testing better don´t buy. We do not like TomTom software, and we do not like level of support that TomTom company provides for Windows Mobile users, but we like TomTom hardware (car kits). We advise you therefore not to fall into a trap of "leading company" marketing talk and to try GPS navigation software (and maps!) before buying.