tomtom go 300 postcodes

smstextaddict · Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2006 12:20 am Post subject: tomtom go 300 postcodes

I preferably prefer a courier or someone who navigates by post codes each day to answer this one, but how accurate is the postcodes on the tomtom 300?

I had to hand my last tomtom back to the company i worked for, even through ti was reliable for street to street, it couldnt search post codes well (it was the early tomtom go which is about a year old now).

Im currently using a cheap garmin i3 which ive found to be excellent for postcode searches but a pain to keep rolling the roller wheel to select characters and i do miss the excellent on screen display that shows every kink in the road.

Many thanks in advance!!

Oldboy · Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2006 7:56 am Post subject:

The 'Full Postcode' facility accuracy, on all the Devices that use it, is governed by the accuracy of the Data supplied by Ordanance Survey. They have compiled the Database from the Post Office PAF.

As to how accurate it is. The Postcode has on average 15 properties, with a min of 1 and a max of 60.

A Postcode is used on only 1 road, but a road can have more than 1 Postcode. In a town/city it can cover as little as 100 yards. In the country this can be more than 400 yards.

The biggest problem with Road Navigation Devices, like the TomTom, is that the Postcode Selection returns a Long/Lat value to the Map Program which then selects the nearest road to latch to.

The problem of choosing the wrong road arises because the supplied Long/Lat is not always accurate (an OS problem), and the road layout on the Map Overlay may be some yards out (TeleAtlas problem).

The calculation is such that it takes only a small error from those 2 combinations to give a wrong result.

It isn't helped by the fact that there are a lot of propertiesin the UK that don't have numbers.:o

I've not been disappointed by the 7 digit Postcode Navigation, although I always check on the Map first to see if it agrees with any other information I might have. It's never going to take you to the front door of every property, but it has a damn good try.
_________________
Richard

TT 910 V7.903: Europe Map v1045
TT Via 135 App 12.075: Europe Map v1120

smstextaddict · Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2006 10:30 pm Post subject:

Cheers i might reinvest in a tomtom this weekend, currently i have a garmin i3 which is excellent on postcodes but very puzzling on its planning of a route.

smstextaddict · Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2006 10:35 pm Post subject:

one more thing has anyone experienced both the go 300 and the one machines from tom tom, im looking at both and want to know what difference (if any) there is between the two and if anything what the tomtom one is like as a whole compared to early tomtoms?

Oldboy · Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2006 11:02 pm Post subject:

There are quite a few 'what is better ...', or 'which should I get ...' Topics that you can search for.

One such is http://www.pocketgpsworld.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=30113

For a review of the ONE see http://www.pocketgpsworld.com/tomtom-one.php
_________________
Richard

TT 910 V7.903: Europe Map v1045
TT Via 135 App 12.075: Europe Map v1120

Tumbleweed · Frequent Visitor Joined: Aug 30, 2004 Posts: 315

DennisN · Posted: Fri Mar 10, 2006 7:23 pm Post subject:

Very useful information from Oldboy, Richard - Thank you.
For what it's worth, I'm a whitevanman and have done 160,000 miles in the last two years. Used to carry a laptop with Autoroute Express and had reasonable success. Then I bought GO 300 last May, haven't used laptop since and have given the laptop away. Changed to GO 700 in December.
Postcode navigation has let me down once - customers quoting the wrong postcode have let me down lotsa times! I now take GO in to the customer before departure to check first.

Tumbleweed · Frequent Visitor Joined: Aug 30, 2004 Posts: 315

Oldboy · Posted: Fri Mar 10, 2006 11:46 pm Post subject:

smstextaddict · Posted: Sat Mar 11, 2006 4:21 pm Post subject:

Well i did it last night, went off to halfords to have a play with a tt300 and tt1 and after getting a sales guy going through everything (the stuff you already know) I was able to try the postcode thing out (the thing that intersts me as its needed for my job) and was impressed. somehow i ended up walking out with one in hand and £250 squid off my card.

Tumbleweed · Frequent Visitor Joined: Aug 30, 2004 Posts: 315

Gmonkey · Posted: Sun Mar 12, 2006 8:07 pm Post subject:

sgould · Frequent Visitor Joined: Oct 05, 2004 Posts: 1320

I changed from the original GO (similar to the 300) to a 700 last autumn. I travel to Europe fairly frequently and the need to keep swapping maps at border crossings was a pain. Especially as the first time I used the GO abroad was a tour of the battlefields of the first world war and Maginot line, followed by a few days in Geneva.
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