Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Google's Free Satnav Outperforms TomTom

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the sounds-pretty-badbad dept.

Barence writes "A real-world road test of several different satnav systems has found that the free Google Maps Navigation outperformed TomTom's premium GPS unit. PC Pro put the satnavs through four different real-world tests, covering country roads, inner-city traffic and motorway driving. The Google satnav finished the four tests more than half an hour ahead of the top of the range TomTom Go 950 Live. 'For those in rural areas or people who spend hours in their car every day, we believe the investment in a dedicated satnav device or software will still pay off,' PC Pro concludes. 'But for the recreational user, it's amazing what you can get for free.'"

2 of 242 comments (clear)

  1. The problem is.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Is that Google's solution is not free because it requires a data connection on your phone. When traveling in foreign countries this is usually prohibitively expensive.

    With TomTom you can purchase foreign maps and use them without "per use" data charges.

    Actually, Nokia likely has the best solution in this regard - they give you free maps/navigation on your own phone (so nothing to purchase) but you can pick the countries and pre-load their maps on your phone. You then do not need an active data connection to navigate.

    For what it's worth - TomTom and other standalone makers are probably the losers in this. These devices are consolidating and phone manufacturers are emerging as winners.

  2. Re:Really? by slim · · Score: 5, Informative

    Well, that depends where you're driving.

    Google Navigation does cache images of the entire route -- but this can become problematic if you deviated from the planned route.