Vinnys House of Real Estate

In a previous article I talk about my Sprint Mogul phone. I have used Google Maps for mobile and TomTom handheld on the phone. Both of them work very well, but they have a few major differences.

TomTom Handheld:

Pros:

• TomTom works offline, meaning you do not need an internet connection to get results.
• TomTom has voice support, so you are not constantly looking at your handheld.
• TomTom can be faster finding points of interests (POI) than Google maps. It has a very intuitive interface.
• Touchscreen, there are touch options for everything.

Cons:

• TomTom needs updating. These map updates are expensive, upwards of $200.
• TomTom doesn’t have satellite imaging, so you can’t see a picture of what you are trying to find, not that this is always useful but its fun.

Google Maps:

Pros:

• Can you say free?
• With the EVDO network, the map refresh is nice and fast.
• Has satellite images and adding more features every day.
• Constantly updated, you will find the latest listings instantly.

Cons:

• Needs EVDO network to make it useful. Anything slower and it is painful.
• No voice support so you are constantly looking to see what the next direction is.
• Need to use the stylus for most tasks, have to type in what you are looking for.

To make the most use of your handheld I would find a window mount so you are not looking down at the device (bad).
Both of these use a bluetooth GPS which is very easy to install, I picked up a YasumiStore SUP-G07 Bluetooth GPS Receiver from good ol’ Newegg. The sticker fell off the first day in the sun, but otherwise works like a champ..

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