Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

My wife gave me this unit for Christmas. She's a doll and I love her very much, but she was not very versed about what to shop for or expect from a GPS unit. I've now used the unit several hours during trips, utilizing the blue tooth connectivity with my cell phone and the included headset within my helmet. Ive also used it in the car a lot. They said this unit was designed by motorcyclists, but obviously the bikers TomTom consulted knew very little about the minimum expectations for features required in a decent GPS unit...especially one costing this much. I am going to break-down my review into two parts....what it has that is good...and what it lacks that makes it a non-competitive GPS unit in the US. I've used GPS technology at work and at play for years. Most of my background with consumer-grade GPS units is with the Garmin brand. So it is to that brand that I will make most of my comparisons because Garmin, for the most part, has it right and does it right! (imho)I have no financial or personal relationship with Garmin, whatsoever. OK..first for the positive...it's water resistant/proof (don't really know about the proof part cause I havent had it in the pouring rain yet)...Fast processor and fast acquisition of the GPS constellation...good screen graphics and brightness...decent battery life...sensitive touch screen technology....blue tooth capable...can download your Outlook contact database....decent internal memory...heavy duty Ram mounting hardware for your bikes handle bars....USB connectivity to your computer for map downloads, etc....and if you are into directions from the unit, it has a few male and female voices from which to choose. Now for the features it should have but does not: -Should have a trip computer with trip parameters such as max speed, average moving speed, time moving, time sitting still, odometer, trip odometer, vertical and horizontal elevation, etc. None of this exists on the tomtom rider. -Should leave a track, or a bread crumb trail, as you ride along. Not available on the TTRider. This is a real disappointment. -Should have larger fonts for speed, arrival time, etc. Way too small to have to deal with on a motorcycle...even when set to the largest font. -Should not "snap" to the nearest road to fool you into thinking their base map is accurate...because it is not that accurate in reality. -Should come with a cig lighter plug for powering, but it does not. -Does not allow any preference setting while in motion. You must stop before you can do anything with this unit outside of a few limited functions. Excuse: a safety feature -Cannot make a call while moving. You can only recieve calls while moving. What's that about???? (yea I know, safety) - Has annoying icons on the screen when the phone and headset are not connected and there is no way to get them off the screen!! -Gives you no options as far as screen orientation relating to your travel direction...always points you up. Thats ok most of the time, but we deserve to have a choice in this price class. -Can fall off the ball mount and, if not tethered to the bike or mounting base, it will hit the ground and will be lost. - No elevation available...for those of us that ride in mountains and are use to seeing this on gps units, it's certainly an oversight by the TTRider. GPS derived elevation is not that accurate in the first place, but readings are relative and give a pretty good indication of elevation changes as you ride. - Direct sunlight makes the screen totally INVISIBLE. If I could send it back to Amazon I would. I plan to give it to by wife for her car and purchase a gps unit that more closely fits my needs as a touring motorcyclist and as a consumer that refuses to settle for inadequate and poorly designed products.