Guest Tracker Posted December 12, 2008 Share Posted December 12, 2008 Does anyone have experience of the RDS/TMC as either an add on to TomTom or in the box with 'T' suffix models - I think - as some of the online information is confusing and contradictory! Seems to me that it would be well worth the extra £40 or so cost if it works, is accurate and is up to date and relevant? Similarly the XL wide screen? Does it help by giving a greater width of map view or just the same map widened out to fill the wider screen? Is the written text and/or directions easier to read on the wider screen? Thanks. The TomTom One XL EU Traffic at about £160 would seem to do all that is needed? Any thoughts anyone please? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigal55 Posted December 12, 2008 Share Posted December 12, 2008 Tracker - 2008-12-12 5:41 PM Does anyone have experience of the RDS/TMC as either an add on to TomTom or in the box with 'T' suffix models - I think - as some of the online information is confusing and contradictory! Seems to me that it would be well worth the extra £40 or so cost if it works, is accurate and is up to date and relevant? Similarly the XL wide screen? Does it help by giving a greater width of map view or just the same map widened out to fill the wider screen? Is the written text and/or directions easier to read on the wider screen? Thanks. The TomTom One XL EU Traffic at about £160 would seem to do all that is needed? Any thoughts anyone please? hi tracker, i have a 720t,personally i wouldn,t bother with the t part, usually the holdup has gone by the time we get there a bit like the matrix signs on the m/way that don,t get turned off so they are ignored. the only time the tmc would have been useful was in june on our way to dover, matrix signs said m20 closed, tmc nothing,so we ignored the signs, DOH, even when we were sat in the queue, nothing showed on the tmc. the widescreen is a big yes, the information is much easier to read, i have actual speed, speed limit,time arrival time,distance and time to destination,plus next instruction and road number and can see them all with a glance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigal55 Posted December 12, 2008 Share Posted December 12, 2008 duffers - 2008-12-09 2:59 PM please sirs n ladies, can I ask a dumb question? what if any is the advantage of the SD card option? It doesn't seem to operate as intuitively as SD card in cameras or used as reader with a PC. TomTom doesn't seem to be able to read both it and its main drive, and it seems as though you have to access the card through the PC If I want to add lots of POIs - campsites / aires / good pubs whatever, is there a simple fool proof [ray proof] idiots guide anywhere? That takes you from the 1 turn on TT then step by slow step all the way to 999 you have successfully loaded new POIs and the system is ready to go in words of one syllable, with all the info on the same sheet. With advice as to whether to bother with an SD card? sorry - I know this info is out there but it all seems to be scattered around on different threads n websites. I've tried reading the TT manual but it seems worse than useless, on this matter at least, and have followed W2G's links to the GPS site, but it all is way over my head, I think *-) thanks in advance to any kind soul out there who can help rayhi as w2g says the sd card slot is for extra maps, mp3s or spoken books.i use mine for mp3s to keep my wife awake. pois i put them in the main unit, i think my 720 can store 200 separate categories . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basil Posted December 12, 2008 Share Posted December 12, 2008 bigal55 - 2008-12-12 8:15 PM Tracker - 2008-12-12 5:41 PM Does anyone have experience of the RDS/TMC as either an add on to TomTom or in the box with 'T' suffix models - I think - as some of the online information is confusing and contradictory! Seems to me that it would be well worth the extra £40 or so cost if it works, is accurate and is up to date and relevant? Similarly the XL wide screen? Does it help by giving a greater width of map view or just the same map widened out to fill the wider screen? Is the written text and/or directions easier to read on the wider screen? Thanks. The TomTom One XL EU Traffic at about £160 would seem to do all that is needed? Any thoughts anyone please? hi tracker, i have a 720t,personally i wouldn,t bother with the t part, usually the holdup has gone by the time we get there a bit like the matrix signs on the m/way that don,t get turned off so they are ignored. the only time the tmc would have been useful was in june on our way to dover, matrix signs said m20 closed, tmc nothing,so we ignored the signs, DOH, even when we were sat in the queue, nothing showed on the tmc. the widescreen is a big yes, the information is much easier to read, i have actual speed, speed limit,time arrival time,distance and time to destination,plus next instruction and road number and can see them all with a glance. Have to say we have found the TMC attachment useful on our GO720, however I would not buy it with the unit as it is available for as low as £19.99p on the net, even Curry's do it for £29.00p or less if on offer. Ours came from Makro and cost £14.99p+vat on special offer. If you do go for it make sure you have the latest version (produced after May 2007 and numbered 9V00.017) as earlier versions did not work correctly and TomTom replaced them free of charge on request, our first one was useless and returned for a refund (another good reason to buy it seperately). With the latest Navcore update the information has been improved and you do at least get a warning, both visual and audible, as well as the option to tell the GO to re-route around if you wish when a problem is showing. We found it worked well in France as well as Germany this year and certainly saved us one problem hold up that we went round, or rather over (thats how we know as the affected road shows on the screen as white in our case, it depends on what colour scheme you are using). With regard to the XL, personally I would get one of the GO series in preference especially as you can still buy the GO720 at a knock down price of £135 which with latest map guarantee after updating to the latest Navcore will give you V8.XX maps with all the same features as the GO730 or GO740 i.e. IR and Advanced Lane Guidance, at a considerable saving, there is little else different between those models other than the mapping features. As always just my opinion. Bas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tracker Posted December 13, 2008 Share Posted December 13, 2008 My grateful thanks to you both for such insightful postings. I think on balance it's worth casting off my natural stinginess and going for either the 720T or the 730T - when I can work out what you get extra for the difference! Thanks again fellas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brayn Posted December 13, 2008 Share Posted December 13, 2008 duffers - 2008-12-09 2:59 PM please sirs n ladies, can I ask a dumb question? what if any is the advantage of the SD card option? It doesn't seem to operate as intuitively as SD card in cameras or used as reader with a PC. TomTom doesn't seem to be able to read both it and its main drive, and it seems as though you have to access the card through the PC If I want to add lots of POIs - campsites / aires / good pubs whatever, is there a simple fool proof [ray proof] idiots guide anywhere? That takes you from the 1 turn on TT then step by slow step all the way to 999 you have successfully loaded new POIs and the system is ready to go in words of one syllable, with all the info on the same sheet. With advice as to whether to bother with an SD card? sorry - I know this info is out there but it all seems to be scattered around on different threads n websites. I've tried reading the TT manual but it seems worse than useless, on this matter at least, and have followed W2G's links to the GPS site, but it all is way over my head, I think *-) thanks in advance to any kind soul out there who can help ray I had the same problem and sought advice from this forum. My TT1 XL Europe wouldn't update because of a memory shortage. I contacted TT in Holland and they said put in an SD card. Eventually I did this, copied all the contents of the TT to the card via My Computer and bingo, it worked with no more prompting. Everything is now done via the SD card and it's automatic, including updates. I can now load POI, extra voices etc with no memory shortage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duffers Posted December 14, 2008 Share Posted December 14, 2008 Thank you one and all for your help and advice. I think *-) I've cracked it. Apologies for the delay in acknowledging the help provided - but it's been one of those weeks. BUT - good old Tom n Kate successfully took me to the nearest A&E on Friday AND avoided a temporary road closure - so I guess that's down to TT users sending in updates - an excellent idea :D So in summary I'm impressed with TT and overwhelmed with the help provided - especially from the resident whiz W2G, I've printed off the instructions, :D Thanks again ray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tracker Posted December 14, 2008 Share Posted December 14, 2008 Mel Eastburn's sat nav review will be in the January MMM on sale 18/12/08 or through your letterbox around that date with luck? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tracker Posted December 15, 2008 Share Posted December 15, 2008 My January MMM arrived today - thank you Warners for being so on the ball! My congratulations to Mel Eastburn for his great write up on sat navs. This must have taken many hours and involved much frustration and confusion at times and it is a credit to you Mel to produce such a well written and easy to follow article for which I for one thank you. Interesting reference to Galileo and knowing the reputation of the EU in particular and inter-nation politicians in general it would be amazing if it was ever completed and even more amazing if it is completed on time. As for budget - yeah right - this is the EU - remember! The following link tells a bit about it and there is plenty more if you Google 'Galileo'. http://www.esa.int/esaNA/galileo.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel E Posted December 16, 2008 Share Posted December 16, 2008 Galileo is currently on schedule and the first 2 (maybe 3 by mow) test satellites are in orbit. Space prevented me mentioning that Russia is upgrading its system to give full 24-satellite cover (the minimum required) and both China and India have systems on the stocks. One day they'll all bump into one another . . . Thanks for the kind words. I in fact wrote a lot more than we had space to publish, so the blue pen was very active. Mel E ==== Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tracker Posted December 16, 2008 Share Posted December 16, 2008 Mel E - 2008-12-16 5:31 PM One day they'll all bump into one another . . . Mel E ==== And so might us lot! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malc d Posted January 26, 2009 Author Share Posted January 26, 2009 Some more up to date testing of sat-navs in the Consumers Association February 2009 edition of magazine 'Which', may be of interest to anyone in the market for one. :-| Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yrocker Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 Hi I am new to this forum but have been reading this thread with interest. I have been using TOMTOM for years stating with Navigator on a pocket PC and currently using a 720GO. I have used the system throughout Europe and twice in the USA ( where paper maps seem to omit all but main routes) It has hardly ever let me down and in the US managed to direct me to hotels and historic sites without fail. I was recently invited to act as a beta tester for the new IQ routes system, so if it doesn't work I am partly to blame. Something I think would be off great interest to all is a site www.lowbridges.com where you can subscribe at small cost and then download a list of bridges by height and then set up warnings for those that affect you. You can also add any bridges that you find. I hope this is helpful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MandyAndy Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 You could do to start a new thread with this as lots of people will be interested in it. In other forums the Mods would do it but I doubt they read most of this so I think it may be a DIY on your part if you wouldn't mind. Thanks for this, really useful Mandy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yrocker Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 Thanks Mandy I have started a new thread as you suggested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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