Tracker Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 Thinking of updating my 6 year old TomTom and because I know and understand and have had 100% reliability from every TomTom device I have ever had I've not looked at other makes - should I? There are 4 ranges in TomTom sat navs, the basic Start, then the 40/50/60, the 510/610, and the 5100/6100, the 4/5/6 refer to the screen size in inches. The bigger the screen the more it costs but the screen does not display more info just a larger font covering the same areas. Not much benefit unless your eyesight is poor! The start is pretty basic but it is cheap, the 40/50/60 seems to do what my old basic XL does plus lifetime of the device free map updates which I don't have but have managed very well without. It also has live traffic via a smartphone - whatever that is - probably a complication I can live without? There are other 'features' listed, none of which has any real appeal to me. The XL has proven perfectly adequate over the years and is simple to use so it suits a technophobe like me. The 510/610 adds world maps that are of no value to me plus pinch zoom like a smartphone and speed camera updates for life, which I can see a use for. The 5100/6100 adds live traffic via it's own built in sim so it should be idiot proof - hopefully? If you phone TomTom and ask their advice they will offer you a 25% discount if you are an existing TomTom owner with an out of warranty device and a live TomTom account. Now THAT is worth having! They don't advertise the discount on their website, but I am assured that it currently applies to any device bought direct over the phone from them. I don't know for how long the offer stands. but it does seem worthwhile if you are in the market. I asked about their motorhome and/or caravan specific maps but he was not able to tell me when they will be available or the cost, but that one will 'shortly' be able to add them to the 'higher end' models. Having lived without motorhome specific maps and relied on common sense for so many years I have to wonder if there will be any real benefit? Anyone any experiences to add to the above please? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 I've just bought the go 5000 it's virtually the same as the 5100 but no maps of America. You can still get them at Amazon and it's cheaper of course. I watched the price for a few months and bought when it dropped to £169.99. The Amazon price goes up and down regularly. As for the TomTom it's been good, it's brought us to Spain avoiding all tolls and hasn't stitched us up once. I am actually just starting to have faith in its directions, it's hard for me as I like to know where I am and where I'm going but I can't do everything, I just look at the map when we get there and see what way we went. The interface is a little different but you get used to it and you CAN put longitudinal and latitude coordinates in despite what some early reviews say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted September 25, 2015 Author Share Posted September 25, 2015 We have learnt to have conditional faith in our TomTom because it has always got us to where we want to be. Where we don't have faith is for some of the route choices it makes sometimes! It might in theory be quicker on the map to take a short cut down a lane to save half a mile but the reality is often far from that always being the case! Also when you know where you are in a familar area and you know the alternative routes available it's shortcomings on sometimes being blind to a more direct route, or being very slow to register a change of route even when the distance is much shorter become apparent - something you are unaware of in a strange and largely unknown area or country. That said TomTom has always got us there - everywhere from Norway to Gibraltar! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayjsj Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 Hi ya Rich, I have the 'previous generation' Tom Tom, 'Go Live' 1005 Camper Edition, Found it OK, but it has it's limitations, which you know. I got lifetime UK map updates, but not European ones, the 'Live bit' is a bit useless, (in West Wales) so I didn't bother renewing it as I didn't find it very helpful. SO, was it worth £300 + ? not really. But I still wouldn't be without it. Ray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted September 25, 2015 Author Share Posted September 25, 2015 Cheers Ray, The 5100 seems to come with free lifetime updates for both world wide (well almost) maps and speed cameras (or is that included in the price!) as well as live traffic info via it's own sim which is also lifetime free as I understand it. It also has many other 'features' that I will never use but the pinch to zoom feature does look as if it might be handy at times to get the bigger picture - or when lost! The keyboard seems easier to use on the wider screen which is a bonus for those with short fat fingers! All in all a premium product, but at a premium price in today's market, of around £200, then again every quid I spend is a quid the state won't get! For a review - http://www.trustedreviews.com/tomtom-go-5100-world-review Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJA Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 Hi Tracker Firstly if you haven't had a look at the new Go series units the interface bears little resemblance to the old Tomtoms. No longer to you tap the screen and get 6 icons one of which says "Navigate to". This means that there is a little learning to do about the new way of working. At the moment I would hold onto your old unit to enable you to create your POI Categories and add or delete as required because at the moment you cannot do that with the new units. I have the Go 5000 unit and am pleased with it as for example it is successfully taking me around Brittany at the moment. Regarding the difference between the 5000 and the 5100 (same with the 6's) the 5000 includes lifetime maps and traffic but only speed cameras for a year. The speed cameras also are only available for the region you bought the unit in. Ie Europe for us but if you get the free world map units the speed cameras still would only be for Europe although now lifetime free. There are suggestions that they may make speed cameras available for other regions at a price. To get all the available maps onto a 5100/6100 unit you need to insert an additional memory card. However the maps available for Western Europe on the 5000/6000 units are now so large 6+gb that unless you ask for the non 3D buildings map you will need a 8+gb memory card anyway as there is now not enough internal memory. Bearing the above on mind remember that unless you have reasonable download facilities on your broadband it will take ages to update the map as it is a 6+gb download. I think you will find that other gps units such as Garmen have similar size maps now. You load your own POI files onto the unit totally differently now. You open a Web page , log into your units account and post your POI file onto the Web page. This means that when you start your Tomtom next time , and particularly with the units with an inbuilt sim like the Go 5000, and when the unit logs into its account it sees the new POI file and downloads it to the unit even if you are abroad. The other go units require linking to a mobile phone and so when abroad you need data. They have just introduced a phone app so you can sort out where you want to go and when you start up the Tomtom it downloads your required route. Some of these features are at an early stage and hopefully will improve. In the meantime I am happy with my unit. Hope this is of some help. If you have any questions please ask. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bojitoes Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 Hi Rich We bought the GO 940 about 6 years ago as well and have also experienced the same problems you have. You turn off a main road or dual carriageway, drive through bush country for a mile before joining the same road a mile and a half further on! I find it very difficult to navigate around some of the menus, to such an extent that we are still running on Central European Time as I have forgotten which menu the clock comes under. I am going to the NEC next month with the specific intention of buying a new unit. I have heard bad reports about the "Snooper" models and have been warned to check that any replacement unit will allow setting GPS coordinates- apparently many don't. I had not heard about the Tom Tom direct deal, I will look at that after the NEC Show if I see nothing catches the eye from competing manufacturers. Let us know what you decide to buy. Happy travels bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted September 25, 2015 Author Share Posted September 25, 2015 To be fair Bob you can get a 25% ish discount pretty much anywher, although Currys currently have the 5100 at £175.99 which is the best I've seen - so far - but competition might liven up as Christmas nears? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted September 25, 2015 Author Share Posted September 25, 2015 This is a link to the manual for all current TomTom Go 510/610 and 5100/6100 sat navs as sent to me by TomTom and as per page 57 all three formats of lat and long can be entered and the sat nav will recognise them all. The same may not apply to previous series! If in doubt about any feature ask TomTom for a copy of the manual before buying as they seem to be very helpful - but then they are selling them! http://download.tomtom.com/open/manuals/new_GO/refman/TomTom-EU-RG-en-gb.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keithl Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 Hi Rich, It sounds as though you'll have to learn a new TomTom language for the latest models so why not consider swapping brands? I had always used TT (for probably 10 years) but earlier this year had to switch to Garmin (OK, my choice) as TT do not have mapping for Iceland and Garmin do. I was not over enamoured at first (with having to learn a new language) but persevered and after a while got the hang of the Garmin and now prefer it and will not return to TT. Loading POI's is easy with a little programme called 'POI Loader', you can enter co-ordinates in a choice of formats, you can pre-plan routes and save them in advance (something TT cannot do!) and my favourite feature is it has a biult in trip computer which not only tells you exactly how far you have travelled but also stores your ACTUAL route and allows you to download it your computer afterwards. All in all I am a Garmin convert :-) Keith, PS And a 6" screen Nuvi 66LM with FULL UK and European lifetime mapping and a free carry case only cost me £120 less 10% in one of Halfords flash sales. A bargain!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJA Posted September 26, 2015 Share Posted September 26, 2015 Just for the record Keithl it is possible on the new Tomtoms to create routes with waypoints and save them for use later on. I sorted out a route last year around France between Aires and campsites and followed it. Also on the unit you can add or delete waypoints from a saved route. You can also select a saved route and it will take you to the start from wherever you are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geeco Posted September 26, 2015 Share Posted September 26, 2015 Hi Rich, I am using a TT GO 60. It comes with lifetime map updates and free speed camera updates for 6 months. However with the last map update there was a free update for the cameras as well, not sure why but happy to accept. I have used it since January this year and find it works well most of the time however your comments about your TT taking you down a land to save half a mile seems familiar. My previous Navman took me down a narrow lane in a small hill village in Italy that ended abruptly in a flight of stairs. My point is they all have "brain fade" no matter what the brand. Overall I am happy with the performance of the TT and I do like the soothing directions from "Karen" on my TT. She also took me all over Europe on the old Navman with not too many dramas. In summary I did find th TT was easy to use without prior experience of the brand, I guess that is referred to as intuitive. With the smart phones offering GPS now the time has never been better to do a deal on a stand alone GPS unit, 25% off sounds good to me, go for it!Cheers Gary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted September 26, 2015 Author Share Posted September 26, 2015 Thanks everyone for the input - please keep it coming so we can all learn. Keith - noted about Garmin I've had a quick look and got totally confused by their range and model numbering so I reverted back to the brand that I know and sort of undertsnd, but many thanks for the input. Gary - I started by looking at the Go 50 for about £105 and to be honest it seems to do all that I really want it to. Then I thought, as I only ever buy a sat nav once every at least 6 years and the new ones come with free map upgrades maybe I will never need to buy another one - so why not push the boat out and get a posh 'un? So I looked at the GO 510 for about £130 or so and I thought the pinch zoom would be nice, as well as free speed camera updates but I really cannot be faffing about with live traffic via a smartphone - which led me to the all singing bells and whistles GO 5110 with its lifetime free live traffic via it's own sim, for about £175 (Currys) or £195 anywhere else, so that's about where I am at the moment Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJA Posted September 26, 2015 Share Posted September 26, 2015 Hi Geeco I suspect that the last update included a free 3 month extension to your speed camera account is because many with the models like yours and mine the Go 5000 did not have lifetime speed cameras and the latest Go 5100 and 6100 models do. They have lots of complaints about it and this is what they have done about it so far. Hi Tracker Your current possible choice is a good one and with practice I am sure it will do what you want. They have been improving the units with recent updates and hopefully this trend will continue however they are not the quickest at anything. Doug Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted September 26, 2015 Author Share Posted September 26, 2015 Cheers Doug, I would rather wait for an update to be perfect than be used as an unpaid test bed for software development! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bulletguy Posted September 26, 2015 Share Posted September 26, 2015 Tracker - 2015-09-25 12:13 PM Thinking of updating my 6 year old TomTom and because I know and understand and have had 100% reliability from every TomTom device I have ever had I've not looked at other makes - should I? If you phone TomTom and ask their advice they will offer you a 25% discount if you are an existing TomTom owner with an out of warranty device and a live TomTom account. Now THAT is worth having! They don't advertise the discount on their website, but I am assured that it currently applies to any device bought direct over the phone from them. I don't know for how long the offer stands. but it does seem worthwhile if you are in the market. It most certainly is. 25% is a fair chunk but then the 'stand alone' satnav market has pretty much dried up and both TT and Garmin must now be struggling to sell, particularly high end ones. Earlier this year i bought a Garmin Camper 760 LMT-D from Aldi at £199 which was £80 cheaper than Halfords. A few months later Aldi dropped the price down to £150 (a poster on here got one). Absolute bargain but does make you wonder just how much they cost Garmin to make....i suspect a fraction of that price! As for TT i have the 750 GO Live. Five years old now. Works ok but despite having mapping for many East European countries, is very limited and doesn't recognise co-ords for those countries which the Garmin will. My biggest gripe with my TT is the poor design of the screen mount which works by twisting a ring to 'lock' the sucker. The ring has a nasty habit of working loose through road vibration and suddenly the satnav drops off the screen......often when negotiating busy roads making it unsafe to firk and fiddle around with whilst driving. You can't purchase an 'after market' screen mount with lever style sucker (much better) as TT made a very crafty move, but cynical imo, by incorporating the power supply in the mount. This also makes it extremely expensive to purchase a replacement mount. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayjsj Posted September 26, 2015 Share Posted September 26, 2015 Cannot see why the 'standalone sat nav' market is drying up ? pre- fitted in dash sat navs, in vehicles are obsolete before the vehicle is driven off of the forecourt, and I steer clear of them. Is it that 'smartphones' are now fitted with GPS's ? Wouldn't affect me as I only have a 'dumbphone'. Only makes phone calls and nothing else. Curious, Ray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bulletguy Posted September 27, 2015 Share Posted September 27, 2015 Rayjsj - 2015-09-26 9:01 PM Cannot see why the 'standalone sat nav' market is drying up ? pre- fitted in dash sat navs, in vehicles are obsolete before the vehicle is driven off of the forecourt, and I steer clear of them. Is it that 'smartphones' are now fitted with GPS's ? Wouldn't affect me as I only have a 'dumbphone'. Only makes phone calls and nothing else. Curious, Ray The bib. Smartphone market has gone stratospheric with some pretty serious stuff out on the market. My son goes through the things like a dose of salts and i was staggered when he told me the price of the one he's after now.....£600!!! *-) I'm like you though. I use a 'dumbphone'. An 11 year old Nokia 7250i which to folk like my lad is from the Stone Age!! Actually i'm surprised at how many folk of my age use Smartphones. I can't do with all the flicking and flirting to get the things to work. About the only thing that is better than my 'dumbphone' are the clock numerals which are a decent size and the cameras on most give excellent photos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted September 27, 2015 Author Share Posted September 27, 2015 Me too - Dumbphones rule, OK !! My Nokia 2760 enjoyed it's 8th birthday this year - still on the original battery ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bulletguy Posted September 27, 2015 Share Posted September 27, 2015 Tracker - 2015-09-27 9:29 AM Me too - Dumbphones rule, OK !! My Nokia 2760 enjoyed it's 8th birthday this year - still on the original battery ! Same here with my 11 yr old 7250i !! Plus a full charge with the phone left switched on 24/7 lasts around 6 days! My one time 'attempt' at getting into the Smartphone thing, i gave up and sold the thing two weeks later after finding it needed charging every other day. *-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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