Tom Tom Go

They don't work in Devon though!

|| They don't work in Devon though!

That's exactly where I was this weekend, and it worked fine! It didn't know about a new junction layout on the A30 near Bodmin (not even finished yet, so hardly surprising) and it did send us up a short one-way street in Okehampton (paint not dry on the signs yet!) but otherwise it was faultless.

This kind of thing is quite common, there's a fair few junctions and one-way streets that confuse it, I used to have a different piece of software by a different manufacturer that made exactly the same mistakes, they're based on the same inaccurate map data.

Still worth their weight in gold though.

Indeed they are! The new GO x10 range is even better with a widescreen, true speech and iPod Support.

|| Richard Brookman wrote: ||| Finally gave in and got one. Utterly brilliant. || || Indeed they are! The new GO x10 range is even better with a || widescreen, true speech and iPod Support. || -- || Darren Griffin (SII Disco, Freelander and Series One owner) || PocketGPSWorld -

Thanks a bundle Darren, seeing as how I have just shelled out on the 700!

I've visited the TT website and updated the software, but it seems that the map updates are a) not available yet, and b) chargeable. Is this true? I'd quite like the latest maps before setting off on holiday in June.

Testing your speed camera database tomorrow!

Indeed map updates are chargeable. There should be one along with the v6 software upgrade (software upgrade is FOC) which should be announced shortly.

The 700's a great unit, unless you specifically wanted SiRFIII, iPod Support or the widescreen then there's little else that would better the 700 in the new models.

I was nearly buying a 700, since the price has fallen, but I am surprised to hear you have to pay for updating. So I will leave it for now, and buy one already updated Gordon>

Hiya,

I used my Garmin StreetPilot 111 all the way to Senegal and it never got us lost once. I use the the Mapsource software version 6.10 and I have not had a problem with it at all.

The voice gets a bit of a pain though.

Andy

Why? You wouldn't expect your paper road map to be replaced every year FOC would you? The map data is a huge portion of the cost which the manufacturers have to buy in under licence. Considering a map DVD for a factory fit system can cost £150-200 the £60 upgrade fee that TomTom and others ask is rather good value IMHO.

What I was interested in was the TDMS traffic update system, does that work well with the new machines and is TDMS in use in this country? I'd rather use that than rely on GPRS connections via my mobile.

The Nissan satnav has traffic updates and I haven't managed to work out how. The menu says it is using the TMS service. There's no SIM card anywhere and it isn't using my mobile phone to get the data....

Spooky, but it works damned brilliantly...

Ah, TMS is probably what I was thinking, a bit too much communications theory in my errant youth seems to have caused some time-division multiplexing to creep in somewhere..

I assume you mean RDS TMC via FM? We haven't had a TMC receiver to test yet but having used other systems that use RDS TMC the results are OK. However the quality of the UK's TMC data is still very variable but that's down to the data providers iTIS.

It collects the data over FM, in the UK TMC Data (traffic message channel) is broacast as a sideband data feed on ClassicFM.

|| Indeed map updates are chargeable. There should be one along with || the v6 software upgrade (software upgrade is FOC) which should be || announced shortly. || || The 700's a great unit, unless you specifically wanted SiRFIII, iPod || Support or the widescreen then there's little else that would better || the 700 in the new models.

Hang abaht. I've just discovered a voucher with a code on it in the packaging I was about to discard - looks like it might be for a free map upgrade when they become available. I understand what you say about charging for upgrades, but it would be nice to have one that was up-to-date out of the box.

I've never heard of SiRFIII and I don't have an iPod, so I reckon the GO will be OK for me.

The speed camera database is great. It warned me of the faint possibility of a camera at the site where I got done last year. And that's a mobile, not a fixed site. The "bing-bong" as you approach is great, but a voice saying "slow down you fat f*cker" might be more appropriate.

Another mystery solved!

It is dead good, but there is the same weakness as in the Traffic Master system I had years ago. Not all the roads are covered, so the sat nav will tend to divert you off the motorway onto minor roads, only to find that those minor roads are stuffed worse than the motorway you were previously on. I wonder the source data comes from

- is it just the traffic sensors or are police sources and 'phone in' data added in as well?

Sounds like it, although I seem to be suffering from acronymaphobia at the moment, IYSWIM.

Whatever I meant, it was certainly using FM and RDS-like encoding so I suspect you've hit the nail on the head.

I'd heard hints that the system was technically working but wasn't much use in this country as the data wasn't much good, I hope that improves soon. I was searching for a cheap head unit that could display the data but gave up when I kept reading that it's not very accurate anyway.

Having to mess about with the mobile and bluetooth to get traffic data isn't something I want to do as I wouldn't bother on every journey, and as far as I'm concerned a traffic warning system isn't any use if you have to set the darned thing up before every trip.

Plus of course not being able to use bluetooth for the mobile for anything else while the sat nav is using it..

TrafficMaster YQ or their SmartNav thing but probably fails at the "cheap" requirement. I'd like a satnav but given the choice between a TM YQ or satnav the YQ would win. You can pop a postcode into multimap or WHY at home to find out where a place is then print a suitable scale "homing in" map. For the bulk of the journey I want to know that the roads are clear, unlike the Friday afternoon when the A1 south was closed near Leeming (after a fatal accident) and the tail back reached Scotch Corner.