Upgrade questions

[jeffjn]

Hi - I'm in the UK, and I've been using a TomTom One V2 for many years. I've just got a short tern job that involves a lot a travelling through lots of traffic.

I used to have the traffic service enabled using my mobile phone, but haven't used it for years.

My question is "Will the newer models with a Live service give me a significantly better traffic service?"

I can upgrade my map (?28), connect up my new bluetooth mobile (unlimited data plan) and subscribe to the traffic service (?37)

OR

I can buy a new TomTom with LIVE services free for a year, and I assume I won't need to pair my phone. I don't need a TomTom that works as a hands free as my car has a bluetooth connection so I could get a suitable new TomTom for ?180

(And the battery on my TTOne need replacing again. I''ve done that myself once already, but are the newer models better in this respect?)

Can anyone help me justify an extra ?115 expenditure to my wife?

 

[mikealder]

You could get a new 540 Live for less than ?180 see Here

Live HD Traffic is considerably better than the other services, well worth considering for this alone but do bear in mind this is a subscription based service so you have to pay per month to use it - tht said it is getting cheaper than when it was first introduced.

Some additional features you would get with a "new toy" :

1/ Advanced Lane Guidance where the display indicates which lane to be in prior to a junction.
2/ Reality View giving you information that matches the motorway sign gantries and lane indication
3/ Text To Speech - The ability to read out road and place names rather than the simple turn Left/ Right.
4/ SMS text message/ Handsfree via your mobile phone (if you need it)
5/ Better GPS perfomance
6/ Active mount can remain with cable attached which device in your pocket
7/ Much larger display (Easier to see)
8/ Advanced Speech Recognition for voice control, although from my experiance there isn't much "Advanced" about ASR
9/ Google Search for locating destinations - Very usefull (probably the best Live service)

- Mike

 

[jeffjn]

Many thanks, and...

Interesting price! I was drawn to the deals in the retail shops that are offering a years "free" Live traffic, and looking at the XL LIVE at Halfords but I see you get 3 months free will all the LIVE devices.

As it happens, I've just spent some time trying to get my phone (Nokia E71 on O2) to connect with the data service, and so far failed. Am I correct in thinking that I don't need a phone paired up to make the Live services work with these new devices?

 

[mikealder]

A TomTom equipped for Live services is fitted with its own SIM card within the device so you don't need to pair a phone to the unit for any data service, its all self contained.

Have a good look around though as it might be possible to get a 550 Live with 12 months free Live services depending upon who has stock, the ones to avoid are any of the devices that have a small number 2 in th edevice name, for example:

XL IQ Live = Great Device
XL_2_IQ Live = Crap Device

The number 2 is very small and easy to miss, the original XL IQ Live is one of the best units from TomTom, as you don't need the handsfree connection you are probably better off getting an XL IQ Live but please make sure its not the device with the 2 in the name - Mike - Mike

 

[jeffjn]

Many thanks Mike

I think that's all I need to know for now - I've found the 550 with a year's subscription at my local Comet, reserve and collect, for ?199. The 750 is only a little dearer, but not available locally. I have no intention of going abroad in the next year at least, and I'd assume keeping my map up to date will be a bit cheaper if I stick with the UK.

 

[jeffjn]

Just to thank you again for the help Mike. I now have a 550 Go with a year's free Live Subscription. Haven't found anything I'm unhappy with yet!