TomTom - Which one? (budget included)

DJMK4 · 2 Aug 2009 at 18:32

My auntie who lives in london requires a tomtom and has asked me to spec her one, now iv owned tomtom before but only tomtom on my PDA and on my mobile, I havnt owned one of their dedicated navs.

She has a £200 max budget, but has found TomTom XL Classic for £159 in a well known highstreet retalier, she would like to spend as much as required but not maxing out the budget as she has heard some of the cheaper tomtoms are not so good?

can anyone give me some ideas of which one would be suitable for her?

Thanks very much

iaind · 2 Aug 2009 at 18:33

Depends what she needs it for I guess!

Does she want bluetooth, traffic, european maps etc?

Andr3w · 2 Aug 2009 at 18:34

Depends what she needs from it. If she just wants a simple sat nav you should be able to pick up a TomTom One really cheap now.

DJMK4 · 2 Aug 2009 at 18:36

Im assuming no bluetooth as she only has a corsa (no bluetooth), ill have to ask about traffic and european.

If she buys a nav as the basic satnav with UK and Ireland maps is it possible to pay for an upgrade via tomtoms website?

whitecrook · 2 Aug 2009 at 18:37

you can get these navigo units for £50 and put tom tom 7 on them. Are these anygood?

iaind · 2 Aug 2009 at 18:38

The bluetooth isnt to link to the car, its to link to the phone for handsfree/data updates

You can generally add a lot of upgrades, certainly in terms of maps, traffic etc

iaind · 2 Aug 2009 at 18:38

whitecrook said:
you can get these navigo units for £50 and put tom tom 7 on them. Are these anygood?

By the time you pay for the software, you may as well get the better hardware

DJMK4 · 2 Aug 2009 at 18:41

So any ideas on which model concidering that it is possible to buy the add ons from tomtom if required.

iaind · 2 Aug 2009 at 18:45

I'd go with the XL IQ routes one - only a bit more expensive and you get the fancy routing and lane assistance

Matthew.M · 2 Aug 2009 at 18:46

I got the TomTom one IQ routes thingy. Very impressed with it and the sucker mount is much better than the last TomTom I used.

Ucof · 3 Aug 2009 at 13:50

I've got a TomTom 910 Go! and Im throughly impressed with it.

Got it from the bay.

a1ex2001 · 3 Aug 2009 at 16:10

recently I was in exactly this situation, I just wanted a bog standard straight forward sat nav I went with the TomTom XL IQ as it was well featured, well priced and had £20 cashback at the time. I've not been disapointed driving round both Britain and Rural France so far.

lordrobs · 3 Aug 2009 at 16:13

Cheapest one that has the mapping she needs IMO.

They all have the latest map guarentee and I can honestly say I've never used any of the "advanced" features of my 920T

Phil W · 3 Aug 2009 at 16:16

I've got a Binatone A350 (£50ish depending on where you go) with Tom Tom 7 software on it (Free), pretty good really.

Tomsk · 3 Aug 2009 at 16:16

iaind said:
I'd go with the XL IQ routes one - only a bit more expensive and you get the fancy routing and lane assistance

This.
However don't forget some common sense as the routing can be odd sometimes and the lane assist isn't always right. eg 3 lane roundabout approach - lane 1 = first exit, lane 2= first & second exit, lane 3=third exit. TomTom suggests that one can use all 3 lanes for ANY exit.
We haven't used the IQ feature as it's not smart enough to realise it's routing for a 40t truck.

Dogbreath · 3 Aug 2009 at 16:19

Phil W said:
with Tom Tom 7 software on it (Free)

TomTom are giving away their software for free?

firstborn · 3 Aug 2009 at 16:20

Sorry to jump in - has anyone used the latest map g/tee? How long did the upgrade process take?

I bought an XL IQ after using a friends device and was very happy with it.

However, I tried several times to update the map and it failed every time after several hours (error copying file), leaving me with an unusable device. I managed to copy across the files manually one at a time - took nearly 6 hours and it now appears to work. I suspect dodgy memory in the device but tomtom support having none of that. Not writing this to rubbish tomtom as will be returning device for an exchange. Just wanted to ask if my problem appeared genuine??

geekyEd · 3 Aug 2009 at 16:31

Dogbreath said:
TomTom are giving away their software for free?

doubt it, this must be off the dodgey nature

Matthew.M · 3 Aug 2009 at 17:34

firstborn said:
Sorry to jump in - has anyone used the latest map g/tee? How long did the upgrade process take?

I bought an XL IQ after using a friends device and was very happy with it.

However, I tried several times to update the map and it failed every time after several hours (error copying file), leaving me with an unusable device. I managed to copy across the files manually one at a time - took nearly 6 hours and it now appears to work. I suspect dodgy memory in the device but tomtom support having none of that. Not writing this to rubbish tomtom as will be returning device for an exchange. Just wanted to ask if my problem appeared genuine??

200mb download and then a couple of minutes for TomTom HOME to upgrade my map to the latest version. Did you try it on another computer?

lordrobs · 3 Aug 2009 at 20:28

firstborn said:
Sorry to jump in - has anyone used the latest map g/tee? How long did the upgrade process take?

I bought an XL IQ after using a friends device and was very happy with it.

However, I tried several times to update the map and it failed every time after several hours (error copying file), leaving me with an unusable device. I managed to copy across the files manually one at a time - took nearly 6 hours and it now appears to work. I suspect dodgy memory in the device but tomtom support having none of that. Not writing this to rubbish tomtom as will be returning device for an exchange. Just wanted to ask if my problem appeared genuine??

It doesn't surprise me. I too had problems with my 920T. American maps wouldn't update for some reason, a problem which I never managed to cure before my latest map guarentee expired. The firmware update also disabled street names, well turned the voice into Gareth Gates before the speach therapy which isn't much use when you shoot past a road because the thing is still stuttering its way through the street name from 2 turns ago. They eventually came up with a firmware fix but effected users had to wait until the next scheduled release which was pretty poor IMO. It also killed the bluetooth and since I've never tried it again so that may or may not be fixed now.

TomTom may be the best option but don't be fooled into thinking they are a great product.