TomTom Mobile Review & How2 Guide Now for C500

[Guest chucky.egg]

... what you are talking about is triangulating the phone using local transmitters. It would not be acurate enough to be usable ...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I can vouch for that

There are some apps (SmartLocator for example) which try to use it, but when I tried them out it put me "within 1.7Km" of a street. That's a RADIUS, so you're talking about a huge area that you could be within.

In areas where there are more masts it's more accurate, but the best I've ever seen is a radius of about 500m, which is still a very large area for the coppers to search for your remains. :D

[Guest DJBenson]

Well I've taken the plunge and ordered one from GlobalPositioningSystems.

Also ordered the twin cig adaptor and the suction cup mount - all for a tad over £170 (the TTM kit is a return but has full warranty - £25 off the list price :D ).

[Guest clw_5000]

please help, i have a spv c500 and i want to buy a tomtom mobile but will it work on a c500 and will i be able to transfer data from sd to mini sd? and where is the cheapest place to buy one. thanks.

[Guest digger]

Yes Tom Tom will work on the C500, you will need to install a patch from Tom Tom to enable the GPS reciever to connect with the phone.

This patch can be found on page 11 of this thread.

You can either use Active sync to transfer the files from the supplied SD/MMC card to your Mini SD (very slow)

Or use a card reader (prefered)

I got mine from GlobalPositioningSystems, they were the cheapest at the time.

[Guest awarner [MVP]]

please help, i have a spv c500 and i want to buy a tomtom mobile but will it work on a c500 and will i be able to transfer data from sd to mini sd? and where is the cheapest place to buy one. thanks.

Just read the review and guide on page one of this thread it has all the information you need including the link for downloading the Traffic update.

Get yourself a card reader as this will help transfer the files quicker :D

PS Welcome to the site :D

[Guest neilg]

hi all, searched this monster thread and some others to no avail. Also tried TOMTOM support site who say that as SPVC500 is not supported then they can't help, so here goes.....2 questions:

1) Can you buy the additional maps for TomTom Mobile?? Do they do an adin pack for western eaurop like they do for Go?? (would the Go one work?)

2) Has everyone got Traffic working on SPVC500, mine says that it cannot recognise username and password wehen I go online from mobile via TomTOm and browse the link the wesbite points me to for the SPV. If I look in my profile on tomtom website it says product not activated (even though it has been!)

Sorry if duplication, but I tried search and reading this thread and others with no sucess.

Cheers

Neil

[Guest awarner [MVP]]

1, Not at the moment you have to buy a new package.

2, Yes (I was actually the first to do so with the traffic update :D )

You do not need to subscribe to traffic to have TomTom working on your

C500 just follow the installation.

As for registering only TomTom can sort this out for you, they may need to reset your account and issue a new password etc.

The only downside of this is that to be able to do this you may need to

delete the mapsettings file, probably great-britain.cfg in your map folder, you will also loose your favourites.

[Guest DJBenson]

Mine turned up today. Was a bit worried at first because in the GPS configuration screen it showed the signal strength but said "No valid signal received" but it must have been because the battery was not charged.

I have 2 questions now:

1) What is the standby time of the unit? Does it work like a mobile and have X number of days standby or does the battery only run down when it's switched on?

2) Is the official charging unit the only option for charging outside of the car? £20 seems a lot to pay for an AC/DC adaptor. Does anyone know the official rating of the unit and if it's possible to run it on a generic supply?

Edited February 2, 2005 by DJBenson

[Guest Foggy3001]

Don't know where you've read that  :?: I haven't seen it anywhere on this Forum.  I'm not aware of anything stopping you from copying the contents of the mini-SD card to a larger one.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Can any help, I've been able to copy 3 of the 4 folders but it won't let me copy the GB maps folder ??

(copying off the sd card onto hard drive to copy onto mini card for the SPV C500 phone)

[Guest neilg]

hi awarner,

do I need to 'pretend' I am running it on an E200 as TomTom are saying they can't help me as C500 is not supported.

I guess I could re-register the whole thing from scratch again. As you say loathed to loose my favorites etc as I have been running it since december now and built up quite a list.....

I am not sure if it is all linked to the 'my Tom Tom' registration problem since when I browse the TT Traffic link from my mobile it bounces my username and password (from my Tom Tom).

[Guest awarner [MVP]]

TomTom will say they do not support the C500 . The reason for this is that until they release a miniSD version the official line will be it is not supported.

Supporting the phone or not it they can still help with registrations and passwords etc.

[Guest wills]

Mine turned up today. Was a bit worried at first because in the GPS configuration screen it showed the signal strength but said "No valid signal received" but it must have been because the battery was not charged.

I have 2 questions now:

1) What is the standby time of the unit? Does it work like a mobile and have X number of days standby or does the battery only run down when it's switched on?

2) Is the official charging unit the only option for charging outside of the car? £20 seems a lot to pay for an AC/DC adaptor. Does anyone know the official rating of the unit and if it's possible to run it on a generic supply?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

2) I thought the same, £20 for a single home charger, until I noticed that if you go into the accessories for the pda version of tomtom you can get a power kit for the wireless gps unit for the same price 19 euros + p&p. The kit includes:

A home power charger for your TomTom wireless GPS receiver.

A Carkit power charger for your TomTom wireless GPS receiver.

A cigarette lighter power charger for your TomTom wireless GPS receiver.

Check it out: http://www.tomtom.com/products/product.php?ID=51&Language=1

Mine came today :D

[Guest qwiki]

A Carkit power charger for your TomTom wireless GPS receiver.

So what exactly is this? Can't see properly from the picture. Is that a USB plug on the end?

[Guest wills]

So what exactly is this?  Can't see properly from the picture. Is that a USB plug on the end?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The home charger comes with two attachments which you fix on to the main charger unit to enable you to use the charger in the UK and also in the rest of Europe, so therefore it becomes a standard plug for the country you live.

Hope this helps.

[Guest dfesla]

hi, the method above works with my altina 708 gps receiver aswell but works with the device named "TomTom GPS" aswell, figured it out while sitting in the traffic.lol

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hi guys. I canot get my altina gps to work with my nokia 6600 on tomtom mobile. I'vedone all of the above. Renamed the GPS receiver to TomTom GPS,and still no luck! Appreciate any advice. Thanks

[Guest awarner [MVP]]

It's unlikely that the nokia version will have the same loophole as the

Smartphone version as this only happened after the Traffic update was released to fix the C500 compatability issue.

[Guest qwiki]

The home charger comes with two attachments which you fix on to the main charger unit to enable you to use the charger in the UK and also in the rest of Europe, so therefore it becomes a standard plug for the country you live.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Sorry, I didn't explain myself too well. In the picture there are 3 leads. The top one is obviously the car charger as it has the cigar light plug on. The bottom one is the mains lead with the attachments next to it. What is the lead on the right?

[Guest DJBenson]

There's something that's really bugging me about the TTM software - it keeps creating a startmenu folder called "Programs" with nothing inside of it. makes the start menu look really untidy?

[Guest JimDerDog]

I think I am going to cry...all these people out there having fun with their C500 / TTM combis adn mine wont work. I have been out shopping, have the mobymemory 1Gb card, copied software across etc as instructed. I can get statioary maps fine on the phone, but cant get phone and GPS to talk to each other. Phone is detecting GPS and adding as bluetooth device fine, but then not reaading info from it. I have been through awarner's review of 18 Sept and update of 01/11/04 following the 'if gps dont work' advice but still get the message that 'the gps signal was lost x minutes ago' ie whenever I switched TTM on on the phone. Gps unit is on with blue light flashing (ie not connecting but got fix).

Am I doing something stupid?? First go with bluetooth, so this is quite possible - have just graduated from BT-free MPX 200.

Please help - I want to show off to all those non-smartphone people but cant!

JimDer :cry:

[Guest wills]

Sorry, I didn't explain myself too well. In the picture there are 3 leads. The top one is obviously the car charger as it has the cigar light plug on. The bottom one is the mains lead with the attachments next to it. What is the lead on the right?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Ah, sorry. This cable attaches to the pda car kit and has what's like a telephone connector:

http://www.tomtom.com/products/screenshots...ID=9&Language=1

Second image from the botton shows where this lead goes.

[Guest qwiki]

Arr, right. Now I see. Thanks wills.

[Guest qwiki]

I think I am going to cry...all these people out there having fun with their C500 / TTM combis adn mine wont work.  I have been out shopping, have the mobymemory 1Gb card, copied software across etc as instructed.  I can get statioary maps fine on the phone, but cant get phone and GPS to talk to each other.  Phone is detecting GPS and adding as bluetooth device fine, but then not reaading info from it.  I have been through awarner's review of 18 Sept and update of 01/11/04 following the 'if gps dont work' advice but still get the message that 'the gps signal was lost x minutes ago' ie whenever I switched TTM on on the phone.  Gps unit is on with blue light flashing (ie not connecting but got fix).

Am I doing something stupid??  First go with bluetooth, so this is quite possible - have just graduated from BT-free MPX 200.

Please help - I want to show off to all those non-smartphone people but cant!

JimDer :cry:

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Jim,

Just a thought, but you did run the traffic update on the PC while the phone is connected by Activesync, didn't you?

Try following these steps:-

Switch off Bluetooth on your phone.

Remove the GPS device from your phones BT list.

Apply the traffic update as above if not already done so.

Enable both com6 and com7.

Switch on GPS device.

Start TomTom Mobile.

It will switch on your phones bluetooth automatically.

The screen will say the signal was lost and start counting up.

After about 1 to 2 minutes the phone will bleep and the message changes to say switch off the phone and switch it back on.

Do switch the phone off.

Switch the phone on.

Start TomTom Mobile.

Again it switches bluetooth on automatically and should auto connect to the GPS.

Hope this helps.

[Guest JimDerDog]

Tried this, but still nothing!!

Switch off Bluetooth on your phone. TICK

Remove the GPS device from your phones BT list. TICK

Apply the traffic update as above if not already done so. TICK

Enable both com6 and com7. TICK

Switch on GPS device. TICK

Start TomTom Mobile. TICK

It will switch on your phones bluetooth automatically. NOT NECESSARILY

The screen will say the signal was lost and start counting up.

After about 1 to 2 minutes the phone will bleep and the message changes to say switch off the phone and switch it back on.  NO - it goes boing after about 30-40 secs but there is no message.

Do switch the phone off. TICK

Switch the phone on. TICK

Start TomTom Mobile. TICK

Again it switches bluetooth on automatically and should auto connect to the GPS. NO - doesnt switch on bluetooth.

Hope this helps.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks for your help qwiki, but more needed! I have gone through your list but no change. Points to note - the traffic update I hadnt done previously, but have now. I saved the zip file to my pc and ran setup from there, with the phone attached though the usb cable and atcivesync running. It produced a box saying 'Processing APK files' then nothing more. Did I need to copy the files to the phone and run it there?

One other thing, having ticked both com6 and com7 at the start, com7 had unticked itself when i checked again later.

:cry: From a still crying JimDerDog

[Guest qwiki]

Thanks for your help qwiki, but more needed!  I have gone through your list but no change.  Points to note - the traffic update I hadnt done previously, but have now.  I saved the zip file to my pc and ran setup from there, with the phone attached though the usb cable and atcivesync running.  It produced a box saying 'Processing APK files' then nothing more.  Did I need to copy the files to the phone and run it there?

One other thing, having ticked both com6 and com7 at the start, com7 had unticked itself when i checked again later.

:cry: From a still crying JimDerDog

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The traffic update contains 2 files (I think). When you run it, it decompresses into several files then installs onto the phone by ActiveSync. It can take a while to decompress if you PC isnt very fast, or is doing something else. Is there any disk activity? How long did you leave it? Can you try another PC?

As for Com7 not being setup, you did press 'Done' after you clicked it didn't you? Set it again, then come back to the home screen and go straight back in and check it, just to make sure. But, none of this will allow you to connect on the C500 until you get that Traffic update installed.

Let us know how you get on.

[Guest chazzer]

Thanks for your help qwiki, but more needed!  I have gone through your list but no change.  Points to note - the traffic update I hadnt done previously, but have now.  I saved the zip file to my pc and ran setup from there, with the phone attached though the usb cable and atcivesync running.  It produced a box saying 'Processing APK files' then nothing more.  Did I need to copy the files to the phone and run it there?

One other thing, having ticked both com6 and com7 at the start, com7 had unticked itself when i checked again later.

:cry: From a still crying JimDerDog

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You need to extract the files to a folder on your PC (don't run the Setup from within Winzip. The setup routine needs to see the apk file in the same folder it is in and when you run it from within Winzip or file compression view in XP it temporarily opens it in a temp folder for your profile; which is where the apk file is not) and run the setup from the folder you extracted the files to. Make sure you've got Active Synch running, connected and logged on (if you have the password set). :lol: