TomTom Mobile Review & How2 Guide Now for C500

[Guest Dr_StrangeTrick]

My TT GPS (bought separately) came with the sticky backed bit of metal and it works fine no matter how fast I take the corner.

My friend at work has had his longer and it came with a complete car cradle which powers/charges the unit and automatically switches it on when he starts the car.

[Guest awarner [MVP]]

The car cradle for the GPS was withdrawn from what I gather due

to problems so the GPS unit is now supplied as a standalone unit.

[Guest qwiki]

...it came with a complete car cradle which powers/charges the unit and automatically switches it on when he starts the car.

Completely hands-free on the GPS side - That would be really cool 8)

I wonder if it's possible to rig something up to simulate this? I've got a heated front screen which doesn't help the GPS signal, so semi-permanent mounting in the back window with auto-on appeals to me (also far neater/less cluttered in the front). Anyone got any ideas?

[Guest awarner [MVP]]

What car do you have? I have a galaxy and the heated screen has never been a problem :?

[Guest Dr_StrangeTrick]

You may be able to rig something up as the only connectors where the 2 in the middle.

I assume that when you turn the key it puts power to these (as there only 2 it cant be anything else) and that must switch the device on.

I will have a word with my mate and see if I can borrow his car kit and check out the voltages etc.

[Guest Confucious]

What car do you have? I have a galaxy and the heated screen has never been a problem :?

That's interesting. A few years ago I bought a Navman 1000 CF card GPS for my pocketPC (It was a total waste of time) but the heated windscreen in the Ford Focus completely blocked the signal so presumeably it is at least reducing the sgnal that gets through? It worked fine in my Porsche and since I've got rid of the Focus (together with the wife) I can't check to see how my CoPilot gets on with a heated windscreen.

[Guest simontan1]

It worked fine in my Porsche and since I've got rid of the Focus (together with the wife)

One's gotta do what one's gotta do to get those nice expensive toys and gadgets. Sorry, but thought it was funny how the wife is relegated behind the Focus in the order of getting rid of things! :roll:

[Guest Confucious]

The Focus was a lot better than the wife.... :lol:

[Guest qwiki]

What car do you have? I have a galaxy and the heated screen has never been a problem :?

It's a Mondeo. Definately reduces the signal, so it has to go on the far right where there is no 'mesh'.

[Guest qwiki]

You may be able to rig something up as the only connectors where the 2 in the middle.  

I assume that when you turn the key it puts power to these (as there only 2 it cant be anything else) and that must switch the device on.

I will have a word with my mate and see if I can borrow his car kit and check out the voltages etc.

Thanks. Much appreciated.

[Guest sameerabedi]

How do u get rid of the history of the recently visited destinations? The list is getting longer each day - is there a way to clear it?

[Guest pete1312]

How do u get rid of the history of the recently visited destinations? The list is getting longer each day - is there a way to clear it?

I'm only guessing (as my GPS unit is in my car at the moment and I'm not), but I suggest that you need a connection initially, then go to "Navigate" - "Recent Destinations" - "Select" - "Delete".

If that doesn't work, then perhaps someone will teach both of us.

Frankly it doesn't "bug" me - never used that menu option before!

[Guest Fozza]

@awerner & people that have the unit

I am going to buy this unit today (I recently posted the thread about waiting for Tom Tom or buying Co Pilot - awarner's advise taken! :D )

Just a couple of points to clear up.

POI speed cameras - Is it possible to change the notification sound?

I quite like the idea of having a police siren or similar when approaching a camera

The Update - I have an Orange sim card (with GPRS) and a Vodafone sim (Without GPRS) if I use the Orange sim to get the download i take it there would be no issue when using the Vodafone sim after it installs? - Also i have downloaded the link on this site to the update can I just used this instead of orange gprs? if so is it a question of just hitting the exe file on my pc with the phone connected?

GPRS Is not having GPRS going to stop the other Non Traffic functions from working? Like general routing?

The Reciever My Plan was to put the reciever on the back shelf of the car connected permenantly to the power supply in the boot is there a problem with this idea? does the unit need to be very close to the phone?

OT Your invertor for the car can you give me some more details? OT

Buying from Dabs.com for £165 plus whatever next day delivery costs :lol:

Thanks to everybody who has kept this thread so active over the last month. By the sound of it Tom Tom will be worth the wait and will knock my In built SmartNav unit off my dash!

[Guest the_ugly_north]

POI speed cameras - Is it possible to change the notification sound?

I quite like the idea of having a police siren or similar when approaching a camera

You can change the distance and sound notification quite easily

The Update - I have an Orange sim card (with GPRS) and a Vodafone sim (Without GPRS) if I use the Orange sim to get the download i take it there would be no issue when using the Vodafone sim after it installs? - Also i have downloaded the link on this site to the update can I just used this instead of orange gprs? if so is it a question of just hitting the exe file on my pc with the phone connected?

Nope, yes and yes

GPRS Is not having GPRS going to stop the other Non Traffic functions from working? Like general routing?

Nope works fine (you can get traffic free for the first month)

The Reciever My Plan was to put the reciever on the back shelf of the car connected permenantly to the power supply in the boot is there a problem with this idea? does the unit need to be very close to the phone?

There may be a problem in that when the car is switched off the unit runs on battery (even with power connection in). Therefore you would be continually discharging the battery when the unit is left in the car - not a good idea!

Unit doesn't need to be very close to the phone.

[Guest awarner [MVP]]

Just a couple of points to clear up.

POI speed cameras - Is it possible to change the notification sound?

I quite like the idea of having a police siren or similar when approaching a camera

You can chage the sound but I do not think you can add new sounds.

The Update - I have an Orange sim card (with GPRS) and a Vodafone sim (Without GPRS) if I use the Orange sim to get the download i take it there would be no issue when using the Vodafone sim after it installs? - Also i have downloaded the link on this site to the update can I just used this instead of orange gprs? if so is it a question of just hitting the exe file on my pc with the phone connected?

It should not matter as Traffic is registered to your device and not your SIM. I have not tried with a different SIM though.

GPRS Is not having GPRS going to stop the other Non Traffic functions from working? Like general routing?

You do not need Traffic to plan routes and detours.

The Reciever My Plan was to put the reciever on the back shelf of the car connected permenantly to the power supply in the boot is there a problem with this idea? does the unit need to be very close to the phone?

I have used my GPS unit in my boot but if you do not have windows in the

back of your car and using an enclosed boot you may have your signal blocked by the metalwork.

OT Your invertor for the car can you give me some more details?  OT

I bought an Invertor from Halfords for about £30 it plugs into the cigarette

socket and works well for my laptop etc and not just the phone. There are

various ones around now with different power ratings and costs etc.

[Guest awarner [MVP]]

There may be a problem in that when the car is switched off the unit runs on battery (even with power connection in).  Therefore you would be continually discharging the battery when the unit is left in the car - not a good idea!

Unit doesn't need to be very close to the phone.

Regarding the GPS unit, as it uses Li-ion battery it will only use the car battery when it is being charged, once charged it will not use the car battery until required.

So unless you are not going to use the car for sometime the car battery should not be affected. Over time though you may shorten the life of the

GPS battery.

[Guest sameerabedi]

Can anyone recommend a good BT headset which allows u to take calls whilst driving, and hear the voice commands of TomTom through the headset (similar to how u can hear MP3 songs through the headset!)

Thanks

[Guest Zahid]

Can anyone recommend a good BT headset which allows u to take calls whilst driving, and hear the voice commands of TomTom through the headset (similar to how u can hear MP3 songs through the headset!)

Thanks

The Jabra BT250 allows you to take a call during navigation. When you take the call the voice prompts stop, while the phone continues visual navigation.

Once the call is disconnected, the voice prompts automatically start again.

I'm sure other blue tooth headsets will offer the same functionality too.

[Guest tea-towel]

Hi all,

I must initially apologise for my evident ignorance on this topic. I have several (novice!) questions which I'd be really appreciative if someone would be able to help me with. A few of them are just clarifying a few things:

1) When I first saw TomTom advertised I immediately started looking at Pocket PCs. It then occurred to me that since my phone contract is about to run out I should also consider TT Mobile. From reading this complete thread it looks like the Orange SPV C500 is a good phone to choose. I understand that I will need to download and apply a fix to make TTM work with the phone. My first question is when TTM is in use, am I paying any charges? eg. is my phone contacted to some sort of service? (GPRS?) Or is there the one off cost of TTM and then no further charges (I will not be using TT Traffic).

2) Is a standard orange contract 'good enough' for this (ie. one of their Your Plan 120 minutes, 100 text things?)

3) It looks like the BT250 is a good headset to get, because, as I understand it, it enables you to use your phone whilst using TTM?

4)Some kind of transfer needs to be done from the card that is supplied with the TTM. It needs to be copied across to a different card (a mini sd one). Can anyone point me in the direction of a device that will do this? Also, I use MacOs X - does this create any forseeable problems

(I have access to a PC at work though).

Thank you kindly in anticipation of your help.

Regards.

[Guest awarner [MVP]]

Welcome to the site :lol:

My first question is when TTM is in use, am I paying any charges? eg. is my phone contacted to some sort of service? (GPRS?) Or is there the one off cost of TTM and then no further charges (I will not be using TT Traffic).

No charges as the unit uses GPS not GPRS

2) Is a standard orange contract 'good enough' for this (ie. one of their Your Plan 120 minutes, 100 text things?)

3) It looks like the BT250 is a good headset to get, because, as I understand it, it enables you to use your phone whilst using TTM?

Yes and Yes

4)Some kind of transfer needs to be done from the card that is supplied with the TTM. It needs to be copied across to a different card (a mini sd one). Can anyone point me in the direction of a device that will do this? Also, I use MacOs X - does this create any forseeable problems 

(I have access to a PC at work though).

Having a mac there is an application that will allow you to sync the phone to the mac. but for transfering from one card to another it's best to use a

card reader as it's faster than transfering to the phone.

[Guest Confucious]

As per usual awarners reply is correct but I'd just like to add that you might like to check out the online deals as the tariffs online are (IMHO) better than in the shops. I got 120Mins and 30 texts a month for £15/month but had to pay £80 for the phone but got £50 credit on my bill.

HTH :lol:

[Guest timalloy6711]

received my TTM last week and it is superb!! It has exceeded all expectations. However I answered a call on my blue tooth handsfree and the system seemed to crash (maybe the wrong word) Possibly a one off? My headset is the Jabra 200

[Guest pete1312]

received my TTM last week and it is superb!!  It has exceeded all expectations.  However I answered a call on my blue tooth handsfree and the system seemed to crash  (maybe the wrong word)  Possibly a one off? My headset is the Jabra 200

Mine is a Jabra BT250. When a call comes in, I answer it by touching the earpiece button. TT them mutes but navigation is visible on screen. When the call disconnects, TT resumes as normal.

[Guest tea-towel]

Right, I've ordered my SPV C500 from Orange now (thanks for the hint about online plans Confucious - got a much better deal).

Things left for me to do are

- get headset Jabra BT250

- get TTM

- get mini SD card (what card size should I get to allow TTM to work?)

- get a SD reader

- get PocketMac for my iBook

I think that's it :lol:

Thanks very much for the help and advice awarner.

[Guest awarner [MVP]]

For minSD it's best to get the largest size you can afford but I would

not get less than 256MB otherwise you will not have room to install other apps and games.