Which Tomtom for driving around Europe?

[Abing]

Please help - I have just joined the forum and am looking for a new Tom tom to replace my old one. I primarily use it to navigate around West and Eastern Europe in my motorhome.
Lane guidance would be really useful ( as there is nothing worse than not knowing exactly which lane to get into in a large vehicle, in the middle of a French city such as Paris !) Also very important, is not loosing the signal in tunnels or built up towns.
Also I want to be able to add poi,s such as supermarkets, camp sites low bridges etc so I guess a decent memory would be useful.
I don't think I need LIVE facilities as I will not be using my Tomtom daily and I only use it in the UK when I need to go somewhere I do not know.
When I went into Halfords they suggested the Garmin nuvi 1390t but I,ve always used Tomtom, and I,ve read that the garmin can suddenly cut off whilst driving - however I,ve also read that the tomtoms can be really difficult when downloading maps etc and that the maps are not as good as the garmins.
So now I am really confused - any advice would be really appreciated.Thanks.

[mikealder]

Welcome to the forum, I would take a look at the 930T which is still available new from Here
You get the remote control in the box which might be handy in a large vehicle.
It does Lane Guidance, Text To Speech and is supplied with an RDS-TMC traffic receiver for traffic information which is free to use for life.

The 930 is supplied with both Western_and_Central_Europe maps as well as North America, you can remove the NA map to free up space on the device to install the Eastern_Europe maps depending upon how far East you are intending to travel. The device also has a memory card slot which you can fit an SD or SDHC memory card upto 32GB in capacity for storing maps/ music etc.

POI files can be downloaded for free from this web site as well as quite a few others.

As for Halfords advice, you will find the sales rep is probably on more commision or bonus if he sells Garmin devices, in a month or two when TomTom offers the largest payback to the sales rep they will be recommending TomTom, treat any advice they offer with a pinch of salt as most of them don't even know what GPS stands for! - Mike

[JaguarV12e]

I agree with everything above, but a couple of extra thoughts...
I have had a TT 730T since they first came out, and overall, despite Tomtom's best efforts to stuff it up, I have been very happy with it.
To avoid problems with updates, never accept an offered software update until checking this forum to see that a few other people have updated without problems. 99.9% of the time there will be advice here to work around any issues.
If the countries you visit support Tomtom Live! services (and you don't mind paying the subscription), you might consider upgrading to the 940 or 950.
_________________
Tomtom Go 1005
Tomtom Go 730T

[Abing]

Thank you ever so much for your help - I will go and have a look at the Tom tom 930t.
However I am by no means a computer boff, and I only get 0.5 meg with my broadband, so do you think I will manage with the map downloading bit?
The last tomtoms I have owned came with the maps already included, so all I did was plug it in and drive!

[mikealder]

With a 0,5MB connection speed it will take a while to download the maps but you only to download them for the update and if you want to to purchase the Eastern Europe map, your connection should be fine.

The device is supplied with maps so it can be used straight out of the box but I would suggest you at least use the latest map gaurantee to update the device otherwise you will miss out on IQ Routes - II data due to the age of the pre-installed map on a 930T.

Interestingly from the link I gave earlier the 930T is actually cheaper (by a few pence) than the 930 supplied without the RDS-TMC which appears a little strange! - Mike

[Robin2]

Just one point - you said it was important not to lose signal when in a tunnel. I'm afraid that nearly all TomToms (and Garmin too!) will cut out in a long tunnel. For a few seconds after losing signal, TomTom will assume that you are travelling with a constant speed/direction and show its guess of your position on the map. Then it will stop, and correct its position as soon as it picks up a signal on the other side. This regularly happens to me in the tunnel underneath Lyon.
I believe that one or two of the top range models have inertial guidance which can detect change of speed/direction to continue updating your position, perhaps someone who knows these models can fill in the details. If this is really important to you, you will have to pay dearly for it. I don't bother, because I reckon it's usually difficult to get lost in a tunnel! (Not always the case however. I remember a tunnel underneath Brussels which had a lot of turnings off. In those days I didn't have GPS and my wife guided me onto the correct exit)
Robin
_________________
TomTom One v3 Europe, Navcore 7.903, Western Europe 835.2420
TomTom Go 720 Europe, Navcore 8.351, Western Europe 855.2884
Satmap Active 10
Plus a lot of other PDA GPS kit, seldom used

[mikealder]

The 930T has the EPT (Enhanced Positioning Technology) where it will "dead reckon" from a built in accelerometer when the GPS signal is lost so its not quite as bad in this respect as some of the other lessor models, it certainly won't "cut out in a tunnel" even with loss of the GPS signal - Mike

[Abing]

Many thanks everyone for your help - I feel a lot more confident now about buying the Tom tom 930t . In fact I am really looking forward to it and trying it out on our next travels abroad.

[cjyoung]

Suggest you also check out http://www.find-satnav-deals.co.uk/new_models for prices. As well as the prices from a wide range of retailers for new units, you may also find a refurb option is cheaper if you're happy with that.
_________________
Garmin 2569LMT-D s/w 8.80 + Western Europe map 2019.10
Gamin Dakota 20 s/w v5.80 + maps from http://openmtbmap.org/

[Abing]

Thanks - I have just checked out that site. It seems Pixmania and Amazon have the best prices and the Handtec site are not far behind.
I am just wondering which one is the best for after sales service. I know Amazon are O.K. - never used Handtec or Pixmania, but I did note that Handtec had good feedback. The sales assistant in Halfords told me that Tomtoms are sent back for repair, as opposed to issuing the customer with a replacement, which is what they do with garmins.Is this true?

Has anyone any experience with these companies and faulty tomtoms?

[Robin2]

I have several times read that Pixmania supply (continental) european stock and sometimes the plugs/chargers/specifications/manuals are not to UK specification. This is not specifically for GPS devices - they also supply a lot of photographic equipment, but it might be an indication to treat them with caution
Robin
_________________
TomTom One v3 Europe, Navcore 7.903, Western Europe 835.2420
TomTom Go 720 Europe, Navcore 8.351, Western Europe 855.2884
Satmap Active 10
Plus a lot of other PDA GPS kit, seldom used

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