910 - personal review

Drumma-Boy · Occasional Visitor Joined: Nov 27, 2005 Posts: 1

I have been using a 910 for a few weeks and this is what I have found so far.

The box includes most things you will need, including an external microphone for the Bluetooth hands free system. I have not played around much with the included software, although it looked pretty straightforward. It is easy enough to copy POI files from an earlier device. There is a backup facility which I will try eventually, (although I usually just drag-and-drop the whole system onto my PC) - nice that it is included though! With my previous TomTom's I used SD cards which I could just stick into a usb reader. The 910 has a hard drive which I still think of as a potential point of failure. I previously opted for the 500 rather than the 700 for that reason. Time will tell.

Signal aquisition is good - about the same as the TT ONE, as you would expect.

Generally I like the display. There are those who would prefer a portrait orientation of the screen, I personally am happy with it as it is. The resolution and display quality is generally much better and more visually pleasing than earlier models but be aware that the display improvements relate only to displays other than the map displays, which have not changed in quality - a bit of a disappointment. I assume that is down to the map provider. My device arrived with a dead pixel - not a problem in itself, but nevertheless irritating on a device retailing at nearly £500.

I like the text-to-speach function which serves as a quick confirmation that the turn you are about to take, is the correct one. This information is available on earlier models but you have to look at the screen to get it - not always convenient (or safe) while starting a monoeuvre. This function requires digitised voice files which means that right now I cannot have Ozzy telling me where to go.

The prevailing speed limit display is something which I find useful, although not all would agree. There are a couple of problems with it -
. does not work for all roads
. I have been advised of a 30 mph limit on part of the A1 motorway
. when you get beyond 4 or 5 mph above the limit, the display turns to a red/flashing red which would be very nice if you could see it. Maybe something like bright yellow would work, but as it is, it becomes harder to see rather than easier!

Picture slide show feature - why?

MP3 player - ok if you can connect to your car speaker system but not brilliant through the TT speaker. However, with a 20Gb drive you can set up a few juicy playlists!

iPod control - don't have one, don't want one.

Bluetooth handsfree - works very well, especially with the supplied external microphone. My only criticism would be that if you have more than one mobile, you can only download and store the numbers from one of them. Successive downloads overwrite any existing data.

Now the downside. The mounting bracket with all its connectors looks fine and I quite like the two-stage twist and lock mechanism. However my particular 910 seems to have a problem maintaining contact with the vehicle power supply. This means that as the make-or-break contact fluctuates, if the power drops, the 910 shuts down. This in itself is bad enough, but worse if you are in the middle of a phone call. I have been having this problem 5 or six times a day so my 910 is going back and I am hoping that it is just my particular TomTom that has the problem. However I suspect there may be a slight design flaw - time will tell.

One more annoying thing - revised displays mean that in some cases the familiar sequence of screen taps for various functions no longer exists. Even worse - some of the hotspots have changed sides. Still it is only a matter of time to familiarise.

All in all I like the unit which appears to be well constructed (apart from the mount). The display is excellent and the functionality is even better than the original GO series. Also with the extensive included maps, you can find your way around a fair proportion of the planet! If you want one, wait 6 months and save a hundred pounds and hopefully by then, there will be no connection problems with the mounting bracket.

We will have a visor available for the 510, 710 and 910 very soon.
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TomTom visors from www.drumma.co.uk

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