Which TomTom??

MC87 · Occasional Visitor Joined: Aug 25, 2006 Posts: 5

Im looking to buy a TOMTOM sat nav but i really dont know which one is the best one to buy?i mean i would think that the TT 910 would be the best as it is the most expensive one, but i have heard bad things about it..so basically wat im asking is which is the best TOMTOM to buy?also does anyone know of any good site that sell them cheap?

Thanks for you help guys.

mikealder · Posted: Tue Sep 05, 2006 11:03 pm Post subject:

If you are set on the TomTom range of units the price breaks down in to a number of simple features:

510 Street level maps of UK, Major roads of Europe
710 Street level coverage of Europe
910 Street level coverage of Europe + North America, text to speach and mp3 player

- it all depends what you want from the unit, if you have any travel plans this should influence the descision (maps are costly as an after purchase by comparison) - Mike

MC87 · Occasional Visitor Joined: Aug 25, 2006 Posts: 5

the only reason why i wanted to buy a TT is because i thought it was the best sat nav around (well shows how much i know about all this.. Laughing Out Loud

) in ur opinion what is the best sat nav around?i dont really mind what the make is as long as its good really!

mikealder · Posted: Tue Sep 05, 2006 11:25 pm Post subject:

Thats not an easy question to answer, I use various devices ranging from Navman, Garmin, as well as the TomTom 910, I still consider the TomTom the most intuative menu structure and it is therefore easy to use, but the choice is down to individual preference, find a local retailer where you can have a play around with the different devices, do not be presurised into a purchase though, take your time.

Work out exactly what you want from the unit,
Do you need traffic information, and automatic re-routing?
Do you need hands free for the mobile phone via the sat nav?
Do you need mp3 music player via the sat nav?
Do you need spoken speed limit warnings for cameras?

This list could go on all night with the extras that can be supplied with a unit, have a read through the various forums to get a feel for the units capabilities - before spending any cash write down a wish list, but be realistic about your requirements, any GPS sat nav will take you to where you asked for, you may not agree with the route (due mostly to local knowledge) but it will do its job i.e. get you to where you need.

It doesnt matter if the device cost £100 or £500 it will still do the same.
The only difference is that you pay extra for the ease of use, and additional functionality provided. Mike

MC87 · Occasional Visitor Joined: Aug 25, 2006 Posts: 5

Thanks for your advice Mike...Out of thos questions, the one that i wld really want is the 'traffic information, and automatic re-routing'... ill look around the forum a bit more like you said to get a feel for which sat nav feels right for me.

Thanks again

MC87 · Occasional Visitor Joined: Aug 25, 2006 Posts: 5

Ok well havin a look around the forums and searching on the web i think it will be between the Garmin Nuvi 360 or the TOMTOM 910, they both seem to be gettin mix reviews which is really hard to choose between the two...so well i think my next step would be really to go to a shop and play around with both of them...In your opinion tho would you recommend one over the other?or would you say its still simply dwn to personal preference.

Big_Fella · Occasional Visitor Joined: Mar 25, 2006 Posts: 6

MC87, ditto with your problem mate, stuck between nuvi 310D and the TT 910 (and what makes it even worse here is the fact I can get the 910 for about the same price as the nuvi!)

There doesn't seem to be a consistent feedback with regards as to what's the better option. I know personal taste comes into it but stuff like the TT suction problems and the unit falling off the screen isn't a scenario that is prefered by anybody so personal taste/preferance is taken out of the picture.

It would be nice to have a pro & con table doing a direct comparison between the two

At the moment I'm ever so slightly more deviated towards the TT910 and the only reason for that is that TT910 allows you to avoid places when planning a route so if for example M1 is congested I can ask for a route to be calculated to avoid M1, but unfortunately the Nuvi doesn't allow that!

mikealder · Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2006 7:37 am Post subject:

With the Nuvi once you have planned a route you do have the option to add a via point to the route, this can be used to "pull" the unit away from a chosen road to a different route. Not the same as the TomTom but with a little practice you can achieve similar functionality.

I am not too sure what prices you have been looking at but Halfords online were doing the Nuvi310D complete with Europe maps on DVD for £305 incl VAT and delivery, I have never seen a TT910 at that sort of price!

Some of the differences I have listed below, this not a full list though, simply a memory dump:
910 You get the excellent Text To Speach, not on the 310D.
910 You get North American and Europe maps built in, on the 310D you get UK built in, other maps can be supplied on CD/ DVD depending upon where you purchase from.
310D comes with a Traffic receiver, 910 this will cost extra.
310D easy to carry in pocket when compared to 910.
Both units will play mp3's/ Audio books, the 910 has the slight edge here due to the massive inbuilt storage capacity.
310D has a lot of "other" functionality built into the software, calculator, curency converter, World clock etc - not too sure if any of this is of use, the device is a satnav unit after all.
As you rightly point out alot of the choice is down to personal taste, both units wake up and are ready for use in about the same time, the TomTom has the edge when it comes to the user interface in my opinion, the Garmin is good but feels slightly clumsy in the menu screens

In answer to your questions in other posts, the onboard microphone, with the 310D it is a usable device, people I have called have never complained about volume etc, the microphone built in to the 910 may as well not be there, in fairness they supply an external mic which does work if you decide to use it.
To purchase with or without the TMC unit? - I used the 310D around the M25/ M20 last week and reception was great (GTM12 TMC unit), the bigest issue with the TMC unit appears to have been the PSU lead, new units are supplied with the new lead, and work straight out of the box, I wouldn't purchase a unit without TMC, it would be a very costly upgrade/ add on if you decide to get it later - Mike

Big_Fella · Occasional Visitor Joined: Mar 25, 2006 Posts: 6

Mike you're an absolute star my friend, thank you very much for taking the time and answering what you've probably answered many times before.

Quick note on the price of TT910 being close to Nuvi 310D, well I too have found Halfords to have the best price for the nuvi at £299.99 (instore collection), but I have also found a seller on ebay that sells the TT910 from the states for about £330 including delivery.

Now I know there always are possibilities of having to pay VAT charges on delivery of the product, but that doesn't happen ALL the time and I suppose it's a risk taken by those who do purchase from abroad.

Nevertheless, I'll post the link to ebay here for anybody who might be interested:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=018&item=280036003398&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&rd=1

mikealder · Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2006 8:11 am Post subject:

Don't forget the $40 postage Wink

Looks almost too good to be true though to be honest! - Mike

Big_Fella · Occasional Visitor Joined: Mar 25, 2006 Posts: 6

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