TomTom GO730T (31 Countries Europe Maps)

Gee-Pee

I have been looking to buy the above device. Amazon has it for £209.99 and it seems to offer all I want.

I have a couple or three queries though:
Reviews seem to suggest that the screen is almost unreadable in sunny weather.......
The Specs say that the unit has an FM transmitter and I have read somewhere that it only transmits MP3 music to the car sterio and not the voice instructions from the unit.......
This model has the TMC receiver and I have had no trouble with my Navman in this respect but, I read that reception is very patchy on the TT and the TMC is not worth having.....
Is there a seperate aerial for the TMC receiver ?
The unit comes with 31 countries maps including E Europe, is that correct and what are the eastern ones?
Thanks for reading. Perhaps someone with the device can answer the ????'s
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Gee-Pee
Lifetime member PGPSW - time rapidly decreasing

DennisN · Posted: Wed Dec 31, 2008 1:19 am Post subject:

Glare is not a serious problem to me. It depends what is reflecting light into your field of vision - tilt the device up/down/sideways to reflect your black sweater or glaring white shirt and the difference is horrible. But you can tilt it. You can also buy sunshades, but I have never bothered. It's picking up reflections from behind you more than glare from the sun.

It does come with FM transmitter, but the latest firmware update from TT will disable the nav instructions because of EU legislation. It's possible to overcome this by installing some other software I think - MikeAlder knows what it is.

The T is RDS-TMC feature - that's a separate plug-in antenna. For me, it works fine - you have to experiment sometimes to get the right layout on your windscreen, mine is horizontal at the bottom, then vertical at far left of my windscreen and I have no problems with reception. Other people report problems, but I don't and I travel pretty extensively. The real question is how good is the Traffic data and that's debatable. Use it only in conjunction with others, such as local/national radio.

Visit tomtom.com and go to their Map Shop and pretend to buy a map for 730/730T. Then look at all the combinations - I didn't think there was a combination of the whole of Europe including Eastern. I've noted Western, Western and Central, Central and Eastern, Eastern, but not all of them.
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Dennis

If it tastes good - it's fattening.

Two of them are obesiting!!

Gee-Pee · Posted: Wed Dec 31, 2008 10:04 am Post subject:

Thanks Dennis, most helpful. Cool

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Gee-Pee
Lifetime member PGPSW - time rapidly decreasing

Mojo · Posted: Wed Dec 31, 2008 4:02 pm Post subject:

from TT web site for the 730:

Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Monaco, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands, United Kingdom and Vatican City.

Also including the connecting roads of Albania, Belarus, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Moldavia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Ukraine and the Russian Federation.

http://www.tomtom.com/products/maps.php?ID=468&Category=0&Lid=1
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TTG 720
Navcore 8.351
Western and Central Europe 2Gb v845.2645
Home 2.7.3.1894

Gee-Pee · Posted: Wed Dec 31, 2008 7:27 pm Post subject:

Just the job, thanks. Wink

Can I ask you another question? How does your 720 differ from the New 730T?
GeePee
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Gee-Pee
Lifetime member PGPSW - time rapidly decreasing

mikealder · Posted: Wed Dec 31, 2008 9:05 pm Post subject:

Other than the menu colour scheme (Terry's Chocolate Orange for the 730 and Blue/ Grey for the 720) the devices are the same - the T denotes the RDS-TMC receiver will be supplied in the box.
Any other differences are down to the software contained on the device and this can be changed, the LoquendoTTS folder on the 720 is different to that on a 730, but the required files to update the device to the newer version can be downloaded and installed if required - Mike

Gee-Pee · Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2009 5:50 pm Post subject:

mikealder · Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2009 6:23 pm Post subject:

For the work around to get the FM Tx working again you will need the v810 or earlier maps, or you could consider routing the audio via the line out socket with an external FM Transmitter plugged in to the device. The chances of getting a new 730 with the older version maps installed is decreasing as time progresses.

For the best solution though grab a 720 and use the spare cash to purchase a Bluetooth compatible stereo that will work with the TomTom. They can be found for around the £100 mark and this setup is by far the best in terms of audio quality, no interference and no cables strewn across the car - assuming of course that you can fit a different stereo to the car, as some makes of vehicle make this more of a challenge than others - Mike

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