TomTom Launch New x40 LIVE SatNav Range at IFA (540/740/940)

Ray-of-Sunshine · Regular Visitor Joined: Jul 21, 2007 Posts: 73

Does anybody know or have any idea perhaps when this latest unit will actually go on sale in the UK?

Ray

mikealder · Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2008 10:50 pm Post subject:

Probably prior to Christmas, but to be honest only TomTom will know when the device is going to be released to sale - Mike

carlover · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jun 24, 2008 Posts: 20

all i want to know is will it take you down the narrow lanes we all love to hate? Their system "appears" to have worsened this.

Apparently navigon as well as fast or short route has an OPTIMAL setting which keeps you off these unclassified roads.Is that the best kept secret in the satnav world?

abercomp · Occasional Visitor Joined: Sep 22, 2007 Posts: 24

will the hd traffic adaptor give the same live services as the x40 on a 720 with the latest maps or just traffic with out the fuel etc

thanks

mikealder · Posted: Mon Sep 29, 2008 11:45 pm Post subject:

A very good question, but as the HD Receiver is not available in the UK this is a rather difficult one to answer - I would expect it to provide all TomTom Plus services if and when it makes it to market, but we will have to wait and see - Mike

darrenintheeast · Regular Visitor Joined: Sep 18, 2008 Posts: 78

Looks like Oct 14 for launch...Thats whats Amazon have got on there website anyway

carlover · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jun 24, 2008 Posts: 20

somebody needs to ask them the queston"regarding live iq average speed input,if nobody regularly goes on unclassified roads will the system still deem a country lane with its national speed limit the best way to go" .I saw somewhere that the iq system on the x30 made this worse.

mikealder · Posted: Tue Sep 30, 2008 2:16 pm Post subject:

From what I have experianced with the 930 running IQ Routes the device does offer the B roads with national speed limit as first choice where applicable.

A couple of examples:

When travelling from Home to work the device now routes the same way I as a local would drive, including using a B class road rather than A type and Motorway. By doing this the unit avoids a long time delay at a major road junction, saves around 4 minutes on a 25 minute journey, not much you might say, but extrapolate this saving across a long trip and it really does make a difference.

Again travelling from work to my mothers house the device now uses B roads for most of the trip, this is the same route I would use, previous non IQ Route maps would have taken me on A roads through major junctions adding time to the trip.

At the end of the day IQ Routes is designed to get you from A to B as fast as possible, if it can save a few minutes it has done its job, where I would probably disable it though is if I were driving a HGV or towing a large caravan etc to avoid the B roads, but you also have the option to disable it should you want to - Mike

carlover · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jun 24, 2008 Posts: 20

Hi Mike ,Now B roads i can live with all day ,but travelling all over as a salesman my garmin loved and i mean loved unclassified narrow hedgerow lanes.Whatever i inputted never changed (plenty of evidence on this forum)after 3 months of anorak research i at last found a comment on thealpina forum which forced my hand to buy a navigon(having never considered them)havent tested it yet time will tell. this is the cut and paste

Inbox :: Message
From: gIzzE
To: pete
Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2008 10:42 am
Subject: Re: re the navigon
Navigon use two methods.

First you set the vehicle, so normal, slow, fast or fastest, this will then see that you would do 90mph on a motorwayeven though it is a 70mph limit, however it also realises that you may still not avaerage more than 45mph on a single carrigeway, which is the important bit.

You then set your route choice, Fast which keeps you on motorways as much as possible, shortest which obviously takes you the shortest route or optimal.

Now optimal is the one that makes it so good imho, it will keep you on a main road all the time unless it is obvious that 3 miles across country is better than 20 miles on a motorway, and this is what most of the others miss out on. Usually there is just fast or shortest to choose from.

I know on that GPSworld forum some of the guys were hacking the Garmins route profiling to try and get it to work out things more sensibly, but I gave up and threw mine out of the Window in Scotland, kept trying to take me down 38 miles of single track rather than taking me 4 miles down a B road to get onto the dual carrigeway!!

a 40 minute journey was taking 2h30mins!!!

mikealder · Posted: Tue Sep 30, 2008 2:48 pm Post subject:

The difference here is one of inteligence, the TomTom with IQ Routes is basing its route on road data supplied by thousands of other motorists, it therefore has a better knowledge of true road speeds rather than just a dumb speed limit.

It won't go for the A and B roads all the time just because of their rated speed limit, other systems do this which as you point out can provide some poor routes - It is early days with IQ Routes as yet, but as more data is gathered and put into subsequent map releases it can only get better. The next step will be IQ Routes based on day of week and time of day which will be a major step forward - Mike

carlover · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jun 24, 2008 Posts: 20

good to converse with you mike. I can see real benefits .System "a" might take you down a narrow lane because of national speed limits ,however TomTom might "see" that cars usually go down that lane at 20 mph so will keep off. To be honest i wish i had waited to get more info on the x40.

mikealder · Posted: Tue Sep 30, 2008 3:10 pm Post subject:

There are a number of threads containing press release information on the x40 devices which can easily be located on the forum, but don't forget the x20 and x30 ranges can also now use IQ Routes when loaded with the latest maps and software. - Mike

DennisN · Posted: Tue Sep 30, 2008 6:03 pm Post subject:

App 8.010, Map 8.10 on both devices, same destination.

Turning into Cann Lane is a nightmare, which even the smallest cars can achieve only by coming at it from the other side of the road. There is rarely a gap in oncoming traffic to allow that. It's also a single track lane with high hedges both sides and very short forward vision. It cuts the corner by 0.2miles apparently, instead of using the A4175 road.

This is caused by a map error earlier, where the device has to recalculate because of a 10 yard long one way Y feature at a junction. The recalculation takes a very different route home, again country lanes. But on recalculation when I don't follow that route, it still aims to go off left, hence choosing this hairpin turn.
_________________
Dennis

If it tastes good - it's fattening.

Two of them are obesiting!!

carl_the_cobbler · Frequent Visitor Joined: Jul 22, 2007 Posts: 251

Wouldn't a specific map or software for larger vehicle drivers (and I don't mean the size of the driver) be a good idea, one that misses small narrow roads unsuitable for the larger professional vehicles?

I have seen some POIs that are available to tell you about narrower roads, but you probably need something that would not consider routing you down those narrow roads instead of warning you when you approach them.

Is one of the problems that these bits of kit are "designed" for the smaller car, whether that be someone who drives for a living in a small car or a "social" user.

I would imagine TT feel no responsibility at all for the size of vehicle or the kind of roads you prefer, as long as there devices do what they should.

Zebb · Occasional Visitor Joined: Aug 28, 2008 Posts: 55

Just curious, on the Amazon.co.uk TomTom 740 page, it is described as 'Worldwide'. I wonder if they include Australia and New Zealand maps as they do 'down under'? (Based on the 930).

Maps bought separately in the UK would cost an additional £70 each. The 740 is priced at £449.99, on sale in about a fortnight. (Or about £590 inc Oz & NZ maps.)

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