TomTom 940 Athermic Windscreen - Official Reply

mikealder · Posted: Sun Nov 22, 2009 2:53 pm Post subject:

The 950 doesn't have the mp3 player or FM Transmitter so in some respects is not as good but if you don't use these features you won't be missing out on anything, although if you paid top price for your 940 they should also give you some cash back as the 950 is cheaper.

Try the 950 in your car and if that works get the 940 sent away to TomTom for repair under warranty (0845 161 0009) - Mike

AliOnHols · Pocket GPS Verifier Joined: Oct 15, 2008 Posts: 1936

jbsolutios · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jan 11, 2008 Posts: 29

Many thanks Mike.

I don't use those features, but as you say I did pay top dollar for it.

How long does TomTom normally take to repair a device please?

Many thanks once again for all your help.

Regards

JB

jbsolutios · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jan 11, 2008 Posts: 29

Hi Guys

Thanks for all your help with this.

I have noticed that TT940 (with all the latest updates) often freezes and I have to tap the screen to get it to work again. Sometimes it even reboots itself for no reason when driving (full reset including TomTom noises).

Are these known issues with TT940 or do they point to a hardware problem too please?

Many thanks

JB

mikealder · Posted: Sun Nov 22, 2009 3:17 pm Post subject:

The screen display freezing is something quite a few of us on this forum have reported from time to time on the x40 range, I can't say I have ever seen it happen on the 950 though.
Occasional re-boots are quite rare but again not unheard of, its a while since I last suffered such an event with my kit though. I wouldn't have thought these type of event are pointing at faulty hardware, its just the GPS reception that isn't as good as it should be on your device.

As for repair time I have seen reports of some devices being turned around within a week or two, sometimes longer - Mike

jbsolutios · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jan 11, 2008 Posts: 29

Many thanks for this Mike!

I shall go to Halfords today and see how I get on.

Regards

JB

jbsolutios · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jan 11, 2008 Posts: 29

I went to Halfords and spoke to the manager.

I explained the issues that I have experienced and they asked me if I had a Ford (he could not see my car incidentally)! The guy was very knowledgeable and said that at the moment, none of the TomTom x40 or x50 work reliably on cars with athermic + heated windscreens. He said the problem seems to be particularly bad on Fords and that they had done some testing themselves to prove this.

Apparently, they have been in touch with their head office and TomTom have said that it is a known problem and that they should just refund customers even if they are outside of their 28 days as there is no known fix at present.

I bought a TT950 and, while it was a little better, it still lost the fix numerous times while driving along the M2.

I tried it on battery and connected to the power, just in case that was the issue, but to no avail. Interestingly, I had them both running together and they both lost fixes at different times, but the 940 seemed to recovery faster than the 950. The 940 used EPT, but the 950 did not.

The saga continues....

mikealder · Posted: Sun Nov 22, 2009 9:08 pm Post subject:

Get a full cash refund for whatever you have purchased and go get a TomTom Go 730 while they are still around as these have the external GPS aerial socket attached which enables connection of the aux aerial.

I have never heard of issues with Ford car windscreens so I am a little wary of the advice offered by the Halfords chap, that said I would go get a device with an external GPS port on it unless you want further trouble or you are prepared to get a re-rad in the way we mentioned last night - Mike

jbsolutios · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jan 11, 2008 Posts: 29

Hi Mike

I have a TT930 in the drawer, so might resurrect that one.

Usually I would be wary of salesmen, but this guy seemed pretty clued up. He was even talking about how he had tried Navcore 9 on the 940, so he must be reasonably savvy.

I will keep investigating, as I do like the HD traffic - it works great in Central London!

Regards

JB

Darren · Posted: Sun Nov 22, 2009 10:12 pm Post subject:

Stocky69 · Posted: Mon Nov 23, 2009 2:49 pm Post subject:

Just some further info on this.

I have a TT920 and up until 4 weeks ago, had been using it with a central mounted brodit holder in a new Galaxy Zetec spec with no reception issues. The Galaxy Zetec had a heated screen.

I have now got a new Galaxy Ghia with the heated screen, and rain sensing wipers/automatic headlamps so it's a different screen.

Using the same brodit holder, reception is now far more variable and can take up to 5 mins to pick up a signal from power up. Even driving on motorways it loses signal regularly and switches to EPT mode.

Fortunately I have an external port for an external ariel. Any advice on how this can be routed for a clean installation and is there only one type available?

Thks

jbsolutios · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jan 11, 2008 Posts: 29

That's very interesting as my S-Max also has automatic wipers & headlights, so I wonder if your issue is related to mine?

Stocky69 · Posted: Mon Nov 23, 2009 6:05 pm Post subject:

I would presume so....

IAmCharliemouse · Occasional Visitor Joined: Oct 29, 2009 Posts: 4

I'm a bit frustrated by the replies to this thread. Despite what a lot of people have said, there obviously is an issue here, and what the guy at Halfords said certainly does ring true. Shocked

I posted on here a few weeks back that I had a new car with athermic glass (funnily enough a Ford with heated windscreen, auto rain and light sensors - although I really can't see how the latter 2 can be involved). My 540 was basically useless in my new car, yet worked perfectly in my old one. So despite what you may believe, this problem does exist.

I partly solved it by moving it away from the glass and mounting it on the centre console. It is now usable, but it is in no way as good as it was - the GPS signal is still significantly attenuated. Sad

Perhaps the glass that Ford is now using has a coating that happens to block the right (wrong) frequencies. Just a guess...

JockTamsonsBairn · Posted: Tue Nov 24, 2009 2:52 am Post subject:

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