TomTom 500 & 700, Release dates & differences?

[horrgakx]

Sorry for the size of this post, it is all my questions rolled up into one

Last week I was VERY keen to go buy a GPS navigator. However I've been put off slightly from these units from some of the comments I've read on this site - like lack of the M6 Toll (though fixed now?) and other quirks seen on most (all?) GPS units which take you on a back-road instead of straight to a destination on a main road (I've seen that myself with the built-in system in a new Audi).

I went to see a Garmin 2610 demoed on Saturday - just for a short drive but it was VERY accurate indeed. However I think I will prefer the TomTom units.

- I'm sure this is asked all the time but when are the 500 & 700 released?

- When comparing the two, I see that the 500 uses media cards, the 700 a hard drive. What advantages/disadvantages will this give? One advantage the 700 has I'd guess is that you can have the whole of Europe on there... but is that it?

- Aside the hard drive and the bundled remote control, what are the other differences between the 500 & 700?

- On this post "Major routes of Europe" vs. "Maps of Wesern Europe" are talked about - for the 700 is there just the ONE map (Europe) or can you get maps with differing levels of detail?

- How would I go about getting speed camera information loaded up?

Thanks,
Dave

[TopCaTT]

1. when are the 500 & 700 released?

Next month

2. - When comparing the two, I see that the 500 uses media cards, the 700 a hard drive.

Media card no moving parts. Not susceptible to shock and vibration.

Hard drive - quicker read/write times. Complete street level maps of Europe without having to swap cards in and out.

One advantage the 700 has I'd guess is that you can have the whole of Europe on there... but is that it?

I'd say so. Can't see what advantage the remote control offers in a normal car

- Aside the hard drive and the bundled remote control, what are the other differences between the 500 & 700?

700 has street level maps of Western Europe whichi will cost you around £100 to buy plus SD cards to copy data to. But you'd have to do a LOT of driving in Europe to justify the cost.

- On this post "Major routes of Europe" vs. "Maps of Wesern Europe" are talked about - for the 700 is there just the ONE map (Europe) or can you get maps with differing levels of detail?

700 comes with COMPLETE maps of Europe pre-installed

- How would I go about getting speed camera information loaded up?

Download from this very site and copy to TomTom!

[horrgakx]

Thanks for the reply - I think the 700 is probably the one to go for; if I have to pay £100 for extra maps I may as well have them all to start with (I'm going to Spain, Belgium and Germany this year).

Also I'm not really bothered about the HD in relation to reliability through shock, I've got a 1Gb SD card (the mini-hard drive) in my Canon D60 which has been with me all over the world and has written around 12,000 pictures so it has proven very reliable.

Dave

[steveJ]

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