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Experience of buying and using XL Live IQ Routes

 
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sixhundred
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PostPosted: Sat Nov 13, 2010 10:06 pm    Post subject: Experience of buying and using XL Live IQ Routes Reply with quote

Experience of buying and using a TomTom XL Live IQ Routes (Europe)

Thought I'd share this for anyone who may be considering purchasing this device.

I'd been using a TomTom ONE 3rd edition for four years, including the RDS-TMC adapter. The two main issues were firstly the map had never been updated and doing so would have cost a considerable amount of money and secondly the traffic updates were ok but ideally I wanted something more up to date and real time. (I often found the traffic to be woefully out of date or just not relevant, therefore it wasn't terribly useful).

The main considerations before purchasing this device were the following.
- Latest map. This would avoid having to pay to update my ONE.
- Live services. The HD (High definition?) Traffic (and IQ routes) was what I was really after. The most up to date traffic service on offer.
- Larger screen. A bonus although not essential.
- Latest software. I'd hope the latest versions would be improvements over the ONE.
- I didn't need the device to connect to my phone or play music, etc.

I've used this device for a few weeks now and these are the main findings:

- HD Traffic. I have found the HD traffic to be excellent. In particular on a recent trip from Leeds to London where the M1 was shut and both the M40 and M25 severely congested the TomTom successfully routed round it all. My trip was only 20 minutes longer than normal when there seemed to be horrendous hold ups everywhere. It was very impressive.
- Latest maps and software. The core software has come a long way and I find it very intuitive and easy to use.
- Larger screen. I was a tad surprised that the resolution is the same as the ONE (I think), the screen is just larger. I was expecting better resolution as well as the bigger screen. Not an issue, just a surprise.
- Easyport and USB connect. The old windscreen mount and slide in dock on the ONE has always worked fine for me. The easyport isn't as good. I leave the windscreen mount on the car and then clip the unit in. It's a fiddle and needs a knack.I read you're suppose to leave it attached and remove the sucker from the windscreen. This doesn't work for me as a) it's too far to reach in our car and b) with the mount attached the unit doesn't fit in the case. I'm getting used to the mount but it's not ideal. The USB / charger port is very strange. It's deeply recessed and plugging in the usb cable or charger can be fiddly, especially in the dark. Also pulling the plug out is difficult due to it's design. This should be something TomTom can easily address.
- Speed. Here's the big issue. The unit is slow. Calculating routes e.g. 200 mile trips, takes a long time, sometimes minutes. I presume it's taking all the IQ routes and Live traffic data into consideration so it takes longer, however it's too slow. Also the unit is sluggish responding to commands. Sometimes I press the screen and nothing happens for several seconds. It's certainly not as good as the ONE. To mitigate this I switch the unit on several minutes before getting in the car, set the route and get it to download Live data and calculate the route. It's usually ready by the time I'm in the car. Shorter routes are faster but as I often travel for 200+ miles I find the speed a disappointment.

All in all it's a decent machine and value for money. My decision took price into consideration and this unit has everything I need. The IQ routes, lane assist and HD traffic are excellent. The whole package is just let down by it's speed.

(P.S. I sold my 4 year old TomTom ONE on ebay for over £60. I was amazed and expected < £10).
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DennisN
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PostPosted: Sun Nov 14, 2010 8:40 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I had a few days with a TT ONE a few months ago and wished there was some way I could steal it off the owner. I'd say you gave away the best of the pair! Quite simply, switch-on satellite lock and then route calculation and recalculation were unbelievably fast and reliable. And it never hinted at being unstable.

When I first got my XL Live I too was impressed, but it eventually developed the current "issue", namely frequent random rebooting. IQ routes gives me no better routing than my years old GO700 with map v675 and lane guidance is useless (and unreliable) window dressing. Given the rebooting and dreadful slowness calculating and recalculating routes, I haven't used it for three months (I do have others, including TomTom Carminat built in).

I use my satnavs for a lot of miles - about 1500 this week, so I do get to check them out.
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Green_ninja
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PostPosted: Sun Nov 14, 2010 1:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Interesting read there on the new kit, I hav to agree with DennisN though. I have an original TomTom One that Ihave had for 6/7 years. In that time I've replced the battery once (earlier this year) and updated the maps a coupleof times and apart from a very rare lock up ( pin in the reset fixes it ) it's never let me down.
i've considered buying a neweer unit on may occasions (I like new shiny gear :-) ) but as it works as it should I see no reason to change it. I'll keep it until it finally dies.
As an aside I aslo have a Garmin Zumo 400 that is newer and works fine but it's not quite as good as the One in use.
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Andy_P
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PostPosted: Sun Nov 14, 2010 9:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

As you've guessed, I think the slow routing speeds ARE due to the additional IQ Routes and Live Traffic features.

But this is one thing they have definitely sorted out on the new Go1000 and 1005 models. Routing on those is incredibly fast.

Lands End to John to Groats (fastest route) to calculate route and write instructions:

On a Go 940 - 1 minute 5 seconds
On a Go 1000 - 16 seconds
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DennisN
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PostPosted: Sun Nov 14, 2010 10:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

For what it's worth (after all, the query is in relation to XL Live, IQ Routes).


Land's End to John 'O Groats, fastest route (Sunday night, no traffic problems?)....

XL Live IQ, 1 min, 30 secs
GO520 (IQ) 1 min 15 secs
GO550 Live IQ 1 min 00secs

The three above with latest navcores and all map UK&ROI v855

Win Mobile phone (HTC Advantage) 0 min, 40 secs.
Navcore 6.030, map UK & IE and major roads of WE, v675.1409

GO700 1 min 25 secs. Navcore 7.903, much bigger map W&CE v675.1409

I have stopped using the GO700 because the external antenna feature has died (after replacing the antenna)
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Anita
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PostPosted: Sun Nov 14, 2010 11:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

My 720, IQ routes, Navcore 8.351, UK&ROI v855 - fastest route - 47 secs. But you always knew my 720 was a bit special, didn't you Dennis? Laughing

Maybe it's because there's loads of room on it with only UK maps?
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DennisN
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PostPosted: Mon Nov 15, 2010 12:16 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Gosh, Anita, Not Worthy that's almost as fast as my HTC Advantage with Navigator 6 and map 675 (with a battery that seems to hold a charge too!).
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lyskamm
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PostPosted: Tue Nov 16, 2010 5:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

On my iPhone 3GS Tomtom 1.5 with latest Europe map (IQ routes and HD traffic), it takes less then 10 sec ... Laughing

Also my GO 950 (with Europe 855 and HD Traffic) takes about 40 sec.

Clearly (given the same maps, IQ routes, HD traffic) it is hardware dependant, especially the free RAM (GO has double as the XL) and processor.
Also for a PNA if you do the calculation just after you switch on the device, when it's trying to get a fix and connecting to TT servers for Traffic, the time is obviously longer.
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sixhundred
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 24, 2010 12:06 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

follow up....

Have done a few thousand miles more I've got to know the device quite well.

I've got used to the slow route calculations and tend to make sure I plan routes before I leave the house or office. Even in flight route changes (when traffic updates) are fast enough in most cases.

The screen is good and bright, the menus very easy to use (the configurable short cut menu is very useful) and the accuracy of the traffic is amazing. There's been a number of times where the back of a motorway queue has been exactly matched on the TomTom. This was why I bought it, so a huge plus point.

Unfortunately there has to be a negative. The unit has a tendency to reboot for no apparent reason. This has always been within the first few minutes of operation. It's annoying. The unit has never rebooted while enroute.

So it's not perfect but I still think it's a great unit and a good buy.
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DennisN
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 24, 2010 12:11 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

sixhundred wrote:
The unit has never rebooted while enroute.
Just give it time and it'll start booting en route too. My conclusion is that it's a bug/issue/challenge in Navcore 9, because my GO550 does it too now.
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2216
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PostPosted: Sat Nov 27, 2010 10:30 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

For me since we have gained more space with the zoned maps the crash problem seams to have gone away.
XL Live IQ , latest nav core , 860 western zone.
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DennisN
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PostPosted: Sat Nov 27, 2010 10:47 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

2216 wrote:
For me since we have gained more space with the zoned maps the crash problem seams to have gone away.
XL Live IQ , latest nav core , 860 western zone.
My XL Live IQ which reboots regularly, is the oddity from Halfords - a 2GB model but only UK & ROI, so it has something like 1.75 GB free space. Confused
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