740 Live - any update

starcott · Occasional Visitor Joined: Mar 13, 2008 Posts: 26

I am seriously considering buying a 740 Live and so have been reading up on as many reviews as possible.

Several reviewers on Amazon report on problems involving the Live features, especially traffic jams. Some users also mention issues 'known to TomTom' which are due to be fixed.

Have there been any recent software updates to the 740 Live or are there any due out in the near future?

Are these problems involving the Live features very rare? Can I be fairly confident that the 740 Live will be accurate in its traffic jam information and re-routing?

Andy_P · Posted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 11:08 pm Post subject:

There haven't been any software updates for some time. Latest for that model is still v8.351 from back in May 2009.

HD Traffic works fine, technically. But it's like any traffic service; it's great until it misses the jam you've just hit. and that WILL happen.
I don't do a huge number of miles these days, but it seems to catch most delays I come across.
Note that if there is ALWAYS a hold-up on a stretch of road at a certain time of day, that should be dealt with by the IQ routing data instead.

Version 9 software has just been released on the x50 models, so there's a fair chance that will be released for the older models (probably only the x20/30/40 ranges) in the not too distant future.

I can't really comment on the "other issues" without a few more clues.

To my mind, the 'Google search' feature alone makes the LIVE services worthwhile.

PaulB2005 · Posted: Thu Oct 29, 2009 8:39 am Post subject:

With regards to the traffic reporting and rerouting i can say i think its great. The one time i ignored it i spent 50 miles on the A1 to travel a mile! A few weeks ago i was travelling up the M1 at an average of about 45 mph between London and Leicester. I was heading to Sunderland so it was getting very frustrating. At Leicester the HD Traffic took us off the M1 and through country A roads with almost no-one on them. We skipped a large chunk of the M1 and got some pretty scenery too. It also performed similarly on other London-Sunderland runs switching between the A1 and M1 as necessary. In essence we rarely stopped moving even through the journey might take an extra 20 minutes or so.

However the traffic reports might not be as fast to appear as you like (meaning you join a traffic jam and 5 minutes later it appears on the screen) and may have some issues where long gone incidents are still reported (and so have to make unnecessary re-routes). However over the last 6 months or so i think it got better. Other high mileage drivers may disagree but then it's like anything - casual users of computers like them, those who use them more often will know more of limitations, errors and problems they have. Like any advise - either trust it or don't.

psyskiesman · Posted: Thu Oct 29, 2009 7:54 pm Post subject:

I bought a GO740 Live a few weeks ago, and the version is "App. 8.370". Is this the software version which Andy_P mentions as the latest being v.8.351? If so, this would imply that new 740's are more "up to date" than older machines............ but that doesn't neccessarily mean better!

Andy_P · Posted: Fri Oct 30, 2009 2:04 am Post subject:

Apologies. I misread my chart...... Embarassed

v8.370 (336164/090717)was actually released on 5th August 2009 - For Go x40 models only. TT say: Improved RDS-TMC support in non-LIVE countries, Improved user interface, Improved functionality.

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