Tom Tom Rider & Autocom

[GPSHonda]

[bigfatjohn]

[gsandy]

I connected my TomTom Rider to my Autocom by making up a cable to connect from the bluetooth headset to the mobile phone socket on the Autocom. The 2.5 mm 4 pole plugs are a bit hard to find but the 3.5mm plugs on the Autocom are standard stereo plugs. Making up the cable was jsut trial and error on the pinouts aand although the tomtom uses a 4 pin plug, only three wires are needed.

The end result is very good. The sound quality is vastly better than through the Tomtom headset but there is a catch. The radio link between the Rider and bluetooth adapter is now a pointless complication thatneeds charging every day and it cannot be charged from the bike and used at the same time as when its being charged it turns off.

I got so fed up with charging it - or losing my voice output and mobile phone function while traveling when the battery went flat, that the Rider has been written off as a bad experience and replaced with a Garmin 2720.

The Garmin is a vastly superior system in every way and unlike the Rider it comes with decent PC software. Although on the surface it costs more, when comparing a total package the 2720 wins. Add the cost of European mapping and the extra SIM cards needed to load them to the Rider and its over £780 and only has bike mounts. The 2720 can be bought for £699 plus about £30 for a RAM bike mount and if you dont have comms on the bike, a few quid for a headset (any walkman set will do). So the 2720 is £50 cheaper but for that you get two different car mounts, City Navigator PC software, mains adaptor, car adaptor with built in speaker and the standard europe street level mapping is fully installed, unlike the Rider which needs SIM card changes to change countries.

[bigfatjohn]

I understand that Autocom's bluetooth receiver will be powered from the Autocom unit itself. If true then your problem will go away.

Of course this will only work with their latest gear with 4 pole connectors (I presume that the fourth pole is for power).

I hope to take a shopping trip to Autocom early next week and I will find out for sure then.

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