TOMTOM Traffic

[nsl]

I am looking at the 730 and want to get it with traffic support.

I won't use it frequently enough to justify paying for the HD trafffic, so I wanted to know which is better, the TMC receiver or the GPRS Traffic (£29.95 p/y) or are neither particularly useful

Which has better data / is it the same data?

I've read that some of the receivers are not very good; if I get the TMC receiver which version (USB or otherwise) has the clearest reception

Finally, the alternative is the Garmin 765T - how does that compare traffic wise?

Many thanks!

[mikealder]

Welcome to the forum, The RDS-TMC data is free for life once you have purchased the receiver so its the cheaper solution, there are issues with reception in some parts of the country but this has improved over the last 18 months or so.
When you get the data it can sometimes be wrong, I tend to use it ONLY if it agrees with other sources of information such as the matrix motorway signs or radio information. I cerntainly wouldn't trust ANY of the traffic systems to automatically re-route me and that includes the HD Traffic system.
GPRS Traffic costs you nearly £30 a year plus the cost of downloading data over your mobile phone, just setting up the data connection seems to be getting increasingly difficult with handsets that used to work no longer doing so, I would save your money and avoid the GPRS system.

If you want traffic on an occasional basis get the RDS-TMC, either the round plug type receiver or mini USB style device will be OK they are very similar in terms of reception. The mini USB is slightly better for reception IMHO, but is let down in that when you turn power off to the car it de-powers the receiver thus losing the signal lock. A minor issue but one I find annoying as the round plug type doesn't do this, the host Go unit it is plugged in to feeds it power from its own battery.

Cannot help with the Garmin, if you want to avoid the wires all over the car and get the best signal reception possible consider connecting the RDS device to the car aerial, there are a few posts written on here detailing how to do it - never even seen one of those! - Mike

[nsl]

Thanks so much for your informative post.

The 730T is sold with TMC receiver in the box - would that be one of the newer ones - or would it be the receiver that was around when the 730 first came out?

NB I can buy the 730 separately and get one of the newer receivers from ebay (works out about the same money wise)

Many thanks again!

[mikealder]

If you know which type of receiver you want purchase them as a seperate pair, if you get the RDS in the box with the 730 then you don't know what you are getting until you open the box! - Mike

[jimbo_hippo]

Can I add to Mike's wise words. I drove from London to North Yorks last night. I had 4 items of traffic listed on leaving giving a total of 1.5 hours delay. I ignored it and sailed through every point on the map where I was supposed to be stationalry.

Inversely, I have (regrettably) been witness to 2 landings of the Air Ambulance in the last 2 weeks sitting in queues of traffic with no sign of it on the device. One instance was returning past the incident on the opposite carriageway 30 minutes after I first saw the incidient so it should have been in there.

However, like Mike, I still subscribe because once in a blue moon it pays dividends such as last year when I still made a meeting despite the A1 being completely closed for a 5 mile stretch. On these infrequent occasions it's a good feature.
_________________
Tom Tom GO 720
Orange M3100, Orange SPV M5000
TomTom Navigator 6, Destinator 6
Holux GPSslim

[matthewj]

"jimbo_hippo" - I presume that is the old traffic, and not HD. That was the problem with the old system - you couldn't rely on it which almost made it worse. The delay probably *was* there, but it never cleared down quickly enough. And that's why HD traffic is worth getting if you care about such information. Apart from a rare fault or two, it is very much more reliable and faster to update.

[Daggers]

[jimbo_hippo]

yeah, I realised I should have said that once posted. That said, isn't that what he'll get with the TMC device anyway?

I'd go to HD traffic but the much mooted accessory to allow it never materialised. That said, since TT have just gone back on their word and released TTN7 for PDAs maybe we'll see the accessorry after all. I live in hope.
_________________
Tom Tom GO 720
Orange M3100, Orange SPV M5000
TomTom Navigator 6, Destinator 6
Holux GPSslim

[MARViN2003]

Curry's are selling the older style RDS-TMC units (with the round connector) for £9.97 at the mo!

[MARViN2003]

I got one of the older style from Curry's - good deal for under £10

I connected up to my 520 (8.351) and it locked on and gave me an update, but for some reason now, my audio doesn't come out of the line out or FM transmission anymore, just the internal speaker. I'll try a reset...

[chrisjr]

A few years ago I went to Currys and bought a 510 on special offer with a TMC dongle thrown in for free.

Even free it was a total waste of money

It was one of the first generation devices with the receiver dongle at the end of the wire furthest from the TomTom. I don't think it ever got a signal in the entire time I had it.

May have had something to do with me using it on minor backroads like the M4, M40 and M6 I suppose Anyway I soon chucked it out and subscribed to the Traffic plus service. Which did at last mean I got some traffic info! And I kept i when I upgraded to my current 730.

The whole thing soured me against the TMC dongle until last October when I upgraded my mobile. Then I totally lost the ability to connect via GPRS with the TomTom. It took me six months with Orange just getting them to understand what the problem was and I never did get it resolved.

In the end I gave up and got a new TMC dongle and that is way better than the original. it does find a signal and does provide info.

I still have an active traffic plus subscription, if i ever find a phone to use it with. Luckily because of other issues I had with Traffic TomTom are paying for it so I'm not exactly bothered it's still active.

[mikealder]

If you still have the old phone that used to work with the TomTom consider putting a T-Mobile Pay As You Go SIM card in it (assuming its not locked to a specific network) then use that for GPRS traffic while your subscription is still running.
For the best performance from the RDS receiver I connect the aerial wire to the cars aerial, this negates a great deal of reception issues and reduces the wires strewn all over the car when installed properly - Mike

[chrisjr]

I do have the phone still. However it was on Orange contract so almost certainly locked.

But to be honest I don't use it enough to justify the additional expense of having a PAYG phone running alongside my current Orange contract phone. That might change when the contract term runs out however. But by then so will my "free" Traffic subscription. If I was actually paying for the subscription rather than enjoying TomTom's extension to compensate for a problem I had last summer then things might be different.

In any case I already have two mobiles (work and personal) so having a third does seem a bit over the top....

The TMC dongle has worked well enough so far. So as it stands I simply can't be a***d to change

[MrT]

I am surprised that your Orange contract phone does not work as I have used one for TomTom many times. Orange Internet works well and the only reasons that spring to mind as why it may not work are the incorrect GPRS settings or it is a contract with an employer who has barred the Internet service. The only settings I had to use were:

APN = orangewap ( it was GPRS not a WAP service in spite of the name)
USER = (no entry required)
PASSWORD = (no entry required)

no other IP or DNS settings were required.
_________________
Drivelux

[chrisjr]

It's my personal phone I am talking about. I know not to bother with the work phone as that has GPRS disabled.

Believe me I have tried every combination of settings known to man and a few I made up on the spot! Absolutely nothing works. Not even getting a new handset out of Orange.

I also have a Dell PDA that used to work fine with the old phone. That too won't work with the new phone.

At one time I was able to swap the SIM from my phone and put it in the work phone or my old phone and get it to work, despite my phone being 3G and the work/old phones being 2G (all on Orange). But that appears to have stopped working now as well.

But I haven't changed the settings between when it did work and now. The phone goes through the motions of making a data connection, all the right icons appear on the display. It even asks if I want to enable DUN when I pair the thing and lists Data as one of the available services in Bluetooth set-up.

But it simply point blank refuses to connect. And Orange are totally useless. Took me ages to get them to acknowledge it wasn't the fault of the TomTom and I am still waiting for Technical Support to call me back from before last Christmas!

Thing is if I plug the same phone into my laptop via USB I can establish a data connection, surf the Internet or whatever perfectly OK. Bet you can guess what happens if I try Bluetooth from the laptop

We see you’re using an ad-blocker. We’re fine with that and won’t stop you visiting the site.
Have you considered making a donation towards website running costs?.
Or you could disable your ad-blocker for this site. We think you’ll find our adverts are not overbearing!