starting to have second thoughts about a tomtom GO system

oisky

I have still got time to cancel my tomtom GO700. The reason I'm saying this is as follows...

I'm starting to get concerned about the amount of people that seem to be saying "get an external ariel - it'll be much better". erm, what! I already have to connect up my reciever and put it on the dash with my current system (iPAQ 5550 and tomtom navigator) and one of the reasons that I want to change for a GO system is because I fancy having everything in one small package that I can just quickly plug and go. I'd be furious if I bought it and then ended up having to put an external ariel on as well!

There also seems to be a problem (related???) with the GO 300 where people are having a reduction of satellite locks when they put the unit on the mount !!! What the hell is that all about and will it affect the 700 as well? - I notice that tomtom themselves seem to be keeping quiet about this?!! Has this been fixed? It seems like a major problem to me!! Surely someone with a bit of clout should be hammering tomtom about this problem!

I'm very close to cancelling my order and waiting to see if this forum fills up with GO 700 problems like the ones mentioned above. Maybe I should just stick with my current system. Is anyone else here slightly concerened with these GO 300 problems?
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BB695 · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jun 08, 2005 Posts: 21

I have a 300. I use it in a motorhome. It is Luton type motorhome, so the Tom Tom can only 'see' a fairly small portion of the sky. In the past three weeks it has not lost a fix at any stage. I think the ariel is only necessary for those with heated front windscreens. Also - mine shows no difference when putting it on the mount. - It also gets a good signal in my office, which has no windows

Wonderwall · Posted: Tue Jun 14, 2005 9:15 pm Post subject:

Dont cancel mate you will be more than pleased "have faith"....

oisky · Posted: Tue Jun 14, 2005 9:20 pm Post subject:

I don't want to cancel just for the sake of it, it's just that there does seem to be the problems that I outlined in my original post. And I can cancel and then re-order if the 700 seems to be free from these problems. It's just that my heart would be broken if I ended up needing an external ariel - I wouldn't be any better off than with the system I have now!
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If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice !

Old_Phil · Posted: Tue Jun 14, 2005 9:25 pm Post subject:

It is not heated windscreens that are the problem; it is athermic windscreens beloved of french manufacturers. (These are designed to reflect the strong rays of the sun out of the car - hardly an issue in the UK but more so in France where they get proper weather! These screens have an invisible laminate layer of silver to reflect the sun - and GPS signals to boot!)

There have been plenty of posts on this forum in the past from owners of Ford cars with heated front screens who have experienced no problems. The wire elements in heated screens are spaced far enough apart to allow enough of the GPS signal through. The majority of cars have ordinary tooughened glass screens which pose no issues at all.

If your current set up of palm + GPS receiver gets a good signal (and I guess it does) you will have no problems at all with a GO700, 500 or 300.
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bmwman · Posted: Tue Jun 14, 2005 9:26 pm Post subject:

Oisky - remember that if you need an external aerial (and that's a big if) the TTG will still be 'click and go'. The external aerial is hard-wired into the mount so once it's installed you just forget it.
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Regards,
Rich

oisky · Posted: Tue Jun 14, 2005 10:13 pm Post subject:

Unfortunatly the external ariel costs about £40. Don't really want to pay this. And secondly I would have to take the ariel out everytime I leave the car (just as I do now) because I don't need an excuse for thieves to break in. (the mount will temp them enough)
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If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice !

oisky · Posted: Tue Jun 14, 2005 10:18 pm Post subject:

Just as an added note, how do you know if it "is a big if"? Just as I don't know if the mount/reception problems apparent on some GO300's will appear on the 700 - equally you can't know that they will not? I really DON'T want to come across all negative (I love my tomtom navigator on iPAQ) It's just that there does seem to be a problem with mounts losing satellites on some GO300's and I'd hate to find that this carries on to the 700. And I'm a bit concerened that tomtom don't appear to be commenting on it?
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If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice !

Faust · Regular Visitor Joined: May 02, 2005 Posts: 210

Well we have an Audi and a Golf and I don't lose signal nor do I get less signal when the TomTom is on the mount - at the end of the day it must be your decision. If it was me though, I would not have placed an order for the 700 in the first place, I would have gone either with the 300, which I did, or failing that the 500. Reason? hard drive as opposed to SD card. I think SD card solid state technology is more robust in this sort of situation i.e. extremes of temperature, heat through the windscreen in summer, cold in winter, moisture, and vibration. None of the aforementioned items are good bedfellows with Hard Drives, whereas SD cards wont be much bothered by anything.

sgtbanjo · Occasional Visitor Joined: May 29, 2005 Posts: 27

Oisky, don't be disheartened - there are thousands and thousands of people with TomTom 300's all working fine. The small majority who have issues make lots of noise on this forum making it look worse than it is. I have the TT300 and have no issues with it at all.

At the end of the day - if your tt700 has problems - send it back and get a replacement.

Sarge

oisky · Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2005 9:31 am Post subject:

Thanks guys, this really helps. I'm keeping my order !!

PS I was aslo a bit worried about it having a hard drive ( I suspect it's a micro -drive - like the ones in 1G SD cards) but then I remembered that my ipod has a hard drive and it goes through extremes in temp and vibration but it's never failed once. Yet some people complain of faulty SD cards occasionaly. So maybe the drive will be ok?
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If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice !

bmwman · Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2005 10:39 am Post subject:

Sarge's observation is very valid. The internet is a marvellous tool for swopping information and I've learnt things at twenty times the rate of conventional information gathering.

However, only a very, very small percentage of people who have a product subscribe to the relevant internet forums. Often these are people who have experienced some kind of problem and are looking for advice. This can give a very disproportionate perception of problem size. For example, I run a reasonably powerful sports-tourer motorbike. A very, very small percentage of this model have suffered from a manufacturing issue on the exhaust valve guides. But from visiting the dedicated forums you'd think that every single bike built had an engine that ticked like Captain Hook's crocodile.

I'm not saying that there aren't issues around. Of course there are issues, but as an overall percentage of products sold the figure will not be as great as it can appear.
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Regards,
Rich

gjgm · Occasional Visitor Joined: Mar 29, 2005 Posts: 11

re- disproportionate representation of a problem. I think its not just the number itself to look at, but also that maybe enthusiasts who would frequent thses pages might also be especially picky. The quality of the maps is one such example. i dont know how many many hundreds of thousands of miles and junctions are on the uk maps, but i for one, think its amazing the detail and accuracy you DO get. It really is as though someone has actually driven the route and made notes for you. But there are occasional mistakes,a nd some people find that unacceptable. But that doent mean it is unacceptable-just to them.

smallfreak · Regular Visitor Joined: May 31, 2005 Posts: 68

Sniff · Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2005 3:12 pm Post subject:

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