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colossal Occasional Visitor
Joined: Feb 02, 2008 Posts: 4
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Posted: Sun Jan 02, 2011 9:11 am Post subject: Tom Tom live & TMC |
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Hi All.
I've done a fair bit if research on this, apologies if the answer is out there already.
Seems the Tom Tom live models do not come with TMC ? So when the subscription runs out you have no TMC to fall back on unless you buy a £50 TMC receiver ?
Is TMC worth having at all ? I only do around 5k miles a year, I would love the full live service but not sure if I want to pay £50 annually for the service (after the 1st year).
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DennisN Tired Old Man
Joined: Feb 27, 2006 Posts: 14901 Location: Keynsham
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Posted: Mon Jan 03, 2011 8:26 pm Post subject: |
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Yes, RDS-TMC Receiver is an extra (and doesn't necessarily adapt to all Live models, e.g. I think my 550 live can't use one).
If you can consider £50 for a TMC receiver, you might as well put the same £50 into the Live services each year. HD Traffic is superior and Google Local Search is great. _________________ Dennis
If it tastes good - it's fattening.
Two of them are obesiting!! |
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andy-c1 Lifetime Member
Joined: Feb 05, 2005 Posts: 1039 Location: East Sussex
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Posted: Mon Jan 03, 2011 9:06 pm Post subject: |
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I agree the google part is fantasic _________________ TomTom 5001 |
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colossal Occasional Visitor
Joined: Feb 02, 2008 Posts: 4
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Posted: Mon Jan 03, 2011 10:59 pm Post subject: |
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Cheers guys, just not sure if the £50 per year is for me with low mileage.
Thanks for clearing that up. |
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IanS100 Frequent Visitor
Joined: May 05, 2008 Posts: 870 Location: Southport
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Posted: Tue Jan 04, 2011 1:43 am Post subject: |
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I tried the early TMC on a 520 and found it a complete waste of time and that's if I could be bothered stringing the wire all over the place - I believe the later TMC was better but still no match for HD Traffic.
PS. I understand that some users had great success with the TMC so before I get this is just my personal experience |
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DennisN Tired Old Man
Joined: Feb 27, 2006 Posts: 14901 Location: Keynsham
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Posted: Tue Jan 04, 2011 9:27 am Post subject: |
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I have RDS-TMC on a 520 and HD Traffic on a 550 running side by side, plus Radio 5 Live on the tranny. NONE of them are 100% accurate (by which I mean information and currency thereof).
I think the HD Traffic is superior, but how does anyone really know unless you have triplets driving similar cars in a similar manner and one of you follows HD, one follows RDS-TMC and the third hasn't got it? I have to add that unless all three sources agree the same very serious information, I very rarely accept a diversion (I've done so only a couple of times in the last twelve months - over 50K miles). And what annoys me? I am never, ever offered a diversion around Piccadilly! _________________ Dennis
If it tastes good - it's fattening.
Two of them are obesiting!! |
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matthewj Frequent Visitor
Joined: Apr 03, 2006 Posts: 751
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Posted: Tue Jan 04, 2011 10:48 am Post subject: |
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colossal wrote: | Cheers guys, just not sure if the £50 per year is for me with low mileage. |
For me, the key question is not the cost, but when you travel, and how important is it to you to get there on time? I don't travel a lot, but I do travel on bank holidays mostly, and they are bad times. With kids in the back, I don't want to be stuck in long traffic - at the very least I want to have stopped for a pit-stop before I get into the delay. But it is also nice to drive around delays instead of sitting in it.
As for the TMC, my understanding is that it is like the old "low definition" service, and that means it can show an incident fairly soon, but goes on showing it for hours. We pretty much gave up trusting the old system as it was completely unreliable. If it just appeared, it was probably there, otherwise you'd sail on past what was supposed to be an hour of delay. Waste of time.
HD traffic is not perfect, but it is very good most of the time, and we now believe it. |
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colossal Occasional Visitor
Joined: Feb 02, 2008 Posts: 4
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Posted: Tue Jan 04, 2011 11:56 am Post subject: |
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Cheers Matthew, very informative.
I have no experience of TMC so its nice to get some real world feedback. I guess buying a unit with the live service & seeing how it goes for a year is a good option.
Funny how you never get anything for nothing in this world
This has all come about as I bought a Garmin 265wt and I'm really not impressed. Its not a brand thing as I have a Garmin sports GPS & love it but the sat nav is not for me. Think I'll go back to TomTom or maybe try Navigon.
Thanks again........ |
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