Are live services worth it??

[michaelb104]

I currently have a 720 and have always used the GPS traffic until about 8 months ago when I stopped due to not driving long distances anymore. It looks like I’m going to have to start driving again so I am thinking about upgrading to the x40 range so that I can use the traffic live service.

Is the HD traffic worth it or should I stick with the 720 and go back to GPS Traffic??

Any experiences appreciated.

Also what happened to the supposed HD traffic charger for the x20/x30 range??

Thanks
Mike.
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TomTom GO720 and TomTom GO750
HD Traffic
HTC Desire

[Andy_P]

[falkirk81]

I agree with Andy. If you can afford the £8 a month for all LIVE services, then I would recommend them. For me the HD traffic and Google search features are the best.

The 'GPRS' traffic, not the GPS traffic as you referred to, is not nearly as detailed as the HD traffic. Also, the GPRS traffic is updated every 15 minutes, whereas the HD traffic is updated every 3 minutes.

Also, the GPRS traffic is the same data as the RDS-TMS traffic system broadcast by ITIS, just the medium of transmission is through your mobile phone and not through an aerial.

The quality of the HD traffic is excellent.By using the existing data systems and incorporating the new Vodafone movement system, it gives a better user experience in my opinion.
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Tomtom GO 1005 LIVE

iPhone 12

[PaulB2005]

I'm happy enough with the HD Traffic and Google Search to have paid £80 for the 1 year fee. It's probably paid for itself in saved time and petrol (except the one time i ignored the HD Traffic and listened to the nay-sayers and ended up doing a mile in 50 minutes...)

The weather services is OK, but have very little use for it.

I have used Buddies once before. Quite good when you're having a meet up.

Petrol prices - In the UK almost pointless. If it was like the US MSN Network version then I'd be happy (i.e. accurate daily updates, not 5 day old in accurate updates)

Personally i wished TT had priced the features individually and allowed you to choose which functions you wanted.... but they didn't. It would also help indicate which functions where worth keeping and maintaining.

[michaelb104]

Thanks for the quick replies and info, it sounds like an x40 is the way to go.

Cheers
Mike.
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TomTom GO720 and TomTom GO750
HD Traffic
HTC Desire

[Milesey]

I purchased my 940 in March and have just signed up for a year for Live services. So far, the traffic accuracy has been brilliant.

I still have an RDS connection on my old 910 which is practically useless and the GPRS traffic was not much better.

The new Live service is the complete opposite and work on most local roads as well major routes. Well worth it.

[aerotec]

I have had my 940 for a week and am enjoying the LIVE features so far.

Google search is brilliant. No need to check an address at home, write it down etc. It has found some quite obscure addresses for me such as a microlight factory in Rochdale!

I have found the fuel prices very accurate over the past week. I think the fact fuel prices have not moved past few weeks has helped but even if the data is old there is a good chance that if you head to the cheapest priced garage and the price has gone up it is still likely the cheapest in the area. In Leeds it is mostly 99.9 - 100.9 for diesel. TT Live tells me Morrisons 18 miles away is 98 (97.9). I would like to go and see if it is right but I think that one could be an error!

Now to HD Traffic. Yup I am liking it. It has told me about all the delays I have seen but also told me about delays that weren't there. It could be that the delay had cleared and this hadn't filtered down the system yet.

Now to the price, this is a real pain. I was all ready to subscribe for the annual £79.99 fee. I reckon it will mean I am saving a pound or so by ensuring I buy fuel at the best price and the £79.99 rate works out at £6.66 a month so prob a fiver a month after the fuel saving is put towards it. However I see Tomtom charge £6.95 postage...to send me a card...with a number...that I type in to TTHOME. That is just stupid and pedantic as it is it puts me off subscribing. I am not a high miler but do regular Leeds-Edinburgh trips so guess I will have a shot at RDS-TMC to see how it compared to HD Traffic after my 3 months is up.

[MrT]

To buy it, you just go into TT Home with the device connected and go through the buying process and it will offer you it at £7.99 per month or the 6 or 12 month prepays. Just select the 12 month prepay and it will charge you £79.99 and as soon as the process is complete you will have another 12 months showing on your device. No cards need to be sent from TomTom.

I did all this about two weeks ago so it does work.
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Drivelux

[aerotec]

[gatorguy6996]

Google Local has been helpful on more than one occasion. Weather is so-so, much less helpful than MSN's version. Traffic has less of an impact on routing than most would probably expect, and honestly most could get along just fine without it, especially for the once or twice weekly user. Gas prices had been fairly accurate until quite recently. Today, I have only two prices showing for my area out of 22 local stations shown. Coming off the Memerial Day weekend here in the States, the pricing was off by three days and around 6 cents a gallon average. Buddy's was kind of fun till my sole "Buddy" had to return his evaluation unit. I probably won't pay to extend my live services beyond the trial, tho I might talk myself into it "just because". MSN (which I use with one of my Garmins) offers many more features for half the price. Local events, main screen display of weather warnings, flight status, news headlines, stock prices, and even the gas pricing tells me the address of the station and how old the reported price is on the main screen. Even updates the distance and mix of stations as you drive with no further input. If traffic really affected routes more often, that by itself might make TT's Live services worthwhile. But with IQR, the vast majority of routes already allow for the most common delays due to work or school schedules. I'd guess that upwards of 90% or more of the daily delays can be predicted by IQR. Traffic reporting has changed only a couple routes of mine in over a month of use. In reality of little benefit except for the "I just wanna know" factor.
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Garmin 1695 / 255 / 760 w/MSN - Droid w/Google nav + Navigon - Navigon 8100T - Dakota10 - GPSMap76C - GeoMate Jr.

[Graeme2812]

Just my opinion as a 540 user.....

HD Traffic - Patchy, inaccurate, and on occasions poor connectivity at first. Vast improvement now, appears more accurate, and very few connectivity problems for me.

Fuel Prices - As has been said, I find them to be inaccurate and usually way out of date (longer than the 5 days they quote) there's far more reliable FREE sources for similar info on line.

Weather - Used occasionally, appears accurate enough.

Buddies - Only used to try it's functionality. Could be usefully if you have several 'Buddies' all traveling separately at the same time.

Google Search - Excellent. Every time I've used it it's been almost accurate to within a few hundred meters.

Hope this helps.
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Graeme Bennett
Go 540 LIVE
App. 9.510.1234792.1 (2039,04/04/2013)
United Kingdom & ROI v945.6174

[gatorguy6996]

There is a hidden upside to Buddies that I thought I'd mention. If your device is "permanently borrowed", your Buddy may be able to tell you where it is. For that reason alone, everyone should have one Buddy on his list.
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Garmin 1695 / 255 / 760 w/MSN - Droid w/Google nav + Navigon - Navigon 8100T - Dakota10 - GPSMap76C - GeoMate Jr.

[matthewj]

[PaulB2005]

I waited until mine expired and in the week (or so) before it did after doing an "Update My Device" it would flash up the 1 month, 6 month and discounted annual offers to buy a Live Services Sub.

I believe some people had problems with their subs when they bought a renewal before their trial ran out.

[ratman633]

I would agree that the HD traffic has improved, and presumably as the number of Live units continues to increase it should improve further. It's interesting though to read other users comments about Google search as I have found this to be very disappointing. Although it will usually find whatever I'm looking for not once has it accurately navigated to it.
I think the POI's from this site are far more accurate, although I would agree that in theory Google search is a great idea.

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