TT730 suddenly went mad!

[qkjb]

Hi Guys,
I have a TT730T. I travelled up to York (200 miles) last Thursday and just short of my destination it went haywire - coincidentally as I was passing a police speed trap. Without touching it, it brought up the mobile phone screen, input a whole load of random numbers and then moved on at high speed through a whole host of different icons. Eventually I got it back to the screen map which was almost impossible to see - still coloured but faint - save for a small strip on the right hand side where half the traffic info was still the right colour! A couple of on/off resets didn't improve matters. Fortunately the voices worked and it talked me through the inevitable diversions before I got to the hotel. Several paper clip resets later that evening and it was still misbehaving but additionally would sometimes decide to demo the route that was still in the memory. I noticed that twisting the casing very slightly could recreate these problem.
I didn't use it again until the journey home today when it behaved perfectly! This is my second 730 - TomTom replaced the first which never worked properly end Jan beginning Feb last.
TomTom CS tell me they have never seen this before (UM!)and are sending me a bunch of suggestions to do with software which will undoubtedly be the same things I went through last January. Apparently the warranty on a replaced item runs for 6 months from when it was returned to me so if it is going back it will have to be in July.
I have checked the edge of the screen with a business card and there didn't appear to be anything caught underneath. I did wonder if the heat had anything to do with it but my car has air con and the TT is mounted on an air vent.

Anyone seen this before or am I on my own?

[spook45]

Sounds to me like you have covered all the bases. I would've thought that the business card trick would've solved your problem. I think another replacement is in order.
_________________
bob

TomTom 730T
App: 8.351
Map: North_America_2GB v890
Win XP Pro(SP3) TT Home 2.8.2.2264

[dhn]

Do you happen to have a screen protector on the 730? Sometimes, over time, they 'shrink' causing additional pressure on the screen with the result of 'phantom' presses.......
_________________
David

[qkjb]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the replies. I thought it needed to go back as well until I read dhn's post. TT have said use it every day to see if it happens again but since I am now retired I tend not to drive as much as I used to. I have one more month before the unit that replaced my original purchase runs out of warranty. Personally I can't see it being a software or operating system problem as this one it has worked perfectly since I've had it and had done nothing wrong for two hundred miles last Thursday and previous long but cooler journeys.

However, I do have a screen protector fitted. I always have since marking the screen of the very first one I had. It's one of the thicker type which you cut to size and is slightly sticky. It had been a very hot day last Thursday and although mounted on an air con vent, as I was driving North the sun was on the screen just about all the time, and of course wasn't on the way home yesterday. As I mentioned in the previous post, slightly twisting the unit on the day it happened replicated the error which it would do if the protector had expanded or shrunk. Sticking it in the glove compartment, which is cooled, obviously allowed the screen protector to shrink back or expand - which ever. Slightly twisting the cooled down unit produces no effect now so that is a good pointer. Perhaps I don't need a protector now if screen surfaces are tougher than they were?

I have driven extensively in Italy, France and Spain during summer months and never had this happen before but phantom presses would make a great deal of sense. The screen protector has only been fitted for about six months but!! Experience suggests that hardware and software glitches just don't go away so I guess time will tell.

Thanks again dhn and spook45. I am grateful for your help.

[Paulius55]

They are not telling the whole truth if they say they have never seen this problem before as I have just had exactly the same problem with a refurbished 730 bought from TomTom and first used in June this year. The device acted as if someone was constantly pressing the screen in one place and kept cycling rapidly between screens. At first TT kept suggesting it was a software issue and they had me completely re-install everything from scratch,but to no avail.Finally they asked me to send it back,then returned it saying there was nothing wrong with it. I switched it on and it was just as bad. I made a video of the problem,sent a strongly worded letter and said that I expected either a replacement unit or full refund. They asked for me to send it off again and within a day I receive a new unit which has shown none of this problem.I am convinced this was faulty hardware.I did think it was heat-related but it did not always correspond with the hottest days.

[qkjb]

Hi Paulius55,
Thanks for that and it is disappointing that we have to jump through hoops like this. I have tried to replicate the fault today and I can't. What's the betting that next time it will be just out of warranty?
Helpful ammunition and much appreciated.
Regards,

qkjb

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