Tomtom refurbed - good deal?

[gstenson]

Hi
I am about to come back to TT PND after years using TT on my phone. Are these refurbs on the TT site a good deal? They have a 730 for £150 or 930 for £170.
Thanks

[mikealder]

You need to establish if they are supplied with the free to use Latest Map Guarantee (LMG), if not factor the cost of a map update, or in the case of the 930 maps and they might not seem quite the bargain you think - if they come with LMG then either device is a capable performer, main differences:

730:
Western_Europe map installed
2GB built in Flash memory

930:
Western_and_Central Europe map installed
North_America map installed
4GB built in Flash memory
EPT Enhanced Position Technology (handy in tunnels)

Mike

[gstenson]

Thanks Mike - the site doesn't mention LMG. It just says 'free updates through Home'. So really don't know

A further question - is the hands free car kit feature on the x30 any good? Or does it suffer from loads of noise, static etc?

Thanks

[mikealder]

Difficult to read whether they come with LMG or not - you can try giving them a ring on Monday 0845 161 0009 but refurb devices sold from TomTom certainly used to come with LMG I am just unsure whether this is still the case!
The other item you get with the 930 rather than the other unit is a remote control (according to the advert) these eat through batteries but can prove quite handy.
Handsfree, Hmm not an easy one, I have a dedicated Bluetooth car kit installed called iO-Play which I use for handsfree and I also stream music/ nav instructions via the iO-Play from the TomTom - I got fed up with the TomTom crashing, locking up etc when used for phone calls so I decided a dedicated Bluetooth handsfree system was the better option, the TomTom is also very "picky" over which phones it will actually work with - Mike

[gstenson]

Mmmm doesn't sound too good! Do you have any other suggestions for around the £150 mark?

http://www.totalpda.co.uk/TomTom/TomTom-GO-540-Live.7518.html
This seems a good deal - it has LMG

There is XL v3
http://www.totalpda.co.uk/TomTom/TomTom-XL-V3-IQ-Routes-EU-Refurbished.8242.html
£100
Out of stock at the minute

or XL IQ routes
http://www.tomtom.com/products/product.php?ID=1123&Category=15&Lid=1
£120

What is the difference between an XL v3 and XL IQ routes? Its very confusing....

Thanks

[Andy_P]

The issues that Mike mentions are only with the hands-free - other than that they are excellent devices (I've got a 940 and I still prefer the 720 which is physically the same as a 730)

Two of your alternatives (the XL's) don't have hands-free at all, so is it important to you?

The 540 has LIVE services (HD Traffic, Google Search etc.) but you need to subscribe to it at £10 a month, so if you don't want to pay that it isn't worth it.

All the Go 5x0 (i.e. 520,530,540,550) models only have UK maps too, the 7x0's have all Europe, and the 9x0 have Europe and America maps.

As for the differences between the two XL models, the IQ routes system has extra data built into the maps to allow for different traffic conditions at different times of the day, so it will avoid known rush-hour hot-spots for example.

[gstenson]

Thanks for this. It seems the XL or the ONE might be better for me as I am not bothered about the LIVE or hands free stuff.

Is there any difference between the ONE and XL apart from the screen size? AFAIK it looks like the XL might have a SD slot for map updates/purchases - is this correct?

Tomtom do some good refurb deals on the XL IQ and the ONE IQ. I dont know if they are v5 though.

[Andy_P]

[AliOnHols]

[mikealder]

If you can wait a little under week before you purchase your device I would try a trip to Halfords/ Currys/ Comet etc next weekend, most of these offer Easter saver deals which can be a cheap way to get a brandnew device, well they have done for the last three or four years anyway.

If you don't want all the hassle of the FM Tx/ mp3 player and hands free capability the XL Iq or XL IQLive are both very credible devices, to be honest if I were in the market to purchase a new nav unit the XL IQ is the unit I would purchese, the money you save can be used to purchase a decent in car Bluetooth kit for the phone or as a cheaper alternate refuse to answer it when driving! - Mike

[gstenson]

Thanks for this advice lads. The 730 refurb is a good deal and I like the idea of BT/MP3/SatNav all in one but...

Must admit I already have a Jabra bluetooth device on my sunvisor which works fairly well.

I also read somewhere that using the x30 to play music while navigating isnt very good as it always stopping to speak directions especially in town/city driving so becomes a little frustrating.

The XL IQ refurbs are a good idea - a simple satnav with no bells and whistles. I can wait another week so maybe its worth seeing what the Easter deals are in Halfords.

[Andy_P]

[eljaimito]

I have only ever bought refurb TT's and I have had reasonable success in doing so - all came with LMG. Call me cheap, but it's my money! I've saved several hundred pounds so far. I did have a problem with the last one I brought (720) which was quickly resolved under warranty.

[maca2]

I brought the 730T some time back & have to say as a sat nav it is great so I have no intention of updating it unless it stops working.

As a hands free device or music player I didn't like it at all & found getting all my music into play list format & right pain. The hands free works but I thought it was very poor so I ended up buying a Sony car stereo that can handle my hands free & mps's which it does much better than my 730.

Not knocking the 730 it's great but only as a sat nav unit & FM traffic data the rest it's not so good at IMO.

[gstenson]

Anyone seen any good deals on this easter weekend - Halfords are the same price as always....

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