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TomTom iPhone Car Kit questions

A

acousticbiker

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 28, 2008
983
199
I just purchased the TT Car Kit and had two questions:

1. After initial pairing, my iPhone will not automatically pair with the Car Kit on subsequent usage. Nevertheless, GPS audio still comes out of the Car Kit speaker but phone calls do not. Is there a way to have it pair automatically (like most BT accessories do after initial pairing)? I can go in and pair it again manually but this defeats the purpose.

2. After my car ignition is turned off (and with the iPhone out of the Car Kit cradle), the USB charger light is still on. Is this normal behavior? If so, it seems that the battery drain is a risk.
 
I got a TT dock at the weekend. After the initial pairing mine correctly pairs up each time I dock my iPhone and calls are routed through the speakers correctly. I actually have 3 sound sources listed, the dock, my BT headset and the iPhone itself.

As for the power, that is down to your car. My car switches off power to the lighter socket when the ignition is switched off. This disconnects the BT connection and stops charging it too.
 
I got mine from the Trafford Centre Apple Store. It was the only one on the shelf and a guy was reading the box. I lurked next to him and as soon as he put it back I picked it up and took it to the checkout.
 
To answer your question OP, my TomTom kit automatically pairs with my phone when I dock it. This is what I do:

Start Car
Turn BT on, on my iPhone
Dock it to the TomTom kit
Phone gets paired with Kit

I don't think the order in which I do all of this matters, but this is just what I did this morning. This is basically the first day I have used it.
 
Phil Lee said:
I got mine from the Trafford Centre Apple Store. It was the only one on the shelf and a guy was reading the box. I lurked next to him and as soon as he put it back I picked it up and took it to the checkout.
Click to expand...

That's funny, I would of done the same thing.
 
I had problems with the sound until I noticed that the switch on the side of the Iphone was turned off for muting. Now I make sure the switch is on before I dock it.
 
TomTom Car Kit - Issues

It works, it's expensive and it's NOT a great value.: eek:

I have used my new car kit for a few days and I'm a little disappointed with a few aspects of the device. My iPhone snaps in fairly well and it's easy to rotate. The articulation of the mount is not as desirable as it appears in the advertisements. The rotating lock that suctions it to the window is fairly good. The over all feel and quality of the device seems fair to good, however it should be priced about $30-$40 less to be a good value.

The hands-free works, however it appears that it is not duplexed so road noise and vibrations seems to be causing the device to VOX (switch off the speaker when you are talking). I have mixed feelings with the few calls I have made so far. Looking like it may not be a good hands-free device.

It uses Bluetooth to connect the hands-free and not the GPS. I was hoping to be able to use the bluetooth to connect the GPS to other devices and apparently that is not possible. I was also hoping that I could use the hands-free if not docked. You can't, must dock to connect the bluetooth hands-free. Does not make any sense.

Also, they forgot about the voice control that can be activated with a bump of the answer button on most headsets. The volume button, if you push it, sometime brings up the voice control, however it is well behind the iPhone and not easy to hit while the phone is docked. Why is this not more accessible?

Would have been nice to have a button to start and stop music, like my 5 year old bluetooth headset. Maybe next to the other missing button.

They don't support the iPod touch and now they are coming out with a iPod specific mount, it has even less value because I can't use both devices on the same car kit.

Here is how I grade the Car Kit (1-10):
Mounting: 8
Rotation: 7
Articulation: 3
Hands-Free: 4 (Weak, speaker is facing away from you, VOX'ing problem)
GPS: 6 (Only very slightly better that the built in GPS)
Compatibility: 3 (Can't use iPod Touch)
Bluetooth: 2 (Phone will not pair until docked, can't pair with other devices)

Overall it's a $79.00 retail mount with a questionable hands-free, only a small incremental change in GPS accuracy and a useless bluetooth implementation. I'll give it a generous 5 out of 10 for now.

Cost: 119.00 plus Tax, $40 is a donation to the cause.

That's my 2 cents worth that cost me a Benjamin and then some.

UPDATE: Forgot to mention that when in horizontal mode the weight of the iPhone and the slightest bump in the road or touching the device will cause it to rotate almost vertical. Seems that the resistance force of the swivel is a few ounces to light. You also must remove any cover you have as there is no room for anything except the iPhone itself.
 
I'm not sure I've noticed the VOX issue. I thought I recall talking at the same time as the other person... I'll have to pay attention to that.

Have you tested the iPod Touch in it, or are you just assuming because they came out with a second kit?

Mine stays horizontal OK. You might be able to adjust the angle of the mount or maybe yours is just a bit more loose.

To me, it's easier to handle voice control via the iPhone button. It's right there facing you.

I agree with the speaker placement, and volume switch placement. Good thoughts.
 
No wireless Bluetooth for hands-free calling on TT car kit

@ TalonFlyer (20 Nov 2009)

TalonFlyer said:
1)... I was hoping to be able to use the bluetooth to connect the GPS to other devices and apparently that is not possible.

2)...I was also hoping that I could use the hands-free if not docked. You can't, must dock to connect the bluetooth hands-free. Does not make any sense.

3)...The volume button, if you push it, sometime brings up the voice control, however it is well behind the iPhone and not easy to hit while the phone is docked. Why is this not more accessible?

4)...Would have been nice to have a button to start and stop music, like my 5 year old bluetooth headset. Maybe next to the other missing button.

5)...only a small incremental change in GPS accuracy and a useless bluetooth implementation.

6)...when in horizontal mode the weight of the iPhone and the slightest bump in the road or touching the device will cause it to rotate almost vertical. Seems that the resistance force of the swivel is a few ounces to light.
Click to expand...

I agree with TalonFlyer on all of tne points above:

ad 1) Tomtom describes (on its web site) ways to use its bluetooth connection for a GPS signal on other PDA devices (entering a 0000 pairing PIN code to connect (as opposed to the 5555 used for the iPhone phone.app). I haven't tried, but maybe the iPhone could also connect to the GPS signal via the 0000-pairing.

ad 2) This frustrate me the most: Not being able to establish a hands-free bluetooth connection wirelessly (i.e., without docking physically). It makes no sense and Tomtom should fix this. You would think this 1st generation unit should be able to be upgraded by new firmware and software to solve this.

Because, most of the trips one makes is without the need for GPS, but they are often made with a need for hand-free calling. It which case, leaving the iPhone in the pocket (bluetooth on) would be natural.

At least, there must a be a way for the iPhone's bluetooth to be activated only when docked (so as to save iPhone battery). Like (the non-App Store) app iBluetooth does so elegantly.

ad 3) The volume button is not only hidden out of view, but is placed on the wrong (left) side of the device (making more sense if you pilot your car from the right-side front seat; like in the UK). The volume button should've been placed be on the right side. An even more natural position, in opinion, could've been on the only visible front surface, below the iPhone, next to the microphone.

ad 4) Maybe a small remote control, freely attach in a convenient place anywhere in your car, could have solved these issues.

ad 5) I also experience little improvement in the quality of the GPS reception. It even seems that the device "is behind" in showing where my car is, while also quite often being very confused about my position (even out side the city).

ad 6) What seem to aggravate the problem of swiveling out of the horizontal position is the not-so-well-thought-out placement of the cable connections (which adds downward torque on the swivel plate (which, I agree, could easily be more firm)). What I find helps, is pushing the slider adjustment all the way "up"/left, so that the cable asserts less torque (i.e., getting the cable as close as possible to the swivel plate).

Could some smart guy conceive of programming a small hack to solve the lack of wireless/non-docked Bluetooth connectivity to the Tomtom carkit?!?
 
Just got mine. Do I understand that the phone must be docked to pair over BT and every time after that? Isn't that a bit of a waste of time? Might as well just leave it in the dock if thats the case!
 
TomTom Car Kit Rotates when I Hit Bumps - defective design

TalonFlyer said:
UPDATE: Forgot to mention that when in horizontal mode the weight of the iPhone and the slightest bump in the road or touching the device will cause it to rotate almost vertical..
Click to expand...

Yep, me too :(
 
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