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TomTom iPhone Car Kit Unboxing [Video]

Update

Just finished with the review. Video is being 'stabilised' through iMovie. Real time car demos meant that the car was (obviously) moving hence the camera was affected.

Some words to clarify or sum up:

  • TomTom works REALLY well with the car kit. Deffo a HUGE improvement. Very little or no lag.
  • Easy to mount to the windscreen - very strong and robust (won't fall off). Like the fact that its quite flexible in the way YOU want it viewed. Different angle orientations etc. Easier viewing angles for the driver is ALWAYS a plus point.
  • You need to use the bluetooth to pair the TomTom car unit device.
  • YES, third party apps work - I used/demo'd Co-Pilot Live 8. Although I didn't see an improvement in the GPS signal with Co-Pilot - you do get the extra advantage with the speakers and charging facility (ideal for long distance drives).
  • The speaker is amazingly loud and clear. You can adjust it using the dial. Huge bonus.
  • Two year warranty included with this device.
 
The Samurai said:
Just finished with the review. Video is being 'stabilised' through iMovie. Real time car demos meant that the car was (obviously) moving hence the camera was affected.

Some words to clarify or sum up:

  • TomTom works REALLY well with the car kit. Deffo a HUGE improvement. Very little or no lag.
  • Easy to mount to the windscreen - very strong and robust (won't fall off).
  • You need to use the bluetooth to pair the TomTom car unit device.
  • YES, third party apps work - I used/demo'd Co-Pilot Live 8. Although I didn't see an improvement in the GPS signal with Co-Pilot - you do get the extra advantage with the speakers and charging facility (ideal for long distance drives).
  • The speaker is amazingly loud and clear. You can adjust it using the dial. Huge bonus.
  • Two year warranty included with this device.
Click to expand...

Does it work with the iPod touch?
 
I'd like to see how this kit works paired with the Navigon app....hopefully the kit GPS chip will augment the Navigon app and not just be a fancy "charger/holder"
 
fhall1 said:
I'd like to see how this kit works paired with the Navigon app....hopefully the kit GPS chip will augment the Navigon app and not just be a fancy "charger/holder"
Click to expand...

I'd imagine other apps would have to include specific support in them to take advantage of the extra hardware. It's not just plug and play.

Waiting patiently for the extended review and for it to be released in Australia!
 
What a great unboxing video - Honest and to the point saying what were were all thinking and expecting.

Great product but rip off price, I can see TomTom's angle here but I whole heartedly disagree with the pricing which is a quite frankly is a rip off.

Its a real shame as TomTom are actually pushing customers away with these kinds of tactics.
you can pick up a TomTom 1 for £60-£70 on the net why would you go near this? makes no sense?!
Sure it will sell to people who follow technology and enjoy there gadgets but even these people wont be happy buying something which should cost £30 or £60 with app - no one likes getting ripped off.

Saying that TomTom them selves could do with updating there whole system with a few new fresh ideas... the whole thing while brilliant is getting slightly stale to say the least!
 
Am i the only one not having problems with the internal gps? I use the standard google maps directions with GPS almost daily and its always spot on here in tampa. Maybe its because of were i live?
 
Live

Its now LIVE, here.

Please come back in a bit to view it - HD quality is still processing so... its a 13 minuter... might as well take it easy when u watch it.
 
Can you turn off location. Open copilot then try it out in the dock? Would that confirm 3 rd party apps using the cradle gps?

Also how far does it stick out of the windscrren?

Finally does the iPod stop playing if remove it from the cradle whilst playing tunes? (like it does if you unplug headphones?)

cheers
 
Che Castro said:
and yet we the most powerful country in the world 😉
Click to expand...

And arrogant lol. Yes I am American. 🙂

phakebrill said:
MacFly123, this is off topic slightly but surely you mean "You guys honestly can't tell the difference between ENGLISH, Irish, and Scottish accents lol?"

I'm from England, and I speak English. Since when do people say they speak British? 😱
Click to expand...

iJed said:
A Scottish accent (just like an English accent) is a British accent because Scotland is part of Britain. There is no such thing as a single British accent.
Click to expand...

Yes by "British" I was referring to English and England. I didn't want to confuse the laymens in here too much lol. In America we often refer to an English accent as a British accent.

I'm sorry for derailing to thread so much. I didn't know this was such a hot topic lol! 😛

On topic: I have been testing the new "MapQuest Navigator" GPS app and "MotionX GPS Drive" app. So far I like the MapQuest app better, and I have been wondering if it would really be able to work with this TomTom kit. It would only be worth it to me because I don't have an in car charger or anything to hook it up to my stereo yet. The TomTom kit might be a nice universal solution for that. However, even with my iPhone 3G alone and the built in GPS chip, it has been very accurate with navigation.
 
Ps how long is the USB cable?

Pps any thoughts on the adhesive disk, stickyness to dash then firmness of cradle to disk?

Ppps is the iPod sound better through the cradle to Stereo or through 3.5 mm of iPhone?

Pppps does the volume of iPhone change iPod volume when using cradle 3.5mm As does with iPhone 3.5 mm?

Cheers!
 
MacFly123 said:
In America we often refer to an English accent as a British accent.
Click to expand...
Speak for yourself.....I am in The USA and I refer to an English accent as an English accent. Maybe I hang out with an educated crowd, but I don't know anyone that calls an English accent a British accent. Then again I know the difference between Great Britain and Ireland and a Scottish accent and an English accent.

S-
 
Arcadie said:
Am i the only one not having problems with the internal gps? I use the standard google maps directions with GPS almost daily and its always spot on here in tampa. Maybe its because of were i live?
Click to expand...

x2

i have great luck with google maps also.... i've got gmaps, motionX Drive & mapquest.... and it just seems that inevitably I come back to google maps for POI in an area..... i think a lot of people look for the different views 2d/3d(i'm not a 3d view fan anyway) all the perks you can get with the other "gps" programs.....

I like the dock idea for the charging, line out, internal speaker and it would fit perfectly where i have my phone mounted... but $100bones is to much right now....
 
Thanks for posting the video. It assures me that this is really NOT the product I'd buy. I need a long arm for the windshield, because my car is a Dodge Caliber, the distance from the windshield glass and the dashboard is huge. If I'd use this, I wouldn't see any street names and ****. Besides, the price is ridiculously pathetic.
 
Can't believe how much lag the TomTom app has still got when using this mount.
TomTom categorically told me that this equipment would fix the problem.
No offence, but what a complete waste of £100
 
I've defiantly noticed an improvement. It's now as good as my old tomtom. The improvement is most noticeable when i was driving around london.

The quality of the unit is very good too. Speaker is loud and clear. My only criticism (and i may just not know how to change it) is that, i couldn't find a way to change the volume of the aux out? Does anyone else know how? It's too loud and comes out distorted from my stereo.
 
Vinny1967 said:
Can't believe how much lag the TomTom app has still got when using this mount.
TomTom categorically told me that this equipment would fix the problem.
No offence, but what a complete waste of £100
Click to expand...

x2

Thanks for the demo, but the lag on this video seems just as bad as the lag I experience without a TT car kit.

@The Samurai, is this really as good as it gets with the car kit? Can't believe the app alone was actually worse than this. Any chance you could borrow a second iPhone and do a side by side comparison?

At the moment this looks like an even bigger waste of money than I first thought.
 
In the review there's a point in time where the sync is made via bluetooth. Anyone know whether this is for the audio portion and/or GPS? Wondering if with this "free app" they will have this functionality? Basically what I am getting at is would this be able to use with an external bluetooth receiver? It seems almost as though it could be like the RoqyGPS app with the ability to enter in a pin code for the GPS receiver. Anyone catch my drift on this or have any input?
 
Forgive the duplication (posted comment on the FAQ YT vid), but what is the handsfree phone support like on the car kit.

I seem to recall TT making mention of this, but details of what it is doing are somewhat scarce.

Is it just using the built in Voice Control via Bluetooth, much like other headsets would do? This could explain the shipping delay as they needed OS 3.1 to enable the Voice Control stuff via bluetooth headsets.

Why do I ask? Well, they are introducing a ban on using phones while driving, just like the UK, and as such you're only going to be allowed to use handsfree electronic devices whilst driving, thus I've been looking at handsfree options and I'm wondering what the car kit provides.

Perhaps the TT app has some special options for hands free calling, something similar to how to the Parrot MKi9x000 range of products work.

Any chance you could give this a try if possible, or if anyone else could comment I'd appreciate it.
 
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