Review TomTom’s entry level Start satnavs have long been the default choice for anyone wanting a reliable but basic PND. Now the range has been given a wash and brush up with the release of some new 4.3in screen devices with prices starting at £130.
Baby driver: TomTom’s Start 20
The design of the Start 20 addresses a couple of long-standing bug bears with many PND users, namely windscreen clutter and suction ring marks. The new integrated ball-and-socket mounting will let you stick the device either the usual way up or upside down, with the screen flipping through 180 degrees depending on orientation.
The advantage of this is that you can mount the unit on your dashboard as well as your windscreen. Ideally, to use it on the dash you need to cough up £5 for a pack of two self-adhesive mounting rings but as long as there is a convenient flat surface, you don’t actually need them. Read the rest of this entry »
By Rik Myslewski in San Francisco (via reghardware.co.uk)
Review Yes, the iPhone incarnation of TomTom’s GPS navigation system is a bit on the pricey side. But if you’re a fan, you’re used to paying a pretty penny for flashy tech. And this TomTom actually gets the job done.
The TomTom car kit for iPhone mounts firmly and easily to your car’s windshield – or windscreen
TomTom released a major upgrade to its iPhone app last week, so we installed all 1.3GB of it onto our iPhone 3GS, hooked it up to the market-leading GPS maker’s brand new iPhone car kit, and took it for test drive around San Francisco.
We were impressed. The car kit for iPhone provides what the company refers to as “enhanced GPS performance”. It’s based on a SiRF Star III GPS chip – the de facto standard for standalone satnav gadgets – which helped the iPhone flawlessly find its way around downtown San Francisco, dense with signal-limiting high-rise buildings. Read the rest of this entry »
Review TomTom’s Start is essentially the satnav specialist’s new low-end model. Rather than say so, though, it’s not pitching the product on price but for its simplicity. It’s a device designed to get you from A to B and nothing more.
TomTom’s Start: cuts to the chase with a simple, straightforward UI
But it’s also being described by the company as “the satnav designed for people who still think they prefer reading maps”, implying this is the gadget that will finally get the doubters to leave their Readers’ Digest Book of the Road at home.
The Start certainly lacks a lot of the clever stuff electronics can do that paper can’t. There are no traffic updates, fuel price and local services searching here because it doesn’t support TomTom’s Live offering. Likewise, there’s no lane guidance beyond broad ‘keep to the left’ instructions. It does incorporate TomTom’s iQ Routes system, which is designed to apply to route planning an understanding of what roads get busy and when they do so, the better to steer you onto quieter, faster roads.
The Start is really about route planning pure and simple, which is why it presents you with just two, large icons: “Plan Route” and “Browse Map”. Read the rest of this entry »
