TomTom TMC-RDS-any good?

[gingernut]

After I sent me'old sat nav back to e-buyer, they've replaced it with a TomTom "One" (version3).

Apparenly you can get an aeriel that sticks in the side that'll get you to work quicker.

Does it work? Is it worth spending the £30 on ebay?

Would I be better just listening to the [TP] button on the radio?

[Don Coyote]

Tried the RDS on a few devices and I would say that its reception is erratic at best and definitely not worth the money. That said you may have better reception in your area.

Not sure if your device supports it but a better option is TOMTOM Traffic which downloads the information through your phone and updates the device by bluetooth.

[gingernut]

thanks for that:)

[spannersatcx]

With the latest version software v8, it seems to work pretty well, at least it has for me. Got the aeriel from Currys for £29.99, don't know if it's still available at that price though.

[Temet_Nosce]

I use it on a Tomtom 720 and it is very good. It downloads traffic information within a few seconds.

My only problem is the traffic display is VERY small.

Cheers!

[Background Noise]

You can't use GPRS/phone traffic with the TTV3 as it does not have bluetooth. Be wary though, if you have a TTV3, as when you connect to the PC and TT Home, it will offer you the option to pay for TT Traffic - a service which is not available for your device. I queried TT about and they say that everyone gets offered it irrespective of whether your device supports it which seems a bit sneaky. Similarly, the recent upgrade to the main program gives a couple of new buttons which are useless as they are for functions not supported. I have reverted to the previous version of the software. Overall, TT is a good product with good nav (mostly) but unfortunately poor customer care in my experience.

[Capot]

FWIW, I got a TomTom 720 Traffic last December

The RDS isn't worth the extra; the signal is intermittent, although usually OK on major axes and in cities, but the information received isn't worth having. It's rarely up-to-date or complete.

Moreover the software's calculation of times if there is an obstruction on route is bizarre! EG: I left London for Leeds one evening. Tom Tom says 2 road works on route, journey time 9 hours! Go through the first road works with about 10 minute delay, remaining time changes to 6 hours; go through the second lot almost without slowing down about 50 miles from Leeds and the remaining time goes from 5 hours to 45 minutes. And there were several hold-ups not showing on the Tom Tom, some long-term. The trip actually took about 20 minutes longer than usual.

So I don't use the RDS traffic info any more. Radio 2 is better.Otherwise the unit is excellent, although prone to crashing and needing a reload of the software.