New toy: TomTom Go 930 Traffic
by Volker Weber
I am pretty familiar with TomTom PNAs. And I have settled for the simple TomTom ONE as my device of choice. It does everything I need. And I am still looking forward to try this top of the line device. Besides all the bells and whistles like car kit for your mobile, music player, picture and document viewer — stuff that I never use — it comes with a few navigation features that no other TomTom provides:
- IQ Routes know how long it actually takes to drive the route segments at the time you want to drive them. Rush hour traffic has different rules than middle of the night or Sundays.
- Advanced lane guidance tells you which lane to take at complicated intersections. First saw that feature on Navigon.
- Enhanced Positioning Technology provides dead reckoning as you go through tunnels.
- And finally: Canada and USA are preloaded alongside European maps.
On a related note, TomTom HD Traffic has been postponed for Germany. Should not be ready before 4Q2008.
Comments
bummer, got the 920 for 3 months now, it won't let me upgrade to the new map system unless I pay the price of a dinner.
...will end up in traffic jams again.
at least I've bought a european product. phew.
TomTom always uses its old style view in the pictures - that's the first time a see a modern view. Do they have this only for the lane guidance or why do they always present their horrible old view.
Martin, what do you mean with horrible old view? The 3D navigation map display? I always found this very clear and fast to reckognize. And that's what counts for a directions display.
I'm not sure I'd like to have the above view for all the time. Looks like too much details (read: the trees) are distracting from the important message. This could make sense in urban areas though, if the buildings are correctly rendered.
Michael, I don't understand why TomTom is not releasing the new software for the 920/720 series. Upgrades from x20 to x30 should be all but non-existent. And it would make their customers happy. Apart from the color the devices seem to be unchanged, but I don't really know what's inside.
Updates may be available in the future though. TomTom has also updated older ONEs to the latest software.
Martin, I have to agree with Oliver. I find the TomTom user interface very functional with the exception of highway intersections where you have to look for your track very carefully. Here is where the lane guidance makes the most sense.
However, this is not the end of it. All PNA vendors are working on augmented reality.
Looks interesting. Please keep us updated how/if the lane feature works, and whether TMC is usable (does it have TMC Pro?)
I've had lane guidance in my Lexus for some time now, it's very helpful...particularly when you're driving on the wrong side of the road in Europe :)
I think I told you last time, that your PNA has a pretty expensive car attached.
I bought the TomTom 930T last week. It works fine. I love it. I have tested it in Europe and in two weeks I will use it in the US. I had a Magelan Roadmate before and this tool was really not good. Sometimes the Maggelan didn´t found a signal, so I had to drive blind in France, UK, Italy ... very bad :-(
