- Thread starter doubleboost
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Gritineye
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Lane assist is finally good for something.
Ross365
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Does anyone else remember the very first TomTom sat nav, often referred to now as the Classic? I bought one in ~2004, when I'd just re-located to Derby; it was £400.
It was a perfect product! I think it did everything you could want it to and was so very easy to use. I absolutely loved it. After a time however, TomTom stopped updating it and so I had to go buy a new TomTom. The latter was 'carp'. They had removed numerous features, saying that a simpler version was what most people wanted. Although "de-featured" it didn't seem as as to use as the Classic. Later on I tried Garmin, but after the Classic, everything was second-rate.
I still have the Classic; I think that for a time, there was a dedicated group of Hackers who found ways of keeping them going
It was a perfect product! I think it did everything you could want it to and was so very easy to use. I absolutely loved it. After a time however, TomTom stopped updating it and so I had to go buy a new TomTom. The latter was 'carp'. They had removed numerous features, saying that a simpler version was what most people wanted. Although "de-featured" it didn't seem as as to use as the Classic. Later on I tried Garmin, but after the Classic, everything was second-rate.
I still have the Classic; I think that for a time, there was a dedicated group of Hackers who found ways of keeping them going
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Still got this PDA with built in GPS, the antenna is the bit on top and folds back against the case when not in use, I think it's about 25 years old now, I'll have a look for the power lead to see if it still works.
Just out of interest I googled it, looks like I need to get it on Ebay!
Just out of interest I googled it, looks like I need to get it on Ebay!
I have some old tomtom stand alone gps that use maps on a sd card that have a mount you fit in the car somewhere, and a button you press on the base to release the unit itself to take in the house with you for anti theft because they used to be a much stolen item, but when you dig them out now and update the maps you have to use a larger sd card because the maps have grown in size and they are so slow to respond and update menus its painful to use them. I dont know what version they are, but they looked like a old minature tv in terms of appearance. Edit just looked at images and think theyre all TomTom Go 300.
I was going to experiment with the opentom mini linux distro on them which was still alive as of 2021, but at the end of the day, the hardware itself is too slow and underpowered so it's just going to be a exercise in futility.
https://github.com/micahlt/OpenTom if anyones feeling adventurous.
Clio iv came with a integrated factory gps system (media nav), and maps for 150e/year for updates. Being tightfisted, I hacked it and reflashed it with alternative firmware, it was a embedded arm cpu, and also enabled the optional review camera in the firmware and installed some other stuff on it too so you could just get map updates on a sd card and use a file explorer installed on it to drop them onto the folder of the unit itself. Was exciting sat with a laptop hacking the infotainment system on your wife's 2 yo car, while shes screaming at you not to break it, but youve got to try right...
We took it in for service & mot, and the Renault dealership reflashed it back to renault firmware and disabled all the features without asking, and when we asked why, they said there was a mandatory media update so they'd applied it. I redid it, but later I put the carplay head unit in it instead as the original oem unit was really underpowered. The next revision after this, Renault went full on big brother and put the Rlink system into it which phones home with a cellular modem hardwired in, which is another reason not to buy a more modern Renault.
There is a lot of love here for Google maps, I dislike their navigation facility. I know most of the roads in my region well enough not to need navigation but I keep an old TomTom 720 running while driving because it has radio traffic data that works reliably on the big roads. If I use Google maps on my phone or car computer it disagrees with the TomTom, moreover it will "decide" another route is 10 minutes faster (even when I know that is not true) and try to redirect me when I am 200 metres from a crossroads. As far as I see the route is the route, a countryside journey with zero traffic data should not give cause to alter a route mid journey on roads that have existed for hundreds of years.
The only time my old TomTom decides to offer a new route is when the traffic data advises of a delay, that would happen only on major routes that have data available.
I put my phone in airplane mode to see if that nonsense stopped but even though I have an up to date offline map of the west and south of France it spits its dummy out and says no data. If this bad behaviour manifested itself in the outskirts of busy cities that are rich in traffic information I could understand it but not between one horse villages in the middle of nowhere. For anyone doubting the validity of my frustration try parsing a search on Google, I am not alone.
The only time my old TomTom decides to offer a new route is when the traffic data advises of a delay, that would happen only on major routes that have data available.
I put my phone in airplane mode to see if that nonsense stopped but even though I have an up to date offline map of the west and south of France it spits its dummy out and says no data. If this bad behaviour manifested itself in the outskirts of busy cities that are rich in traffic information I could understand it but not between one horse villages in the middle of nowhere. For anyone doubting the validity of my frustration try parsing a search on Google, I am not alone.
daleyd
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I had one of those for my first sat nav!! Took an age to find satellites and the screen mount had a habit of falling off every now and then - a “proper “ sat nav was a godsend after that!!
brightspark
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just retired my tomtom go 300 satnav a few years back .had it 20 years and it just jacked in 
got another one now and does the job
got another one now and does the jobMyTomtom 500 was great- easy to use- not too bad to update once you used the right app- but it started hanging- just stopped- at critical parts of a journey- so it became a guessing game on which motorway junction to take in parts of the country I was unfamiliar with- so Google maps on the phone since then.
Not perfect- with the same issues as above (strange re routes etc) but overall seems ok for free.
Not perfect- with the same issues as above (strange re routes etc) but overall seems ok for free.
Pete.
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I use this too. It's run on Android Auto and fully integrated into the vehicle. The navigation directions cause the radio to go quiet when she's talking and I even run it on my regular route because it reports mobile speed cameras and lane closures etc. best of all you don't need to touch it or even look at it. Just press a button on the indicator stalk and tell it what to do.
brightspark
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mine allways sent me left at roundabout at peterlee industrial estate instead of right to the housing estate then corected its self once i turned right the only other place was going to durham and down a bridleway with a deep stream at bottom
just ignored it passing the road end and it corrected its self
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I dug the ACER out today, put power to it and it worked!, also found out it's a 2004 model so only 20 years old. The battery won't take a charge and it's not replaceable
Also try zeo route planner.
droopsnoot
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I'm frequently surprised as people drive past me with phones stuck right in the centre of the screen, and they're very often in "day mode" colours after dark, too. Must play havoc with night vision.
