GO 2535 TM WTE - Lifetime includes?

[snow_loon]

This is my first post. I am contemplating purchasing a GO 2535 TM WTE (1CT5.019.05 - included id as even the retailers seem confused over TT naming/versioning). My question regards what traffic/live services are provided for a lifetime (or at least until AT&T pulls the plug). Or restated, will there be annual fees for HD traffic or other live services? I am very confused over exactly what is included with the lifetime units; this may be caused by the previously mentioned naming/versioning issues with the 2535...

Any other comments on the 2535TM WTE are welcome, but traffic alerts are my major concern.

I currently own a Garmin 1490T, but the traffic does not work most of the time. I'm on my 2nd cable and the cable/receiver seem very fragile.

 

[dhn]

This one?
http://www.tomtom.com/en_us/products/car-navigation/go-live-series/go-2535-tm-wte/index.jsp

Not really a LIVE unit but, rather, you get lifetime traffic with the use of an included rds-tmc antenna/car charger (works around the world, by the way). The maps are lifetime as well but you must remember to register the activation if you buy the device.

 

[- et -]

This one?
http://www.tomtom.com/en_us/products/car-navigation/go-live-series/go-2535-tm-wte/index.jsp

Not really a LIVE unit but, rather, you get lifetime traffic with the use of an included rds-tmc antenna/car charger (works around the world, by the way). The maps are lifetime as well but you must remember to register the activation if you buy the device.

I may be in error, but I believe that the lifetime maps are provided only for North America. It does come with a map of Europe in addition to the NA map, but free updates are not provided for Europe in addition to NA. (Caveat: I am basing this upon earlier model, the XXL540TM WTE, and assuming that the 2535TN WTE is similar.)
-Tom -

 

[canderson]

@-et-
You're correct. It's been that way since the old GO9XX series. If bought in North America, the free updates are only for the NAM map. If bought in Europe, the free updates are only for the European map. It's been a sore point for a lot of users who were caught unawares by this little caveat. I'm still not sure why TomTom can't bring itself to support both for people that pay the extra for the (now) WTE units.

 

[snow_loon]

Thanks, I thought it had HD maps.
A consumer magazine rated the GO 2535 M Live as "Best for Commuters" pointing to the HD traffic (September 2013). Does the 2535 model still offer HD traffic?
On the United States web pages it shows that most GO series are LIVE. I assumed the more expensive of the two listed units would have it. Bad assumption!
Is the GO Live 1535 M the only model currently offering HD traffic?
Other manufactures currently offer lifetime HD traffic with purchase of a unit. Has TomTom ever done so?
With the impending loss of AT&T bandwidth in 2017, is this a good time to wait for a new innovative solution to traffic alerts from TomTom? Assuming traffic alerts are the primary reason for purchase of the new replacement GPS.

 

[canderson]

No such thing as "HD maps".
HD Traffic is a service whereby the device uses an internal cellular device to contact TomTom's server for detailed and up-to-the-moment traffic data that better than the regular RDS traffic.
At the moment, yes, the GO Live 1535M is the only U.S. device offering HD traffic. That device will continue to operate properly until AT&T has completely shut its 2G service down in January 2017. Between now and then, they will be pulling the plug on selective cities bits at a time.
The newest series (yet to be made available in North America) will use the owner's cell phone data plan to obtain this same information. So for example, the new GO500 (5") and GO600 (6") units will perform in that fashion. However, it is the opinion of some that the user interface and feature set on these new "Nav4" units has a ways to go before they will be accepted in the NAM market. For example, although released last year in Europe, there is still no provision for custom POI.

 

[snow_loon]

My bad. I meant HD Traffic, not HD maps. Although the maps are so detailed, they might be considered High Def.

Thanks for the detailed response, Canderson. Very interesting.

Does custom POI include what has been called favorites? If I can maintain 100 or so favorites, that's good. I can do very well with out saving routes. I use multiple waypoints regularly and of course, recent finds.

Will/has TomTom offered a lifetime HD traffic GPS? Or will it amount to buying the GPS and an App(s)? My wife has an iPhone, mine is Samsung Galaxy. Do the European new units allow coupling to IOS or Android with the same GPS, or is my wife going to be highly disappointed ?

 

[canderson]

No, favorites are already 'included' in the Nav4 feature set. Up to 96 of them, or so we hear. Custom POI are your own categories of POI, added alongside the factory provided set.

It appears that these new Nav4 units will include free HD traffic for the units where you 'bring your own connection'. There are two European models that work like the 1535 with their own internal cell modem, but we haven't heard any word that those will appear here. There are other European models that work with the 'bring your own connection'. If you have one of those models, and European maps for it, you would need a cell phone that works on the GSM system in Europe to finish off the package.

In any case, the 'bring your own connection' ones being sold in Europe work with both iOS and Android phones there, just as the pre-announced ones will evidently do here.

 

[Andy_P]

No, favorites are already 'included' in the Nav4 feature set. Up to 96 of them, or so we hear. Custom POI are your own categories of POI, added alongside the factory provided set.

Annoyingly not called "Favourites" (or "Favorites"!) any more...
Everything gets bundled into one place called "My Places" which includes recent destinations as well as Favourites.

There is no support for our own POI sets at all currently,

Even more importantly, there is no support even for built-in POIs in the way we have been used to (i.e. you cannot go to "railway Stations" and look at the list of ones nearest you).

TT will say that the new "Search" feature is so good you don't need to do it the old way, but I'm finding the results VERY variable, ranging from amazingly good (it found my friend's small car repair firm by name) to appalling (it could not find my local underground/metro stations).[/quote]