go 920T and hd live service

[specie8472]

I am looking for solid information regards this model. Is HD live supported on the 920.

It seems the principle idea is excellent,,, but what is the system like in practise. So will it work on the 920T & if so what is it like.

Some reports in the usa seem to suggest the mobile cells are throttling the data flow when they are busy which may well be at a needy time for traffic information. I am UK located.

All responses appreciated.

John

 

[dhn]

It will not support LIVE services as there is no imbedded sim card.

There used to be a Plus Service whereby the cell phone was tethered to the unit via bluetooth and the traffic info got transferred to the unit that way.

That Plus Service is no longer offered in North America and I think it is not offered in the UK either.

 

[Andy_P]

I recently suggested in another forum reply that the old PLUS service was no longer available in the UK and I was told it *is* still around.
This page on the TT website seems to say it is too...
http://uk.support.tomtom.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/9603/kw/PLUS/related/1


However it would still not give you HD Traffic - that's only available on the LIVE Service.
Instead, it would give you the same level of Traffic info as the RDS-TMC system that your TomTom could also use (with an add-on receiver)

 

[specie8472]

Thank you for the replies.
Ok on the sat navs with built in sim cards.
Ok on the tethering to a smart phone.

I cant make anything out of the other mails links,, nothing conclusive there it seemed, I cant see why technically live services would not be available,, as there is a blue tooth connection for data purposes it can collect live data as a sat nav with sim would.
However as you have said, it may have been facilitated but that facility was stopped,,, Hmmm! if so,,, that seems like unfair interference if it was stopped,, as a chap could have bought that model for that reason and then the facility was stopped, if so it would seem actionable.
Use of tethering may be very inconvenient as a every day runner, but thats beside the point.
Thanks for the answers I am now wiser,
Thank you,
John

 

[specie8472]

I discovered when I logged on that if you go to tomtom services, you cannot buy live for for the 920T. It states it is unavailable for this device, so that answers that.

 

[Andy_P]

You need to be careful with the terms you use...

"LIVE" doesn't just mean "live, over the air, up to date", it's the specific TomTom name for a specific set of services. They are ONLY available using the built-in SIM card on some models.

"HD Traffic" is one PART of that LIVE service.

"PLUS" is the name for the old data services which used a phone connected by Bluetooth for the data transfer. TomTom Traffic is part of that service.

Then there is the RDS-TMC Traffic service, which uses an add-on receiver.

RDS-TMC is definitely available for your Go 920 and the "T" means the aerial should have been bundled with it.

We still haven't determined for sure whether the old "PLUS" service is still available.Can anyone advise?

 

[specie8472]

Hi Andy,


I don’t know what HD means for tomtom so much in-house speak these days.
Yes my 920T can connect using blue tooth, thank you for the enlightenment, all appreciated.
No plus services (PER SE) are offered for my 920 when I log in which must be the in house speak answer,, but they do offer tomtom traffic which they say is the most up to date,, if that’s so it must be HD by another name. done by blue tooth Andy as plus,, so it may be the usual confusion marketing, money making machines.
Gota fly,
will check my answer later.
John

 

[dhn]

HD stands for High Definition and refers to LIVE traffic. It is the most current and accurate of the various traffic choices. Next -- if still available -- would be the Plus traffic method. That's the one where traffic info gets to the unit from the cell phone which is tethered via Blue tooth. Finally, the lowest level of traffic info is via the combo rds-tmc traffic antenna/car charger. Its info comes via the fm signal on the radio and covers highways and some main streets only.

 

[Andy_P]

But to add to the confusion, I haven't seen TomTom use the "PLUS" word in any recent marketing blurb.

So if you see the words "TomTom Traffic" (without the "HD") then that will be referring to either the cellphone/bluetooth service or the hardware-based RDS-TMC aerial service.
It definitely won;t be referring to the HD LIVE service (maybe! :lol

 

[specie8472]

Interesting stuff.

If the live or any other name service is latest as they say,, up to date,, traffic info doesnt sort of matter what you call it,, as long as you can see it easily is the main point,,, so if tomtom advertise traffic info as the latest hot off the press etc,, then they cant offer a later more uo to date service by another name or it would negate the first one and make it a lie,,, as I see it!

Yes it is via cell phone blue tooth from the tomtom so it seems the word plus "May" have vanished from the sales pitch. The HD may just be for higher res tomtom's which is jolly for them ho ho,,, but sort of by the way as we are simply trying to impart traffic info.

I enclose an image of a screen dump of what is offered for the 920.

My comments are unresearched and simply reflect what it appears to me in simple english from what I have read.

 

[Andy_P]

If the live or any other name service is latest as they say,, up to date,, traffic info doesnt sort of matter what you call it,, as long as you can see it easily is the main point,,, so if tomtom advertise traffic info as the latest hot off the press etc,, then they cant offer a later more uo to date service by another name or it would negate the first one and make it a lie,,, as I see it!

No!
It's that assumption which is where you are going wrong, and that's what's confusing you.

HD Traffic and TomTom Traffic ARE two totally different services. They use different methods of collecting the traffic info and they cover different road types and areas.

Both of them use third-party data suppliers, but only HD Traffic uses "probe data" from Vodaphone phone signals to gauge traffic movements. that makes a big difference to the results.

Both cover major roads, but HD Traffic also covers smaller roads.

Both systems cover different radius from your current location (I forget what Traffic's range is, but HD Traffic's radius can be dynamically altered to keep the data costs to TomTom within their contract limits at busy times)

HD Traffic will GENERALLY provide a more comprehensive service and alert you to more delays, but it currently covers a slightly smaller radius - TomTom say this is not a problem because most delays over 100 miles away will have changed by the time you get there - arguments still rage over the validity of that statement.


-----------

At least we now know (from your screenshot) that the old "Plus" Traffic system is still available.

 

[specie8472]

Thanks Andy for the comments.
In the screen dump you see the words "tomtom traffic gives the most up to date traffic information. Now they cant say that unless it does.

OK,,, so you plan your route in car one with this system .. and it does not give you say traffic information for part of the route .. but lets say live hd (system 2 ) does in another car.

Now if a part of that route has no traffic information when it is available,, on the live hd system .. then the first statement does not stand,, it is untrue.

Its not an argument to say that the first system does not collect that data,,, for example if 90% of the journey was not covered by system one, or 99.999% was not covered by system one then they could say in defence we don’t have that data for system one,,, which would be a ridiculous state of affairs,, but then they do,, and to say they have no information for 99.999% of the journey or 1% (whatever) of the journey is not an answer to the claim that its the most up to date traffic information when it would not be so if it did not cover the same or more than any other, supplier,,, or of any other company.

At best,,, very very best,,,, !it would seem to me” if correct,, to be commercial deceit if it were not the same or better given there own words see screen dump. I must assume it is the same Andy, unless you are 100% sure its not.

The only difference I still see is one is delivered in HD for a higher res tomtom,,, I am really keen to read your next comment as I am sure that you are far more versed in these systems than I am, frankly I know really nothing, I am gathering as I go on,,, only to be corrected, but the above is my appreciation of it thus far.

It’s good this digging down.

John

 

[canderson]

The resolution of the device screen has nothing to do with the "HD" in "HD Traffic", believe me. As for "Now they cant say that unless it does", I'm afraid that information may be quite old, and while we try to poke our friends at TT about outdated info on their web page, it doesn't always register on their end.

There IS, again, a distinct difference between the two 'levels' of traffic that is provided by TomTom. One (the non-HD RDS version) is a standard commercial product available to anyone with an FM receiver and a license to use an RDS decoder on the resulting data. TT's "HD" system produces more detailed data and updates more frequently. Part of this is a function of the difference in bandwidth between the RDS system (really sllloooowwww) and the 2G GPRS cellular data system.

TT calls it "high definition", or "HD" because it does produce additional data vs. the original system. More roads are covered in greater detail.

The old "Plus" system is an in-between sort of system and was something I used 'back in the day' (no longer supported here). It does tether to a cell phone using the DUN Bluetooth profile (what was/is called 'tethering', but not the new WiFi method), something that not all phones or carriers continue to support these days. Before you even try it, you'll want to find out whether your phone supports that Bluetooth profile and whether your carrier permits it.

 

[canderson]

To further clarify a point:

The only difference I still see is one is delivered in HD for a higher res tomtom

Hardly. My old low res 4.3" GO740 Live gets HD traffic.

 

[- et -]

TT calls it "high definition", or "HD" because it does produce additional data vs. the original system. More roads are covered in greater detail.

By chance, I just read a comment from a Garmin owner on a Point Of Interest (POI) forum that mentioned that Garmin calls their equivalent function "HD Radio". It sounds like marketingspeak is very similar in the US and the Netherlands.

With best wishes,
- Tom -

 

[canderson]

I was under the impression that Garmin had abandoned their equivalent to "Live" services on all new models some time ago, and that they were back in strictly RDS mode now with whatever the RDS services were supplying in that regard.

 

[- et -]

I was under the impression that Garmin had abandoned their equivalent to "Live" services on all new models some time ago, and that they were back in strictly RDS mode now with whatever the RDS services were supplying in that regard.

That might be.

I do not have a Garmin, and have not really looked at what they offer for a long time, so I am not familiar with the details of their devices. I saw that comment by a Garmin owner on a POI forum, and was amused by the similarity of their marketing buzz words to those of TomTom, so I repeated it without confirming that it was accurate.

With best wishes,
- Tom -