Signal on latest generation of TomTom

[NicolasBE]

Hi,
In 2007 I bought a TomTom 710 and the only thing that bugged me was the GPS signal. (due to a windscreen with a special coating) I bought a tomtom antenna that solved the problem partially. (it is a little bit better but not much)

I'm now interested in buying a TomTom Start?. I see however that that external antenna is not available as an accessory. (there is probably also not an input for that on the device)

I contacted a salesman of an online GPS sales shop regarding this and he claims that all the major GPS fabricants were aware of this problem (signal drops with particular windscreens) and that they made major improvements on this in the latest generations of their devices;

Can anyone confirm if this is true ? That a 2010 GPS without external antenna will have better signal reception than my old 710 back from 2007 ?

Thanks,
Nicolas

 

[dhn]

The Go series (x20, x30) models of 2007-2008 came with a SIRFIII chip which was more robust at grabbing the signal. Newer models don't necessarily use that chip but reports of the anathermic windscreens are not prevelant these days.

Mind you, any model with a version '2' has reduced functionality ('EasyMenu') compared to the full menu options. But that is software, not hardware.

 

[NicolasBE]

Well ... I'm impressed. The signal with my new XL Live IQ routes is impressive ! I'm starting to wonder why I waited so long and messed so long with my 710 and it's antenna.
It's all solved now. I'm also a fan of the windscreen connection system.

The only minus I can think of is the calculation time and responseness of the device on long route calculations.