Turn on 920 with ignition??

[benwintroub]

Is there any way to get the 920 to turn on with my ignition in the car. I know how to get it to automatically shut off with the ignition but not turn on.

 

[KOTULCN]

Is there any way to get the 920 to turn on with my ignition in the car. I know how to get it to automatically shut off with the ignition but not turn on.

how do you get it to shut off?

 

[Boyd]

Nobody has found a way to make the unit turn on when you start your car. To make it turn off when power is lost, go to Change Preferences > Battery Saving Preferences. It's not obvious because that screen only has options for when to activate the screen saver. But just pick whichever option you want there (default is Never turn off screen) and hit the Done button. Then you will see a check box that says "Switch off when external power is lost". Touch that box and touch Done.

Kind of bad menu design from TomTom on this one. I don't see why they couldn't have put all the options on one screen.

 

[kpence73]

I just got the 920 and did have a 910 which did start when the ignition was switched on. Of course I was surprised when the 920 didn't start by itself. So read this post and then called TomTom who told me that the 910 had a bug in the firmware that started it when the ignition turned on. She said NONE of the models are supposed to have auto-start. They removed the "bug" when they updated the firmware. I told her from what I had read online, a lot of people are complaining about it not auto-starting and she said I was the first person who had called and "complained" about it. I asked why the feature was considered a bug because it is SOOO convenient for it to just start when you turn the key. She said it was never supposed to be there in the first place and it is convenient, but not it was not the intention of TomTom for the units to auto-start.

Nobody has found a way to make the unit turn on when you start your car. To make it turn off when power is lost, go to Change Preferences > Battery Saving Preferences. It's not obvious because that screen only has options for when to activate the screen saver. But just pick whichever option you want there (default is Never turn off screen) and hit the Done button. Then you will see a check box that says "Switch off when external power is lost". Touch that box and touch Done.

Kind of bad menu design from TomTom on this one. I don't see why they couldn't have put all the options on one screen.

 

[kenadams]

I have contacted tomtom and they said that this feature will not be added to the 920t because of legal issues? Someone must find a way to get this option to work, it is very annoying having to hold the button for 3 seconds to turn it on!

 

[s2ksimon]

I thought about this feature as well but I like it now, as it forces me to be mindful of it and take it with me.

 

[ANZAC_1915]

I have contacted tomtom and they said that this feature will not be added to the 920t because of legal issues? Someone must find a way to get this option to work, it is very annoying having to hold the button for 3 seconds to turn it on!

That's crazy. I just bought a 920T, being a long time 700 user (which I bought in Europe before they really launched in the US) and this is very surprising. I also thought it had an actual cradle to dock it quickly like the 700, and TomTom has really gone backwards in terms of vehicle integration.

I bought one of the aftermarket cradles from Kuda, but I still see the "Car Preferences" doesn't illuminate, I was hoping the "auto on with power" option was in there, but other threads say it is for the OE integrated units only, which one assumes power on by default with ignition.....

So far the only thing I can see that is better over the auto-switching to night colors.

I wonder if the European 920T's have the same lack of auto-power on?

I'm also ticked the RDS TMC receiver is external, I just assumed it was built in.

 

[F22]

Maybe this is remotely related to the "how to kill battery thread?"

Maybe they found that the newer models were not well-isolated and hitting them with power when the ignition was turned on caused problems? Or maybe it is a legal issue - they want the driver to be very aware that they are using this device rather than having it blend into the background by automatically starting up.

But I can see that if the TT is installed a bit removed from the driver's position, leaning over or even more exaggerated movements would be a pain to get to the device to press and hold the button down.

I still have not taken mine on a longer trip - in and out of the car a bunch of times and having to fire it back up each time.

 

[ANZAC_1915]

Maybe this is remotely related to the "how to kill battery thread?"

Maybe they found that the newer models were not well-isolated and hitting them with power when the ignition was turned on caused problems? Or maybe it is a legal issue - they want the driver to be very aware that they are using this device rather than having it blend into the background by automatically starting up.

But I can see that if the TT is installed a bit removed from the driver's position, leaning over or even more exaggerated movements would be a pain to get to the device to press and hold the button down.

I still have not taken mine on a longer trip - in and out of the car a bunch of times and having to fire it back up each time.

Well there are two issues:

1) without an active dock/port replicator, it is a pain to remove/reinstall it every night. There are aftermarket docks, so this problem is solved, although for the price of the 920, you'd expect this to be included as it was in earlier models (and a carry case)

2) without power-on with ignition, even if you are not using the nav system, you don't have the hands free phone which is even more dangerous than using a nav system. This is just a *bad* design decision on TomTom's part and I hope it is addressed in future revs.

To be honest, between these two issues, I am really regretting the purchase, and I've been a long time TomTom stalwart.

 

[infama]

I have no problems with this.

The GPS must be removed if parked in a public place as theft is just too rife!

I prefer to have to turn it on myself as I dont like auto on..nothing should be passively draining my battery!

 

[ANZAC_1915]

I have no problems with this.

The GPS must be removed if parked in a public place as theft is just too rife!

I prefer to have to turn it on myself as I dont like auto on..nothing should be passively draining my battery!

Well in the 700 et al you had a choice of this for both power on and power off. I am not asking it to turn on by default, but have a check box the same way for both on and off, giving you the option.

It isn't passively draining your battery, it would only be on when the power input is on (ie your car is running).

 

[infama]

OK

Gotcha now.

 

[IsLNdbOi]

Still nothing on this? I'm on the fence about keeping my 920 because of this. I've gotten over how bad the mounting system is compared to my Garmin Nuvi 770, but this auto power on w/ ignition is something I really want.

 

[dhn]

Still nothing on this? I'm on the fence about keeping my 920 because of this. I've gotten over how bad the mounting system is compared to my Garmin Nuvi 770, but this auto power on w/ ignition is something I really want.

TomToms used to have the ability to power on when the ignition turned on. No longer. This capability was removed via software change some versions ago.

 

[IsLNdbOi]

The TomToms are meant more for automotive use than the Garmins since the Garmins specifically have a pedestrian / walking mode. Every Garmin powers on when you turn the ignition on.

Why can't they put this feature back in? Did Garmin patent it or something?