TomTom iPhone car kit

By   |   November 20, 2009   |   6

Featuring a built-in GPS receiver, microphone, speaker and charger, TomTom's iPhone car kit has certainly been a long time coming, but it's finally here.


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  • AU$159.00

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About The Author

CNET Editor

Derek loves nothing more than punching a remote location into a GPS, queuing up some music and heading out on a long drive, so it's a good thing he's in charge of CNET Australia's Car Tech channel.


What is it?

TomTom's iPhone cradle is unique amongst its kind (for the moment) in that it features a built-in GPS receiver — this will hopefully nix the awful GPS positioning that's been a trait of all iPhone nav apps thus far. The cradle also includes a built-in speaker and microphone, as well as an in-car charging cable.

How much is it?

In Australia it will retail for AU$160, but this doesn't include TomTom's iPhone nav app, which is currently going for AU$100 on the App Store.

Is it worth it?

We can't say yet — we're still waiting for our review unit to arrive. When it does, we'll let you know.

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robert (revisiting)
9
Rating
 

robert (revisiting) posted a review   

The Good:Version 1.6 on iOS4.2.1 performance...

The Bad:iPhone 3GS still gets warm (hot), but no shut down, yet...

Refer 16 January 2010, above, iPhone 3GS still get warm, but since upgrading to Version 1.6 and iOS 4.2, I have not experienced any over temperature shut down...
Excellent facility to feedback corrections...
Would be good if one could...
a) move one or both ends of the road section highlighted to extend or shrink the selection to mark exact location of the speed limit signs...
b) add more than one section of a road to the selection.

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Fefalas
 

Fefalas posted a comment   

The Good:None

The Bad:Terribad! expensive!

Tom Tom on Iphone doesn't work for **** Can't pick up a GPS Signal what so ever- what a load of crap.. wasted 89 bucks on a dodgey application and then what money to enchance the GPS signal?? It's redicolous.. waste of time and money

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josh
 

josh posted a comment   

The Good:hell yeah its good!

The Bad:no audio jack on my car stereo, so using fm transmitter! arrgh!

LOVE the fact that i can now do everything in one unit.
make & answer calls, gps navigation, listen to itunes through my car speakers, charge iphone etc etc.

For all you cheap-a$$es out there like me, if you think its all too expensive, just remember:

1 x iphone tomtom carkit - $130
1 x jailbroken iphone - FREE
1 x cracked tomtom gps application downloaded from a 3rd party! - FREE

$99 discount on the TomTom App? Priceless!!!!

there's some things that money can buy. but why would you pay for it when you can get it for free! For everything else, there's Mastercard :P

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techgermz
 

techgermz posted a comment   

With a cost of $159+$100=$259 for the whole kit, wouldn't it be much cheaper to get an entry level tomtom one or start?

The only (so called) advantages of this over getting a seperate device would be:
- Bluetooth Handsfree
- iPhone Address-book integration (does the software offer this?)

Is it really worth the cost then? Am I missing something?

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robert
8
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robert posted a review   

The Good:By far the best car mount for iPhone

The Bad:Running Australia Maps, iPhone runs hot...

On the bright side...
By far the best car mount for iPhone.
The inbuilt GPS provides excellent position tracking, and the CarKit application provides great insight into the status of GPS Satellites.
The BlueTooth HandsFree are a bonus.
Spoken instruction, and handsfree audio are clear and loud enough, even in noisy situations.

Well done.

On the down side...
iPhone does warm up, when running the TomTom application. If it is a hot day, and the CarKit is windscreen mounted, iPhone may get warm enough to auto shutdown.

I ran some test, and measured the following effects, allowing 15 to 20 mins for each test to reach a stable temperature...
Conditions: Car parked in the shade and CarKit mounted in middle of windscreen

a) CarKit powered, no iPhone, +2C
b) iPhone installed, battery 60%, BlueTooth HandsFree running, +4C.
c) TomTomApplication running, with active route, but car stationary, +6C

At the end of the test, battery 75% and charging.

Overall, a temperature rise of 12C above ambient.

Direct sunlight and radiant heating from windscreen and dashboard will exacerbate the ambient. I do not know what the iPhone shutdown temperature limit is, but have experienced several shutdowns during hot weather (aircon running, car ambient about 24C, outside temperature 35C, full sunshine).

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iphone
 

iphone posted a comment   

The Good:overall a good unit

The Bad:when using tomtom it takes forever to charge the iphone.

can't charge the iphone effectively whilst using the tomtom app due to the amount of heat the tomtom app causes to the iphone which in turn triggers the unit not to charge. Even when unit is not hot it takes a very long time to charge the iphone whilst using the tomtom app due to the power it requires.

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User Reviews / Comments  TomTom iPhone car kit

  • robert (revisiting)

    robert (revisiting)

    Rating9

    "Refer 16 January 2010, above, iPhone 3GS still get warm, but since upgrading to Version 1.6 and iOS 4.2, I have not experienced any over temperature shut down...
    Excellent facility to feedb..."

  • Fefalas

    Fefalas

    "Tom Tom on Iphone doesn't work for **** Can't pick up a GPS Signal what so ever- what a load of crap.. wasted 89 bucks on a dodgey application and then what money to enchance the GPS signal?? It's ..."

  • josh

    josh

    "LOVE the fact that i can now do everything in one unit.
    make & answer calls, gps navigation, listen to itunes through my car speakers, charge iphone etc etc.

    For all you che..."

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