New TomTom Models - 730 and 930
TomTom has just announced new GO models available at the end of April, the 930 and the 730. The two big new features of these models are what TomTom is calling IQ Routes, which uses historical data of average driver speed on road segments to calculate estimated travel time rather than posted speed limit data as well as a lane guidance feature.
Similar to the NAVIGON Reality View, the Active Lane Guidance feature draws representations of complex intersections with lane guidance information.
The innovative IQ Routes™ technology is based on actual average speeds measured on roads, rather than posted speed limits. This means that the new TomTom GO range determines a route by considering all possible routes and then selecting the one that takes the least time based on recent historical data. In almost 50% of all journeys, this results in a faster route, and saves significant travel time, fuel, and money. This technology also takes into account all the factors that may influence the time it takes drivers to get to their destination, including traffic lights, rotaries, steep slopes and speed bumps.
In addition, the new TomTom GO series includes TomTom’s Advanced Lane Guidance feature. Advanced Lane Guidance provides users with realistic representations of complex highway junctions and lane-specific visual directions that take the stress out of navigating these otherwise difficult junctions. Static images of road signs, in the same color as the ones displayed on the road, ensure that drivers have an even more realistic view of the road ahead, and their specific route.
Again, expect to be able to get your hands on these by the end of April. The 730 will be $450. The 730T with traffic will be $500. Step up to the 930 for $500, and the 930T with traffic for $550.
Tim,
Do you know if these features will be available on the 720 and 920 models?
I don’t know for certain, but I suspect they won’t be. At least not initially. The historical speed data for example requires a special map.
Will these devices have the ability to be portable and find your way back to your car (”breadcrumbs” function) as do the new Garmins?
Ken, you can actually do that with the current TomTom models as well. When you leave go to Menu -> Add Favorite -> GPS position. Then when you want to go back you can view the marked position and your current position on the map.
Apparently they aren’t planning any speech control function improvements on these particular units? Also, is your understanding that time of day will be figured in the historical traffic data?
Correct on both accounts. I haven’t seen any indication of full menu support for voice recognition. Yes, the time of data will be figured into the historical traffic data.
I assume if time of day is included in the traffic pattern reports, that TTx20’s do have a tracklog function, date and time stamped, similar to Garmin, but just not accessible to the end-user?
It perhaps isn’t a tracklog in the sense that it records lat/long/timestamp every couple of seconds, but yes, some sort of association between the date/time and a road segment is recorded. The data is stored in:
Internal/statdata/triplog-YYY-MM-DD.dat
The file which records if you have opted in or not is in:
Internal/statdata/allowtrip.dat
Note that they have been collecting this information (from those who have opted in) for quite awhile already.
How do you think the 930 (with both US and Europe) will stand up against the Garmin 670/770 series?
Does one or the other have better mapping or anything else?
That’s a difficult question Ken when you are talking about the two top of the line devices from the two top GPS companies. For most people it will come down to a personal preference rather than any big feature or performance parity. They will each have areas of the world where the map is strong and where the map is weak.
My question is why such a small ($50) difference between the two models? Is price pressure that intense already? It’s not even close to the Holidays yet. With EPT and EU maps, it seems smarter for the overwhelming majority of buyers to just opt for the 930’s.
“They will each have areas of the world where the map is strong and where the map is weak.”
Tim, which is which? What are the anticipated map strengths of each?
It isn’t really that black and white. For example my hometown is fairly poorly mapped by TeleAtlas, and the NAVTEQ maps are better. In the town I’m in now the NAVTEQ maps have some significant errors while the TeleAtlas maps are pretty good.
I’ve been waiting for speech recognition so I don’t have to try to punch in letters and number and I need bluetooth as California is mandatory handsfree in a couple months.
I’m ready to buy two 920s if I can be certain that I can “TALK” the city, street and number into the GPS. Thanks for any advice.
Bunnie - See our TomTom 920 Review where we discuss that feature and show a video of the voice recognition function.
speech recognition is awesome….i hope its just as precise and accurate like the go 720, a gps that enjoyed very much.
looking forward to it.
I just purchased a 920T and wondering if the IQ feature is worth returning this model?
Is it true that the 530 wont have the same feature’s as the 520 has. voice recog and fm transmitter. If so will just buy 520 instead and wait for map update.
I just upgraded to a 920T, and just found out about the 930, should I return it andbuy the 930 instead? Is it that much better? and will I be able to upgrade the features on my 920?
Thanks,
The 930 hasn’t been released yet, won’t be available until the end of the month.
is it worth returning 920 and waiting for a month for the 930?
thanks
You have mentioned before on other posts that TomTom offers software upgrades on existing systems if the specs (processor, etc) allow. Do you believe such an upgrade will be available to the people who have purchased 720 & 920?
That is tough to say. It is certainly possible that the Lane Guidance features might make it in a few months down the road. However IQ Routes would require at a minimum a map update ($) since the data is built into the map. Tough to say… but I wouldn’t bank on it happening.
Hello,
I live in Portugal…
Thank you for your reply about TT 910.
Today you can visit Tom Tom`s Portual or Spain website, and see for the first time new TT series 930/730/530.Why was Portugal the first country to have these new models???
What are the map coverage, europe, on the 730. Is it only western europe as in the 720 or are there eastern maps installed too ?
It comes with US maps witch are nice “over there” but we’ll rather have eastern europe “over here”, or is that still only on the 930
I called the Tomtom Support (headquarter in New York) and they confirmed that the new features (IQ routing+Lane) won’t be on 920 for the applications and the maps are totally different.
17 april 2008 - Canada
Just to clarify my previous post: 920 won’t be able to run the newly features even with updates, in other words, 930 is and will be totally different type of 920. That’s the confirmation from the support in New York
canadamen - I don’t think support personnel would have the authority to comment on future products TomTom might offer. Their PR people won’t comment if it will or will not be made available to other devices in the future, so I don’t think a support person would be be able to comment. There is no technical reason why it could not be made available through a combination of a paid map update and a free software update, and historically TomTom has made enhancements available on older devices after a period of time. (Think Where Am I, NavCore 7, etc.)
I can verify that NavCore 8 will be installed on the TomTom X30 series. I work for TomTom Tech support, based in New York (the one that Canadamen called) and can verify that as of now, NavCore 8 will not be available to any prior units, nor are there plans to make it available to the X20 series or older units in the future.
Mark - The same thing was told to customers who asked about a NavCore 6 upgrade (which was later made available) and the NavCore 7 upgrade (which was also made available). Historically, when the new application is released everyone is told “there are currently no plans” yada, yada, yada– and then later on it becomes available. I’m not saying that you were not told what you were told, nor am I saying that it will certainly be made available to older devices, but if your marketing/PR people won’t comment if it will become available or not it seems strange that support people would have more specific information than they would (that it won’t become available).
im about to up-grade my tt700 and would like to know the difference between the 920 & the 930, what has what etc.
Liam, you can find the answers to that question in our TomTom GO 930 review.
Long time Tomtom user just got a garmin cause it was recommended. I’m not that happy with it and plan to return for Tomtom 930 BUT… I Love how bright the Garmin is compared to TOM tom. Any plans to fix this?
One more thing… I looked up several POI on both the TT 930 and Garmin 780 and the 780 almost all the POI where TT930 was selective. Is there a Free update of the POI file? Why should I stay TT930 Vs Garmin 780?
Had a chance to have a closer look at TT 730 in a shop recently. It now includes Eastern Europe maps which was missing in 720. Some nice features: no more need to go and switch maps. You do it when selecting a city. It looks that it now works with Windows Mobile enabled cell phones - for the first time I was able to get my Asus paired with TT. I do not know how, but the TT 730 was showing it was receiving 9 satellites inside a shop. Nice device!
Tim, great website by the way. I am looking at the 730T or 930T (as oon as I can find a place that sells one!). BUT, I wonder how it compares to the new Navigon 2008 series (2100max, 8110, etc). I need maps for Germany & U.S. (California - LA, San Jose, San Diego) and TMC-RDS in BOTH countires. Thanks
“I agree that this isn’t a feature that will cause a significant amount of x20 users to dump on ebay to grab the x30, but it is a good improvement in time estimates and route choices.”
Reading your site for several days now. I just dumped the Magellan 4250 (2 reasons - the logic gave me crazy routes and the fact you have to exit your route to look for a POI is annoying). Either way; looking at the 720 for $250.00 (albeit refurbished) and then with the 730 for $400.00… the IQ feature seems amazing and wondering, in your opinion, would the value be worth the $ in upgrading to 730 vs. 720?
Ray - We talked a little bit the other day about screen brightness. The Nuvi is certainly brighter, however I don’t think the TomTom has a bad screen and in some cases it is actually more readable. You can download more POIs from the TomTom HOME application, as well as various places around the net.
Bryan - I’m really not up to speed at this point on map availability or traffic availability for North American purchased NAVIGON devices to be used in Europe. You might need to ask NAVIGON about that.
Patrick - Somewhat difficult to say since I’d be judging hwo valuable $150 is to you, but for me personally I’m really happy with the improved performance of IQ Routes and would spend the extra cash for a 730 versus the 720.
Tim,
Thanks and I went out today and picked one up (730 that is). I plugged it in and it gave me the route that I would take using the back roads (moucho impressed). One thing though and it maybe that I am missing something - on the Magellan you can tap on the screen when you see a specific POI for the information - can you do that on the this device? Right now it only goes back to the main screen.
POI icons are only “clickable” from the ‘Browse Map’ mode.
Thanks Tim -
Another kudo for the mapping with IQ enabled for the 730 - the wife took it to find a friend on another side of town with lots of ways. The route chosen by the unit is the exact one her friend suggested using local knowledge.
So far the unit has responded splendidly. I am going to Boston and Portland in the next two weeks so I can give you a better update later. I will say purchase a better mount - the one that comes with it is tooooooo short.
Hi folks,
Are there specific releases of the 930. i.e. for the UK, for Europe? Somebody on eBay sells 930 claiming that he’s got UK specification and that specifications intended for the rest of Europe are not working 100% correct in the UK.
the go930 are for sale in the nordics now and have been for almost 14 days
What is the BIG difference between the TOM TOM 730 and the 920 or 920T. One vendor wanted to sell me a high speed card to go in a 920. He said i would lose all info if I did not have this card. Said it was not just a SD card. What was he trying to sell me?
Thanking you guys in advance
Irvin - You can read our TomTom GO 930 review which will highlight the major features that are also found on the 730 that are not on the 920. We also have an article: Do I Need an SD Card for my GPS?
Get IQ Routes on TomTom 720 920
If I purchase a Tom Tom 930 in the US, can I hook it up to a UK Traffic Unit? I’m interested in the 930 as I’ll be in the US later this year, but after that will be mainly using the device in the UK.
Yes, if you purchase the compatible UK traffic receiver.
Thanks Tim - so a US Traffic Receiver just won’t pick up any UK Travel at all - it’s a different system?
Correct.
Got my 930 last week. Nice device, but MapShare is dissapointing. The problem is that you can not make online changes even to your own maps. If you drive a new street which is not on the map, what you can only do is to report the missing street. Then one has to wait for God knows how long until Tomtom verifies the change and includes it in the new map release. You can only make online corrections to unblock a street, reverse traffic direction, edit street name, change turn restrictions, change road speed and add Poi.
I suspect you cannot add roads through MapShare because the GPS just isn’t accurate enough to provide consistent coordinates for each point unless you drove the road repeatedly with some sort of tracklog recorder and then averaged the points.
i’ve got the 730 and it’s awssome! i’ve had it for about a month and it’s lovely. The traffic is interesting (if perhaps a little sparse) and the maps could be a bit more accurate, but the depth and bredth of features is amazing!
I also bought the fabulous mobilnova Media Center (www.mobilnova.com) to play videos on the 730 and am very impressed - it’s slick, fast and just works. For the money, i’m really happy. Definitely worth the investment as TomTom don’t provide a media player out of the box (no idea why not!).
please ignore my above comment about MobilNova - it’s not quite as great as i first thought! more details to follow.
hi, just purchased a 930t and i cant get the full postcode, am i doing something wrong?