TomTom Eclipse AVN2210p
I recently wrote an article called Death of the PND where I stated most of the things I don’t like about portable navigation devices. The suction cup mount is ugly, cords hang everywhere, and the devices don’t interact with your car in a “smart way”. In dash-systems also have less than desirable features– many don’t offer 3D views, upgrades are difficult and costly, and you can’t take the device to another vehicle. Luckily there are products on the market now which are designed to address most of those issues, and recently I’ve spent some time with one of them, the TomTom Eclipse AVN2210p. The TomTom Eclipse is basically an in-dash stereo, CD, and navigation system which replaces your current double DIN stereo. However the really unique part is that you can quickly snap out the GPS device and turn it in to a slim and portable navigation device for another vehicle. I’ve got the AVN2210p mounted in my car and have been test driving it extensively for the past few days, and here is what I think.
AVN2210p Physical
Describing the TomTom Eclipse takes on two aspects, one is the overall unit itself and the other is the PND. The overall device is what is known in automotive circles as “Double DIN”. So if you have an existing Double DIN sized stereo, or room for one, it will likely fit in your vehicle.
On the top left is an audio display which will show you the current radio station, CD track, or other interactive feedback such as setting the bass level or other sound quality settings. In the middle of the left side is round four way button which resembles the round button on an iPod. This is used to advance tracks, switch radio stations, etc. Rotating that dial changes the volume. Surrounding the dial are buttons to change the music source, power the device on and off, select a different band, as well as a handy mute button.
Most of the right side of the device is where the TomTom GPS snaps into place. There is a quick-release button on the right which when pressed will pop the GPS off the radio stack so you can take it with you. Along the bottom is a reset switch, microphone and a USB port. The USB port enables you to connect a USB stick (not included) loaded with MP3 or WMA music files. You can then use the TomTom Eclipse as a music player reading off of the USB stick.
TomTom DUO Physical
I’ve chosen to refer to the PND part as the TomTom DUO, because it has two capabilities; one as an in dash system and the other as a portable system. The FCC ID for the device is also stamped “DUO”, and when you connect to the device via Bluetooth it reports itself as “TomTom DUO”. Therefore I’m going to refer to the entire product as the “TomTom Eclipse” while referring to the radio stack permanently installed in the car as the “Eclipse AVN2210p” and the PND portion as the “TomTom DUO”. So using my terminology you snap the TomTom DUO into the Eclipse AVN2210p forming the TomTom Eclipse.
The DUO is just about the same size as the TomTom ONE. It has the same 3.5″ screen size as the ONE, and is a similar width, height, and depth. Unlike how the ONE has a round back, the DUO is square.
On the top of the DUO is the power button, and a charge indicator light. The power button is inaccessible when docked, however it isn’t necessary there because it will sense when it is docked and if the AVN2210p is powered by your car, it will power on itself and the GPS. The maps and application are stored on an SD card rather than on an internal memory, and that SD card slot is at the bottom of the GPS. Also on the bottom is a reset switch and a mini USB plug for software updates or connecting to (optional) DC power when in a car separate from the AVN-2210p. On the back is a speaker, as well as the connector to the AVN2210-p.
Internally, the TomTom DUO is powered by a SiRFstarIII chipset and is stamped as such on the bottom of the device. Therefore satellite reception has been nothing short of excellent. The AVN2210p also has its own GPS antenna which adds to the reception. As mentioned above, the DUO uses a 3.5″ touch screen similar to the ONE. At first glance the quality of the screen didn’t seem as good as what I’ve come to expect from the ONE, but directly comparing the two side by side they do appear to use the same screen. The screen is not nearly as nice as the screen on the ONE XL (even taking into consideration size) but it performed acceptably.
I had serious reservations about how well the screen would perform, mainly because of where the DUO gets installed into the vehicle as compared to a device suctioned to the windshield. The screen on the ONE and DUO performs well when viewed from wide angles left to right, but when viewed from angles high and low the colors tend to wash out. However I was pleasantly surprised at the actual performance in the car. I suspect this might be partly because there is less sunlight reaching lower levels of the car. Regardless, the screen performed well ad was legible even under direct sunlight due to the tilting function. (See more about the “tilt” function later.)
It would have been really, really nice if they could have somehow squeezed a 4.3 or even a 4.0 inch screen into this setup, but I can imagine that could have caused some major technical issues of of how to cram it all into that space. Still if the PND housing could have had a smaller outer trim and perhaps some of the buttons on the AVN2210p moved around… maybe just maybe a wider screen could have fit in there. People comparing this setup to other in-dash systems will note that many in-dash navigation systems have 7″ screens, fully twice the size of this setup.
Most of the time you would probably use the DUO connected to the AVN2210p so battery life won’t be an issue. However if you want to use the device detached from the AVN2210p you might want to run it on battery. The battery life printed in the manual is listed as 1 hour. I’ve seen other websites selling the device which list it as 1.5 hours. Upon fully charging the device, I was able to run it for two hours and ten minutes, although I didn’t have Bluetooth turned on.
Another difference between the DUO and other similar models is routing speed. There is much more horsepower driving the TomTom DUO than models like the ONE and ONE XL. For example in a 3,100 mile route we calculated, this DUO zipped through the calculation in 23 seconds while the ONE took 54 seconds and the ONE XL lagged in at 96 seconds. So for that particular route calculation the DUO was over four times faster than the ONE XL.
AVN2210p Installation
Of course one of the barriers to people using in-dash navigation systems is the difficult installation. If you don’t know if you will be able to pull this off yourself, you probably will want to seek professional installation. In other words if you are unsure if you have the skills, you probably don’t, as much as I hate to state it that way. While I’m somewhat comfortable with hacking around splicing cables and taking apart my dash, I was glad to have someone with me who knew what he was doing. It too him (with my occasional assistance) about two hours to complete the process, although a good amount of time was spent trying to find the speed sensor in my vehicle. In the end, I could have probably pulled it off myself, but it would have taken me all day.
For people who don’t install car stereos on a regular basis, installation likely involves removing pieces of your dash to access the stereo, removing the old stereo, splicing in the new wires with the old wires, running a GPS antenna to a desired location where it will get good satellite reception, and splicing into your speed sensor cable. Despite being told where the speed sensor was in my vehicle, we never did find it. We had a couple of likely candidates, but we were never certain enough to splice into one. Despite not having the speed sensor connected, the GPS still performs just fine which is exactly what I expected. The speed sensor will provide additional guidance to the GPS in the event of signal loss such as if you drive into a tunnel. So if your travels frequently take you underground, you might want to find that speed sensor cable.
One other note about the installation is that the AVN2210 sticks out about one half inch further from my dash than my factory stereo did. This didn’t impact the operation of my car at all, including shifting, but if you have an abnormally tight space there for some reason you might want to take note.
Audio Quality & Voice Prompts
After getting my car put back together, it was time to reconnect the battery and turn everything on. It was nice to see everything immediately light up. Of course the first thing I did was to check out the voice prompts. Talk about a night and day difference between the nice voice speaking through the tiny PND speaker and one going directly wired through your sound system! Although we immediately panicked because we were only hearing sound from the left side speakers…. We turned the radio on… duhh!!! Of course, the voice prompts only come out of the driver’s side speakers and the rest of the vehicle occupants are spared the voice prompts and continue to listen to the music! So yea, everything was working as designed. And I’ll say it again, the quality of the voice prompt is simply amazing when heard through the car’s audio system rather than through the PND’s speakers.
I typically keep the volume level on most PNDs pretty close to the maximum setting. For some devices such as the LG models, the loudest setting still isn’t loud enough, while on other models such as the Magellan Maestro series the volume is quite good at about 70%. With this setup going direct to the stereo I’ve found that I only need to keep it at about 50% to get the voice prompts plenty loud. Since the speakers in my car are better than the tiny speaker in most PNDs, the volume doesn’t even need to be quite as loud since the quality is that much better.
The volume of the radio/MP3/CD works independently from the volume of the PND. And since the AVN2210p sends the voice prompts just to the driver’s side speakers the volume of the music going to other occupants really doesn’t need to change.
Special PND Functions
The PND’s touch screen takes on a bigger role of managing some of the audio functions of the device. while you can control many of the audio functions without docking the DUO, it is just more fun to control it from the PND. You can tap a button on the AVN2210p to switch the PND to audio mode. The screen will no longer show a moving map but will instead display information about the audio such as the radio station frequency, the track playing from a USB memory stick, or an audio CD in the deck. Not that even when the DUO is displaying audio information, the GPS is still following along on your route and will still call out voice prompts when necessary.
You can control your presets (favorite) radio stations from the DUO when it is docked to the Eclipse system. Also if you’ve installed the optional iPod connector you can control playlists and get track information from the DUO’s screen when it is docked and connected to the iPod. (So far I haven’t seen that anyone is shipping that cable yet, however I do have one ordered. Unfortunately since it connects to the back of the system I’ll have to pull everything out to install the cable when it comes.) I wish I could attach names to radio station presents, and some screenshots in the manual do show text that reads “channel name” but either that feature isn’t universally supported or I just couldn’t figure out how to do it myself.
I did however play with MP3 music on a USB memory stick. Within iTunes I created a playlist based on files that were MP3 encoded, and copied that playlist to a USB thumb drive. From there just insert the USB drive into the AVN2210p and select USB as the audio source. The DUO then scans the USB drive for music to allow selection by artist, song title, genre, album, etc. Album artwork isn’t supported, but while the song is playing the artist, album, and song title are displayed along with a progress bar showing the length of the song and how far through it is.
If you are listening to music from the USB drive you can switch back to the radio by tapping on the Source button. When you navigate back to the USB drive it will resume playing where it left off.
There is also an optional system to connect to Sirius satellite radio.
Tilt
Another great aspect of the Eclipse system is the “tilt function”. With a tap on the tilt button the face of the entire unit will rotate up, exposing the CD slot. A longer tap on the tilt button will rotate the entire display by a few degrees. You can then choose what angle the PND is easiest to view and operate from. When you turn the car off the display will retract to zero degrees and when you turn your car back on it will go back to your last tilt angle. I found this to be very handy in every day driving as I could angle the device (and thus the DUO’s screen) to an angle that was comfortable to view. Also in case of direct sunlight you can easily change the viewing angle to help reduce any glare that might be coming back to you.
Another way that the DUO can interact with your car is in a semi-automatic night mode on the navigation screen. When you turn your headlights on, the PND will switch to night mode. Turn the headlights off and the PND will switch back to day mode.
While I’m a huge proponent of having navigation devices interact in a smarter way with vehicles, I ended up not liking the auto night mode feature for several reasons. First is that I typically always drive with my headlights on for additional safety. Second is that in my state if you have your windshield wipers on you are required by law to turn your headlights on. But if it is raining it isn’t dark enough for night mode. And third is that in the evening you would typically turn on your headlights before you would turn on night mode. I like the effort being put forth creating more interaction of the car and the navigation system, but I was glad to see there is an override for this function. You can set the docking preference so that the day/night mode isn’t connected to your headlights and you can make the change manually yourself as I do.
While speaking of night mode, the illumination of buttons on the AVN2210p uses red bulbs. I don’t have anything against red (and believe it is a better choice for preserving night-vision) it would have been nice to be able to purchase it with other bulb color choices, or be able to easily switch out to a color bulb that matches the rest of your car’s bulbs if they are not red.
Travel Kit
There is an optional travel kit you can purchase for this setup which costs about $70. If Eclipse and TomTom missed on one big item, it was not including the travel kit to begin with. The travel kit consists of a suction cup mount, AC adapter, DC adapter, and a cover for the slot left open when you un-dock the DUO from the AVN2210p. Paying $70 for these accessories is too much and since the whole point of this device is to be a dual in-dash and PND system in one package, those accessories should have been included.
Navigation
The navigation functions on the TomTom Eclipse are virtually identical to the other TomTom models, so I won’t go into great detail about it here. The best aspects of the TomTom applications are that you can plan routes in advance with a different starting location than your current location, being able to create saved routes, and the Itinerary Planning feature which allows nearly unlimited “via” points to be inserted into a route. There is also a more sophisticated detour function than found on other devices which allows you to detour from a user selectable distance rather than just making the next available detour.
For more detailed information about navigating with this device, just check out or review of the TomTom ONE and the navigation functions offered there. There is no need to just restate everything that was said there.
Pedestrian Mode
I’m not sure what another reviewer was thinking, but there is a pedestrian mode included. While there isn’t any way to lock the screen, you can select between the typical route styles offered on TomTom devices such as fastest, shortest, avoiding freeways, walking routes, bicycle routes, and limited speed routes. If you are driving most of the way to your destination and then walking a distance, navigate to the parking lot, then plan a route to your destination and use the ‘Plan for walking route’ preference which will allow you to get there ignoring road restrictions for cars. For example you would be able to go backwards on a one way street.
Bluetooth Hands Free
The TomTom PND in the AVN 2210p is often described as a TomTom ONE, and it does share a similar size to the ONE. However unlike the ONE the DUO includes Bluetooth hands-free calling, so in that regard the features more closely resemble the 510. (The ONE only uses Bluetooth for data services.) For hands free calling the AVN2210p has a microphone built into the front, and of course the audio from the other caller is piped through your car stereo for optimum sound. Not all devices perform equally well with Bluetooth hands-free-calling, so it is difficult for me to say how well it might perform with your phone. The best thing to do would be to check out the compatibility chart and make sure your phone is compatible.
The phone I’ve been able to test so far was specifically listed by TomTom as not being compatible. However I was able to get the phone to pair, place calls, and receive calls. The audio of the other caller coming through my car’s stereo was fantastic. Regardless of my cell signal, the other caller could barely hear me. Again, it wasn’t that my phone wasn’t listed in the compatibility charts, it was listed as specifically being incompatible.
Purchasing Advice
There were only two “misses” on this device. One was not including the travel kit as mentioned above, and the second was not including text-to-speech. An $800 GPS system should include text-to-speech in this day. Otherwise, this GPS is easy to grin at.
The TomTom Eclipse AVN2210p is aimed at a tight niche. There are great benefits to an in-dash navigation system. One of the best parts is that there are no ugly cables having around. The DC power adapter is now free for some of my other geeky devices to get charged. No need for an ugly suction cup mount fixed to the windshield. Voice prompts and hands free calling audio are routed through the car stereo rather than the tiny PND speaker. You can control audio functions through a modern 3.5″ touch screen.
Yet there are also benefits to a PND– you can easily take them with you to other vehicles or as a pedestrian, a wider option of mounting locations, and their are easy and inexpensive to upgrade when compared to traditional in-dash systems.
Those conveniences will come at a price though. Most retailers are offering the AVN2210p at around $800. And since most people already have a stereo and CD player in their car it might seem hard at first to justify spending $800 when the net benefit is a GPS with a 3.5″ display, Bluetooth, and no wires. You can pick up a similarly featured GPS (MP3, Bluetooth, 3.5″ display) starting around $400+. So figure you are spending an extra $400 on integration. Now I’m not saying that extra cash isn’t worth it for this device. The extra $400 gets the ugly mount off the windshield, eliminates the cables, pipes the voice prompts through your car stereo, pipes Bluetooth phone calls through your car stereo, ads a large touch screen interface to your stereo, yet still gives you a device you can take with you on pedestrian routes or in rental cars and is less expensive to upgrade than other in-dash systems. For many people that is worth the extra cash for this setup.
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The “radio name” probably refers to the station name sent over RDS, which is prevalent in Europe. Can’t think of any FM stations here in the UK which don’t broadcast RDS.
Yes, I believe you are correct David. When I am I don’t think I’ll get any of that RDS lovin’.
Right now, Eclipse is offering a free travel kit (which includes an additional vehicle mount) when you get this unit. Not too bad.
What about controlling a cd changer? I don’t want a dead cd changer in my glovebox.
Spencer – Yes, I did see that. I also saw in the fine print “quantities limited, first come first serve”. I wonder how many are actually available.
Zach, there are aux ports on the back of the AVN2210p that perhaps you could use to connect to it? Although I’m not sure how you would then interact with it. Personally with an iPod connector I wouldn’t need a CD changer, but for others connecting a changer would be useful.
Nice review. I just installed this unit in my car, and have a few additional observations. Overall, very nice integration. However, 2 serious issues do detract from this unit.
1) Bluetooth works fine with my Motorola V3c Razr, but this unit insists on repairing with the phone (including needed a confirmation and pin entry) each time it powers off. Now, before you say you forgot to set your phone on automatic recieve, it is! This phone works flawlessly with 3 other bluetooth setups (including the Garmin Zumo 550), but apparently the Tomtom needs a repairing ritual everytime it powers off. We repeated this at the Verizon store with a V3m, 2 LG, and 2 Samsung phones. All required repairing on power-off, despite being set to automatically pair. This is a serious defect which must be corrected in future software updates.
2) The Tomtom itself has reset about a dozen times during the last few days. This happens either when you redock the unit, or plug an ipod in via the USB cable. You lose all settings and have to go through the setup routine each time it reboots. Very annoying. BTW, the ipod works fine via the USB cable but… It must resync and acquire song titles after each power up. This process takes about 5 mintues on an 8Gb iPod Nano. For short trips around town, this basically renders the ipod functionality via USB unusable. One other issue: the “eject” button in USB mode is large, dead center, and right next to the “search” button. If you accidently hit eject, it 1) reboots the Tomtom (see above), and 2) requires you to download all song titles AGAIN. Poor interface design; this “nuclear” button should not be front and center on the main screen (or should at least require a confirmation page…)
Again, very nice idea and integration, but some serious firmware bugs for us first-adopters. I’ve sent Tomtom a note with these bugs, and hopefully, a firmware upgrade will fix these problems.
Joe M.
Hi Joe, thanks for the comments! Since I doubt this will be a super popular device I’m glad to get opinions from other people who have purchased and installed this device. Regarding your comments:
1) I haven’t experienced that myself. I’ve paired three phones, including a V3c Razr on Verizon, a Treo 650 on Verizon, and the iPhone on AT&T, but none of them exhibited that behavior. All were recognized and reconnected without me touching the phone.
2) I’ve experienced a couple of resets, but none as drastic as what you are describing. None of the resets I’ve seen caused any data/settings loss. Perhaps the issue you are experiencing is also causing you to need to pair your phones again. I’ve never experienced a reset when ejecting a USB drive with music on it. The eject button seems to be working fine for me.
I never thought about connecting my iPods via USB. Clever idea. I’m still waiting for them to start shipping the official iPod connection cable.
Did TomTom respond with any suggestions to the problems you are experiencing?
Good to hear yours is working. We should compare software version; my Tomtom Duo is running
App 6.550 (7818/070315) OS:2523
GPS v1.21, Boot 5.26
See if I can track down if this is software version bug or specific to my unit.
Thanks again,
Joe M.
I’m running the same versions here. I do recall it downloading a Bluetooth Database Update the last time I connected it to TomTom HOME, so perhaps if you haven’t done that it might fix some of the phone issues.?.
Tim,
Success! Based on your indication that the unit paired fine, I found a “clear flash” utility on the Tomtom website
http://www.tomtom.com/support/solution.php?GID=1&PID=1678&SID=0&CID=95&Language=4&FID=2150
I downloaded an ran this against the Tomtom Duo, it indeed reflashed the firmware, and viola! It’s working great now, pairs just fine with my Motorola V3c after a power cycle. Also, I haven’t had a reset yet since this procedure.
So, for those reading and following the thread, the clear flash utility seems to do the trick!
Thanks again, I never would have pursued this fix without your comments and review.
Joe M.
Great! I’ve used that utility a few times in the past to fix more major issues, but I didn’t think of it in your scenario. Glad to hear it is working better.
I should add one more comment to this thread:
When my Tomtom Duo was having problems with re-pairing on power down, it would query my phone for a PIN number 4 times during the setup phase.
Once I reflashed the Duo, it only queried the phone once during setup.
So, you’ll know if you have an issue based on the number of times you’re asked to enter the Bluetooth PIN number on the phone during setup. Hopefully, only once
Appreciate the great review and follow-up comments.
Few Questions:
1) Is there an available face plate to be purchased. My whole center console is black, I do not want a silver frame in the middle of my console. So I would like to modify to a black frame.
2) Is it possible to connect Eclipse to my existing stearing wheel controls for volume, station change, and next track? I hate the idea of possibly having to give this up.
3) The reviewer was much more flexible than I would be, I would be annoyed if it stuck out of the dash and 1 1/2″. What are the real dimensions of the unit? Most web sites I have gone to simply say 2 DIM, but how deep.
Also, agree with the reviewer wish they could have reduced the control buttons to make room for a 4″ or even better 4.5″ screen!
In advance, many thanks.
1) Not that I know of. It would probably be easy to tape/paint over.
2) There is a steering wheel connection cable in the harness. I was unable to test it in my car since it doesn’t have steering wheel controls.
3) It doesn’t stick out 1&1/2 inches, it sticks out 1/2 inch. Also this might be due to the fact that my open slot isn’t the type where you can just slide one device out and slide another in. It is bolted from the side in my car so the depth of the device wasn’t an issue, but rather where it was bolted in. I could also have made another mounting hole to make it flush.
Ah, thanks for the feedback again. Sorry for misunderstanding how far it stuck out of dash.
Great to hear it has stearing wheel controls.
I checked TomTom website and they have alternate face plates for some other models, perhaps they will develop one for the DUO.
Also, just thought of this question, is there any internal memory to store MP3’s? I like being able to use the flash USB drive, but not such a fan of having that stick out of the dash all the time.
Overall I really like the idea of this design.
There is about 40 MB of free space on the DUO’s SD card slot, but no internal memory of its own. I don’t believe it can read MP3 files from its own SD card anyway… but I haven’t tried. I agree that the USB drive sticking out looks funny, a USB extension cable might help a little…. but I’m really waiting for the iPod connection cable to become available.
I’m curious did anyone actually receive the “free travel kit”?
I’m assuming the phone you tested bluetooth phone conversations is the Treo 650. Well, wha’d'ya know? I also have a Treo 650. Since voice calls seem to work even though they’re specifically documented to not, I’m wondering if other non-functioning features work. Specifically, do incoming SMS messages appear on the screen?
Jeff – despite getting it to pair, voice quality for people on the other end when paired with my Treo wasn’t very good. SMS isn’t supported on the DUO/T 650 combination, probably because the Treo doesn’t store SMS on the SIM.
I really want to keep this unit but there are so many flaws. Maybe somebody has some fixes. The biggest is that phone calls out can not be clearly heard. The mike seems inadequate or needs noise canceling circuitry. Anyone have a workaround for the poor outgoing sound quality? Also, FM is miserable. Why? It is properly installed to the antenna and blue wire but still,very low qual FM. Any similar experience, or is my unit bad? Thanks…
I have had voice quality issues over Bluetooth phone connections with some phones, but other phones seem to work reasonably. I haven’t had any trouble with FM though. I get at least as good reception with it as I did with my factory installed stereo, if not better.
For any TomTom Eclipse owners out there… I noticed there was a software update in the last couple of days for version 6.552 labeled “TomTom Eclipse and Toyota”. After installing the update, my DUO will no longer boot. Hopefully other people have had better results, but if you haven’t installed it yet… you might want to hold off. If you have installed it and had successful results, I’d like to hear about that as well.
Okay, I did a bit of testing and here is what I’ve found with the 6.552 update. Every time I perform the update on a Mac, the update fails. It works every time, however, from a PC. I still haven’t found a list of what has changed, but the DUO now doesn’t seem to shut down properly when the car is turned off. I haven’t seen any other changes yet.
I am seriously considering getting one of these, so I went to CircuitCity to play with one and found a few issues, that make it nearly unlivable for using with USB devices.
1. Everytime you insert the USB device with MP3s on it, or turn on the unit, while a USB device is attached it rescans (as mentioned above), so an 8GB USB drive is gonna take 5 minutes.
2. It couldn’t see my MP3 player as a USB flash drive (I have a Sansa e280). So I instead had to fall back to a regular USB flash drive. That being said the Sansa appears as a regular USB mass storage device to everything else. Does this mean that the AVN2210p is very finicky with the USB drives it supports?
I am curious have any of the later firmware releases addressed these issues? Do you have any experiance with these issues?
(I emailed their tech support but the response failed to answer my questions.)
David – Yes, the long scan time for USB devices is very frustrating. What I’ve done as a workaround is to get a small 256 MB USB drive, and then create a smart playlist in iTunes that fills that drive with random music. I don’t often take long trips that would outlast 256 MB worth of music.
I know some MP3 players are recognized as USB drives. I’ve been using an iPod Shuffle that works okay in that manner, though it does try to open and play files on the drive that are not music, recognizes they are not music, and then skips to the next track.
I don’t believe any of the firmware updates have made changes to the USB/MP3 functionality… at least none that were visible to me.
For those still waiting for the iPC-107p (iPod Connect Cable) Eclipse says it should be available “mid November” and a few retailers have an expected date of November 9. Crossing fingers….
Hi Tim,
After reading your review, I’m thinking about getting the unit, looks so nice ! By any chance, do you know if this unit works with the news SDHC cards (4/6/8GB)?
Thanks and keep going !
I don’t believe it supports SDHC cards.
So Tim, on that note, from my understanding this unit can’t play music when it is on an SD card, right?
I have been trying to get a response from Eclipse to see if they will fix the issue regarding re-scanning the USB drive each time you start the player. So far 3 emails sent and the response from their tech support team is lack luster. (I got one response which didn’t address my issue.)
I am really frustrated because this seems like a good device, but a few little software issues here and there make it less usable.
Correct, it will play music from the radio, CD, USB drive, Sirius radio with hookup, or an iPod with hookup, but not from the SD card.
I just got a response on my query regarding the fact that the USB port is re-scanned each time the head unit is booted. (Meaning you can’t really use a large USB drive with this unit.)
“David,
Thanks for your inquiry.
The USB port works the way it was speced to, reads the music each time the USB is inserted. This is not considered to be a bug.
Tech Support”
I consider that to be unfortunate. It would seem counter-intuitive. I bet most people who buy this unit won’t be all to happy when they plug their 2GB USB flash drive into it and have to wait a few minutes before they can play their music.
I agree with them that technically it isn’t a bug, but I agree with you that it is largely unfortunate the issue is there.
I noticed in the manual it says “To read the files in the USB memory, it may take up 15 seconds.” (Yes, even the typo missing the word “to”.) If only that was the case and it only took 15 seconds.
Thanks for the update on the iPod cable. Still waiting like everyone else…
BTW, not a single reset in 4 months with this unit, so it appears stable after I reflashed the Tomtom Duo. I’m also pleased with the interface design, you get used to it fairly quickly, and the Sirius integration is pretty good.
A couple of notes for everyone. (1) I’ve been experimenting with the USB MP3 player thing a little more. I’ve found greater stability and faster scanning if I make sure there are zero other files on the drive except for the MP3 files. This includes hidden system files your operating system might add. Once I clear out all of the hidden system files and any other non-MP3 files the scan goes quicker…. By no means lightning fast… but it does go quicker and I see fewer “unexpected playback” type errors.
2) After installing the 6.552 application update, my TomTom turns itself back on about 30-45 seconds after the car has been turned off…. almost every time I turn of the car. When I turn of the car it appears to shut down normally, then about 30-45 seconds later decides to boot up again. Anyone else experience that?
Hi Tim,
Sorry to hear about your issue with the update. Hopefully you’ll have some success getting them to fix it.
On a different note, have you ever tried installing any 3rd party applications on your TomTom like the ones found found here:
http://gps.dg4sfw.de/
I have a TomTom One and I have a couple that guys apps on there. They seem to work well enough (The Calculator and FuelControl apps)
(I have this dream that if third party apps work then perhaps I can get one of the third party mp3 players on it to work around the sillyness with the mp3 player)
I haven’t installed any of those third party apps. One of these days I’ll get around to checking it out.
Tim,
I have the same issue with the unit turning back on after the car is turned off. When talking to Eclipse they are suggesting a replacement SD card. I also had the dreaded “Red Cross” stall after updating but have somehow managed to fix that!?! Not sure how though.
I’ll keep you posted on their solution.
Some have mentioned problems when using a Mac (which I use), anyone else experienced this?
Yea, I know all about the red cross/x after updating issue. Been there, fixed that.
Although I’m not glad to hear you too have the spontaneous restart issue I’m at least glad there is confirmation so hopefully there can be a fix. I’m thinking of reflashing the memory and then reinstalling from a PC. I also have a meeting with Eclipse next week and if I remember I’ll try to ask about the issue.
Tim,
Please pester them to fix the USB issue with scanning.
(I know I am a pain in the butt …
)
The people I’m meeting with are sales/PR people so I doubt I will get much info from them. But hopefully they can point me to a technical contact. I’ll certainly try to ask about the USB scanning thing.
I’ve been thinking about it though. I’m not an expert on the various types of file systems, but I wonder if it just isn’t possible to tell if the files on a USB device have changed since the last time it was connected without “scanning it”. Perhaps if they didn’t scan it and just assumed the files were the same it wouldn’t pick up any changes you might have made. But I’ll try to find out regardless.
In talking to Eclipse support… a tech told me that the “Toyota” update is for European users only. TTHome recc that I update with it when I initially connected the unit and that is when the trouble began.
Not sure how to remove it. How do you do the “Clear Flash” thing? I’ve seen the download but not sure how to carry it out.
Sean, are you talking about the 6.552 update?
I believe so Tim. I read earlier that it helped the unit run smoother so when TTHome recc the update I did it. I called Eclipse support after it wouldn’t turn off and that is when the tech told me it was for use in Europe. Not sure about this, just relaying what I was told.
BTW I’ve noticed that after redocking, charging etc. to my Mac that the unit will work as expected… but my 8 gig thumb drive will cause it to stall, restart and then the probs start again. I removed all non MP3 files tonight (from the thumb drive) and will see if that makes a difference tomorrow.
Clearing the 6.552 application is certainly possible with the clear flash tool, or just manually from within TomTom HOME. The tricky part would be obtaining the files from the previous application unless you kept a backup copy. TomTom HOME will just continue to download the new version.
I confirmed today that the 6.552 update isn’t designed to be installed with the North American version of the AVN2210p. It is designed for European devices as earlier people reported. Eclipse says if you contact their support department you can mail them your SD card, they can downgrade it, and send it back. I’m not sure why they just can’t push something out to TomTom HOME.
They have also released a slight revision to the device. The “AVN2201p mkII is identifiable by blue lighting. In addition to the different color lighting, the only other big difference is that Bluetooth has been improved to “no longer cut out” periodically. Other than that, it is identical I’m told.
Something else I didn’t know that I’ve been told is that the TomTom iPod connect cable will work with the AVN2210p as an alternative to the (still not yet out) IPC-107p. However there are a couple of differences. The TomTom iPod connect cable comes with an additional, unnecessary audio cable and it won’t charge the iPod. The IPC-107p cable will charge the iPod.
About the TomTom iPod connect cable, does it connect into the same slot on the back of the unit or elsewhere? I really just need the aux input for another mp3 player, but have been having trouble finding the aux105 for a non-outrageous price.
It connects in the back, but i can’t say for sure off the top of my head which slot.
I know I am a pain, but did they say anything about the MP3/USB issue when you talked to them recently?
After having installed my unit last night I see where that cable would go. Not too impressed with the unit so far and it seems mine already upgraded itself to the 6.552 right off the bat. I really with this thing was at least flush with the dash as the glare from the right side is horrible during the day – they need to sell a little popout “cover” to block the light.
David, I did ask them about it. They acknowledged the issue when you have lots of music on the drive. However it doesn’t sound like something they are going to address with this version of the device. They did say they would take a closer look at it, so perhaps they will surprise us.
They did say that there will be a software update coming out in another month or so– I suspect NavCore 7. I actually hacked my device to run NavCore 7, although with my hack you don’t get the CD/MP3/on-screen radio options.
How difficult was the 7 “hack”? I thought for some reason I saw that the radio did RDS, but it seems that wasn’t the case. A little upgrade to the multimedia aspect of this would really go a long way.
Rob, it took awhile to figure out how to make it happen, but actually doing it was quite easy. You do loose the on-screen radio, USB, and CD controls though, so it really isn’t worth it.
Just because I am bored at work I might give it a shot. Any idea what this thing would be considered in terms of Tomtom One versions? I can’t believe how fast doing everything from a SD reader is compared to using the Tomtom. Making a backup took less than 5 minutes compared to the 20 when hooked to the Tomtom. I have found this whole nav thing a little addictive now.
Rob, functionality-wise it is more similar to the 510 than anything in the ONE series.
I really like how the Nav 7 is and hope we get an upgrade to this version. TTS works pretty good with the unit, but like you said the whole losing radio controls does stink. Something to look forward to I guess.
Rob, are you saying you got TTS working on your device?
Yes, it works as a standalone. Last time I tried anything I couldn’t get the sound to play once in the car dock and the unit kept resetting, but haven’t tried this time. Makes it a pita to test things having to run out to the car each time =]
Under version 6 or 7? Which voice? How did you install it?
Under 7. Using any of the voices, but only US/UK are of any use. The problem of course is that like I said, put it in the car and it does nothing. It won’t turn on or really even function when docked. It still comes up as a Tomtom Duo, but it is basically only good for a portable like this. Fingers crossed for a future release of custom firmware running 7 though
Hi Tim
I’m living in Europe and I recently purchased an Eclipse 2210p. I had contacted Eclipse in advance of my purchase about the availability of a European model. They informed me that there would be no European model!!! I found out after my purchase that the 2227p was available.
Antway – my query. Have you any idea if the radio on the 2210p can be modified/changed/upgraded to work properly in Europe. It does work at the moment but with 2 problems i.e. 1. The frequency step is wrong @ 0.2 Mhz instead of 50 Khz 2. No RDS.
Both units look itentical and I believe that both the same electronics inside. It would not make commercial sense to manufacture 2 different models when a simple software tweak or firmware change could change the step. The RDS could be more complicated but I can live without that.
I have emailed Eclipse about the problems but they have been unhelpful in a helpful way i.e. Eclipse US told me to contact Eclipse Europe and Eclipse Europe told me to contact Eclipse US!!
Thanks for your help.
Bill – Did you purchase it in Europe or North America? Just curious.
Anyway, your questions are questions I’ve had too, and so far have been unable to get a firm answer on. However I might have more news next week.
I don’t know if the radio can be changed. I suspect it cannot be changed. You can take the DUO out of the AVN2210p and the radio still works the same way, so it is getting much of the radio programming from its own software rather than relying on the DUO. What also confirms that is the debacle some of us in North America are in with the 6.552 update that TomTom pushed out that we have since discovered is only for the European model. Even with that update applied our radio behavior doesn’t change.
As to RDS, I suspect there is a hardware difference there. When tuned into radio stations that offer RDS here in North America (which are few comparatively) we don’t see the station name, etc updated on the radio display like the European version. So either the North American version might not have any RDS equipment in it (which is possible) or it is just “different” enough from European RDS to not work properly.
Hi Tim
I purchased the unit from an American eBay Seller. To be honest, I didn’t realise the differences between the two radio systems. If I had known about the 2227p then I would obviously have bought that particular model.
I would imagine that the radio tuner is on board the PCB in the main unit. The DUO just seems to be a display for the radio. While the RDS function may be a seperate module/chip, I would have thought the frequency step may be a software/firmware setting. Some of the other Eclipse head units can be updated with a CD or DVD so I was hoping that the 2210p frequency step could be altered in a similar fashion. I would even be willing to change the tuner if I could get my hands on a European one.
Thanks for your help.
Tim, Bill
Your comments regarding the frequency steps are of interest to me as well.
I bought the AVN2210p as opposed to the European model based purely on the price differential. I am in the UK.
I would be keen to see if there is a solution as it would make the system perfect for me.
I have also fallen foul of the 6.552 upgrade with the result that my TOMTOM now re-boots everytime I switch the ignition off.
TOMTOM tech support are being somewhat less than helpful in providing me with a downgraded operating system.
This thread has been a life-saver for me. At least I know the hardware isn’t at fault so saving me the nause of having to return the unit ‘over the pond’
I am not sure about the legal aspect of it, but I still have the original 6.550 if anyone wants to downgrade back to that version.
Hi Rob
I would certainly be pleased to have a copy.Would you be able to attach it to an e-mail or FTP it please?
Here is the answer I received from TOMTOM Europe:-
“Thank you for contacting TomTom Customer Support
There isn’t a bug in the software that causes it to reboot. As you have reinstalled the aplication completely and it is still behaving the same way then you need to contac5t Fujitsu for support as it sounds like a hardware problem with the unit. We cannot assist you in any further with this issue.
With Best Regards”
Helpful, yes?? As ususal, it’s everbodies fault except TOMTOM
Of course we know that it never happened with 6.550, it always happens with 6.552 which means that it isn’t a hardware issue.
I saw this unit the other day in Circuit City, and completely fell in love with it. It seems to do everything I need (MP3, navigation, satellite radio, BT hands-free), and has a really lovely form factor. The news that NavCore 7 may be coming is fantastic – I think that would push me over the edge into buying it.
I’m still on the fence about mine, if it wasn’t for the cheap price it was selling for on cardomain I never would have jumped. I can say after using it that I wish tomtom would make their own in dash solution as I love having it integrated. Now the mkii version… I do love me some blue lights.
I like the blue lights as well… and they say they have improved Bluetooth as well which would be helpful.
Rob
How can I get a copy of your backed up Version 6.550 please?
I want to install it now not just to get my system working properly but to prove a point to the European TOMTOM techies.
Paul, I dropped you an email.
I have been wanting to purchase this for a while as well, saw the MKII at the Car Convention in Vegas (happened to be there on vacation). They showed me the Ipod connection cable and the XM Radio unit – said both were ready to ship this week. My one question I still can;t find an answer to is will my Verizon Treo 700p or even 650 connect via bluetooth hands-free. When i called tech support on the non-MKII they said no CDMA phones. The guys at the booth said they think they fixed it in the MKII but they couldn’t show me as it did not have the new OS. I need a straight answer, will this work with a Verizon Treo 700p? Also any release date and price on the MKII?
Thank you Tim
I’ll read it when I get home.
Regardless of that though, I seem to have solved the problem by copying my 1GB card onto a new 2GB card.
I’m wondering if TOMTOM tries to write a temporary file to the SC card when you shut down and maybe there was just enough room previously but maybe V6.552 of the software is just a little too big?
I’m just guessing of course but changing to a card with more space has certainly solved the problem for me and it is definitely still version 6.552.
However, TOMTOM’s service stinks. Having had no reasonable reply on-line, I phoned them and their solution to that is to put the phone down on the customer if you disagree with them.
I had heard these rumours about their sercie before but now I’m beginning to see that they might be true.
Anyway, one problem solved thanks mostly to the input from you guys.
All I need now is to be able to change the frequency steps
Dan – According to the charts the 650 specifically isn’t compatible for hands free calling. They don’t show results for the 700p. Info on the mkII isn’t out yet.
Pual – That is interesting to hear. I might have to go SD card shopping today. Aside from this issue, I’ve found their USA support to be quite good, and much improved in the past year or so.
All – Did anyone ever have shutdown issues with 6.550? For example the DUO not shutting down at all when the car was turned off?
I tested 6.552 on my 2GB card right from the start and it still gave me the reboot issue. I have gone back to it a few times in testing, but there just doesn’t seem to be anything of benefit on it.
It seems they didn’t change much for the mkii, at least not in manuals. One of them has an extra page, but it seems they just took the pdf’s from the first version and edited them with mkii pictures.
I’ve never had shutdown issues with 6.550 and the only other time I have had shutdown issues is with 6.552 and with using any version of 7 and trying to dock in the car – which just causes reboots endlessly.
6.553 is now available. Going to install and see
Nice, I’m checking it out myself. Maybe the call I made yesterday worked.
Installed update. Restarted DUO. Turned off the DUO. Installed it in my car, turned car on, everything booted as normal. Turned off car, DUO shut down. Waited 30 seconds, DUO started right back up.
Decided to “try again”. Shut off DUO, installed in car. Turned car on. Duo started. Turned car off. DUO turned off and stayed off!
Decided to try a third time. Back to spontaneous restarts. Now I get a spontaneous restart every time, just like with 6.552.
Almost same thing happened to me Tim – first time it came back on. I tried 5 more times and each time it stayed off. This is all on a 2gb card, haven’t tried the 1gb yet. Of course ever since I started messing with this stuff my bluetooth doesn’t work anymore unless i restart my phone each time and even then it connects once and no functions work(Worked great with 7).
Sounds like you had better results than I did. I might try the clear flash tool and then install 6.553
Oh my word.
So it seems there is a problem even with a 2 GB card? There goes my theory – yet it solved me problem.
I’ve never had a problem with bluetooth either. Works exactly as it is supposed to.
Sorry guys – I thought really it was solved
I only had the reboot once with the 2gb, hasn’t happened again in 10+ reboots. 1GB card is working fine as well without reboots. I haven’t tested anything in the car, but it seems stable so far. If I can’t get the bluetooth to work again though it is gone.
Oh, I thought you were testing in the car. I didn’t have reboot issues with any version outside of the car, just when it was docked.
Tim
My DUO was having the same problem standalone.
Switch it off at the power switch on the to and it would immediately re-boot.
Only way to switch it off was to press the reset button.
THanks for the info you provided
The only car reboot issues I had is with firmwares for other models. The 6.552 reboot thing happened when turning the car off and removing the unit or just when using the unit. As Paul said, only way to stay off was the reset.
Wow, and here I was thinking we were all talking about the same thing. I guess I couldn’t have been more wrong. Here is where I was/am at:
6.550 Docked : DUO would not shut off when I turned the ignition off.
6.550 Un-Docked: No power issues.
6.552 Docked: DUO would shut itself off when I turned the ignition off, but would turn itself on again 30-60 seconds later. I’d pull it out, turn it off by the button on top, and it would stay off.
6.552 Un-Docked: No issues.
6.553 Docked: Turns off with the car ignition as it should, but turns itself back on after 30-60 seconds. Same as 6.552.
6.553 Un-Docked: No power issues.
Tim
I suspect it is all linked somehow.
To tabulate my findings as per yours:-
6.550 – No problems at all
6.552 – Docked – Re-boot approx 30 seconds after ignition off
6.552 – Undocked – immediate re-boot on switch off – only able to switch off bu resetting.
Problems all solved by copying files from 1gb card to 2gb card.
Unwilling to try 6.553 as my system is working properly at long last
FYI, I tried copying the files to another (known good) 1gb card and the same fault showed up.
Here’s another piece of info to add:-
My phone squeaks when it loses bluetooth connection. BUT, when the DUO was docked and apparently shut down for a time after ignition off, the phone didn’t squeak.
Now it squeaks immediately the DUO shuts down after ignition off.
So it appears that, although the DUO goes black, it hasn’t fully shut down.
Very odd.
OH – TOMTOM Europe told me there isn’t a 6.553 version and there isn’t likely to be in the foreseeable future.
Paul, Rob: I think I might have figured something out about the rebooting issues. But how would you feel about moving this conversation over to the Discussion Forums for now? At least until some issues are solved. I feel bad for the people that have subscribed to updates to this post who may want to know of the solution (and we’ll update here) but might not want to be notified by email every time we update.
I’ve started a thread with my most recent findings over here.
I swear your registration confirmation thing hates me, they were all too hard to read so I have to wait until later to try again. For now though, I used 1.6 of home.
With 6.550, did you let the Duo sit for a minute after the car was off? Mine takes 30 seconds or more to shut down.
Yes, it never shut down on its own with 6.550. I forgot to mention though that with 6.550 if I held the ’screen’ button down on the AVN2210p for a couple of seconds, the DUO screen would go black (as it is supposed to) and THEN if I turned off the ignition it would shut down normally.
(I can register you if you want.)
For those who have the unit, and the Sirius adapter, what is displayed on the Eclipse’s display (the small text area, NOT the Tom Tom’s screen) while you’re listening to Sirius? I’m just curious. Thanks! =)
Hey All, I am scheduled to have this professioanlly installed on Friday and I hate to say it but I am so confused. Is this worth the extra money or am I better off to wait until all the bugs/problems are worked out?
Pat – It seems that provided you stay on the 6.550 software (for now) that it is working okay for most people with that version.
I got a call today that TomTom Support now has a link they can send you to download the “official” 6.550 software if you want to revert back. You will need to call support, tell them you want to downgrade, and from what I’ve been told they should be able to give you a link to download the older software.
Hey Tim, I was playing with unit [snip] and I noticed that when I zoomed out it would zoom back in a few seconds later, is there anyway to keep the map zoomed out? Couldn’t figure it out if there is.
No, it will automatically zoom back in. You might want to try the 2D view.
I am the new owner of the Toyota Urban Runner which has this TomTom nav system factory installed in the dash. Love it, except I would like to be able to use it with my iPod and NO ONE seems to know how to do that. Where do I get this mystery “optional iPod connection cable”. I am hoping it really doesn’t plug into the back of the system b/c I don’t know if that is possible with the factory installed version. Help?
You can find the cable here. Yes, it does connect into the back of the system.
Just bought an AVN2210p from eBay and got it installed. Navigation & USB support work great. But I have two issues.
Firstly the radio only has stepping of 200 kHz, not 100 kHz that would be needed in Europe. (ei. 99.1, 99.3, 99.5… vs. 99.1, 99.2, 99.3, 99.4…). Does anyone know how to change that? Most radios let you select this, some even support 50 kHz stepping.
Second isssue is with Bluetooth. I can pair my Nokia N80 (on supported list) great, even get data working. BUT when call comes in I cannot hear anything. The other end hears me, but the sound is picked up by the phones mic, NOT by Eclipse. Any ideas on this one?
Thanks in advance!
Tuukka – Sounds like you purchased the North American version of the TomTom Eclipse and not the European version. We’ve talked about this before in the forums and it doesn’t appear you can change it.
Yep, it seems to be the US-version. But there is no reason the stepping couldn’t be changed. it wouldn’t be cost-effective to have different hardware for different markets. It most likely is a setup-feature, as the steering wheel remote can be programmed by just clicking the buttons on the radio-unit – even if it’s not mentioned in the manual.
Speaking of remotes. My unit was missing the 8-pin cable for speed sensor & wheel remote. Does anyone have the pinouts? – Or could someone with the cable have a look at where the wires go in the connector? – I’d like to get those working too… =)
Hi, I have a TomTom Toyota and I would be really interested in you “Navcore 7″ hack, since I’d like to try to merge the “v6 audio part” with the v7. I know it sounds crazy, but I’m so angry with TomTom that I’d really like to try. Can you point me to the right direction please?
Having the same problems as previous posts but when the Tomtom is docked it is continuously re-booting and works fine undocked. Tried all versions 6.550>6.544 -plus different SD cards no
luck. Getting nearly ready to ditch -any suggestions
John, you can read 18 pages worth of suggestions starting here.
Well this is July 2008 and I am wondering where this is? So far I have read most of the post on a unit That I believe is AVN2210p. There is a new unit Eclipse Avn2210p Mk II that is now available. Are these problems solved in the new unit? Does anyone know for sure on this post know what is what? Are the post talking about US units that don’t work in Europe or US units not working in the US when updated with the new software from TomTom?
Is the TomTom in this unit a special made unit for this only or is it a existing unit that is modified to fit the radio? Do the updates at TomTom home work on this unit and the radio? I’m not sure if I can make an guess at this being a good buy or not from the post.
And what is up with this link in post 104 that goes nowhere?
The mkII is the same thing only it has blue lights instead of red, and it comes with the travel kit included.
If you want to know if something is “solved” we’ll need to know which issue you are asking about. Most people here are talking about US units, although there are a few people in Europe as well.
The device does work fine with the TomTom HOME software/updates. The hardware is designed in part based on the GO 510, although it is a different model.
Thank you for the update. Most of the questions centered around if the BlueTooth is working with their phones and if the mic was picking up their voice. Does the new unit fix that or was it the software upgrade in the TomTom; or has it been fixed at all? The issue with start up time and the USB port (is that fixed in the new unit)? The Ipod cable is available now as I understand it, if connected when you start the car does it scan all the files on the Ipod (including any video or pictures or other files I may have on the Ipod) before starting? When you shut off the car does it break the link to the bluetooth connection on the phone or do you have to walk away (30-50 feet)first?
Bluetooth works fairly well for me with my iPhone. Doesn’t work so well with an older Treo– it really depends on the phone. I’ve been told by Eclipse that there is something different about Bluetooth on the mkii, but they haven’t been able to tell me exactly what is different. The iPod cable is available and works well. it does can all of the files when the car starts, but it only takes a couple of seconds– nowhere near as long as scanning a USB drive. If you want to continue a call and shut down the car, transfer it to a different audio source first.
Thank you for the update. I am looking to replace my car unit and this looks good. I have a TomTom 920 now and love the unit. The updates everyday and on the fly corrections are great. I have had autos with In-Dash units and will never have one again. The maps were outdated when I bought the car and no one knew any thing about it. The dealership was lost every time it stopped working. The TomTom just works. Updates every day with the latest corrections and just works.
This MKII must be a new unit. I have looked it up and only 2 places carry it now. Most sites just refer you to the old unit.
Hummmm I just reread you comment about transfering to another audio source to keep the call going. I have another question now. If you phone is paired with a ear piece say and you enter the car and turn it on does the bluetooth sync with the phone? Upon leaving the car does it free the ear piece up to reconnect with the phone? I have a Motorola Q and it will connect and reconnect to bluetooth devices I have paired up with within range. I am also wondering if you can use the voice dial to diall out with this unit. My 920 loads the address book in it and uses it to call from.
This device doesn’t currently support MapShare, so you won’t get the “on the fly corrections”. The mkii is newer, but not all that new. This just wasn’t all that popular of a device due to the installation type.
If your phone is connected to another audio source it isn’t going to automatically switch– you would have to request the switch via the phone. No voice dial.
Bummer……. Well I guess I will look at some others. I really like the MapShare. Thank you for the help.
I have a 2007 Toyota Highlander and had the avn2210p installed for me but they said the steering wheel audio control will not work. Does anyone know differently.Its not a big deal but it would be nice.
In the retail AVN2210p the wiring exists to hook it up– but I suppose it might not be compatible with all vehicles.
Does the TMC traffic service work with this unit in the US? Do you have to do anything or get a subscription for it to work?
thanks
I don’t believe TMC will work however traffic should work via a compatible Bluetooth phone/plan.
I bought this unit when it came out. I will say that I do like it but i’ve had my share of issues with it. First, steer clear of using the usb for your ipod. that kept screwing up the files on my sd card. I had four units put in before they realized the real problem was the sd card the whole time. that might have been the problem with some of your restart problems. It would also mess with the cd player, eating cds and not giving them back. the face would open, nothing would happen, and then the face would stay open.
Second, the bluetooth sucks. You can hear the other person absolutely perfect. Ask them how it sounds to them and all i get is complaints. You practically have to put ur face up to the radio for them to hear you.
The ipod cable works fine…restarts everytime with the same song. sometimes if you leave it plugged in and restart ur car it will only read 85% of ur library and will only play one song.
Overall, the unit works fine. I like the fact i can take it out and use it in other cars. I got the travel kit free. it sounds good as an aftermarket stereo. I bought it when it was 800 and then a short month later it went on sale so i was bitter about that. The price drop coupled with the constant in and out of units did sour my feelings for this, but it does work fine. worth f 400 dollars.
I hope I am totally waking a dead page but I will add my info about this device. I have it installed in Pontiac GTO with SWI-PAC ECL steering wheel controls. The only button on the wheel that no longer works for me is the mute button. All others work fine. I have used Bluetooth with a Blackberry Pearl, Nokia 6555b, and Motorola RazrV3. All worked flawlessly and voice hearing was not negligable for my callers. The DoubleDin placement in my car is low and away from to much noice and light so the DUO is easy to see in both brigh sun and night. The unit of cource will not support SDHC cards and I currently have a 2GB car no problem. There are several Audio and Video apps 3rd party to address what some have asked for when playing music via SD Card but with CD and USB that seems like a moot issue to me. I find that keeping files organized helps the DUO scan quicker. I have the most current version and have not experienced the rebooting issues.
Thanks for sharing, Alec.
For those who are having rebooting issues. Using Notepad or similar, creating a poweroff.txt file on your PC/Mac and save as poweroff without the .txt extension to the root of your tomtom.
Those steps were targeting devices that are running version 8 of the TomTom app that are having trouble with the device spontaneously booting after it had been turned off for some time. It is a different issue than the issue people were having with the DUO. (And it didn’t even really fix the issue for the device it was trying to fix.)
hey i used to have a z3 in dash untill recently was robbed for it i wanted to get a portable navigation that also plays audio i wanted to know if this system work with a loaded car audio system amp the whole 9.. reason i ask is because a geek squad rep said i may not and i need a system fast….. and has anyone heard of the pioneer f500tb?
I recently bought a Toyota Urban Runner with this system factory installed. The dealer was pretty clueless about ipod connection, so I was looking into it on my own. I know what cable I need, but I was hoping someone could tell me how it looks once installed in the car. Is it just dangling out of the dash somewhere or is it hidden in the center console. I am concerned about the ascetics after the installation, so please, if you know, let me know!
Annie,
I have an ‘07 Sport 4Runner and the iPod connect is in the center console/arm rest. I don’t have this unit, but I was thinking about having it installed until I read about all the the support issues.
Check the center console between the front seats. It is difficult if you have big hands (I do, and I’m sure you don’t). But, you can plug in the standard jack cable and have your iPod going. Let me know if this works.
Also, I currently have the Sirrius 6 disk changer. Does your unit get Sirrius or XM radio? Does the factory unit have 6 disk or DVD capabilities?
Most importantly, how do you like it??
Thanks,
Adam
The cable installs into the back of the system, and I don’t recall for certain but think it was about 4 feet long. You can run it wherever you like, so in a sense it will just dangle somewhere but you could dangle it wherever you like.
Just a note that we expect the AVN2210p to get a big brother in the next few weeks: TomTom Eclipse AVN4430
Does anyone have a link to previous versions of the Navcore app? I am looking for a link for version 6.50. I have contacted TT support and they insist that 6.553 is the earliest version they can send me. Thanks!
Sid, I think most people are getting better stability with the newest version 7 app over the older version 6 apps. Have you tried the v7 app?
Tim, thanks for your response. I was at version 7.831 when I lost all functionality of my head unit. I really want to go back to 6.550 or earlier before I have to rip out my deck and send it back to Fujitsu for repair/refurb. I wonder if Fujitsu/Eclipse is aware of the v7 app?
I recently got the eclipse tomtom AVN2210p from [deleted]. Based on some of these posts, it seems like I got a good deal. The only problem is that the unit didn’t come with any cords or harness for the back. Anyone know what all I would need to hook it into a 2006 Jeep Liberty, and/or where to look for it?
Sorry. Also, do you know if it is compatible with blackberries as far as the tomtom plus features?
Do a google search for eclipse diamond service or have your local radio shop order the part for you.
I had to send mine back to them to get it repaired, luckily it was still under warranty. I have not had any luck with the TT plus services with my Verizon 8330. Not sure if CDMA has anything to do with it, but on the list of preloaded handsets, it is only GSM carriers and lots of Euro carriers, which makes sense when you look at TT.
I think TomTom has pretty much stopped supporting the DUO, and has orphaned it. Its no longer on their website for map upgrades when you choose what GPS you have, and TomTom HOME software, in the latest version does not even offer newer maps apparently.
I even wrote recently to them and asked if this was the case, and they have not returned the email.
So as someone who bought this product, I absolutely can not recomend buying it, or the newer TomTom/Fujitsu model either.
I have to agree, unless someone is giving you this unit, there is no way I would recommend spending money on it. The support was lacking throughout the product life cycle. Now that the AVN4430 has been released, my only hope is to obtain the application and maps designed for the 4430 and see if I can load them on the 2210. Although my 2210 is back in my possession and working perfectly, during my journey of trying to get it fixed I found too much of the blame game. TT blames Eclipse, and vice versa. Even when I went to CES, they had a TT rep at the Eclipse booth. The Eclipse rep listened to my comments and complaints and then assured me that communication between TT and ECL SW developers had increased for the 4430. When I asked about support for the 2210, he pointed me over to the TT rep’s kiosk, we walked over and he immediately blamed TT! “I don’t know why the TT rep left early; he is going to be in trouble tomorrow for this”. I just chuckled inside. The next day I came back to talk to the TT rep, and I was commenting how much I liked the new 4430 and why the 2210 wasn’t more like it, he went off on ECL! “Eclipse designed the 2210! It is such an ugly device, etc”. I thought I was in a scene from the movie Groundhog Day.
Never have I had such a bad case of buyer’s remorse! When looking at how slick the 4430 is and the increased functionality, it makes the 2210 look like something Fred Flintstone put in his ride. Despite my horrendous experience with the 2210, I would still recommend the 4430. It is as if the 2210 was just a beta. The 4430 has fixed several of the things I didn’t like about the 2210. Such as:
1. Bigger wide screen display
2. When using the iPod controller, the damn song doesn’t start back at the first song installed in the root directory EVERY TIME.
3. The Bluetooth mic is physically on the TT PND, so you can still use Bluetooth when you take your PND out of your car.
4. You can now play DVD’s
5. You have front and rear view camera viewing capabilities.
6. The virtually useless USB connection has been moved from the face of the device to the back.
7. The face doesn’t protrude forward, ruining a flush mount.
I am sure there are more reasons why the AVN4430 is better than the AVN2210, but you get the idea. In my epic journey to get the AVN2210 serviced, I have learned everything there is to know about this device. If anyone has any questions, please reach out to me. Lastly, as of this post, the most recent map version for the AVN2210 is 6.75, with the most recent app version being 6.553. I am sure you can upgrade the app to the current 7.XXX, but nothing after 6.553 will be supported, that is if you think being told that it’s the other company’s fault qualifies as support. If you do upgrade past 6.553, make sure you have a back up!!!
Oh yes, their great support, where you felt like you are a ping-pong ball. TomTom tells you it is not their product and has you call Fujitsu, Fujitsu tells you to call TomTom. One will spend hours on the phone, at times they accidentally hang up or give you the wrong number. TomTom will tell you it is a Fujitsu GPS even though it says TomTom on it in 3 places.
Mine shipped with ancient maps, that do not even show any of my neighborhood streets, nor was I even able to get any newer maps from them when I bought it.
Sid is correct, we were basically beta testers, and basically got dumped afterwards. Except that we paid a lot of money to be beta testers. It would behoove TomTom/Fujitsu to offer us some kind of good trade up program, maybe even some new maps, for all the time and trouble, and money we spent on them.
And if this level of service continues for their AVN4430, someone would have to be insane to buy it. Its too bad, even the 2210P was great in concept, just flawed and with horrid support.
Ron,
So your experience was akin to a ping-pong ball huh? My experience was more like a pinball stuck on a never-ending carousel ride where the person next to you just ralph’ed all over themselves and every so often a little bit gets on you. I joke about it because I have been through all the previous phases of a terrible customer experience and have resigned myself to accepting the reality. I am still going to write the executives over at TT, just because I can find their email addresses on Jigsaw. I wish there was some sort of trade up program and I will pass on the word if I hear back from TT. [deleted] To everyone else, do not spend US dollars on the AVN2210; I am not certain I would even spend Zimbabwean dollars on it. I do not see anyone selling the AVN4430 currently, but when it comes out; keep in mind it has been through some serious beta testing.
Sid, while I agree with many of your points we have zero tolerance over theft of maps. While I understand the frustration of TomTom no longer supporting their product with map updates, we will not tolerate people using this site to illegally obtain maps.
Tim,
My apologies! It will not happen again.
Thanks!
I agree with much that has been recently said. Why no more map updates available? Why when I call Eclipse to they always say “ask TomTom”? Why when I call TomTom do they always say “ask Eclipse”?
The one I have now has a seemingly hardware issue where the GPS will no longer provide any audio when docked. The CD player works, the iPod connection works, the USB port works, and the GPS audio works fine when it is not docked, but when docked you can tell the GPS thinks it is speaking, but no audio is sent out to the car. The connectors on the back of the GPS have become very corroded, so I suspect it is some type of a connection issue there.
I know this is OT, but had to say this. Copying maps is NOT theft. Nothing is being stolen. It is copying. While the act of copying may be illegal (and most countries it is), it is still not theft. This is a misconseption pushed to us to make the illegal act seem more graphic than it is.
As for the ongoing discussion about TT/Eclipse’s extremely bad customer “support”. I have a AVN2210 and wrote to Ecplipse about it (on two occations) to ask for help/info. They have not replied once, nothing, total silence. Unforgiveable!
I for one advice all people to steer clear of all Eclipse/Fujitsu-Ten products. The AVN2210 will be my last, and I will get rid of it when I sell the car it’s installed. As for TT support, I have no personal experience but just by what I have read here, I am very unlikely to ever buy any of their products again either.
Doesn’t matter what you call it– it is illegal and it will not be tolerated here. I don’t care if you call it “illegal copying”, “theft”, or “stealing” it is no less of an illegal activity than walking out the door without paying for something. End of discussion on this matter.
If anyone hears ab a trade in value on the other piece of crap sticking two inches out of my dash, please let me know. Also, not sure if u guys have done this, but if u update ur tt home, u can update the duo w a more current app. Thanks for any info u can give.
It is time we start a grass roots movement to get the support we deserve when purchasing the AVN2210.
Here is the email address of Wolfgang Reelitz, VP Sales Automotive. I also managed to find the email address for PR, and the CEO. I urge anyone who has been affected by the lack of support to email TomTom. Hopefully they will give us the proper support, maps, or a trade-up option.
anette.hendrickx@tomtom.com (PR)
wolfgang.reelitz@tomtom.com (VP of Sales Automotive)
harold.goddijn@tomtom.com (CEO)
Good luck!
What is the most current map that people have seen? TomTom did offer me 675, but that is a two year old map that is hardly changed from the 665 that it shipped with.
675 is the latest available for it.
Ron, I have the 7.25 maps. I had to upgrade the OS to get these to load. Nice thing is now I have \map corrections\ so it makes it a bit easier to get small updates.
Alec
My Eclipse came with the 665, and I have heard the 675 still does not even have any of the streets on it in the part of town I live in, which was built in 2006.
I did put on it a 7.831 navcore a while back, but then it seemed I could not download much of anything from HOME, and was not offered ANY maps to download.
Tim I will double check but I think I have the v7.25 maps.
Alec
I have the 7.25.1904 maps on the 7.832 OS for the TomTom Eclipse & Toyota on a 2GB non-HC SD card. When I upgraded to this OS, Mapshare was enabled via TomTom home but I lost SDKregistry items like video and MP3s directly from the PND. I can say that the majority of my neighborhood, built in 2005, is on these sets of maps. The cul-de-sacs that are missing aren’t even on Google, yahoo, or MS Virtual Earth yet.
Alec, did you get the 7.25.1904 maps on the 7.832 OS for the TomTom Eclipse from TomTom? Just wondering how I can upgrade a refurbished 2210P I bought last week.
I tried this morning but it does not look like TomTom has them online and possibly you have to use the HOME application. If you would like to email me at owlick(at)hotmail.com I can give you some instructions on how I got them from TomTom.
I just upgraded to the 7.832 OS and now my Sirius Sat. will not changes station that I have preset. I can do it manually but using the touch screen does not work. I reset the device but still not working. Anyone else have this issue and if they know a fix, please let me know. Thanks!
Kurt
Did you also do the CD update? It is for XM, not Sirius, but perhaps it might have something to do with it, I don’t know… http://www.eclipse-web.com/us/upgrades/index.html
Yes, I did apply the XM update. I too was hoping that would fix the problem but it did not. Any other ideas? I sent Tomtom a note but I have not heard back yet.
After 3 attempts I got the TT CS to at least get my sirius preset issue resolved by rolling back to the 6.55 application. I really would like the 7.831 so I can try and get the 7.xx maps. Does anyone have a copy of the 7.831 ? That was my most stable version. Thanks!
I believe the 7.833 fixes the Sirius presets issues.
Brother, I know what you are stepping in, I have stepped in it myself. Please check out post # 136.
I did it. I killed the tomtom. I tried to reload the backup onto my tomtom after I updated it with all the awful new software. As I was doing this, ab halfway through the upload there was an error. Said it couldnt complete. When i unhooked my tomtom, the only thing it would do was turn on the black screen that says tomtom and go to the screen that loads the data, then the eclipse screen, then power down only to repeat the process. wow…
Chris, this happened to me before and my fix was to move all content from the original card to another new card. I think for some reason the original card got corrupted. I also think it was doing this when I tried to use the SDHC cards which do not work as far as I know.
I am not sure if you have anything that can pull the data off that SD card and reload onto another to see if you can get past the reboot or not but I would try that before making it a paperweight. /my2cents
Does anyone know what is the difference between Navcore 7.831 and 7.832?
So good news about my tomtom. I called Eclipse support and told them what happened with the gps and told them what I have had to endure with owning one of these units (post#116), and they ended up sending me a whole new 2210. I got it put in the other day and so far, so good. Working like new.
I have the 2210 in the 2008 toyota 4runner urban runner pkg. Went through the red X of death issues and Toyota replaced the card (Black) with version 7.xxx. All is well. Then bought the iPC-107p ipod cable reccomended for the 2210 and installed it. Now on start up of my 4runner I get a totally random series of events deling with the TomTom unit and ipod interface. When I start up the 4runner the 2210 will be in radio mode. Fine. Start it agian, now it remained in ipod mode. OK? Start it later again still in ipod mode but seems to be lock up. I can switch between ipod screen and Nav on the TomTom, but the ipod screen will show the last song I heard before shutting down the engine. Sometimes the ipod screen shows nothing. When this happens if I switch to radio then back to ipod on the 2210 controls itsef the ipod will start playing again.
I dont get it. Its totally random so I cant narrow the cause down. Has anyone experienced this or can think of a fix? Of course TomTom nor Eclipse had an answer. Blame each other.
HELP!!!
I have the IPC-107p cable and haven’t seen those things myself. I’ve seen other strange things, but not those.
I am using an ipod mini. I wonder if that is the cause. What are you using?
I typically use a mini as well, but also frequently use an iPhone (original 2G) as well as an iPhone 3G.
Jake,
Sorry to hear about your problem with the AVN2210. As an armchair technician, exactly which application version and which map version are you using? I have the AVN2210, using the Sirius module, and the iPod cable with my iPod Touch. I got so fed up with the primitive AVN2210 iPod menu that I just decided to keep the cable and use it only to charge my iPod when needed, and use the AUX input to run the iPod. That way I can keep using the Apple software. Definitely let me know which application version you are using. I have been on countless message boards, spent hours researching the AVN2210, and have never heard of your problem, but my experiences point to the application version. On a side note, the best shot all AVN2210 owners have is waiting for the release of AVN4430 so that TT can start supporting it. Once that is out, use the firmware application from that device and see what happens. Let me know if there is anything else I can do to try to help.
Here is minus my device serial#, what the version screen shows:
TomTom Toyota
App 7.832 (8707/080904) OS:220942
64MB RAM (free 22.9MB)
GPS v1.21, Boot 8.0017
Map: ‘USA_and_Canada’ v720.1802
I have searched the net everywhere and havent found anything like this also. Thats why I am so frustrated. Do you think the clearflash download would solve it? I had the same issues using a friends ipod, so my mini has been ruled out. I have heard of so many problems of people using TomTom home and getting the red X of death so I havent downloaded nor hooked my Tom Tom to my computer. My current version came with the new card I got from Toyota which has the Tom Tom emblem on it and says USA and Canda. Toyota had a service bulletin to replace the card if customers had the Red X. The new card I recieved is Black not the blue card that became corrupt after using my Tom Tom after 2 weeks.
The Red X just happens when you disconnect the TomTom before HOME has finished writing files to it. Even if you get it… it is easily corrected just by replacing the application again.
And while dealing with TT support, they are doing it again. Telling me that they actually do not have anything to do with the TomTom Eclipse GPS part of it, all they did was let Eclipse use the TomTom name.
Card got corrupted, so put 7.832 navcore on there then copied maps. Activation code does not work.
Well – I made the ultimate mistake! I gave Eclipse a second chance and bought the AVN4430.
I already have the AVN2210P and I have had the same issues that others have reported on here. To be fair most of these are now sorted with the latest software.
I saw the new 4430 advertised and liked the sleeker look with the widescreen etc. So I decided to give Eclipse another chance and I bought it.
Unfortunately there is some problem with the Ipod interface i.e it doesn’t restart from the last song like its supposed to. So its exactly like the 2210P in that respect. While it plays all the songs OK, it doesn’t hold the Ipod preferences i.e. “Shuffle” and “repeat”. At each restart, both of these boxes are unticked when they would have been selected at switch off. I’m not concerned with the “repeat” function but I always leave my 2210P on “shuffle”.
My own Ipod is a 4th gen model so I borrowed a friends 5th gen Ipod just to try it in case mine was faulty – although mine worked fine on the 2210P. The 5th gen didn’t work at all!! It just said “connecting to…..Ipod” and that was it.
The worst part of this saga is that Eclipse will not answer my emails on the subject. I have tried to contact them about 4 times and have gotten no reply.
So it looks like I will have to return it to the Seller. Unfortunately this whole experience will have cost me about $230 as I had the unit shipped to Europe, paid customs charges, downloaded a European map and will now have to pay to return it.
So I will NEVER buy another Eclipse product and I would urge other potential buyers to think twice before they do.
I was wondering if anyone has any ideas on fixing the issue of the speakerphone? I have been told that I am hard to hear when using the mic on the Eclipse (like I’m talking through a tin can) I wondered if it was possible to attach an external mic to make the sound better?
Also, Im using an iphone 3G and found that the volume of the person I am talking to is quite low and I can’t adjust the volume at all. While talking to them, there is a menu that pops up on the Eclipse and it says I can adjust the volume from the screen instead of using the volume knob, but when I try to adjust it, I disconnect the call instead. Oops. Has anyone else had this issue?
Hi,
I’ve just got AVN2210 on my Corolla. Installed TomTom Home software to install TomTom Plus software. After connecting my TomTom to computer it upgraded my TomTom to version 7.903. Now when I’m PND to system its rebooting itself. Called TomTom they asked me to change the application version to 7.832 however its not available on website and they won’y support me as I’ve to contact Fujitsu. Called Fujitsu they asked me to go back to my dealer.
Just want to check if anybody has similar issues? Is there any place from where I can download 7.832 navcore or if somebody has software is possible to email me?
AS – you can download it direct from TomTom:
http://download.tomtom.com/sweet/navcore/navcore_7.832.8707.newcastle7.cab
Thanks a ton! It really helped. I managed to fix the PND.
Do you still have a copy of the 7.9 application? TT Home will not auto update me to that version. Has anyone else picked up 7.9? I would like to try it. I get better help from this forum than TT Support so I appreciate any help / advice.
Kurt
Further to my post about the AVN4430, Eclipse eventually responded to my queries. After numerous emails it transpires that the AVN4430 has software problems just like the 2210P. Eclipse are working on a \solution\ but I returned the unit to the Seller.
I really can believe that Eclipse have once again released a unit that does not perform as it should. Do they not have a quality control department?
I will NEVER buy another Eclipse product.
We have a specific page for the TomTom Eclipse AVN4430. Let’s leave comments about the 4430 on that page and keep this page for discussing the 2210p.
Apologies Tim. You can remove my 2 posts here.
No worries– just wanted to make sure people reading the 4430 page saw your info.
I NEED SOME BODY TO HELP ME WITH THE PROBLEM OF MY ECLIPSE AVN 2210P ITS GIVEN ME A RED X.
Ricardo, use HOME to delete the application from your device, then reinstall.
I found a 7.12 version of the eclipse app and want to upgrade from 6.55. Can anyone provide instuctions how to get the app installed. Notice my previous note (141), for some reason the 7.8 version does not allow me to us presets with the Sirius Sat as it does for previous versions.
Kurt – To replace the app you just overwrite the files on the device that have the same name as the ones you are dropping in.
Hello- Does anyone have a wiring diagram for the connectors on the back of this unit? Thanks.
Should I go through the email addresses in post 136 to try and get updated maps for a refurbished 2210 I got a few weeks ago?
I’d like to get version 7.25.1904 maps. Is it pointless at this point?
Thanks for any advice.
charesty,
I got the maps from TomTom via their Web site. I ordered them through the TomTom store and I did not get them through the HOME application. They would not install at first because I was using an older OS version and the person at TomTOm I spoke to said the map versions should not have been offered to me on the store based on my OS and model. But, I was able to download and manually install them. Although, I believe the newer HOME application should get you the newer maps if you have the newer OS. I had both old HOME application and older OS at the time.
Also the current OS has been upgraded to 7.833 which I believe fixes the Sirius presets issue. Also, I believe version 825.2159 maps for US and Canada work with the 7.833 OS. See http://www.tomtomforums.com/tomtom-one-xl/16839-eclipse-map-updated.html.
Thanks for the update. The new application 7.833 did fix my Sirius preset issue. I will update the home application but the reps at TT and a “supervisor” told me I cannot get updated maps which is infuriating since I know many of you did get the update. My version is v675.1409 which is old.
Hi, I have a 2009 4Runner UrbanSport with the Tomtom system and keep having a recurring problem that Toyota nor their “stereo” company knows how to fix. I am supposed to be able to switch between the Tuner/CD/Aux, etc using the source button. Last week my whole stereo reset my preset stations, etc. Now I am unable to view the Aux option (enabling me to listen to the DVD player). The first two times this happened Toyota “accidently” fixed it by “resetting” the device. I am not sure how they reset it as the little reset button does nothing. Now I am getting the run around because no one seems to know how to fix this problem. Any ideas?
Has anyon gotten the CD update to work?
http://www.eclipse-web.com/us/upgrades/index.html
Every time I try i get stuck on the arrow up step, the CD ejects at this point and it never upgrades.
Any suggesstions?