Monday 31 January 2011

Ipod Accessory - gps, tomtom


1. Hardware is great. Very easy to install and take down so the mount is not visible when parked. Love the suction cup.



2. Second to other comments. CoPilot Live USA is $4.95 in the app store and works great, so forget paying for TomTom software. It even gives you the option to completely mute, merely quiet, or simply speak on top of music. CoPilot is very sophisticated and has lots of options so you aren't missing much. I've read reviews that said it was better designed for ipod/iphone interface.



3. One thing - you must have the ipod connected on startup of ipod for CoPilot Live USA to recognize device. The ipod then recognizes that the device works with TomTom software, asks if you want to download. Say no and then fire up CoPilot. Works great. TomTom Car Kit for iPod touch (compatible with 1st and 2nd Generation)

I've been going back and forth on buying a GPS for awhile now. I actually did buy one for my parents for Christmas the other year - and have subsequently borrowed it from them here and there. But I really don't find myself needing one enough to put down $100+ on one.



Likewise, I'm not a cellphone sort of person either. I have a cheap TracFone for those few times that I need to be in touch when I'm away from landlines. But frankly, it sits on the kitchen counter an awful lot. I don't have a need for the voice and data plans that regular phones offer and I'm certainly not going to spend the money for them.



But I do have an iPod Touch that I use for everything from my music to my ToDo list to my calendar and contacts and a bunch of other apps that I use. And I found a great little app for GPS called CoPilot USA. It is $4.99 in the iTunes app store, but I actually got it for free awhile back when they were having a promotion (pay attention to dealmac for free and discounted iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad apps). Only problem is that the 3rd Gen iPod Touch that I have doesn't have a GPS unit in it like the iPhone does...



I knew about the TomTom unit, but again, it is nearly the price of some of the low end standalone units. However, when Amazon offered the TomTom unit for $29.99 last week I jumped on it!



The unit is very basic, consisting of a mount with a suction cup for the iPod, a power cord that plugs into the mount and your cigarette lighter, and a disc to adhere to your dash if you don't want to suction cup the mount to your windshield. You do have to provide power to the mount, so this is not something you could use to carry your iPod along to use as a handheld GPS. Also, every time I connect the mount to my iPod a warning comes up that I don't have the app required for it and would I like to download it from iTunes? Apparently it automatically searches for the TomTom app. But this is a minor inconvenience and simple enough to just click "no" when it comes up. [edit] I have since found that there is a free TomTom app available on iTunes that disables this popup as well as provides access to other settings for the mount.



The CoPilot USA app is pretty simplistic. I've already found a couple issues with the maps. But for what I want, it works well. There is another version of the software called CoPilot Live for $35 as well as international versions. But as others have mentioned, if you're going to pay $70+ for the mount plus the software you might as well consider a low end dedicated GPS. However, for $30~$35 for the mount and CoPilot USA it is a cheap alternative for those with an iPod Touch.

The Sonix case for the ipod touch adds enough size to the fourth generation ipod touch to fit this car kit! I was very happy when it fit really nicely. The car kit is a little sluggish but gets the job done. If you have the new ipod and want to use it as a GPS, then also buy the Sonix case with it. Enjoy!

Great for getting gps capabilities on your ipod touch. Fit your touch perfectly and boosts the volume (I am waiting to get a aux cable so that i can play through my stereo). Worked perfectly with my copilot live usa app, but i would not recommend the app since it continually says not enough space and does not have tts, but in terms of the car kit it hooked up to the gps signal no problem. If you are using an app other than a tom tom one be sure to download the car kit app, since then there wont be any pop ups.



I would definitely recommend this product to anyone with an ipod touch, I mean i would probably pay close to this amount just for a touch car charger and speaker boost, but it also comes with the strongest gps (I think much stronger than the 3g is too)

I just got it today, and it works on ipod touch 4th gen. (new generation), but!!.. you have to put it either with you ipod protective case, or, if you don't have a protective case, put a piece of paper on top to make some pressure, because this kit is made for 1st gen up to 3rd gen, and the new 4th generation is too slim, so the metal dock contacts dont get bond with the car kit metal contacts and it gets disconnected very easy. So it is great that you don't have to take the ipod out of its protective case to fit in the car kit, as some people said in some comments, instead, it needs it to make some pressure for the ipod and car kit make contact. It does charge it, and what I really like about it, is that, I have a sony car stereo, and I always connect my ipod to the sony car stereo trough bluetooth to play audio, aand now I can use the tomtom car kit, and, at the same time, connect it to my stereo trough bluetooth to play audo, and the directions ! It works with other GPS apps, such as Navigon. This gps app is the only one that I have tried today as I read some comments about the tomtom gps app vs the Navigon app. It works pretty well. - Gps - Ipod Accessory - Tomtom - Ipod Touch'


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