Tom Tom 6 and Artemis. Hoping my Initial Impressions may help someone.
Hi,
I'm a newbie... not up to the high standards of others here. But I thought it might be useful to give a newbies initial impressions on running TomTom 6 (application+DVD) on an Artemis.
I ordered TomTom from TomTom online. They quoted up to 5 weeks, but it took 5 days to get the DVD which contains application and Europe map and I received my TomTom 6 this afternoon and loaded it on my XDA Orbit with no real problems. (See below)
This goes against the advice of TomTom who say that it is not supported yet.
I started by resetting the XDA Orbit clean, which obliterated CoPilot.
TomTom 6 installed easily from the installation DVD.
Using the application software, I put the main program in the memory of the XDA, but put the maps and extra bits on a 2GB card. I was nervous about buying a 4gb or larger card , and so purchased a CNEX Flash format program to give me better control of what was happening on the Flash card.
The program installs on the PC first, and shows a split screen showing what's available to you on the left (e.g. DVD) and what's on your Artemis on the right (Memory & Flash card).
Registering was easy, but if you elect to pay for the Traffic reports etc, it's advisory to read the instructions to avoid losing out on the free month.
Finally, I downloaded John Cleese's voice at 10 Euros, since I'm a Python fan. This is nice.
Comparing it to CoPilot some issues struck me.
Good News?
-----------
First,It seems to be working well.
To my mind the range of TomTom extras seems huge and well developed. Colours, maps, layouts, voices. Good stuff.
I don't get CoPilot starting up at every opportunity.. like incoming calls. (Yes I've disabled the button)
I'll add to this thread anything I discover.
Problems?
----------
First, TomTom does not have an 'Exit' in the program like CoPilot. This was/is a pain.
No doubt I'll discover an answer from some helpful soul soon.
I press the red phone icon when in TomTom which brings up the XDA's menu. I can then I'm select Memory, Programs in use, and hit it over the head with a mallet.
It does raise the question what happens if someone rings me? More investigation needed.
Secondly, Tom Tom does not have a menu structure. You just touch the map which brings up options via icons. It works, but was/is not intuitive for me as CoPilot was.
I think I prefer the 2d direction maps of CoPilot to the 3D of TomTom. But it's early days.
General
-------
I have always had low Satellite reception on my XDA Orbit. Particularly in my house. CoPilot vsTomTom made no difference. In the car reception worked fine even with a heated front windscreen.
I've still got some ferreting around to do. I want to increase the warning distance from 200metres for one thing. I've also got to find out about the Traffic Alerts and how it works and can suggest rerouting etc.
All the best.
Hello!
It's obviuos you're quite new to TT, since there is an exit-button in TT, well it's somehow misplaced but it's there. When TT shows the map -> tap on the screen -> hit the next page button twice -> voila the exit button.
To edit the menu to your likings you can build your own TT menu. Onlineversion & Offlineversion. Just to make things clear the TomTom.mnu belongs in \TomTom\SdkRegistry
It does'nt make a difference if you use TT or another GPS-capable software in terms of GPS reception it depends only on the location your are roaming in (and I must say I'm more then positiv suprised with the quality of the GPS chip compared to all other devices I had before). Every software gets the same data from the Orbits inbuild GPS chip (well if you are intend to try MN6 it is likely you will experince problems with the positioning but it's cause MN6 is running slow as hell)
INFO:
There are hundreds of pois out there for TT for almost every thing, some are free and some are...well...search the internet.
...bye DonQ
DonQuichotte said:
Hello!
It's obviuos you're quite new to TT, since there is an exit-button in TT, well it's somehow misplaced but it's there. When TT shows the map -> tap on the screen -> hit the next page button twice -> voila the exit button.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yep. Day1! Thanks Don. Missed it completely!
DonQuichotte said:
To edit the menu to your likings you can build your own TT menu. Onlineversion & Offlineversion.
Just to make things clear the TomTom.mnu belongs in \TomTom\SdkRegistry
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. The idea of being able to construct the pages in your own desired order is very appealing.
DonQuichotte said:
It does'nt make a difference if you use TT or another GPS-capable software in terms of GPS reception it depends only on the location your are roaming in (and I must say I'm more then positiv suprised with the quality of the GPS chip compared to all other devices I had before).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's helpful. It's my first foray into GPS stuff, and I was suprised when I lost CoPilot over the Christmas period. The o2 rep said that it was the fog, and I still am sceptical that that was the whole story.
DonQuichotte said:
Every software gets the same data from the Orbits inbuild GPS chip (well if you are intend to try MN6 it is likely you will experince problems with the positioning but it's cause MN6 is running slow as hell)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could you just expand a bit on this please ? Thanks.
DonQuichotte said:
INFO:
There are hundreds of pois out there for TT for almost every thing, some are free and some are...well...search the internet.
...bye DonQ
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks again
Ann D
Hello,
andromeda9 said:
Could you just expand a bit on this please ? Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What exactly do you wanna know? The GPS reception or MN6?
I've taken a look at MN6 about 2 weeks ago and it was not usable in any way. Navigating through the menu was horrible slow and from what I've heard from others it gives voice instructions way too late, just when you have passed destination/turnings. Also calculating the route is very slow.
I had the chance to test MN6 on a PNA (Transonic 6000) the other week and even on this kind of device it was not running that well but much much better than on my Artemis.
...bye DonQ
DonQuichotte said:
Hello,
What exactly do you wanna know? The GPS reception or MN6?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm new to both.. but MN6 really. (I presume MN6 is TomTom6)
DonQuichotte said:
I've taken a look at MN6 about 2 weeks ago and it was not usable in any way. Navigating through the menu was horrible slow and from what I've heard from others it gives voice instructions way too late, just when you have passed destination/turnings.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I get you. Hence my comment earlier about wanting to give myself more than 200metres warning.
So far not yet past destinations... but it's only day two.
DonQuichotte said:
Also calculating the route is very slow.
I had the chance to test MN6 on a PNA (Transonic 6000) the other week and even on this kind of device it was not running that well but much much better than on my Artemis.
...bye DonQ
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That again is very helpful Don.
QUESTION:
-----------
Can you tell me whether the slowness etc is due to the software or is it something else?
I notice a thread about TomTom and T-Mobile MDA Compact 3 and it seems to run ok on that. Isn't the T-Mobile MDA Compact 3 roughly the same as my Orbit is is it the operator making a difference?
QUESTION:
-----------
Any tips to watch out for about running TomTom on the Orbit?
e.g. can for example the Artemis be overclocked and resolve some of these weaknesses ? What's your opinion?
Finally, I had NOT noticed but TomTom was booting up at each soft reset. I turned it off but hadn't noticed that the GPRS was still live ... hence a bigger bill for GPRS than I was expecting.
I had a look on the sd card and found the TomTom auto Autorun file called Start.exe in the root Dir of the card. I moved it into another folder and all is ok. Most of the time now TomTom does not start up unless I invoke it.
QUESTION:
-----------
When TomTom exits can the GPRS link be broken off automatically?.. might save me a few pennies?
Thanks
andromeda9 said:
QUESTION 1:
-----------
Can you tell me whether the slowness etc is due to the software or is it something else?
I notice a thread about TomTom and T-Mobile MDA Compact 3 and it seems to run ok on that. Isn't the T-Mobile MDA Compact 3 roughly the same as my Orbit is is it the operator making a difference?
QUESTION 2:
-----------
Any tips to watch out for about running TomTom on the Orbit?
e.g. can for example the Artemis be overclocked and resolve some of these weaknesses ? What's your opinion?
Finally, I had NOT noticed but TomTom was booting up at each soft reset. I turned it off but hadn't noticed that the GPRS was still live ... hence a bigger bill for GPRS than I was expecting.
I had a look on the sd card and found the TomTom auto Autorun file called Start.exe in the root Dir of the card. I moved it into another folder and all is ok. Most of the time now TomTom does not start up unless I invoke it.
QUESTION 3:
-----------
When TomTom exits can the GPRS link be broken off automatically?.. might save me a few pennies?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Ann,
I just got my MDAC3 as well and have just installed TT6 from a DVD. These are my thoughts to your questions above. I did a bit of web searching before I got one though, to find out that YES, the MDAC3 = O2 Orbit = Dopod P800W = HTC Artemis (with(out) various options made possible by Texas Instruments(the makers of the hardware) [MDAC3, Orbit, Dopod P800W are corporate brand names of the various carriers in their relevant countries, but are all know and referred to as ARTEMIS in the development circles.]
Answers to Q1 and Q2: -
I think the slowness may be due to a combination of several things.
a.) The type of microSD card you have in your set - when I was searching to buy one, I noticed there are 2 types : a normal one and and ultra II. The difference is the ultra II has a faster read/write speed, which is affects the general speed/performance of the TT6.
b.) AFAIK(As far as I Know) The orbit has a bit more capabilities than the MDAC3 such as WIFI. This additional function the same processor-OMAP850 has to cater for. Now, this porcessor is not necessarily the most efficient or the fastest available, so impacts performance as well.
c.) If you overclock, there will be a noticable improvement in performance, and a corresponding increase in battery consumption, but this may not translate to an improved experience with TT6, if you have it on a normal card vis ultra II.
The speed of refreshing the map overlay and playing the sound files associated I believe is the reason you hear the instructions after passing the landmarks/turnings, all of which I think is due to the card read/write spead again, plus the processor speed.
Answer to Q3
Its surprising that you mentioned GPRS - as this differs from GPS which the TomTom uses, though I was made to understand that a SatNav software may also use the GPRS (wierd - as this is VERY expensive if you dont have the unlimited package only available cheaply on T-Mobile). You may want to check the the connection settings of the TomTom, changing it to connect using the GPS on a port you set on the hardware.
Start Menu > Settings > System> GPS > Hardware (You may also set the port for TT6 to connect on the Program window.
TT6 starts the GPS receiver upon request for navigation (which I thought was intelligent - to save battery power)
Lastly,
IMOE (In my own Experience) I initially installed the TT6 software + maps from the DVD + POI overlay to the microSD ULTRA II, and noticed it froze up many times then I installed in the phone memory, removed the overlay (TT6 has a manageable one), maps still in the microSD and it stopped freezing up, plus refresh of map was every second.
Now I have overclocked with the hope of a good performance whilst multitasking, which is Ok with some combinations and not with others. Hence my conclusion as stated above. The processor really can be better, but Vs price, it will not be marketable in its class with the many ther products out there at the price it is given.
I hope I have been of some help.
Cheers
AD10
You can use a 2D map mode if you really want to, go to change preferences/ Turn off 3D display.
You can overclock the unit but I have found no valid reason to actually do this.
The GPRS charges are only applicable to the actual data transferred to/ from your device, so don't worry about it remaining connected - if there is no data traffic there will be no extra charges.
Leave the GPS applet alone (the one that exists in the settings menu) this often leads to confusion and is only really needed to be used/ set-up IF you want to run two applications at the same time (not something the Artemis excels at due to the processor power). Set to Other NMEA GPS receiver/ Baud 9600/ COM4 should be all that is required.
As for poor GPS reception, you mention the car has a heated screen, is this Athermic glass which is known to attenuate the signal or a standard wire heater element embeded in the glass (which do not affect GPS performance) - make sure the Quick GPS data is up to date, and don't drive around until the device has actually locked on to the signal - Mike
AD10 said:
Hi Ann,
I just got my MDAC3 as well and have just installed TT6 from a DVD. These are my thoughts to your questions above. I did a bit of web searching before I got one though, to find out that YES, the MDAC3 = O2 Orbit = Dopod P800W = HTC Artemis (with(out) various options made possible by Texas Instruments(the makers of the hardware) [MDAC3, Orbit, Dopod P800W are corporate brand names of the various carriers in their relevant countries, but are all know and referred to as ARTEMIS in the development circles.]
Answers to Q1 and Q2: -
I think the slowness may be due to a combination of several things.
a.) The type of microSD card you have in your set - when I was searching to buy one, I noticed there are 2 types : a normal one and and ultra II. The difference is the ultra II has a faster read/write speed, which is affects the general speed/performance of the TT6.
b.) AFAIK(As far as I Know) The orbit has a bit more capabilities than the MDAC3 such as WIFI. This additional function the same processor-OMAP850 has to cater for. Now, this porcessor is not necessarily the most efficient or the fastest available, so impacts performance as well.
c.) If you overclock, there will be a noticable improvement in performance, and a corresponding increase in battery consumption, but this may not translate to an improved experience with TT6, if you have it on a normal card vis ultra II.
The speed of refreshing the map overlay and playing the sound files associated I believe is the reason you hear the instructions after passing the landmarks/turnings, all of which I think is due to the card read/write spead again, plus the processor speed.
Answer to Q3
Its surprising that you mentioned GPRS - as this differs from GPS which the TomTom uses, though I was made to understand that a SatNav software may also use the GPRS (wierd - as this is VERY expensive if you dont have the unlimited package only available cheaply on T-Mobile). You may want to check the the connection settings of the TomTom, changing it to connect using the GPS on a port you set on the hardware.
Start Menu > Settings > System> GPS > Hardware (You may also set the port for TT6 to connect on the Program window.
TT6 starts the GPS receiver upon request for navigation (which I thought was intelligent - to save battery power)
Lastly,
IMOE (In my own Experience) I initially installed the TT6 software + maps from the DVD + POI overlay to the microSD ULTRA II, and noticed it froze up many times then I installed in the phone memory, removed the overlay (TT6 has a manageable one), maps still in the microSD and it stopped freezing up, plus refresh of map was every second.
Now I have overclocked with the hope of a good performance whilst multitasking, which is Ok with some combinations and not with others. Hence my conclusion as stated above. The processor really can be better, but Vs price, it will not be marketable in its class with the many ther products out there at the price it is given.
I hope I have been of some help.
Cheers
AD10
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Truly excellent stuff.
Thanks!
mikealder said:
You can use a 2D map mode if you really want to, go to change preferences/ Turn off 3D display.
You can overclock the unit but I have found no valid reason to actually do this.
The GPRS charges are only applicable to the actual data transferred to/ from your device, so don't worry about it remaining connected - if there is no data traffic there will be no extra charges.
Leave the GPS applet alone (the one that exists in the settings menu) this often leads to confusion and is only really needed to be used/ set-up IF you want to run two applications at the same time (not something the Artemis excels at due to the processor power). Set to Other NMEA GPS receiver/ Baud 9600/ COM4 should be all that is required.
As for poor GPS reception, you mention the car has a heated screen, is this Athermic glass which is known to attenuate the signal or a standard wire heater element embeded in the glass (which do not affect GPS performance) - make sure the Quick GPS data is up to date, and don't drive a
round until the device has actually locked on to the signal - Mike
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you Mike
They are very very useful tips!
Appreciated
hi there
i have just fot the xda orbit and just trying to find me way round it but i was hopeing for a helping hand from anyone on here , i want a sat nav on it but is there any software you can get which means you dont have to pay to use and i want a to try obatin spb pocket software any ideas how i would get that please
i look forward to hearing form anyone lol
briancross said:
i have just fot the xda orbit and just trying to find me way round it but i was hopeing for a helping hand from anyone on here , i want a sat nav on it but is there any software you can get which means you dont have to pay to use and i want a to try obatin spb pocket software any ideas how i would get that please
i look forward to hearing form anyone lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This thread is all about TomTom6. Best Sat-Nav software I have found for the Orbit. Doesn't cost anything to use after you purchase the software, unless you want to add the extra's, like Traffic data or Weather data.
TT6 and WM6 sloww processing
I updated my Orbit to WM6 yesterday and was a bit annoyed that TomTom has slowed down to a point where it's pretty useless for navigating. this is made worse by the fact that on WM5 it was faultless, and a lot faster to process than an Eten glofiish X500, which has a 400MHz processor!
Can I roll my Orbit back to WM5? If so, how do I do it?
nubbin said:
I updated my Orbit to WM6 yesterday and was a bit annoyed that TomTom has slowed down to a point where it's pretty useless for navigating. this is made worse by the fact that on WM5 it was faultless, and a lot faster to process than an Eten glofiish X500, which has a 400MHz processor!
Can I roll my Orbit back to WM5? If so, how do I do it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can download O2 UK WM5 ROM from these forums. just run this and you should be OK back to WM5.
On a different note. I too installed WM6 onto my Orbit and noticed NO slow down in speed of navigation. If anything I noticed it was slightly faster. Not sure why you experience the opposite from me.
Only thing I can think of is:- Did you install O2 WM6? or B&B v4?
Shand359 said:
You can download O2 UK WM5 ROM from these forums. just run this and you should be OK back to WM5.
On a different note. I too installed WM6 onto my Orbit and noticed NO slow down in speed of navigation. If anything I noticed it was slightly faster. Not sure why you experience the opposite from me.
Only thing I can think of is:- Did you install O2 WM6? or B&B v4?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've got my upgrade from the official O2 site. tell me more about B&B v4? What is it, where is it, and is it any good? Can I do another install over the O2 WM6? Thanks in advance.
nubbin said:
I've got my upgrade from the official O2 site. tell me more about B&B v4? What is it, where is it, and is it any good? Can I do another install over the O2 WM6? Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Go into the mobile 6 thread in the forums. Black & Blue version4 looks a lot better that O2's WM6 and runs a damn site faster too. Do not upgrade to O2 WM6 first though. You need to be running WM5 and then upgrade to B&B 4 as the upgrade does something to the handset and seems to block any further update.
Before you do anything you need to download and install USPL on your handset. If you don't do USPL first you will end up with a stylish "brick"
Shand359 said:
Go into the mobile 6 thread in the forums. Black & Blue version4 looks a lot better that O2's WM6 and runs a damn site faster too. Do not upgrade to O2 WM6 first though. You need to be running WM5 and then upgrade to B&B 4 as the upgrade does something to the handset and seems to block any further update.
Before you do anything you need to download and install USPL on your handset. If you don't do USPL first you will end up with a stylish "brick"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Many thanks for that. I searched the site last night, and found B&B v4, and V3.7, and also USPL. Unfortunately, I had already upgraded with the O2 WM6, so although I have also been able to roll back to WM5 (and TomTom is now back up to speed), I am getting the "Image file corrupted" message with any attempted update, including USPL. Looks like I've been blocked from any updates unless anyone has a solution? I still have my Glofiish X500 running WM6, but the XDA runs TomTom more quickly.
nubbin said:
Many thanks for that. I searched the site last night, and found B&B v4, and V3.7, and also USPL. Unfortunately, I had already upgraded with the O2 WM6, so although I have also been able to roll back to WM5 (and TomTom is now back up to speed), I am getting the "Image file corrupted" message with any attempted update, including USPL. Looks like I've been blocked from any updates unless anyone has a solution? I still have my Glofiish X500 running WM6, but the XDA runs TomTom more quickly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This has happened to a few people. Download the file again and try.
P.S. Are you using XP or Vista. Vista seems to be a bit problematic. Some people have gotten Vista to flash ok, I on the otherhand have not.
For complete trouble free flashing use XP.
Run start_uspl.exe file, then after phone has rebooted again, run the ROM of your choice and upgrade to WM6. You won't be disappointed.........unless you run the O2 WM6 which I have found to be a big disappointment.
Success!
Hi Shand359
The Artemis USPL successfully "unlocked" my XDA, and after that it was an easy ROM update - I know have a fully functional B&B v4! Many thanks for your help and advice - donation to PDAViet on it's way.
TomTom v660.1256 map now working just as well as before - just in time for my 10 day driving trip to Spain at the end of the month. I thought I was going to have to buy a TomTom unit, but no need now.
Incidentally, I haven't worked out what "Touch Flo" is all about - can you enlighten me?
nubbin said:
Hi Shand359
The Artemis USPL successfully "unlocked" my XDA, and after that it was an easy ROM update - I know have a fully functional B&B v4! Many thanks for your help and advice - donation to PDAViet on it's way.
TomTom v660.1256 map now working just as well as before - just in time for my 10 day driving trip to Spain at the end of the month. I thought I was going to have to buy a TomTom unit, but no need now.
Incidentally, I haven't worked out what "Touch Flo" is all about - can you enlighten me?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you press the windows key ( beside the GPS key) then drag your finger across the screen from left to right, the cube should spin with different icons on it. Looks cool.
Touch Flo
Got it now. Even my teenage son thinks it's "way cooooool"!
Hello.
I used to own a HTC TyTN (Hermes) for a while but I sold it because I had some problems with screen alignment and sometimes the phone was on and geting a good reception and still I couldn't be reached.
Anyway, now I would like to buy a new PDA and I am thinking about buying a new TyTN or a P4350 (Herald). What do you guys think?
- The TyTN has a Samsung 400 mhz processor and sometimes I found it a tad slow, the Herald has a 200mhz processor found on most HTC products. Will the Herald be even slower?
- I see the Herald has no dedicated buttons on top of the screen (for Outlook and Internet Explorer) but can I set a given button to launch a program? (like arrow up, down, etc..) It was not possible on the Hermes.
- In size and weight matters I think we all agree that the Herald is better.
- Connectivity: the Herald has no IrDA (which is useless to me) and no UMTS. Can I have a decent internet connection speed with EDGE or HSDPA?
- Herald doesn't have video call support but it's not that important, altought I have 120 minutes of video calls for free and I won't spend them.
- What is really important is the qwerty keypad. It's just imposible to write sms or email with the virtual keyboard. Which keypad is better? Herald's or TyTN's?
EDIT: - Macro mode on the TyTN was really great and usefull. That one will me missed if I buy a Herald.
Which one would you suggest knowing that I will use it mainly for web browsing, reading and writing emails, phone calls, listening to mp3s, etc...
Thanks a lot.
if one of your main concerns is web browsing
if you have 3G in your Area...seems like the TyTN would be the choice
as it has a UMTS/HSDPA Radio
as long as you have a way of charging it when the battery gets eaten up
the 400mhz vs 200mhz issue
yes, im sure that the 200mhz would be slower than the hermes
Keyboard-Wise
idk about the Herald...but my TyTN Keyboard has become a little unresponsive and i need to press some buttons hard sometimes
i think this is a hardware defect and im looking into it
it does require me to take mine apart...again...lol
hope this helps
Hey,
I have first an TYTN and sold them (Buy Dezember 2006): A lot of Problems and bugfixes
Then I buy an Herald: First wonderfull, but if you use many programms 200mHZ to slow. No scroll whell but ab better keyboard.
4 Weeks ago I sold them and buy again a TYTN and since then; I love it, but the keyboard from the Herald is better
----> If you ask me: I will buy an TYTN again
Regards
Oliver
Neverwork said:
if one of your main concerns is web browsing
if you have 3G in your Area...seems like the TyTN would be the choice
as it has a UMTS/HSDPA Radio
as long as you have a way of charging it when the battery gets eaten up
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank for your answer.
Well, I do have 3G coverage and I will use the device for web browsing and email so I think the Hermes (TyTN) would suit me better. What kind of connections does the Herald have? Here is only states that it has EDGE. How fast can that go?
For a Comparison between EDGE and HSDPA
in my area my results were:
EDGE: 156kb/s
HSDPA: 896kb/s
and HSDPA had a much lower pingtime
the herald is a lot thinner if that matters, and to my girlfriend( and myself if i needed a keyboard) a slim phone almost means more than anything. the 200mhz didn't feel slower yet, but then i'll run two programs max, and could live with the speed since the tytn didn't feel too much faster.
we're with t-mobile, so 3g wasn't important or available, but if i had it, i'm unsure that would sway me. going wifi doesn't seem all that fast either. we don't browse the web much, mostly just email and certain data-pulling programs so the 3g isn't all that to us.
but the keyboard, and all front keys, and the sliding keyboard mechanism are all so much nicer. the front keys are the best of the 6-8 htc products i've run across. similar in feel to the Jam, whereas the 8525 are the worst(notice, 8525, not htc tytn itself).
if i had to choose, it'd be the herald unless the web is a BIG need