[HLRSeagull]

Now managed to get myself in a dilemma

I currently have a tom tom via 135 in my work van with a dash mount .

I was looking at getting a dash mount for my 9G civic so I could transfer my Via135 from vehicle to vehicle with ease but obviously tomtom want about £25 for a new dash mount.

Or do I just go and but tomtom for the iphone for £30 , buy a kenu airframe plus (which i was going to get anyway) and just use that instead.

At present I cant afford a pioneer head unit so stuck with either sat nav on my phone or a dash mount tomtom but now cant decide

I am going towards the iphone route from a point of view of less leads and not so much stuff stuck on the dash.

Has anyone used the tomtom sat nav on the iphone just wondered if its any good and how it appears on the screen in a vertical format ???

 

[Grayfox]

Cant you use a universal mount and use the mini/micro usb cable.
This will be the cheaper method.

 

[HLRSeagull]

Do you mean one of those type that's plugs into the cigarette lighter on a stalk ???

 

[cosmicma]

i have a tomtom via 135 and mount it to the dash with one of these

Halfords | Sendai Sat Nav Mounting Disc

it sticks to the flat part of the dash and holds the tomtom nicely

the biggest difference in using a phone for navigation or a proper satnav is sound it's always a lot better with a dedicated satnav than using a phone IMHO

 

[Grayfox]

Do you mean one of those type that's plugs into the cigarette lighter on a stalk ???

Nah one of these mounts.

 

[CivicCliff]

I have the latest TomTom app on my iPhone 6+. It really is very good and beats the Via 135 in terms of smoothness of graphics, i.e. the dynamic zooming in and out and when you turn (I use 2D mode), also the responsiveness of the touch screen on the Via can't be compared to the iPhone. TomTom looks really good on the high res iPhone 6+ screen.

As said above the Via does have a very good speaker, however, the speaker on the iPhone 6+ is very good too - much better than previous generations.

When I use TomTom, I have my iPhone connected to the car's USB connection and the guidance comes through the car speakers just like a built in sat nav - I think you have to have the iPod selected as the audio source though - not sure if you have to have music playing or not? I had music playing via the Spotify app at the time and it worked fine.

Traffic and speed camera locations are separate in app purchases (monthly or annual). Mine is mounted with the Kenu airframe mount (recommended to me by another Civinfo member), it works very well in the 9G and while it is expensive is a quality product - you can even keep the case on your phone. Make sure you get the 'Plus' version if you have the iPhone 6+ though.

I have found that the TomTom app can seriously drain the iPhone battery if it's not plugged in, it can still drain the battery while plugged in, but at a much slower rate. You will have to turn the screen brightness down a bit from max and maybe close down some background apps to ensure the iPhone charges, or at least maintains battery level while using the app. The app does have a power saving mode, I've not used this though. (https://en.discussions.tomtom.com/t...9/ios-8-iphone-5s6-crazy-battery-drain-909013)

I've had the TomTom app for a few years now, used to use it on my iPhone 5 all the time. Since getting my 9G, I have not really used it as mine has the Honda satnav which I also find to be very good. For a change I used the TomTom app again earlier this week and it was still as good as it always was, just looking even better now on the 6+ larger screen.

Let me know if you have any more questions or want me to check anything for you.

NB: just thought that if it is the case that you have to have iPod selected as the source on your head unit to hear the guidance (as I believe you do), you won't have guidance when you listen to a CD or radio and I don't think you can tell the iPhone to use the built in speaker when connected to the car's USB as it sees this as a 'dock'. To charge the iPhone and use the iPhone's built in speaker you may have to power the iPhone using the forward power socket (under the flap in front of the drinks holders), for which you will need a USB adapter. Hopefully another member can verify this, failing that I can go to my car, plug it in and play around.

 

[HLRSeagull]

That is brilliant info ... Thankyou very much .., will be ordering an airframe plus tonight and then set it up on car and then make decision what to do from there .....
Brilliant info mate thankyou so much for such great feedback

 

[FireBIade]

+1 Kenu airframe

 

[Bog]

I have the latest TomTom app on my iPhone 6+. It really is very good and beats the Via 135 in terms of smoothness of graphics, i.e. the dynamic zooming in and out and when you turn (I use 2D mode), also the responsiveness of the touch screen on the Via can't be compared to the iPhone. TomTom looks really good on the high res iPhone 6+ screen.

As said above the Via does have a very good speaker, however, the speaker on the iPhone 6+ is very good too - much better than previous generations.

When I use TomTom, I have my iPhone connected to the car's USB connection and the guidance comes through the car speakers just like a built in sat nav - I think you have to have the iPod selected as the audio source though - not sure if you have to have music playing or not? I had music playing via the Spotify app at the time and it worked fine.

Traffic and speed camera locations are separate in app purchases (monthly or annual). Mine is mounted with the Kenu airframe mount (recommended to me by another Civinfo member), it works very well in the 9G and while it is expensive is a quality product - you can even keep the case on your phone. Make sure you get the 'Plus' version if you have the iPhone 6+ though.

I have found that the TomTom app can seriously drain the iPhone battery if it's not plugged in, it can still drain the battery while plugged in, but at a much slower rate. You will have to turn the screen brightness down a bit from max and maybe close down some background apps to ensure the iPhone charges, or at least maintains battery level while using the app. The app does have a power saving mode, I've not used this though. (https://en.discussions.tomtom.com/t...9/ios-8-iphone-5s6-crazy-battery-drain-909013)

I've had the TomTom app for a few years now, used to use it on my iPhone 5 all the time. Since getting my 9G, I have not really used it as mine has the Honda satnav which I also find to be very good. For a change I used the TomTom app again earlier this week and it was still as good as it always was, just looking even better now on the 6+ larger screen.

Let me know if you have any more questions or want me to check anything for you.

NB: just thought that if it is the case that you have to have iPod selected as the source on your head unit to hear the guidance (as I believe you do), you won't have guidance when you listen to a CD or radio and I don't think you can tell the iPhone to use the built in speaker when connected to the car's USB as it sees this as a 'dock'. To charge the iPhone and use the iPhone's built in speaker you may have to power the iPhone using the forward power socket (under the flap in front of the drinks holders), for which you will need a USB adapter. Hopefully another member can verify this, failing that I can go to my car, plug it in and play around.

+1 on all of the above....

I've been using for a long time (On a iPhone 4 and now my 5s) works very well and can rotate to landscape too.

The battery charging is a good point and it is best to use with it plugged in. A cople of years ago it was terrible for drain, even plugged in, but now it's been updated a lot and works fine.

Yes, if you plug charger into a usb charger, the phone speakers work.

On the 9G, if you have the phone connected via bluetooth, the voice commands cut in from the phone over the speakers (Instantaneously and looks like you getting call from yourself lol.. sounds odd, but works very well )