Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1009 in Consumer Electronics
• Model: 9V00.017
• Released on: 2007-09-16
• Dimensions: .22 pounds

Features

• TomTom

Manufacturer's Description
The TomTom RDS-TMC Traffic Receiver gets traffic information on the go, to your GO. For the one-off cost of the receiver you can get traffic updates and let your GO reroute you around congestion.

Box Contents

Customer Reviews

Worked... until it broke. Too flimsy.
I bought this unit in January 2008, and have used it about six times "for real".

Now, it has developed a loose or broken wire, so it no longer works. I'm awaiting TomTom's response on a warranty replacement. I don't think it is built sturdily enough for repeated connection and disconnection, which is a bind if you are security-minded.

I dismantle the unit and the TomTom XL it's attached to each time I leave the car and I find the set up of the aerial is just too fiddly, which is why I haven't used it much except for major long distance journeys. I tend to know where the traffic builds up locally and the ways round jams on regular routes anyway.

I settled on the "down the centre of the screen, behind the rear view mirror" position for the aerial, as that seemed to give the most reliable signal.

It occurs to me that, since it uses FM, the reception quality will depend to some extent on how much electrical noise the car generates, which may be why some users experience worse performance than others. If you get poor FM radio reception in your vehicle, I suspect that this unit is not for you.

I've used it on long North - South journeys, M4, A34, M40, M6, M1, A1 to Yorkshire and Scotland. The signal lock seems fairly consistent.
I haven't changed the default settings.

Where there is a delay it can't re-route round, the actual delay seems less than the reported delay, which may mean it re-routes unnecessarily, but the re-routing is surprisingly seamless and fast.

I find the symbols it uses to show the cause of delay are far too small to distinguish from the driver's seat. I rely on my passenger to squint at the tiny symbols and writing and tell me what it says.

Overall, I don't think it is worth what I paid for it in January, which could be why it is a lot cheaper now!

largely unworkable
I've had a subscription to the TomTom managed traffic information system for the last two years, which updates by receiving data from your mobile phone. As this is an annual subscription, I decided last month to buy the RDS-TMC receiver instead and get free traffic updates.

Not a good move. I travel from Oxfordshire to London every day along the M40, and previously the traffic info had proved very useful. With the new receiver I can only get a signal about 5% of the time, and about 10% if there is low cloud. Even worse is that the information it receives is very inaccurate, and nothing like as good as the TomTom service. Most delays appear as "1 minute" irrespective of the actual situation.

It also seems to provide very localised information only - eg it doesn't seem to get information on a bad jam that might be 50 miles away, despite the radio bulletins warning against it.

I've tried positioning the wire in various places, but nothing seems to improve the reception. I even parked in a layby and laid the wire across the outside of the roof to see if that helped, but it didn't!

The Tom Tom forums suggest that the reception is okay in Europe, but in the UK the signal strength is below the unit's capability.

tomtom rds-tmc
After reading many comments on the rds-tmc l thought l would add my own. Having installed unit which was bought from amazon 2 weeks ago l have found the following.
1/ During journeys(far travelled) l have signal lock approx.80% of the time(green circle)
2/ Traffic information should only be used as an indication of road conditions and not used as real time.
3/ Sometimes when starting a journey signal lock is not found and investigating further l find that frequencies are not being scanned. removing rds-tmc jack and plugging in again always starts scanning and signal lock.
4/ In my car location of aerial does not seem to make a huge difference in performance although l have settled for a vertical position tight against the drivers side windscreen pillar, with most or the aerial behind the pillar trim.
5/ Selection of country(UK)/strongest frequency gave same results with signal lock and l've found operation to be reliable and stable.
In my experience I've found the Tmc to be a handy but not essential addition to my TomTom 910 with the added traffic display giving added insight to the traffic conditions. Just remember point 2.
6/ Further update. Travelled up west coast to Oban and found coverage poor. Signal lock only for about 30% of journey. Radio signal also lost during large parts of trip.