MX-5 OC Forum

 For the first couple of days I could not access live services (came up with TomTom Server is down) then no problems.  Dealer had already inserted SIM Card (hatch to the left of the screen) and I understood this came in a pack with the badges etc (the dealer sorted that also).  After getting used to things I removed the SIM card (followed remove SIM card instructions in booklet, and accessed TomTom website and downloaded latest traffic camera info and checked maps - also found I could download a grey MX5 as the car icon for the satnav which is quite cool!  Used the live weather, traffic and google search and so far all good.  Not sure if I will renew after 3 months though - will see what happens.

 Sorry, meant to add that it seems to hook up woth my Blackberry OK - and uploads the phoonabook (as the lady calls it) and last dialled etc so can use the phone via the touch screen quite easilt, not tried text to speech yet! - I did not have a separate pack just the book pack with the instructions.

That isnt a SIM card (phone type) that is the SD card (just memory I think) with the TomTom software on it. My manual doesnt talk about a SIM card at all but it does refer to a GSM/GPRS module and when I go into info menu it has a dash next to the SIM ID.  It seems like the unit cannot communicate with the TomTom servers and all the Live menu options are greyed out.  Maybe they just didnt plug in the antennae...

However I will try it again as when I put the SD card into my PC and installed TomTom Home it did some updates but it came up with an error when I tried to set up the account....

If you go into your settings can you see a SIM ID?

tcs17_tim:

Hello again MX5 Montana - sorry for all the questions but I have just noticed in the photo you have a mazda folder/pack. Did your book pack come in that as mine came in a plastic bag? My dealer seems to have failed  to give me quite a few bits (venture badges, tyre repair kit, something in the TomTom system yet to be sorted!), so I am wondering if that is somthing else I should have.

Thanks for your help

Yes I got a mazda folder with the MX5 handbook and a Mazda NVA-SD8810 EU Live tomtom book (which was inside the folder in a plastic bag).

The navigation unit is now 3 months old and I have used all it's features so much so that I have gone through the renewal process too. There is no SIM card in the unit as it talks directly with Tomtom via the transmitter in the dashboard. The SD card just holds your settings and maps. I had to take it out to connect it to Tomtom Home on my laptop but the updates don't always work. At 3 months old subscription, the head unit asked me if I wanted to renew and after saying yes it extended my subscription period by 2 weeks and asked for an e-mail address off me. Back on my e-mail I had a link which asked for my SD card from the head unit and £55. I questioned the fact that it says £47.50 on the website but that is not for our unit and only the portable units so had to stump up the extra cash and renew at £55 as I do make use of the services and used to have a Tomtom Via on my old MX5 which I didn't renew after it's 1 year subscription and I missed the services.

I've just fixed my alloy too as I slightly curbed it last month by 2cm. No paint exists so I had to mix my owm using metalic dark grey, metalic silver and laquer.

Spent an hour in the dealer today, ended up in with the techs as they tried to sort it out, reviewed the technical faultfinding guidance with them and it turns out there is a SIM card but its under the bottom of the unit which means the head unit has to come out to get at it.

Not happy as I am anticipating them leaving minor marks on the dash as they dismantle it all.....  

 @MX5 Montana

I too thought a 15% increase to £55 for the live services was a little ott, when for every other platform the serive is £47.50.
I've emailed TomTom regarding their pricing - I'll let everyone know on the outcome. 

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_733141_categoryId_165587_langId_-1?cm_sp=Intelligent_Offer-_-Product_List_Zone_1-_-Blank&iozone=PLPz1

Halfords are selling off a 12month subscription for £30.

I just have to get the damn live thing working now......still waiting on my dealer.

Just purchased a 16Gb memory stick for £6.35 from Amazon and plugged it into the USB port in the glove compartment having copied across 10Gb of mp3's (about 2000 tracks) I'd ripped some time ago.  Navigate by album, composer, genre or artist and select your tracks - works pretty well.

Seems like a cheaper and easier solution than going down the iPod route (especially if you've already ripped your disks to mp3).

What I'm wokring on at the moment -

I haven't managed to find any setting for auto changing of volume levels (for SatNav voice and audio).  This is available on my existing (portable) TomTom.  I'm currently having to manually vary the volume based upon speed. 

I cannot get the text to speach working - all greyed out.  Maybe this function is not available with a BB9700?

Not totally happy with the sound quality at the moment.  Going to have to play with the equlaizer and the balance.

The mic doesn't seem very effective when I tried to mak a call via Bluetooth (wife could barely hear me when I called).  Can't see any option to increase the sensitivity of the microphone.

Will report back if I get any joy re the above points....

 Hey tcs17_tim - thanks very much for that link.

£25 savings and Halfords delivered the code very quickly - for info you have to authenticate the code through the TomTom home software and then use the email address and password to authorise it via the satnav unit itself - mine is all working now!

Blokko:

What I'm wokring on at the moment -

I haven't managed to find any setting for auto changing of volume levels (for SatNav voice and audio).  This is available on my existing (portable) TomTom.  I'm currently having to manually vary the volume based upon speed. 

I cannot get the text to speach working - all greyed out.  Maybe this function is not available with a BB9700?

Not totally happy with the sound quality at the moment.  Going to have to play with the equlaizer and the balance.

The mic doesn't seem very effective when I tried to mak a call via Bluetooth (wife could barely hear me when I called).  Can't see any option to increase the sensitivity of the microphone.

Will report back if I get any joy re the above points....

I cant get text to speech work either and I have a Blackberry 9300, I have seen others make same comment but dont know what type of phone.  Has anyone got it working?

I have adjusted my equaliser, balance etc and happy, although I hate the fact that satnav lowers front volume and hence the satnav becomes dominant.

I also find phone calls not very good - sounds like your in the back of a box was one comment, wasnt much better if I tried to lean toward the mic and shout either.....I wondered about moving mic but not really anywhere else to put it.......

PS I found my 8GB memory stick a bit intermittent with getting a connection, changed to a 4GB and had no issues since.

DoctorSteve:

 Hey tcs17_tim - thanks very much for that link.

No worries.....

I hope I can jump in with a question here, regarding use of my Ipod in my Venture.

I bought a cheap Ipod connection cable (Ebay) for about £3. The problem is that the Ipod isn't recognised when I re-start the engine. I have to unplug and re-plug the Ipod each time to get it 'seen' by the Sanyo unit.

Do the official cables work as expected, or are there similar problems?

steveal:

I bought a cheap Ipod connection cable (Ebay) for about £3. The problem is that the Ipod isn't recognised when I re-start the engine. I have to unplug and re-plug the Ipod each time to get it 'seen' by the Sanyo unit.

Do the official cables work as expected, or are there similar problems?

No problem with the official cables. The only problem I have is that with an Ipod Nano the Album artwork doesn't come through to the Sanyo where as with my Ipod touch it does. Obviously with the Usb stick it doesn't either.

Sorry to jump in, this is my first post.

I picked up my new Venture last night in white and so far I am loving it.

One thing I wanted to ask was I have the microphone mounted just behind the steering wheel in fornt of the dials. In other ventures I have seen in the showroom its not there is this something the dealer adds only when the car is ready to go out or are they mounted somewhere else out of view?

Can people let me know where their microphones are mounted as I find mine obscures the dials a bit.

Thanks