A furtive first glance at the TomTom Rider and you think it looks like the TomTom Go GPS system which has sold in its thousands in the UK this year, but look more closely and you'll see its been toughened up to withstand being clamped to a bike in all weathers and its also a bit slimmer. The ARM920T processor running at 400MHz and 64mb of RAM should prove more than ample for handling the UK maps giving seamless navigation with out some of the splutter and stalls of lesser systems.

Perhaps our first though is how you could possibly hear spoken instructions while burning rubber along a dual carriageway, the TomTom go unit has a loud speaker but that is redundant on the rider system. Instead TomTom have provided a Bluetooth audio system which routes voice instructions to a headset which uses a cabled earphone and integrated microphone to fit comfortably inside your helmet.

Bluetooth which has just made an appearance on the new range of TomTom go units is put to good use here as the rider unit can also double up as a hands free kit for your suitably equipped mobile, plus if your phone has a GPRS connection you can use the TomTom plus data services like real time traffic information.

The visual user interface has also undergone a few tweaks from the standard TomTom go unit, an antiglare screen is provided to try and make it more useable in direct sunlight plus the touch screen controls and made even more chunky to allow for the gloved hand.

TomTom Rider is powered by a 5 hour lithium Ion internal battery making it suitable for lengthy journeys on bikes where a cabled power supply is just not possible. Plus the mounting system looks good enough to secure the valuable electronics to your bike no mater what angle you choose to ride at, of course its easy to detach the unit and pocket it or even transfer to another bike.

The rider navigation systems also gets many of the newly announced extras like full UK postcode searching, improved route calculation, POI's including the ability to add that all important speed camera map and the major roads of Europe map for those jaunts outside the UK.

Finally it looks like TomTom have given bikers the navigation system they deserve and included a Bluetooth hands free kit too, final pricing is due to be announced soon but expected to be around the £499 + VAT mark the whole package goes on sale in early summer 2005.

Lordpercy.com already has a leather clad volunteer champing at the bit to test the TomTom Rider for us as soon as sample units hit the UK.

Published - 15/03/2005

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