Cheapest TomTom Car Kit for iPhone

Great practical iPhone charger/holder
For what it does, the TomTom Car Kit is great. Right up front, it's important to know that you need to purchase the GPS app separately, and that adds an additional to the purchase price. Yes, it will work without it to make and receive phone calls, and to allow you to view alternate mapping devices. I tried it with Google Maps, but it goes to sleep just like when your phone is still, so that doesn't help much. That's a function of the iPhone rather than the holder though.

I do like being able to answer the phone and carry on conversations while the device is in the holder, and the navigator still continues to function. I also like that I can have my music playing while the navigation is running. You have the option of purchasing a wire to plug your iPhone into your stereo system from the device, which will play the directions as well as the music through the stereo. If you are not a sound connoisseur and can deal with the music sounding like it is coming from a small transistor radio, then you can have the music play through the speaker on the device without the wire. You can also switch to Twitter or other apps while at a light, and the navigator continues to run. I really like that that it charges my phone as it is in the holder, knowing that the iPhone's battery is easily sucked dry by apps that pinpoint location. I generally had my phone plugged in to recharge when I was driving, so this is a nice replacement.

It is easy to install the device on your windshield as well as to remove it to take it down. There is great flexibility in the angle you can view your device from, and you have a rotating option of horizontal or vertical positioning. It's a little big to fit into a crowded glovebox, but it does fold to compact somewhat.

One thing I don't like is the learning curve of the software, and that the app doesn't auto shut off when you turn off the car like a regular GPS. That's a bit of a bother, but it isn't really an issue with the product I'm reviewing.

I definitely would include the software with the purchase if I were the manufacturer. That would make this ideal.

Okay, But Some Major Design Oversights
I have owned the Tom Tom car kit for about 6 months, and have used it on my iphone 3G as well as my iphone 4. Here is my take on the device:

PROs:
Compact, secures well to the windshield or mounting disk
Charges the iphone 3G just fine and the iphone 4 (with a workaround)
Works fairly well acquiring satellites, but I haven't noticed any significant improvement over using the Tom Tom app without the mount

CONs:
MAJOR CON: The USB and line out connection ports are on the MOVEABLE part of the mount instead of on the stationary base! What this means is that when you rotate the device from portrait to landscape (or vice-versa or in-between), the cables rotate with it! To make matters worse, this means that if you try to route the cables to hide most of the slack, you need to leave enough extra visible slack to allow for free movement, thus making things look more cluttered. The cables can also bind when you rotate the device because they are moving with the device. WHY DIDN'T THEY PLACE THE LINE OUT AND USB PORTS ON THE BASE THAT STAYS STATIONARY ALL OF THE TIME?

When you slide the unit right & left (landscape) or up and down (portrait), the unit does not always stay secured where you set it. Yes, you can improve on this by sliding it all of the way to one end, but that is not always practical

The arm (stem) is too short. If you mount the unit on the dashboard using the disc, it is difficult to adjust it to a point where it will clear the dashboard when in portrait mode. This severely limits your choices in positioning the unit for convenient use in both portrait and landscape modes.

If you have an iphone 4, the unit will not work right out of the box because the iphone 4's thinner design prevents the unit from activating the switch in the unit. There is an easy workaround, however, which is to place some velcro or a "rubber feet" on the mount to compensate for the lack of thickness of the iphone 4

I noticed some ignition noise type of hum when using the unit, but this may be more an issue with my car than the Tom Tom mount (I am not sure at this point)

I have not tried the bluetooth function because I have a bluetooth stereo in my car, and it is more convenient to use by pairing the iphone to the car stereo (it allows ALL audio sources to pause during phone calls that way)

In a nutshell, the placement of the line out and USB connections would prevent me from buying this again.

helpful for hands free driving
I gave this four stars instead of five because it isn't built to fit an iPhone 4, which is why another reviewer said it didn't charge properly. There is a really simple fix for this, basically you just put a small piece of self-sticking foam or velcro on the unit and the iPhone will then rest in the unit properly and push down the appropriate way to connect to power. There are several Youtube videos that describe how to do this, I liked this one best: [...]

I already have a GPS and only really wanted this to hold my phone in place and it works well for that, including bluetooth support. Recently, after getting yet another flaky GPS in a rental car on a business trip, I decided to download a GPS program from the iTunes app store so that I will never be in that situation again. This device has made it easy to use the GPS and if you purchase the correct GPS app, and buy a subscription to voice, you can get turn-by-turn voice directions.

This unit is definitely a bit pricey - I would not pay 0 for it. It claims to boost GPS receptionn but I have not noticed any difference with or without the unit (ie, using the GPS app on my iphone vs in the cradle.)

Great little gizmo for the iphone
This saves having a seperate device for car navigation. And it actually works better than a seperate device.
It holds the iphone snugly and charges it while it's working! The voice is loud and clear and accurate. It doesn't give street names, but neither does my TomTom, it just tells you to turn. But it tells you where and when to turn accurately. It was tested on a circular drive (one way) to a business... and it told you to turn in the right driveway! Amazing!
The only problem is that you have to purchase the app () in order for it all to work together. I see both pros and cons to that... but either way, if you have an iphone and want a navigator... just go this way. It's well worth it.

Nicely integrates the iPhone into your GPS needs
Have you ever tried navigating using your iPhone as a GPS device while driving? It isn't perfect. But, Tom Tom has added a new dimension that greatly enhances the experience. With the Tom Tom Car Kit for iPhone, you get a number of improvements... First off, it mounts to your dash and holds the iPhone up where you can see it with the fear of multi-car pile ups. Second, the cradle has a built in GPS receiver that greatly increases the accuracy of your Tom Tom software over just the iPhone's built in GPS receiver. The built in speaker works very well and provides an easy to hear audible directions.

In addition to enhancing your iPhone as a GPS navigation device, this car kit also provides a nice speakerphone capability built in that is better than just using the phone. If you live in a state like California, this is a big plus as getting got on the phone without a speaker or bluetooth headset has become a serious pain in the legal system.