TomTom GO 920T Portable GPS Vehicle Navigator with Traffic Receiver Review

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(More customer reviews)I purchased this over two weeks ago at Best Buy, here in Los Angeles for $599.99! Yes folks, thanks to Best Buy's notorious price difference on the web and in their infamous intranet, I made them honor what I saw at home on my computer! And yes, this was for the TomTom 920T!
It is slimmer, lighter, nicer and loaded with more features than any other portable GPS device in the market! Functions within the TomTom 920T are very similar to other models. I upgraded from the 910 and did notice some very good changes in its software, and in its ability to do a bit more configuration than on the TomTom 910.
One of the things that I like the most, aside from its new redesigned shape was its ability to search for different POI's (Points Of Interest) with better matching results while at the same time providing you a lot of additional information, such as distance, physical address, map overview, phone number (if available) and yes, the ability to dial it directly.
By the way, this is something that Garmin GPS devices have always been able to do, including searching restaurants by food type, e.g. Italian, Mexican, Chinese, etc. With the exception of this last search feature, I do believe that the new TomTom takes it one step further, which is good.
This upgraded feature is very important, because as most TomTom users know, previous versions of TomTom POI search, would just result in a long list of POI's matching what ever you input and nothing more. For example, if you typed Best Buy, you would get a list of all Best Buy stores in the county, but without any distance information, map preview, address or phone number!
This would obviously force you to route each resulting POI one by one, until you finally obtained the one that you really wanted, which was a waste of time! Well, not any more and I am very glad that TomTom made this very necessary upgrade!
Here is a list of things that I noticed:
The light sensor gone from the top and now sitting very discreetly in the front.
The remote control has been improved and is now Bluetooth.
It seems to me that it is somewhat faster in performing any commands faster than its predecessor.
Accepting spoken directions is a plus and has worked well for me so far, no complaints.
The screen is huge and seems to have been improved, because I now can see everything much better than on the previous model in bright sunny days.
The speaker sounds fragile with the default voice, compared to the 910, but sounds much better with a human voice and the music sounds great!
You can now hear all instructions through your car speakers by tuning it to an empty radio station. I tried it, but did not like it at all, too much static and sound is extremely low, could be because I live in downtown Los Angeles.
The included RF transmitter is a winner, it is very accurate in obtaining traffic data and I notice that it does so upon turning it on and it updates itself periodically as I am driving. However, it would have been better if they would have built it into the unit in order to avoid another wire from hanging from the unit.
Phone integration is great and fast, the sound quality is very good and I have been told by people who I call that it sounds very good. I make and receive between 200 to 300 calls a day, so this is a plus! Unfortunately, it does not sync well with my Palm Treo 750, so I miss out on many other TomTom extra features that requre my cell phone in order to be able to obtain data, such as weather information, map downloads, gas prices, etc.
I also do notice that its ability not to lose signal is improved, which is good, since as I have already mentioned, I live in downtown LA.
The included software is also great and much better than previous versions of TomTom Home.
What's in the box? The TomTom 910, the RF transmitter, car charger, windshield cradle, desktop cradle, remote control, software and manuals.
All in all it is a great GPS unit, very nicely and intelligently designed and the only reason I do not give it a 5 is because of the use of an external RF transmitter, instead of a built in one and lack of important travelling tools, such as those found in several of the Garmin units.
I feel that TomTom, given their current market share and being so strong in Europe should include different measurement and currency conversion tools, as well as a different language translator and a virtual tour guide program similar to those found in several of the Garmin units.
This thing fits in the pocket of your shirt! If I were sightseeing in France, I would want to have access to these types of tools!
However, to be fair, the new TomTom 920T does include a several great features not found in other units, specifically the Help Me feature which, will assist you in many emergencies such as in letting you know where you are, instruct you where to walk to your closest emergency assistance point or even guide you in applying first aid!
I highly recommended to anyone and I do hope that TomTom will improve their already magnificent product with the suggestions that I have made, maybe one day TomTom will team up with Google and provide similar information as MSN does for the Garmin NUVI.

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TomTom GO 730 4.3-Inch Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator (Factory Refurbished) Review

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(More customer reviews)There are alot of reviews out there for navigation units with comparisons between units made by different manufacturers, most stating that one is better than the other, which I found to be of no use since I almost never had the unit they were comparing to. So I have written this review as a review of the TomTom 730 rather than a comparison.
(please note this is the FACTORY REFURBISHED moel of the 730)
The 730 was well packed, and had a little bit of charge right out of the box. It includes all of the accessories and most of the literature that a new model does, including the windshield mount, dash disk, car charger, instruction manual and CD. There were no cosmetic blemishes on the unit I got. Refurbished units come with a shorter warranty, but the price difference more than makes up for lost warranty time.
The unit did arrive with an old map and firmware revision. After installing TomTom Home and creating a profile, the software asked me if I wanted to update the unit, and installed the most recent 'North American Maps' pack (includes USA and Canada) and 8.30 firmware. The download and installation process took a whopping 1.5 hours to download and install over a wireless broadband connection. Choosing to accept Mapshare, an additional 11386 corrections were added. I did not have to enter any update codes or call TomTom to get the latest map update. Other maps were listed as available at additional cost, but they were for other countries that I did not need.
After updating the unit, I took the 730 on a few trips to see how well it works. I travel roughly 1000 miles a week for business and pleasure, all over Maryland, DC and Northern Virginia. I have had several Nav units over the last two months trying to find the right one for me, and I am impressed with this unit. There are some problems with the unit, which are a result of the limitation of Nav units in general, rather than specific to the 730. An example: Whitehurst and Canal st in DC run literally on top of each other. Where they start you have a choice to go up or down, whereas the 730 tells you to go straight. Both choices are straight, and reagrdless of which you pick, the 730 continues to navigate as if you were heading down Whitehurst.
The 'IQ Routing' feature is absolutely the most useful feature of the unit. Anyone who lives in the DC metro area(or any other huge population dense area)knows that certain roads simply aren't passable during certain times of the day. I have used this feature extensively, and although there is room for improvement, it has found me several new, faster ways to get to common destinations. This nav unit is also the only one I have tested that correctly finds the fastest way to my home from the interstate.
Advanced Lane Guidance is a nice feature, during my travels I see it about twice a day. It works well, but the image for the I270/495 lanes divide on the inner loop shows the wrong number of lanes leading off to the spur. Other lane divides are accurate, why not this one?
The voice recognition navigation aspect works okay, it does a good job of recognizing what city and/or street that I said, but the whole system is a bit akward since it is a combination of screen presses and voice prompts. Still, it works well if you are patient with it and learn its qwerks.
The bluetooth function does not work with my phone (I have a really lousy phone)so I cannot comment on that, the FM transmitter works well if you can find a free frequency. Playing music from the TomTom was neat, and navigation prompts do come through the music when they occur.
TomTom Home and the community support it provides is awesome. Other than Mapshare (which is awesome in and of itself) there are differnt icons, voice prompts(which you can record yourself with the 730), display screen, map colors, and other customizable features that help you personalize and enhance the unit.
In summary, I believe I have found the right unit for me. The is the best navigation device I have used yet, and at the refurbished price it is well worth purchasing. I hope you found this review helpful.

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TomTom GO 730 REFURB Portable Navigator with Bluetooth. The TomTom GO 730 portable navigator offers you peace of mind when you're traveling with its powerful, yet easy-to-use features. You can use its 4.3" widescreen touch display to access detailed maps of the U.S. and Canada, and to explore over 5 million points of interest. The text-to-speech voice prompts announce actual road names at turns, giving you more helpful information when driving through unfamiliar areas. Refurbished.

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TomTom GO 920 Portable GPS Vehicle Navigator Review

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(More customer reviews)Edited 10/5/2008
I've had a chance to use the 920 for about 6 months of heavy use and here's an update to my prior review:
1) Mapshare really works. It's great to get updates from users all over the country. What a great idea.
2) Map updates have refined the product over time. I got the 920 when it came with the original 920 maps. Mine had the 1 year map guarantee, so I have now gotten about 3-4 map upgrades (I forget the exact #) and with each update the maps have improved. The application has also improved. The latest 920 app and maps include Lane Assist and Intelligent Routing which come standard on the 930.
Lane assist is like Reality View on Navigons. You get a very nice highway view with clearly delineated flashing lanes that tell you which lanes to stay in. So, if you are on a 5 lane highway and you should stay in any of the 3 left lanes, Lane Assist will clearly show you that.
I have not had a chance to compare the IQ Routes to non-IQ routes as I just figured out how to turn IQ routes off in order to do the comparison yesterday; but the new routes have served me very well in terms of minimizing time. IQ Routes take traffic data from different times and days that are accumulated in a data base and use that to predict the best route. This isn't very intuitive to me, since I would think that the Traffic function would do that better; but maybe this works best for situations where there are no traffic sensors or you can't access the Traffic features.
3) Cell Phone Traffic. Let's you connect the TT920 to your cell phone (mine is Sprint) and downloads traffic in near realtime. I have noticed lately, with the latest mapset, that it is predicting delays, when in fact there aren't any; but don't know if that's because the traffic conditions are changing and there were delays. It is certainly possible because I find that this occurs in construction zones. It might also be a function of IQ routes. I need to investigate this further now that I can turn IQ routes off.
Biggest complaints:
Because of the primitive data entry interface described below, I have found the need to use my cellphone's GPS function to locate POI's and addresses, and then use the TT for routing on many occassions. This is so absolutely ridiculous for such an expensive and premium device in other ways. It's really a shame that TT can't / won't address these issues.
1) You need to know the something about your POI before you can search for it, so you need to enter the city, or the route first. You can't just search for Grand Canyon; you need to know it's in Arizona.
2) Brain dead address entry. This is where Magellan and Garmin are worlds ahead of TomTom. There are millions of address of the form ##A### such as 12W234 and these can't be entered into a TomTom. You won't be able to navigate to these locations; you'll need to know a cross street, perhaps, but how would you know that? Why can't they fix this?
3) Need to know a City to enter an address. Again, an absolutely dumb idea. In suburban areas, a street can pass through multiple communities. Needing to know the City to enter an address makes no sense. Both Magellan and Garmin figured that out years ago.
So, while TT has evolved in many positive ways, it is still very primitive in the way it handles some basic navigation data entry.
Edited 2/14/2008 TT Home reported a new European Map available for the TT920. So, in the process of downloading this I have some interesting observations.
1) A distinct TT advantage, and one I really hadn't thought much about since my 920 is only a few months old, is that Map Updates are downloadable. With Garmin you have to order a DVD. For my i5 it took weeks for the DVD to arrive.
2) But even more interesting than that is that the new Euro maps would not fit on my TT920. It said I needed to delete 110MB to free up enough space, but I didn't have 110MB of stuff to delete. So, now I thought I had a real problem. What I found out is that there is a feature in the TT920 that neither my Garmin 360 or Magellan 4250 have.
Specifically, I put in a blank 8GB SDHC card into the TT. I selected removable drive from TThome. I then downloaded the update to the TT DOWNLOAD folder on the HDD of my PC.
I then formatted the 8GB card to 4GB while it was inside the TT. I then went to Files on My Computer and ADDED the new Euro Map to the 4GB SD card. I copied the contents of the 4GB SD card to my HDD. I then removed the SD card from the TT and reformatted it to 8GB on my PC. I then copied the the contents on my HDD that I copied from the 4GB card to the 8GB card and inserted the 8GB card into the TT
3) At this point, TT920 recognizes Guam, North America and Western and Central Europe.
4) The real impact here is that I can hold 10GB of maps between the internal and removable flash. This is great news. On my Garmin 360, for example, if the North America maps exceed 2 GB, then you have to split the installation of Upper Canada and Lower 48 US. You can't just switch between them, you have to reload the maps. On the i5, I can drag and drop upper and lower maps, but again, can't have both on at the same time.
5) So, the SD cards on the two Garmins I have really serve no purpose for mapping and navigation, whereas on TT the SD card can be an extension of the internal memory. What a great design.
As you are probably aware, with the release of the 2008 maps, Many Garmin units ran short of internal memory to handle the larger maps, requiring the splitting of Upper and Lower north america. This is far less likely to happen on TT920's. SD cards on the Magellan are for backup only and custom POI's.
------
Edited 2/9/2008 The i5 refurb is now $99. The Nuvi 360 is going for $249. Prices are dropping and this is very good!
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edited 2/7/08
Well, there is a serious problem with the TTx20's. This may be enough to take them off of your short list. I am debating what to do here. The situation has to do with address numbers. TT does fine with an address in the form of, say, nnn street address. Like 414 Janes Street. What it can't handle is any street number that has something OTHER THAN A NUMBER in it, like 55N123 Anystreet, Anytown, CO. There is no way to enter 55N123, because all you can enter are NUMBERS, not the letter "N". Now this might not be so bad, but I'd guess there are millions of addresses that either have a special character, like a hyphen "-" or a letter N, S, E, W, embedded in the street number.
Both the Garmins and Magellans referenced above, can handle the forms of address numbers that have alpha+numeric combinations. Others who have reported this to TomTom say that the problem is known, but there is no indication as to when or even if TT plans on fixing it.
So, if the TT920 didn't have that nifty Bluetooth Traffic feature, I would go with the Garmin i3... or the Magellan 4250. I can buy 4 i3's or 1.6 4250's for the price of 1 TT920. I should note that the TT720 has the same feature, but I got the TT920 for just about the same price as a TT720. The price has now gone up $90 on the 920 in the last 30 days.=======================================================================
ORIGINAL REVIEW
During a recent illness I think I read nearly every review of the most popular GPS's on the market. I also have had the chance to use
Garmin i5, 200, 360, 550, 680.
Magellan 4050, 4250
TomTom 720, 920
Navigon 2100t
I bought the i5 for my daughter, the 200 for my mother, and the 920 for me. Different markets, different needs.
After reading all reviews and using these products I have concluded that there is a cult-like following for GPS's. There's the Garmin, TOMTOM and Magellan Cults. Probably the Mio, Sony, HP and other cults that I am not following as well. They will banter and chatter on the relative merits and demerits of the various technologies. In the end, the following summarizes my analysis of the comments and products. Note that for the most part when you look at the distribution of Positive and Negative comments, there is almost always a plurality of positive comments for all units. I attribute some of this to the Cult-Status of GPS's
1) They **all** produce goofy routes at times, but overall work about the same. If you had the choice of either having any one of these or not having anything, I'd take any of them. One needs to acquaint ones self with the manual in order to get all of the value out of the products. They all do some things in arcane ways, at times, so it may not be obvious how to make it do what you want it to do. Even the easy to learn Nuvi's have some cryptic functionality.
2) None of the maps are 100% accurate, but all are pretty good. I don't see a big difference between products based on Navteq and TeleAtlas maps, considering all the chatter that is written about Navteq being better than TeleAtlas. There are probably differences in maps, algorithms, routing engines, etc. that all play a part in determining the optimal route, but they all do pretty good on average and badly at times.
3) The best value for a basic GPS is the GARMIN i3 which can be had for $100 refurbed with 1 yr Garmin warranty. The i5 is about $130, also a great deal. If you have expensive nails (ladies) it's nice because it has a touch wheel instead of touch screen. It also runs on 2-AA batteries... slick.
4) For simplicity, the Garmin 200 series is great. Rechargeable, Garmin Lock, nice form factor, fits in pocket or purse. Handy when leaving car with a...Read more›

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TomTom's award-winning software and innovative features mean ground-breaking new technology for the ultimate driving experience. Switch on and go right out of the box. Just enter the address on the touchscreen or with voice prompted address entry and start driving anywhere in the US, Canada or Europe. TomTom guides you door-to-door with turn-by-turn spoken instructions, including street names. TomTom has the most accurate maps. With TomTom MapShare technology you can instantly modify street names, street direction, and POIs on your own device. Branded points of interest and optional daily fuel prices service add even more efficiency to your travels. The GO 920 makes driving even safer with hands-free calling. And now, there are added safety features so you can easily access local emergency providers.

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TomTom GO 910 4-Inch Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator (Factory Refurbished) Review

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(More customer reviews)Basic GPS Features
The TomTom 910 comes preloaded with complete maps of the USA, Canada and Western Europe preinstalled. There is a fee upgrade to the latest current maps, despite their latest map guarantee. You will have the latest map - designed for that unit.
Navigation is simple. Your destination is selected by choosing a favorite, `home' or an address. You don't even have to know the exact address. You can get close to where you are going by choosing a city center, zip code, or intersection as well. If you have an idea where you're going on the map, you can zoom in to the area that you are going and tapping that spot on your screen. Favorites can be saved by knowing the exact address, tapping on the map, or plugging in coordinates.
Points of interest can be directly navigated to, but require that you search in the proximity of a destination already selected. In other words, you can't navigate straight to the San Diego Zoo (unless you know the street address). Rather, you select San Diego as your destination, do a search for zoos near your destination, select San Diego Zoo and then tap Go To.
Once you start saving favorites, you can manage them. The icon to manage your favorites is not in the most intuitive location. It's in the settings menu. I think that a subset menu of favorites would be the most logical location to manage - not the same place where you pick what voice you want to narrate your trip.
Many GPS units only allow the user to select their current location as the starting point of route planning. The 910 will allow me to plan a trip between San Diego and Seattle, even if I'm sitting in North Carolina. The itinerary planning feature allows the user to go from point A to point B via point C instead of going direct.
Navigational preferences allow for fastest route, shortest route, and avoiding toll roads, among others. If your route does include a toll, you can ask to drive around it. The 910 will then compare your original route to the toll route in distance and time. If you don't believe the GPS and want to take your own `short cut', it will allow you to and recalculate your route from your current position. This may not sound like much, but my mother-in-law's built in GPS on her Toyota doesn't feature this and becomes very angry with the driver if you miss an exit. It wants you to go back and pick up where it (incorrectly) wanted you to go in the first place.
One of the first things that I did in the settings menu was to turn on all icons. This is the only way to see the icon that allows you to cancel navigation so that you don't have to power off or smash it once you get to where you are going but want to drive around a bit.
Almost Premium Features
The 910 comes with a few extra goodies that require you to use the Bluetooth feature of your GPS in conjunction with your phone. You can get traffic alerts in select cities, add TomTom buddies, download options and premium features such as fuel prices. Even if the service, like buddies, is free, the GPS will use the data transfer feature of your phone to download the information it wants. If you're on an unlimited data plan with your cell provider, then that's great. No worries. But if you pay per kb, you can incur additional fees on your cell phone bill that you may not expect. As for traffic alerts, the cell phone data fee can be circumvented by using a special "TMC" antenna. This is only $160 and will save you from those pesky data fees. In fact you don't have to have a cell phone at all for traffic alerts with this antenna. Unfortunately, it doesn't download any other data.
TomTom Buddies is a unique feature that lets you pair up with someone else that has a Bluetooth phone and TomTom GPS. It will allow you to text message each other (please don't, if you're the only one in the car!) and will allow you to see where they are on your map.
The Other Stuff
The TomTom 910 has a Bluetooth connectivity option. This allows the user to use their Bluetooth enabled phone for hands-free talking, the aforementioned data downloading, and other audio devices. The hands-free features the ability to pair with a cell phone, but you can't unpair it without either deleting the profile, turning off Bluetooth altogether on either your phone or unit, or by switching to another phone. In other words, it's pretty inconvenient to just get in the car and not use your hands-free if you've already paired your phone to it.
The condenser mic supposedly has echo-cancellation, but was extremely sensitive to ambient noise. Adjusting the volume should help, but attaching the included mic to your visor may be a better choice.
The 910 also has a built in MP3 player. Note that this is ONLY an MP3 player and doesn't support any other music format. TomTom Jukebox is an attempt to organize your music, but it's pretty archaic. The MP3 player also supports audio books and has a function to directly download a book to your machine through either your phone or TomTom Home, the PC based docking application.
The built in speaker volume adjusts itself to ambient noise. Use the Bluetooth to connect to your car stereo for a better sound.
Finally, the 910 supports bmp and jpg photos. You can transfer as many as you can fit on the hard drive.
While you're out driving, you can have a slide show of your favorite photos while your favorite music is being played, and still not miss a turn. The GPS will interrupt your show when an upcoming turn is closing in.
The Hardware
The TomTom 910 is an older unit of about 2004-2005 vintage. This is one of the original TomTom form factors and is much bulkier than it's contemporary models. It's orange-wedge shaped and weighs about ? of a pound.
The 480 x 272, 16-bit screen is 4" across and is very visible. Its anti-glare screen is visible in most light conditions, even direct sunlight. It also has a light sensor to adjust itself to ambient light.
The 910 has a 400 MHz processor, 64 MB RAM and a very unusual 20GB hard drive. With 12 GB available, there is more than plenty of room for thousands of high quality songs and photos. You can easily take the unit from car to car and even carry it with you with it's 4-hour Li-Ion battery.
The 910 is also compatible with most 3rd generation and newer iPods (except the shuffle) with a separate adapter. You can access the menu on your touch screen and play the music through the GPS or through the Bluetooth audio device you have paired with it.
At Home
The TomTom 910 comes with TomTom Home, the PC based dock where you can download certain features with a USB cable connected your online PC.
Shortfalls
Overall, I like this GPS. The icons are large and easy to use, but there are some big problems that are probably very much uniform across the TomTom line that I would definitely be aware of before making a final decision on such a large investment.
Other than the favorites, there is no waypoint database that would be something compatible with Garmin or Magellan units. The unit is strictly for auto travel and unlike similarly priced newer units, is ineffective for hiking or other outdoor activities like geocaching. You can't store a track log, you can't download a list of waypoints that someone wants to share with you.
You also must always install the latest firmware to your GPS unit and have the latest version of TomTom Home if you want to continue using both together. Even if that means the incorporation of a change you don't like. For instance, the latest firmware update included a music icon the size of a nickel on the main navigation page. Though convenient to access your jukebox, it's annoying if you don't listen to music. There is no way to turn it off.
Another feature with regards to hands free calling is that it can import your entire phone database. While this is useful in that you can dial from your contact list on the 910 instead of your phone, there is no way to manage that database. You may want some numbers on your phone and not on your GPS. You can't delete individual entries or change the phone number or spelling without changing it in your phone first, deleting your whole paired device profile and starting over again.
As mentioned before, there are some neat features, but some are just not available in the US. As TomTom is marketed for different countries, it's really silly to continue selling the safety camera alert on US and Canadian websites and packaging when that feature isn't available outside Europe.
You can't plug in a USB or power cord directly into the unit itself. You MUST have the window or desktop mount. You lose these, and you can't charge the unit, talk to it, or hook up any other accessories. It also would have been nice to be able to charge the unit from the USB dock without a separate power cord.
Finally, customer service is just about nil. Reaching them by phone is difficult, and to contact them by email is very frustrating. Most FAQs on their website are for things already clearly spelled out in their manual (which is very much lacking in substance). It's simple to use for navigation, but fully utilizing all the available features will be a nerve racking and irritating learning experience.
Final Words
This unit was originally $600. I paid less than 1/3 of that for mine because it has been discontinued. If you can find it for less than $200, grab one! It's a great way to get into the world of GPS navigation. It's got a lot of great features, and if you don't care about its deficiencies, then no harm no foul. It's especially...Read more›

Click Here to see more reviews about: TomTom GO 910 4-Inch Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator (Factory Refurbished)

For easy-to-use, accurate navigation with a ton of extra features, you need look no farther than the TomTom Go 910 GPS Navigation System (Refurbished). With a few taps on its screen, the TomTom Go 910 lets you pick a destination, choose the type of route you want, and get going with innovative voice instruction and 3D graphics guiding you from door to door.
With a compact and portable design, the TomTom Go 910 can easily travel with you from car to car. Ready to go right out of the box, this unit utilizes simple touch-screen operation on its wide-screen 4-inch WQVGA display with 480 x 272 pixels of resolution and 64,000 colors. The Go 910 provides you with clear, accurate, turn-by-turn voice instructions, in more than 36 languages with more than 50 voices to choose from.
The TomTom Go 910 comes with a 20 GB hard drive pre-loaded with complete maps of the US, Canada and Europe, as well as millions of POIs (points of interest). Feature rich, this navigator allows hands-free calling with most Bluetooth-enabled phones, and includes text-to-speech for reading your text messages, a compass mode, an anti-glare screen, a speeding alert, and a tip function. What's more, this unit has a built-in MP3 player, and with 12 GB of free hard drive space for downloading thousands of your favorite songs, and is iPod compatible for even more musical flexibility. Already equipped with a quality speaker, the 910 also lets connect to your vehicle's audio system, access TomTom Home software for updates and additional information, and provides real-time traffic information, weather conditions, detailed city maps, a pre-installed safety camera database and more.
The TomTom Go 910 is constructed with a high-sensitivity, integrated GPS receiver, and features text to voice so it can read your text messages to you as you drive, a volume that is linked to your car speed so it increases as you drive at higher speeds, a route preview, fast re-routing, a remote control and more. The 910 is built with a 400 MHz processor and 64 MB of RAM, as well as an internal, rechargeable Lithium-ion battery that provides up to four hours of power on the go. The TomTom Go 910 weighs 12 ounces, and measures 4.2 x 3.1 x 2.5 inches (W x H x D). Users should note that this TomTom Go 910 is a refurbished model.
What's in the Box TomTom Go 910 GPS navigator, remote control, carrying case, home dock, car charger, windshield dock, external microphone, audio cable, product code card, documentation pack (with quick-start guide, accessory leaflet, and CD), and user's manual.

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Mio C520 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator Review

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(More customer reviews)==== UPDATE October 2, 2007 ====
I bought a Nav-Mat Portable GPS Dash Mount for use in trips to California, where it is illegal to attach a GPS to your windshield. The Nav-Mat bean bag mount simply works great with the Mio C520 and is very stable. Check out the picture under customer images.
==== UPDATE August 21, 2007 ====
The following statement was in my original review and has been removed: "If you plan to use it in Europe, just Google "MioMap V3.3 Western Europe for Mio C220 - C320 - C520" and you should find some UK vendors who sell the SD card."
The fact is that although there are vendors in UK who sell the Europe map, the current Europe maps cannot be used in US/Canada models of C520 due to a license issue. Sorry if this caused confusion. Please read the forums at mionav dot com for updates on this issue.
==== UPDATE August 16, 2007 ====
I updated MioMap to the July 5, 2007 version, still v3.3, following the directions in MioNav dot com, which is linked to the Mio topics in the gpspassion dot com forums. (Search for the topic "Updates for miomap V3.3 are available" and you will find a link to download "MioMap V3 Updater for C320 and C520" from Mio's European website).
This update cures the stuttering problem reported in some earlier versions of MioMap. It also adds a Mute button on the map screen under the Bluetooth button. It does not update the maps or POI data, and leaves the History intact.
==== END UPDATES ====
OVERVIEW:
After doing tons of research to find a competent GPS navigation system under $350, I narrowed down my choice to two models - the Magellan Maestro 3140 and the Mio Digiwalker C520. I would have also considered the Garmin Nuvi 250, but it lacks both text-to-speech and Bluetooth capability which I wanted. If ease of use is most important, I would say the Magellan Maestro 3140, which is a huge improvement over its predecessor, the Maestro 3100, would have been an excellent choice. But since I was not gadget shy, the Mio Digiwalker C520, with its widescreen form factor and advanced capabilities was the unit for me.
The Mio C520 packs in US and Canadian maps with text-to-speech routing instructions, Bluetooth, an MP3 player, a video player, a picture viewer and a contact manager that synchronizes with MS Outlook. The installation is pretty painless. The suction cup holder, which is precision made in Germany, works very well and easily installs onto the windscreen of any car (contrary to what the previous reviewer claims). The Mio works right out of the box with instructions in the tiny manual. If you are willing read the full manual located in the supplied CDROM, and go through a very minor learning curve, you will find the user interface most satisfying and will profit from its awesome capabilities.
It has some cool features, like the ability to display map coordinates and altitude, and has the ability to automatically synchronize time and date with the satellite. It's signal pickup is lightening fast due to the state-of-the-art 20-channel SirfStarIII receiver. It actually picks up the satellite signal from inside my house. If you are further geek-inclined, visit the forums in gpspassion dot com - which show you how to unlock the GPS operating system (Windows CE 5.0) and install custom applications and utilities.
Now consider that the street price of the equivalent widescreen Garmin (the Nuvi 660) is $300 more than the Mio C520, and you can understand why the Mio tops MobilePlanet dot com's current popularity list. The Mio is perhaps among the best GPS' out there at any price!
EXPERIENCE:
On a recent trip to San Francisco with my wife, the Mio turned out to be a real trip saver. It listed our hotel in its point of interest (POI) database and got us to all our destinations without ever getting us lost. Needless to say, it saved us about a couple of hours each day on the trip, even though we were pretty familiar with the Bay Area. Not once did we have to stop for (or argue over) directions! The POI database listed all the major and minor points of interest, including museums, concert halls, gas stations, car rental agencies, seven-elevens, hospitals, etc. It also included hard to find, hole-in-the-wall restaurants. It has restaurants categorized by cuisine, which includes "Japanese", "Greek", "Indian" and so on.
While the routing capability is excellent, it is not 100% perfect. (None of the portable GPS models are perfect). While driving on 101 southbound to SFO airport, it asked us to "bear left on Bayshore freeway southbound" seconds before asking us to take the San Bruno exit to the airport on the right. While this was not a navigational glitch per se, it did have the potential for causing confusion. (Of course, I later understood that "bear left" meant the freeway bears left, not "get on the left lane", duh!). A couple of times it asked us to take left turns in downtown San Francisco that were not allowed. When we ignored it, it recalculated the routes in a matter of seconds, without forcing us to take U turns (which some other GPS models make you do).
Now lets put that in perspective and take, for example, a day trip to Monterey, Pebble Beach, Carmel and back to San Francisco (consisting of, say, 100 routing manoeuvers). On such a trip, the Mio would give confusing instructions perhaps two or three times in total, which meant it was perfect approximately 97% of the time. This is excellent performance in my book. I am perhaps looking at this with a more critical eye than warranted. The important thing is that Mio C520 recalculated the route the moment it realized we were off route, and always got us to our destination quickly.
By considerably reducing the planning chores, the Mio immensely improved the satisfaction of our holiday. We will never go on another trip without it!
TEXT TO SPEECH
The text-to-speech (TTS) feature, which causes the Mio to speak the street names, turns out to be valuable, especially when there are a lot of quick turns to make. The TTS ("Samantha") voice on the Mio C520 is perhaps a bit brusque but pleasant enough. There is a chime before each voice instruction, which alerts you to an upcoming manoeuver. (The TTS voice is in no way "HORRIBLE" or "VERY" chatty as described in the previous review. With all due respect to the previous reviewer, his review is pretty opinionated and unfair). The TTS voice did not stutter even once. The version of Mio Map on my unit is dated May 18, 2007. Note that some earlier versions are reported to have a TTS voice stuttering problem.
SCREEN:
The the 4.3-inch touch screen with 480x272-pixel resolution is vivid and sharp. (The screen is not washed out, as the previous reviewer claims). And it goes without saying you can easily adjust the brightness to your desired level. The touch-screen keyboard is in QUERTY format and has a predictive function, making it easy to enter an address quickly. The automatic night mode feature is pretty neat and wow inducing. It switches to night mode based on time of sunset for the current date, time zone, latitude and logitude!
NAVIGATION PERFORMANCE:
On the subject of navigation mapping data, the conventional wisdom is that in North America, Navteq data is more accurate than Tele Atlas - which the Mio uses. However, the recent buzz is that Tele Atlas has significantly narrowed the gap with Navteq, especially with its latest map versions released after the fall of 2006. A recent comparison of Navteq versus Tele Atlas in gpsreview dot net actually shows the Tele Atlas' mapping data to be slightly more accurate than Navteq's, while another study in gpsmagazine dot com has the results the other way around.
In my own tests, which included comparing the Mio C520's routing with online maps by Yahoo, Google and Mapquest, showed that none of the routing engines were perfect, with Google coming out perhaps slightly better than the others. To my delight, I found that the routes chosen by the Mio C520, which uses the latest Tele Atlas data, is pretty close to those chosen by Yahoo. Rest assured, the navigation performace of the Mio C520 is indeed excellent.
ROUTING FEATURES:
Typically you would enter an address or POI around the current city. Or you can change the destination city, state or country and enter an address or select a POI for that destination. The Mio also has the ability to route to a contact (an address you entered in the contact manager, under Tools->Contacts).
There is a peculiar way you need to enter North American addresses into the contact manager in order for the "Route to Contact" feature to work. For example, consider the address: 111 FIRST STREET, APT# 101, FREMONT, CA 94533. You have to enter 'CA, 94533' in the 'State:' field, 'FREMONT' in the 'City/Postcode:', 'FIRST STREET' in the 'Street:' field and 'Apt 101, 111' in the 'House number:' field. (Note that you need to enter the state and zip code separated by a comma in the 'State:' field). Once you enter the contact address as the Mio expects it, it creates the route to the contact address super fast (usually in less than 10 seconds).
The Mio has a decent job of position error filtering, which attempts to accurately estimate your car's position on the map. Even when driving at 70MPH on a freeway, the Mio is off by no more than 10 yards. It also estimates the car's speed within 2MPH of my car's odometer reading. When driving on regular streets at around 30MPH, the display of the car position is spot on. There are several split-screen views which you can cycle through, giving you the distance to the next manoeuver, the current time, the estimated time...Read more›

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TomTom GO 720 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I really love the 720. I have tried the Garmin Nuvi and just didn't like the software nearly as much as the TomTom. Entering addresses is really fast and you only see towns in the state you are looking in. This means no more having to scroll through 30 different Springfields to get to the one you are searching for. You can hide the keyboard to see a long list of close matches so instead of having to type out the full city or street name you can just hit the first few letters and then pick from a list.
Mapshare seems like it will be a huge advance in the world of automotive GPS devices. Is a street marked as open when it should be blocked? Just correct the error with a few quick taps on the screen and it's fixed. What's really the big advance though is the ability to share my corrections with all other TomTom owners. I connect the 720 to the TomTom HOME software and it downloads corrections that other users have submitted.
What you see on the screen can be fully customized so that if you want the status bar on the side then you can put it there or you can leave it on the bottom. You can also decide what information is shown in the status bar. You can show or hide the time of day, remaining time, remaining distance, current heading, and your current rate of speed. If you subtract items from the status bar the other items automatically get bigger to take up the remaining space. You can also select if you want to show the current street you are on and the name of the next street you will be turning on to.
Text to speech quality is very good and will say the directions so for example it might say "in 250 feet keep right, then take the exit right, 204B towards Westview." Or "in 200 meters, turn right South West Madison Avenue." You can choose from multiple voices although I think the Dave voice sounds the best of the bunch. If you don't want to hear the "keep to lane" instructions you can disable this feature although I personally like to have it on. You can also record your own spoken instructions so for example you could have your kid's voice tell you to turn left in 200 feet. I haven't tried this though.
The screen is very bright and easy to see even when I have my sunglasses on. The 720 can be set to automatically turn the brightness down as it gets dark thanks to a built in light sensor on the front of the unit.
The mount is pretty clever and super easy to use. Just push it up to the windshield and it sticks right on. The 720 then just slides right on and is held solidly in place. You can turn the 720 in any direction to get it exactly where it's easiest for you to see.
With all the great features of the 720, I think what will really set it apart even more from the other GPS units out there is the Mapshare feature. Being able to fix your own map and download updates automatically to keep the map up to date is one of those things that is so fantastically great that you wonder why on earth it took so long to make to a shipping product. Whether or not it can live up to the expectations remains to be seen. Even if you took Mapshare away it's still the best car GPS I've ever used. With it, there's just no contest.
My biggest complaint is that there's no case in the box. You need to buy one separately although I've been using the plastic holder it shipped in so far which is OK.

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The TomTom GO 720 Color GPS Navigation System with Mapshare is one of the newest, and most advanced GPS navigators to date, from one of the most trusted names in vehicle navigation. The GO 720 features a high-quality finish with an extremely elegant and slim design that allows it to not only complement any car's interior, but also fit perfectly and easily in your hand or shirt pocket so it can go anywhere you do. Despite its sleek and portable size, the TomTom GO 720 is packed full of all the functionality you need to easily get where you are going, as well as a ton of features to make your trip as safe and enjoyable as possible.
Top-Notch User Interface and Software The GO 720 is operated via an award-winning, intuitive user interface, and is ready to go right out of the box so as soon as you switch it on you can start using it. This navigator comes with the latest and most complete maps of the USA and Canada pre-installed for door-to-door navigation anywhere across the North American continent. Providing easy and quick access to extensive information such as building footprints and live traffic information, the unit includes multiple information options for personalization to your needs. What's more, the 720 is fully future proof, with new maps and free software upgrades available through TomTom's "Home" service so you'll never be out of date.

Simple, Easy Navigation TomTom's GO 720 uses a 4.3-inch, extra-wide, touch-screen LCD display that features anti-glare technology for easy viewing even in direct sunlight. Realistic and clear visual instructions are provided with high-quality 3D graphics, while spoken instructions tell you where you need to go in your own language. Using the latest technology, the 720 provides you with fast and accurate positioning, with fast route calculation and automatic re-calculation so it's virtually impossible to get turned around. You can even record your own navigation instructions, for either places you know best, or for planning out trips in advance based on the recommendations of others.

The GO 720 is as safe as it is convenient, and comes with a host of safety preferences. This unit helps ensure safe and efficient driving by doubling as a hands-free kit via Bluetooth technology, which is becoming essential as more states pass laws against driving while talking into a handset. With dual microphone support and a built-in high-quality speaker your phone calls are as clear as a bell, and with convenience features such as automatic call pick-up you can truly concentrate on your driving. However, if for some reason your concentration does lapse, this device includes a selectable speeding alert to keep you from accruing expensive tickets.

Extra Features The GO 720 is full of functionality, such as a tip feature, a customizable status bar, an extensive guided tour, and even a 'Help me!' menu, so it guides you through its usage as much as to your destination. It also features a personalized shortcut menu, 'current location icon' options, and millions of POIs (points of interest) so you can find what you need wherever you are like a lifetime local was riding shotgun. Taking navigation beyond just convenience, the 720 lets you play your music wirelessly over your vehicle's stereo system via its built-in MP3 player and FM transmitter. Now you can enjoy your music on the 720, all while seamlessly providing navigation instructions and still handling your hands-free phone calls. This amazing navigation device even provides you with a document viewer and photo viewer, so you can take your work with you or instantly download and enjoy your holiday photos wherever you go.

TomTom Plus Services The TomTom GO 720 is compatible with TomTom Plus services that allow you to check the current weather and road conditions on your route, and get up to five-day forecasts for places your visiting. This feature also allows you to take advantage of buddies functionality, TomTom Plus traffic, and the easy download of additional voices. What's more, as a new addition to the TomTom line-up, the 720 comes with TomTom MapShare technology. TomTom Map Share technology not only lets you add to, update, and personalize your maps instantly, but also share them with others so all your family and friends know the latest changes in your area. You can also download others' changes daily as one of many online services.

TomTom's GO 720 comes complete with TomTom Home software, an internal high-quality rechargeable lithium ion battery, and the capability to share content directly between other compatible TomTom GO devices. A Bluetooth remote control is available as a separate accessory. The 720 is also backed by a manufacturer's limited warranty.

What's in the Box TomTom GO 720 navigation device, windshield mount, desk dock with USB cable, car charger, CD-rom with software and user's manual, quick-start guide, accessory/PLUS leaflet, TomTom safe driving leaflet, and warranty information.

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Sanyo NVM-4030 4-Inch Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This thing is a peice of junk and buy dot com wont take it back after 20 days, it locks up with fatal application error and the maps are terribly out of date.ASIN:B000K2DHQW Sanyo NVM-4030 Navigation System]]

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The Sanyo NVM-4030 portable navigation device combines Bluetooth hands-free communication with a digital music player and a large, four-inch TFT touchscreen display. It's ready to go out of the box-- no downloading required-- and comes pre-loaded with map data of the United States and Canada. This system also gives you access to over 1.4 million points of interest, including restaurants, hotels, and key attractions. Once you've decided on a destination, the NVM-4030 gets you where you're going via clear voice guidance (in English or Spanish) and turn-by-turn navigation. This handy system comes with a lithium-ion battery that provides up to 3.5 hours of play time.

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