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- Average user rating: 2.5 stars out of 47 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
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9 out of 9 people found this review helpful
4.0 stars
"tomtom life after 6 months - recommended"
Pros: easy to use, constantly updates maps, intuitive design, touch screen makes life so much easier
Cons: pricy, flawed first shipment, some computer docking problems, lack of ability to modify display
Summary: This was the first time I purchased a GPS of any kind. I recently moved to a new city (D.C.) and travel to wide open spaces (northern Virginia) a lot. I've used it for about 6 months (I think) so I feel that I can give a pretty accurate review.
I also had problems with the first unit I purchased. As in it never worked; it was always looking for a signal. Luckily the mail-order company exchanged it and I discovered that it should work within a minute out of the box.
First off, this thing works great. I am so glad I can finally stop printing maps from mapquest. It's easy to use - just punch in the address and off you go. It does a pretty good job of finding the "best" route and I like the arrival time feature. It increases in time when you are in traffic, and notably decreases when you decide that saving gas is for wimps.
This thing actually taught me a quicker way to get home from work. Admittedly, it only shaved about a minute off, but with heavy traffic, that new route saves me upwards of 10 minutes.
I also love the automatic re-route feature. If you accidentally take an early left, it will immediately recalculate the route and plan a new course.
I was surprised to learn that it works in the rain. Stormy rain. Weather conditions where my DirecTV would give out, this thing continues to plug away.
But it's not flawless. When I turn it on in the middle of the city, sometimes it gets "drunk." More specifically, it will only have 1 out of a maximum of 5 (think cell phone) bar of reception in some locations. The map swings wildly because it thinks I'm doing donuts in the middle of downtown DC. To its credit, the longer I drive, the more it evens out (sobers up?). Note that this happens when I turn Tomtom on in the city. When I'm in the suburbs/country with 5 bars and then come into the city, there are no problems.
I was surprised to learn that I actually use the point-of-interest feature. When I need a quick gas station or ATM or just looking for that stupid shopping center when i can't remember the address, Tomtom is there. You can select a category, then focus the list by typing in a couple of letters. Helped me find my bank's ATM and find a mall when I was on a roadtrip.
Yes, it does have some flaws. Most notably, Tomtom considers all neighborhoods to be the same, traffic wise. As of this date, the traffic feature still isn't implemented. What this means is that sometimes, Tomtom will send me straight through a tourist area (such as Georgetown) instead of taking me on the highway. This is easily fixed by just not taking the exit, as it will recalculate a better route immediately. If you're anal, you can manually use the "avoid road" feature before you start driving.
Another weird problem is when docking to the computer. It always messes up the clock on Tomtom. And for some reason, I can't correct the time using the computer program. I end up fixing the clock when I reinstall it back in the car. Why those wacky Europeans couldn't sync it to the computer's clock is beyond me.
Another pet peeve is that I can't use my computer's shift button when I'm typing into Tomtom. But I'm not sure if that's due to my keyboard (Logitech G15) or if its a program flaw. I end up hitting the shift button on the Tomtom directly.
Mounting it on the windshield is pretty easy. I noticed that the first one I bought had a really loose pivot, but the second one didn't. Apparently many others complained, and Tomtom is sending me a complimentary windshield mount. I would recommend just setting it and leaving it. The mount was a distraction the first day I installed it, but now it's hardly noticeable.
I'm glad I didn't splurge on the 910, as I really can't see a need for the extra memory. And I'm not really a "books-on-tape" kind of person. The speaker is pretty bad for MP3 playback - I would just use your car's radio. The iPod accessory was a waste of money for exactly the same reason. Just use your headphones or (if your lucky) a car stereo docking station. And if you're geek enough to need the extra memory for storage, a flash drive is cheaper and more efficient.
You can only partially customize it. You can download wacky voices, which will entertain you for about a day. And you can change the color scheme of the display. I have to admit that it is pretty cool that at night, the GPS matches the interior color scheme of my Jetta.
What's missing is customizing the display of the Tomtom itself. There are buttons on the display that I simply don't need. It would have been nice to be able to remove some buttons to avoid the clutter. The only option it has is a function to display "fewer" buttons, but you don't have any input as to which buttons it removes.
It's only crashed on me once, but that was because I took it out of the car and forgot it was in a bag. I banged it up a little bit, so I consider it my fault. The home computer program restored everything from my last backup in about a minute flat.
It sometimes locks if I use the ejection button on the home computer program instead of just shutting the unit down ejecting. Looks to be a software bug that (I assume) will be eventually updated.
So why an 8? Well, when you plunk down over half a grand, it should work straight out of the box. Period.
Also the home computer program can sometimes be finicky. You can't avoid this; you will need to use the computer docking station for updates to the maps. And it's cool to google a restaurant, then punch the address as a favorite in your Tomtom. The home program also self-updates, but overall still has flaws.
Bottom line: When you get one that works, keep it. Much like Tivo, it's something you never knew you needed.
TomTom GO 510:
