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"Has good address search tools. POI feature is very poor, bluetooth phone is cool." on by lbalk
Pros: The Bluetooth phone is cool, easy to find addresses
Cons: POI is a big weakness and makes the product unesable
Summary: This is about the 10th GPS I have purchased. I was very excited to purchase the 700 (TOMTOM 700) after being frustrated with the Garmin CXX (C330 and C320). However, after using the 700 I will keep my C330. There are many GPS systems today and I have certainly not tried them all, the big weakness the 700 has is in the points of interest lookup.
Once you find a location you want to navigate to there is no way to determine the address or destination unless you try to decipher the turn-by-turn instructions. Another weak point is the POI category; I was searching for a specific bank and did not know the address. I could not find an ability to search by name in the 700 and there was no category for banking. I switched over to my C3XX, chose the city, spelled the banks name, and retrieved the address. The 700 also has some problems with their web site. Many links sent me on a wild chase to activate registrations and look for features. The instructions, categories and support seems to be geared more to supporting European customers.
Now I have said many negative comments about the 700, there are also some good points. The Bluetooth phone is cool, if I did not already have this feature in my car it would be worth keeping for only this feature. The traffic feature was not working so I could not test it. The ability to search an address based on the Zip code is very helpful, this is something the Garmin C3XX do not have. The 700 allows you to search for an address based on the zip code. This is very helpful if the town you believe an address to be in is not the town listed in the GPS. The Garmin makes it impossible to locate the address.
The 700 is also a little more reliable on telling you when to turn although some of the prompts repeat more then they should. I purchased the John Cleese voice, when you arrive at your destination John Cleese tells you have arrived and he is not going to help you with your bags. This was funny the first time, but after listening to this prompt three times each time you reach destination it becomes very annoying, sorry John. In comparison the Garmin C3XX GPS can be a little dangerous, the visual leads you to believe a turn is coming up soon and then quickly changes. Garmin needs to correct this before they cause an accident. I also like the fact the 700 allows me to choose how to route, shortest distance, fastest time, this is a system option on the C3XX and can not be chosen for each destination. The Magellan works the same way the 700 does, yes I have also had the roadmate 300 and quickly got rid of it, I did not like the way the maps loaded and I prefer the GPS to have a built in battery. If I need the cigarette lighter for my phone I don’t want to have to choose.
In summary- until I find something better I am going to stay with the C330, I like the maps better but the real reason was because of the points of interest limitation. When I am out of town and looking for a restaurant or hotel, I want to at least know I am heading in the direction that makes the most sense. If TOMTOM correct this problem the 700 would be a better choice for now. -
"Great product...could improve" on by oly8080
Pros: Handsfree Bluetooth + simplistic UI
Cons: maps need to be updated
Summary: I just got a TT GO 700 last week and love it so far. Here is my review based on my experiences so far.
1) Bluetooth Phone feature -
I love the bluetooth phone feature, My phone Motorola v330 was not listed in the supported list but I was successfull able to connect and use it. Based on my experience, I don't think the phone compatibility list is always up to date, just try your phone and see if it works with the device.
Making calls and recieving calls is very convenient though the GPS screen, sound quality is excellent for hearing the other party through the GPS speaker. Talking though the GPS microphone ranges from good to excellent. I had few freinds who could not believe i was talking thorough a Handsfree GPS device, while sometimes my friends complained the voice was very hollow. You have to give the benefit of doubt to the TomTom device as there are lot of variables involved in making a phone call though bluetooth like Phone Signal quality, road noise, etc... Overall i am very impressed with the phone capabilities, although I have some gripes which i will list below.
2) Mapping and routing - I have not tried it on a long trip yet, mostly I have driven locally where I know all the routes. Routing in general is very good and accurate. Although I found few new addresses that were not listed. I drove to one of my friends place who lives in the far west suburbs of chicago and his community streets were totally absent / missing in the TomTom maps. So, once I got to his house, I bookmarked the Map position on to my favourites, so that I can get to his house. Since there are no street level data for his community, all I could do was use the map point as guide to get me to his house.
Even for my house which is about 3-4 yrs old, the street names are slightly mixed in the subdivision and moreover I cannot get my address by typing / searching for the location in the GPS.
Rest of the regular routes are very accurate and detailed.
3) POI - I was surprised that I could find some local stores which I did not expect to find on the device. Haven't used the feature extensively but seems fairly OK. Although I would like to know how to update the POI?
4) Voice / Sound quality - Voice and sound quality is excellent. Instructions are read out loud and clear. I have read that there are darth vader and yoda voices available, love to get them installed on my device.
5) Visibility / Brightness - I have my brightness set to full and it looks very sharp and bright. I haven't seen any major issues during mid afternoon sunlight so far.
Complaints and like to have features -
First the complaints -
1) I am not able to see my "Phone book" numbers from my cellphone on the TomTom GO 700 device. I have the option to "Get numbers from phone" when clicked tries to retrive numbers from phone and after couple of minutes says retrieved numbers successfully, but my "Phone book" icon is always disabled on my TTGO 700.
My phone is the Motorola V330 with T-Mobile service.
2) Not sure if the TomTom Plus service is available in USA yet? No proper documentation available on the website and Manual.
3) The POI search capability could be improved, in the current version you are forced to select a category for searching the POI, this makes it hard if you are not sure what category the POI you are looking for is listed in. It would be great if you could just type the name of the POI and find it. As an example "Walgreens" is a "Store" which could also be a "Pharmacy". So, to search for Walgreens you have to know if it is in the "Store" or the "Pharmacy" category. This might not be the best example, but I hope you get the idea.
Like to have features -
1) I would love to have voice recognition / voice dial through the GPS device. I don't think it is a big ask, as the device already has a microphone through which you answer your calls. Most phones already have voice recognition capability, so it should not be hard to just pass my voice command to the cell phone.
2) Extending the above mentioned feature, it would be great if we can use voice commands to enter our address. That would make it truly hands free and very safe to operate.
3) Frequent updates to MAPS & POI through the internet?? Not sure if it is available or how to get updates?
These are my complaints so far, will keep updating as I use the device.
Cool features -
1) Hands free calling through GPS, I was really amazed this morning when I had the TTGO 700 in my living room and the bluetooth phone in my bedroom which is one floor above and the opposite end of my living room, the device could connect to the phone.
2) Ability to search for POI's and make calls to them through the GPS is really helpfull.
3) Linux based OS - ability to customize.
Website - http://www.tomtom.com/products/category.php?ID=0&Language=4 -
"No, washed out screen, lousy map and road data" on by tapa
Pros: Fast touchscreen, very fast
Cons: outdated maps
Summary: I have recently bought the garmin 330 the roadmate 760 and now the tom tom go 700.
Bottom line is, tom tom go is a tom tom no.
Why? Cause YOU CANNOT SEE THE DAMN THING IN DAYTIME!!! Also, while riding from florida to Maryland I found the roadmate 760 far far superior for details of local roads and more up to date on recently built roads.
One thing I really really don't like about this tom tom go 700. When you are driving along in 3d or regular mode, and you zoom in to a detailed view, after about 1 minute suddenly it zooms me back out to what it things I should be viewing! Whacked?
To prove a point, I open the Roadmate 760 to big screen, meaning only the state of North Carolina is seen. This is just to quick check how far I've gone thru the state. I leave the Roadmate on this setting cause Im crusing up I95 and don't need any POI's or such. Then I try to do the same thing on the Tom Tom and boom it zooms me back to a totally useless and empty zoom level.
Why is this?
very irritating.
All in all its a damn fast unit (400 mhz arm processor) but it's boring to look at and most of the time all I saw was a road. No indication of the roads im coming up to or just passed. Just a boring yellow line on the screen. For miles and miles and miles.
Do yourself a favor, buy the Roadmate 760. Much more detailed.
Last note, has anyone else notice the amazing similarities between tom tom go 700 and garmin 330? Whats going on here some kind of corporate espionage? Who stole who's plans LOL ! ! -
"An absolute necesity for people who travel or use mapquest/ yahoo maps a lot." on by mattsfca
Pros: EZ 2 use, directions are precise, voice prompts are clear, many popular destinations are already programmed into the unit, and it can easily be moved from one car to another.
Cons: A bigger screen would be nice, although there might be a law that prohibits that. Otherwise, none yet.
Summary: This is the most useful gadget that I've bought. I used it on a recent trip and I just plugged it in the to the car charger and it was ready to go. The prompts on the touchscreen make it very easy to use and it's removable mount is secure. No regrets on this purchase.
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"You CAN'T get lost with this one" on by jequeen1
Pros: Does what it is supposed to,Extensive Map Database,Well thought out feature set
Cons: Hard to read in bright sunlight
Summary: Have this sitting in the Nav compartment of my 350Z so bright sun is not an issue but you may want to consider an aftermarket sun shade
This device simply works as it is supposed to.
I had a chance to really give it a work out on a recent Saturday/Sunday when I wanted to see a bunch of houses in an adjoining state that I am thinking of taking a job in.
Not having a clue where I was,
I was amazed at how this device was able to find all those places and several were in very remote areas where I did not expect it to have maps for.
I won't bore you with all the extensive usability features since you can read about them on the TomTom user support forum.
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