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- Average user rating: 3.0 stars out of 104 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
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12 out of 12 people found this review helpful
4.5 stars
"Addressing the Reviewer's Two "Cons""
Pros: Fantastic Apart from Cons, Below! Great ergonomics, straightforward menu systems and touch screen control.
Cons: Lack of Assistance with BT Data Functions; Inability to Route Hands-Free Through FM or Audio Cable
Summary: The original review complained about two things, the first of which was evidently an oversight by the reviewer, and the other a point of contention but with a potentially surprising upside for those with a little time to sort things out.
First, the lack of an external volume control: This is managed with a quick swipe along the bottom edge of the touch screen with a finger. Easier than fumbling for a dial or knob. It's as "external" as they get. The default can be set in the system configuration, but immediate changes are always conveniently available at the touch screen in "driving mode".
The second complaint was a paucity of supported BT phone models. This requires both a clarification (many will work with the 720 in hands-free audio mode) and a more detailed explanation (lack of specific support in no way means that the "data mode" features of TomTom Plus aren't supported, although phone book transfers may not work).
The 720 uses Bluetooth for three primary functions: 1) hands-free phone operation, 2) phone book transfers from the handset to the 720, and 3) TomTom plus features that require network connections. The latter set includes such things as weather forecasts, direct download of some features, and perhaps most important -- the use of a BT enabled phone to obtain traffic reports. This last is perhaps the most useful BT feature, and obviates the cost and use of the RDM-TMC receiver and its associated issues.
While TomTom has tested and provides simple Bluetooth data connectivity for only a handful of phones, a prospective buyer should not necessarily feel left out just because his/her phone isn't on the list or their provider or phone included in the list automatically supplied on the 720.
I have successfully connected a most unlikely phone (the Nextel iDen i870 by Motorola) through the Sprint/Nextel system. Why did I think this likely?
Fire up your BT enabled phone and using the BT GUI that came with your Bluetooth dongle for your PC, discover your phone and make an inquiry about what services it supports. If your phone reports that it supports the Bluetooth DUN (Dial-Up Networking) profile, and if you have a data plan with your provider, odds are that there's a way to get this phone to do what needs to be done. The trick is to simply lie to the GO 720 during data connect configuration, supply it with something possibly not even remotely close to your own phone type, and then select "Other" when asked for your provider's name. You'll need to know the login name and password that is used by your provider for using your cell phone as a "Bluetooth modem" for dial up networking services.
As an aside -- you can demonstrate whether this will likely be successful in advance -- set up your PC to connect via "Bluetooth modem" for dial-up networking and insist that this connection (not your internal LAN, DSL or cable modem) be used for a connect to the internet. Having provided the appropriate dial-up networking information to your computer, you should be able to fire up your favorite browser and actually bring up (albeit slowly, in many cases) the internet via your cell phone.
IF what I've just described is possible, then a connection of the GO 720 through your cellphone is just as possible. Supply that same dial-up information to the 720 and it is quite likely that the connection will work, enabling the various TomTom Plus services for you.
Hope that was useful to someone out there.Updated
The original reviewer actually had a 3rd complaint which I did not address in my original comments.
The reviewer complained about the alphabetic keyboard, wishing that a QWERTY style keyboard were used instead. As with the external volume control, this would have been an oversight by the reviewer.
One of the GO 720's configuration options ("Keyboard") allows not only your choice of alpha ordered keys (the default), but the QWERTY asked for by the reviewer, and even the Dvorak style keyboard for those that prefer it!Updated
To the user below who was unhappy about the fact that the 720 did not pronounce street names -- a review of the manual may help.
There are two "voice types" available on the 720. One is a set of recorded, live human voices. While very natural sounding, these voices include only about 80 basic words/phrases. The "text to speech" feature requires that you instead select one of the "computer voices". Having done so, you will find that the street names are indeed pronounced, however badly they may sometimes be mangled in the process! For whatever reason, the unit insists that the highway sign on I-25 for Lyons, Colorado, should be pronounced "EL YONS". Perhaps someone fat fingered it and the internal database sees a space between the "L" and the "Y"?
- 1 reply to this review
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I think TomToms are great, but the Linux based device is not supported on Linux computers. I can not explain why TomTom would to such a stupid act. I would also like to see a bluetooth keyboard be able to connect with the unit.
Where to buy
TomTom GO 720:
$139.95 - $608.45
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$406.65 | Yes |
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Amazon.com Marketplace
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$608.45 | Yes |
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$139.95 | Yes |
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