Reviews: GO 720: TomTom's new 'do-it-all'? Options

[Rob Ot]

Posted Reviews:

GO 720: TomTom's new 'do-it-all'?

The TomTom GO x20 models are now available in the shops. We have had a long, hard look at the new units and their possibilities, and here are our findings.

Click headline to review read...


Click 'REPLY' if you want to reply to this review



The yourNAV team

[mjdj1689]

Also after getting mine the first time you set it up the screen can freeze and the unit resets itself.

And there is no carrying case for the unit which is a letdown and with tom tom selling them at 19 pounds upwards I would wait until an ebay shop sells them,

[stingray]

Did I get this right? 720 will not have TMC in the UK? GGG if so, this unit is dead already.. my built-in Honda Nav System uses TMC beautifully, shows the actual congestion along the route plus a whole host of warning icons but best of all.. Traffic summaries pin pointing he troubled areas with Queue length, type of obstruction, expected delay plus a few other things. This works EVERYTIME with a GPS & TMC fix within a few seconds in all conditions I’ve experienced so far.

[greyboy]

Great review guys! Also, stingray, the article said that the 720T with TMC is not available in the UK at this time, they could do it in the future, but for now just us in the US. That sounds like a first for me that we got something before you guys did. I haven't been able to go to the store and see if there on the shelves yet but I can't wait to play around with one.

[police]

About FM transmitter I read that you need to pump volume. Can be depend from type of radio you use!! Can you try with a different radio? Quality of suond is good? Signal is stable or you noticed some interference during your trip?
Thanks

[stingray]

why would a European company release TMC option in the states first?! I guess they have a good reason? Maybe use the Americans as beta-testers and when they've complained loads about all the bugs etc.. put out a decent TMC antenna for us in the UK! lol Just kidding dont get all ratty!

Anyhow, Im using my integrated in-car Honda Nav system with TMC which is bloody marvelous and is fully voice controlled (see pic) so I can afford to wait if indeed i do actually buy a 720?!


 TMC.JPG ( 124.42K ) Number of downloads: 10


Red lines show traffic both sides of the carriageway (Center photo)

This post has been edited by stingray: Aug 3 2007, 15:26

[oldbwl]

I prefer to mount my existing TT GO 300 low so that the mount is resting on the dashboard, I find it helps stabilise things, give better vision etc. I am thinking of upgrading to the 520. Now I know it has the charger underneath stabilising it on the dash wont really work that well with a cable in the way. Most of my trips are multiple hours in length so relying solely on the battery is not an option. I can feel a Brodit mount for the air outlet coming on!

[MECCAA]

I like the 720, ok it has some small things that we would like improved but what a nice bit of kit. A nice simple windscreen holder that works great. I think typeing the address will be faster than telling it because if there is some small noise in the background you have to keep repeating the address. I have noticed that it seems to pick up sats really quickly when you turn it on. You can change the arrow for driving from arrow to car or motorbike, I took a photo of the back of my car and have put my own car on and it looks pretty good. Im not bothered about mp3s or photos. Hands free works ok. No case or product card shame about the case, a small soft rap around would have done just to protect it a bit. I noticed when I am experimenting and I have to experiment that if you put another map on from your old ttone xl the speech part of it will not work as it says this is not an updated map and I have found out why. It charges ok from the base with my old usb charger from my ttone, £5 off ebay. The base can also be used and charged in the car with a 5v usb car cigar charger. I have a good place for the base in the car and have just found a soft case that fits it like a glove from an old gaget. (great) Have not tried FM and some of the other things but that will come. All in all I would say worth the money (Yes)

[MikeGirgis]

Great review, but I am torn between the tomtom 720 and the Nuvi 660t so I have a few questions.

1) How does the FM transmitter compare for both of them (i have heard that the nuvi one isnt upto much either)?

2) does the TMC module for the Nuvi work well in the UK or does it experience the same reception problems as the tomtom?

3) What size SD cards can the tomtom take?

4)and finally, although your reviews are very good and fairly objective, can I just ask you subjectively if it was your money whihc one would you buy?

Thanks

Mike

[Bart]

1) Indeed. The FM transmitter feature is not a very good one, in either devices. This has nothing to do with the decvices itself really, but more with the fact that those transmitters are obligated by law to transmit at such a weak signal, almost everything jams it.

2) No first-hand experience with that myself, sorry. But if it were up to me, I'd probably not go with TMC at all, and pay for a TomTom trafic subscription. I have better experiences with Traffic than with TMC. Of course Traffic costs some money, but so does a TMC antenna...

3) Any size that is not the SDHD standard. Effectively, this means up to 2 GB for sure, and even some 4 GB cards (not all!) All cards larger than 4 GB will be SDHD standard and will therefor not work. (although I haven't really tested SDHD card with the 720, but I still guess they are not compatible. - anyone?)

4) Most likely the 720. I like the flues screen display, screen colours and maps beter. But that's just personal preference...

[nemosinbad]

Great review, but I am torn between the tomtom 720 and the Nuvi 660t so I have a few questions.

1) How does the FM transmitter compare for both of them (i have heard that the nuvi one isnt upto much either)?

Mike

All I have to say about the FM Transmitter on my 720 is FANTASTIC!!!,
I have a BMW 520d 2006 and the radio in that picks it up brilliantly, make sure you use a fequency that is in the middle of two stations, I only have to turn my volume up a little bit

Nemo

[gbronzer]

If it makes you Europeans feel better about not having TMC, the US 720 doesn't have speech recognition like the European model. Who knows why...

[Guest_arthur_*]

My 720 works a treat.The only downside I believe is the lack of a protective case for a unit that does cost a fair bit.

[MikeGirgis]

Thats great thanks for the quick reply. I think I will get the 720 then when it comes out in australia. One las question though does anyone know if the Australian one will have voice recognition for destinations like the european one or will it not like the american one?

Thanks for all the help

Mike

[greyboy]

What does everyone think of the Map Share function on the 720? That looks like one of the best new features I've heard of. I'm sure it will be better when more people have 720s, but I still wouldn't mind having it now.

[arthos]

when i try FIND NEAREST petrol & public transport is ok (local)(uk)
but police ,pharmacy & doctor show nearest in IRELAND

ANOTHER PROBLEM...when i went on the M6 motorway today it said speed limit was still 60mph. instead of 70 ??

get no answer fromm tomtom yet

[Andy_P]

when i try FIND NEAREST petrol & public transport is ok (local)(uk)
but police ,pharmacy & doctor show nearest in IRELAND

ANOTHER PROBLEM...when i went on the M6 motorway today it said speed limit was still 60mph. instead of 70 ??

get no answer fromm tomtom yet

I'm afraid you'll have to get used to these...

The POIs for Doctors, Dentists etc are simply dreadful, always have been. I think they come as part of the package when they buy in the map data from TeleAtlas and they don't bother to check it.

But by adding this new "Help me" feature, TomTom have shot themselves in the foot, because lots of people who would never have thought of looking for their nearest, will now try it and realise how rubbish the coverage is. On my old UK and Eire map, ALL the doctors and dentists were in Dublin! Now I have a 720, all my nearest Doctioros are in France!

TomTom should be ashamed of themselves for using their POI collections as a selling point, but when I've complained in the past they just say "if you don't like ours, you can add your own."

Road speed limits - again this is "nothing to do with TomTom" but is an error in the data on the map from TeleAtlas. There are hundreds of these incorrect speeds. At least this is one of the things you can correct with Mapshare, so things like this MAY get corrected quite quickly now. We must wait and see.

Also, not TomTom look like they are buying TeleAtlas, they won't be able to blame someone else any more!

[The_Spook]

..the article said that the 720T with TMC is not available in the UK at this time...but for now just us in the US. That sounds like a first for me that we got something before you guys did.

The article didn't say the 720T would be available in the US. That's probably because it isn't!

If it makes you Europeans feel better about not having TMC...

Nearly all Europeans do have the TMC version. It is only the British that don't.

[Draca]

there are just 3 wrong things about this device.

1. it doesn't have an active mount, not even as an extra option. it should have, not everyone wants to connect fifty cables to the device every time they sit down in the car, or remove them when they leave the car. (love my TT500, it's just click&go) i would pay extra for it, surely others would as well.

2. FM-transmitter... why? bad quality, you can't listen to the stereo, no radio, no cd, no anything, while you're on the "tomtom frequency" instead you have to listen to bad quality streamed mp3 from your gps mixed with hihgly compressed voice-directions.. not very pleasing when you got a 2500$ sound system in your car, so no thanks.

3. external TMC addon.. why not integrate it into the gps? every other company can do it, why not tomtom.

in fact, why not replace the FM transmitter with the TMC receiver, they should take up about the same space requirements.

other than that this is definately one of the best tomtom devices so far. IMHO. i would have bought one yesterday if it had an active mount and built in TMC.

[Bart]

Spot on Draca, I agree with all of your points.

They should also add the A2DP protocol to their Bluetooth stack, so music could also be streamed with Bluetooth to the headunit. This would not have the bad sound quality the FM transmitter has.
Another advantage is they it could be connected to the headunit via the mobile phone trigger, so the normal radio/cd music would be muted every time a voice command is spoken...
A much more elegant solution!