Tom Tom Go

[mikes dad]

Bought the new Tom Tom go sat nav system from Amazon of allplaces about amonth ago and thought I would write a quick report for anyone thinking of doing the same .

I have found it to be a real bonus on long trips up and down our busy motorways .It has the ability via its "roadblock" feature to let me leave the motorway and jump past problems by missing a junction or two ,something I would probably not try on my own .

It can be moved from car to car .

It has goodmaps with a night time feature changing the colours it uses to better suit your eyes .

It is very clear and can be heard easily above my cd player .

Super buy at just over £400 .

Please feel free to ask any questions you have about the product and I will try to help.

[Fidgits]

yeah, i looked at that, but since i had an IPaq i went for the Navigator bluetooth for that...

I did wonder how flexible it was, can you add POI and stuff to it?

[mikes dad]

currently pre programmed with places of interest , usual ones ,stadiums , cash machines , etc , capable of downloading from tom toms website any changes in the future .

[Fidgits]

thats pretty good then..

thanks for the review BTW..

[easyboss]

there are loads of portable sat navs, i tried a friends once and i really hated it for one reason or another,,in truth i prefered the toyota tns 200 system,,but the dealer said we can fir it into my avensis 99 model gls,,im gutted though,,i would have paid the 1k they were selling them for no probs,,

[mikes dad]

check out the demo on the tom tom go website ,well worth considering if like me you drive around the country a lot ,BIG advantage moving it from car to car .

[matty2767]

i would never buy an optional in car sat nav. using my pda connected to the gps is the best solution. it is upgradable, transferable, comes with a warranty :), and costs about 10x less. in addition i can use the gps when out walking and the pda as a pda!!.

[mikes dad]

I am sounding like a rep for Tom Tom Go .......but it too is transferable it too can but updated from the internet and it costs around £400 around the same as a pda plus software .

It is worth considering ... I think because

1. It is loud much louder than a pda and 2 it holds its charge for 5 hours so no cables ,

and 3 it too is portable ,

check it out .

I travel all over the place for pleasure? [ following Reading FC] and find it a delight to use .

My last post on the subject as I dont want to bore .

[Calisto]

My Dad was wanting me to find out about the TOM TOM GO, I think he just wants it coz it looks nice <_< (and I thought I was nuts) but it would be good for me and TOC meets.

might have to twist his arm and get one

[Calisto]

Is there an additional gadget that can be added on to the TOM TOM that warns you of speed cameras and the like???

[Matthew_McNally]

Is there an additional gadget that can be added on to the TOM TOM that warns you of speed cameras and the like???

you upgrade the software on the unit to the latest version, and you can add POIs.

Add the speed camera database from pocketpcgps.co.uk - GPS based speed camera locator B)

really easy - did on my fathers this weekend.

Have to say, have used the TTGo, and TT Navigator 3 on an Ipaq, and whilst they are both functional, they are not as good as the OEM sat nav I have in my car (or the one in my IS).

They are both 'not vocal enough' - ie - they don't speak to you enough. My nav gives plenty on voice prompts, where as the TT seem to rely on you looking at the screen too much.

To illustrate this, I brought my father over to ours the other weekend. He had just got his TTGo, so brought it with him to show me.

We set it for my house, and I set my nav for 'home'. Of course I didn't go home the way the nav said (they always try and route you along the main roads), but instead went 'the quicker way'.

My nav re-routed quicker, and gave constant voice prompts on the new route.

The TTGo was a touch slower to re-route, but was nowhere near as vocal - often not telling us the turns, and we would have had to depend on looking at the screen.

Once it gave us a "Turn Left" instruction when we were literally in the junction.

Wouldn't say don't get it - but if you are used to having a nav setup in the car, you might find this a bit of a change.

[Calisto]

Matthew hun have you a link to the one you have????? please

[Matthew_McNally]

Matthew hun have you a link to the one you have????? please

of course Asha - here are the instructions I emailed to my fathers friend, so he can upgrade his.

Martin,

to get the speed camera POI database you need to

1 - Update your TomTom software.

Go to

http://tinyurl.com/56q3k

and follow the instructions on that page.

This update allows you to store new POI databases on the TTGo.

When I tried to run this update on Mac's TTGo, there was not enough room on the SD card - I got around that by using the "Remove Voice" option to remove the various foriegn languages from the card.

2 - Download the speed camera database from http://www.pocketgps.co.uk/uksafetycameras.php.

The direct link to the database is http://www.pocketgpspoi.com/downloads/pocketgps_uk_sc.zip

3 - Extract the database files to a temp folder on your PC

4 - Copy the .ov2 and .bmp files from the temp folder on your PC to the SD card of the TTGo, in the Great Britain folder.

I copied 3 sets of files over, gatso's redlight and specs.

5 - Setup the TTGo so that it warns when you approach these three new POI categories (pocketpcgps gatso, redlight and specs).

lemme know if thats not enough ;)

[Calisto]

thanks for that will look into it further ...............I WANT ONE

[mikes dad]

Matthew , followed your links to the speed cameras and added them .

Tom Tom Go has a litte bell feature that you can set any distance[100-600 yds?] you like before you reach the "cameras" should be to warn you about places of interest!

Also added many other POI'S from same site e.g. Tescos with cafes Football grounds , Castles , Holiday Inns and express walks in Royal Berkshire , pubs that serve good food etc etc.

Great Tip Thanks .

[Adam Saunders]

I own both the TomTom Go and the Toyota DVD satellite nav system in my Avensis.

Considering the price difference (over £2000 for the toyota nav system, and just over 400 for the TomTomGo) I have to say I prefer the TomTom Go. The 3D map guidance that the little dedicated Linux box has the power to display is a god send over the common 2D guides. It allows you to map out the road ahead much better giving a sort of helicopter view which zooms into junctions and roundabouts.

Voice wise the large speaker built in the TomTom equates the toyota one nicely both being clear and easy to understand.

TomTom go hasn't got voice recognition like the Toyota has, but its quick and easy touch screen operation I found to be much more accurate and quicker.

On the downside to these things you'll find the map data will annoy the hell out of you. Although most systems are the same, the TomTom Go has been a real pain when it comes to map accuracy with places like the centre of bristol changed over 4 years ago is still not correct in the TomTom. Because of the easy PC-> TomTom updates through USB, as soon as they sort out any new map data it will be very easy to update.

Update costs you should also consider. The Toyota DVD discs cost just under £300. The TomTom Go product updates are free, but the map data won't be. I can't find ant indication of price for this yet.

[Adam Saunders]

oo.. as for POI..

The TomTom Go has better functionality around POIs, but it is lacking them in some areas and often WAY out of date with the ones that are in there. (esspecially garages)

The Toyota nav system has a lot more POIs, but doesn't offer the much faster and simpler interface to these.

I think this has been mentioned already but another update of the TomTom Go software is being worked upon or just completed that will allow custom POIs which it current doesn't support. When/If this is released there are some 3rd party POI sites that will support the device straight away adding really useful and very accurate data on things like speed cameras etc.

[mikes dad]

yep the 3rd party POI feature is now available and I have downloaded loads onto my Tom Tom Go via the internet .