TomTom GO 720 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator
by TomTom
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of TomTom GO 720 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator
Customer Review: Absolutely maddening
Summary: 1 Stars
The TomTom GO 720 DOES have some very nice features. When it works, it works well. However, I consider it something of a miracle that I haven't simply smashed the unit under my foot.
The problem with the TomTom GO 720 isn't the unit itself, per se, it's the TomTom Home software. In particular... well, without resorting to profanity it's just difficult to describe how frustrating the process of "updating" the TomTom is.
Let me just list the PERSISTENT problems I have encountered every time I hook up my TomTom GO 720 to my laptop. Btw, I have owned my TomTom for over a year. (I am currently using Windows Vista. The problems I list are identical to the ones I encountered when I used Windows XP. I'm no fan of Windows software, but the problems I am describing are entirely TomTom's.):
1) Hooking up the TomTom to your PC automatically launches the TomTom HOME software - but it also launches a "install TomTom HOME" software dialog box. It took me a while to realize I don't have to re-install TomTom HOME every time I hook up the GO unit, and now I just cancel the "install software" dialog box. Still, this is HUGELY annoying, not to mention appallingly poor software on TomTom's part. When TomTom released version 2 of their HOME software I thought this always-install-the-software bug might be fixed. I thought wrong.
2) The backup and restore module of the HOME software works like, well, insert your chosen profanity here:_______. I won't bother with the details. The backup and restore just doesn't work.
3) It is a slight problem that back up and restore doesn't work because of one OTHER appalling feature of TomTom's software. If you sign up for the map upgrade program, where you get a full, mutiple-GB update/replace of your map every quarter, well, that process of updating your map WIPES OUT NOT JUST ALL OF YOUR PREFERENCES BUT ALL OF YOUR FAVORITES!!! Anyone who has used a GPS for any length of time knows how valuable favorites are - and how long it can take to compile a good list of them. I mean, how about if your contacts folder were wiped out every time your email program released a product update??!!! This is EXACTLY analagous.
4) All too often, after hooking up - and subsequently disconnecting - my TomTom GO unit to my PC to update maps and such my TomTom won't restart! (And I am scrupulous about using the proper software commands to disconnect the GO unit; I don't just yank it out of the cradle.) There are, in fact, a few problems I run into here:
a) Regardless of how long the GO unit has sat in the hook-to-PC cradle (which recharges the unit) sometimes the battery on the GO unit has been completely DIScharged. I then have to hook the GO unit to the in-car recharger, and drive around for a while before the GO unit will turn back on.
b) EVEN THEN it is often the case that I have to press the Reset button on the bottom of the GO unit before it will spring back to life - and EVEN THEN I often have to go through this resetting process multiple times!!!!
c) Sometimes when I have PROPERLY disconnected the GO unit from its cradle the unit will be powered on (i.e., the screen is on).... but it will be FROZEN!!! This will then require often-multiple presses of the Reset button, and sometimes multiple re-cradling of the unit to get it going again.
5) Once I get over the hump of my TomTom not restarting, having hit the restart button so often has just totally wiped out and reset preferences I have set. This frequently occurs when I have gotten just a minor download of map updates. So, I have to reset my preferred map colors, map display, quick menus - you name it.
6) Getting back to the whole-map-download updates... this process wipes out not just for favorites, but (and this just happened 2 days ago) virtually everything else on my GO unit. I have had to reprogram my name, my initial screen-saver image. In fact, not only has my Home location been wiped out, I can't even reprogram that location at this point! The icon is all grey'ed out!!
At this point I am probably forgetting some of the other extreme annoyances of the GO, but you get the picture.
To me these are not "annoyances" - they are very serious defects and it amazes me that a large company like TomTom would be marketing a product where such basic functions produce such disastrous results.
Customer Review: Need some improvements..
Summary: 4 Stars
First of all, I have to say this is an excellent unit. Among the ones I tried, (Magellan 3225, nuvi 200, tomtom one, mio c230) this is the one I really hate to let go.
I'm returning it because of some reasons. I'm not going to go through what it has, you can read them on other reviews or on the tomtom website but I'm going to explain what you are not getting.
The first reason is the price. I started with paying $150 on a tomtom one then slowly increased the price and ended up with Go 720.
I bought this from Sams's club for $329.00 (now $349.00). For that much money I would expect to get a case and maybe an AC charger. You do get a cradle but that requires you to turn on your computer everytime you want to charge the unit at home. I wish they threw a little wall charger which has a usb outlet so I could hook up the cradle and wouldn't have to turn on my computer. You can buy generic one from Ebay for probably 10 bucks but why should I pay extra money for the case and the charger if I'm already paying so much money. It's not a big deal but it would be convenient.
It shows the POIs around you while you are driving, but they are not interactive icons (like Magellan has) so you can't see the info or just chose to go there by clicking on it. You should be able to click on them and have option to call or drive there, just like in Magellan units.
The POI category is way too much (broken into so many categories) but at the same time they are kind of useles, like there is no sub category for food. Say you want to find Chinese food around, you have to know the name or guess from the names you find.
The bluetooth is not working properly. It connected to my Blackberry 8100 with ease but couldn't get data connection. It worked when I called people, sound quality is superior, they did not even know I was talking to GO 720, but then I wasn't able to establish a connection when someone called, we just couldn't hear each other.
You have many options for the voice instructions, you can download so many voices, even funny ones like dart wader, homer simpson, etc.. but only few tomtom made "computer voices" can read the street names. If you want to use special voices or human voices, you have to sacrifice the text-to-speech function. I wish I had a choice to use human voice for normal instructions and second voice for reading street names aloud.
The good thing is with a little trick you can turn the unit to Go 920. which gives you an extra menu to use voice commands. So instead of entering the address, you say them. However, you have to go 3 menus (Navigate To>Address>Spoken Dialog) in order to give voice commands. So if I'm going to go thru all that, I might as well enter the address manually. Anyway, that's an additional trick for the unit so it's irrelevant to this review.
The windshield mount works perfect. Few drop of water and place it firm, then you will have hard time removing it. (I did). Unfortunately it doesn't charge the unit. So if you are connecting the unit to the cable of your car charger, you have to unplug the cable every time you take it with you (believe me you will if you don't want it get stolen). It's just inconvenient. Tottom could come up with a design, maybe an additional hook up charger that you clip on to the stem of windshield mount tightly and attached the cable on to it.
So the reasons I'm returning is because: lack of case, a wall charger, windshield mount, the need-work bluetooth, non-interactive POIs and the price, in my opinion it's really not worth to pay that much, I would, however, keep it for $250.00. Maybe they will add those features with firmware update, fix the bluetooth, and throw a case (that should be a must, I mean come on..) then it'll be a killer, and I would buy one.
For those who think Navteq is better than Tele Atlas; in my opinion that's not true. I found Tele Atlas better than Navteq but again, that's argumental.
Customer Review: Weak battery, misses the mark on higher level functions
Summary: 2 Stars
I chose this unit for the higher feature content as compared to a more basic unit from either Garmin of TomTom, and regret the decision.
As a basic GPS unit, the 720 functions fine- it gets me from place to place reliably, and usually chooses about the best route (all GPS units choose strange routing sometimes). There is a major drawback to the basic function, however- battery life. With Bluetooth on, the unit lasts about 20 minutes when unplugged, rendering it essentially useless if you don't plan to dedicate an outlet to it's power cord. It's been that way since about week 6 after purchase (now 6 months old). I broke the battery in according to manufacturer's instructions (fully charge, fully discharge, etc etc) for fear I might end up with short battery life but it didn't seem to matter. I accepted my fate and bought an outlet splitter from the auto store so I can charge my phone when needed. But for someone who needs battery functionality, I would consider this a non-starter.
The major disappointment for me was the feature content- as I said I chose this unit for the extras- bluetooth for hands-free calling, text to speech directions, and POI database.
Although bluetooth works fine, the speaker is weak and has poor sound quality- exasperated when you attempt to turn up the volume. I don't feel my Outback has high interior noise levels, yet phone calls are almost impossible and directions are difficult to hear. Friends report they hear me fine, so I guess the microphone is good- but the speaker should be bigger and better for this application.
Text-to-speech function is another disappointment which compounds the shortcomings of the speaker. First, the manufacturer must not have recorded very many basic words in their database because the female voice messes up a lot of things she shouldn't- for instance, she can't say 'tunnel' (her Dutch heitage comes out- she pronounces it TO-ooonl) which now makes me mute her when I drive through some parts of town so I don't cringe. Also, the only thing she uses text-to-speech for is highway exits. On secondary roads and in developments, where the function would be most useful, its 'turn right' or 'turn left.' Even on the highways, if there is a number associated with the road that makes the exit, that's what you get- even when there is a more commonly referred to name for the same road. This leads to further confusion.
The other big sore spot for me is the size of the POI database. The database may be much larger compared to previous ones, but I still find that roughly 60% of the entries I request come back as 'No POI found!' I end up using Google Maps on my phone, finding the address (Google always seems to know the address!), then thumping the address into TomTom to get directions on a screen that won't kill me while driving. To add insult to injury, the method to find a POI isn't very elegant, requiring several spurious button pushes that only frustrate me more. Keep working on that database, TomTom, or split it into maneageable reigons like other GPS units do. America is bigger than the Netherlands.
There are other little niggles I have with the unit, but no other show stoppers. I appreciate the customizing and wealth of settings and options TomTom allows as compared to other units as well as the software, and I really hope they push their European traffic system here to the states. However, in this case I would have traded the software for hardware (a better battery and speaker) and a larger database.
Bottom line- if you are looking for a basic GPS, don't buy this one because you can get a basic TomTom for cheaper. If you are looking for a nicely optioned unit that could replace an in-dash unit, look elsewhere.
Customer Review: A couple years after buying it, I give 3 out of 5.
Summary: 3 Stars
I have had the GO 720 for a couple of years now, and it was the first GPS I've ever owned. It can connect via bluetooth to a mobile phone for handsfree operation, as well as receive SMS and email if your phone has a data plan. It can receive realtime traffic info, but Tomtom charges what I view as an exhorbitant monthly fee for this feature (my phone GPS software does it for nothing). It has an SD card slot for slideshow imagery, MP3 music files, and also allows you to transmit via an FM frequency to your car radio. The 720 also can interface with your Windows or Mac PC via a program called "Tom Tom Home", which allows you to update the firmware and modify the imagery, points of interest and other data to suit your preferences.
The Expectations: I wanted the FM transmitter for my car stereo (I didn't have an aux-in jack when I bought the unit, though I do now), the SD card slot and the MP3 playback capability, since I have a huge collection of music. I also wanted the Bluetooth capability for hands-free mobile phone operation. I splurged for the bluetooth remote control - originally I found it not of much use but lately, due to the mounting location in my new car, I've been really glad I bought it.
The Reality:
1. The FM transmitter: big mistake. I live on the east coast and it is impossible to set the unit on a quiet FM frequency where bleedover from adjacent stations didn't cause so much static that this feature was useless. Also, the unit does not provide audible turn information via the FM link unless you're playing music at the time. At all other times it pipes it out of the tiny speaker in the back of the unit or the aux-in jack if you have a car stereo with this feature. On later Tomtom GPS units I note that the FM feature, as well as MP3 capability, seems to be lacking - perhaps Tomtom decided that the underwhelming performance didn't sell.
2. The SD card slot, as the unit shipped, could only take 2GB cards (thankfully, an automatic update via Tomtom Home later increased this to 32GB). However, I have noted that the unit tends to error out when you try to insert a card with more than 4GB of mp3's - no matter what the size of the card. Also, anytime the unit is used with Tomtom Home, and also at other times that I can't explain, it requires a reboot that causes the 720 to have to re-catalog all of the mp3's on the card before it can playback any of them. This can take 5-10 minutes. The buttonology of the mp3 player is very rudimentary and quirky - don't expect iPod-like performance.
3. Handsfree operation: My phone (AT&T/Samsung Impression) connects via bluetooth for handsfree receiving and making phone calls. Despite all efforts on my part, however, the 720 refuses to connect so that I can use my phone's data plan to receive SMS, traffic info, fuel prices and other available data. I give Tomtom a C+ for this feature, since they could easily add updates to allow the unit to work with newer phones from the major manufacturers. They choose not to. Since the 720 has been out now for about 3 years, newer phones like mine may have problems connecting to it. As far as handsfree operation, one thing they don't tell you is that the onboard microphone is not adjustable - either mount it close to your mouth in a car with very little ambient noise, or don't figure on using it much. There is no external mike jack.
All in all, I'm glad I have the 720 since it does well at the core job of navigation, but be very careful if you're looking for an all-in-one solution to GPS, music and handsfree concerns. It handles the GPS parts well, but it won't replace your iPod/iPhone and maybe you should look elsewhere for a handsfree unit.
Customer Review: Didn't live up to expectations
Summary: 2 Stars
My biggest complaint is battery life. I've had the unit for only a few months, and it seems the battery has fizzled - from fully charged to dead has deteriorated to about fifteen minutes - that's with sound turned off and screen brightness turned way down. The first unit I received (and returned for an exchange) wouldn't hold a charge overnight. This one barely will. So I have to live with the dangling cord and connecting/unconnecting every time I park in an area where I have to worry about it being stolen, which is about everywhere in Baltimore.
My next complaint is that the thing has a mind of its own. Sometimes I power down with sound muted and it's still muted when I turn it back on. Other times I power it up and it starts blabbing at me. Sometimes it beeps at me for speeding when the sound is muted, sometimes it doesn't. The switch between night and day colors is unpredictable and annoying, with night colors persisting from the night before for up to fifteen minutes before switching to a new dawn.
Next, the menu system isn't well thought out. To cancel navigation you have to go to page three (and if you don't cancel, you have to endure the unit constantly updating the route to a position you're not going to). To add your present location as a favorite, you have to go to page five.
Also poor is the computer interface. The Home program is enormous, it starts at boot-up even though you didn't ask it to (and you weren't offered the option), if you exit Home and later connect your device, when it attempts to connect it wants to INSTALL Home rather than simply start it, every connection with the computer risks wiping out anything user-entered on the device (better not forget to backup!). When I updated my map it wiped out my favorites.
Adding points of interest is a pain - you go through a list, choose what you want to add, and then it dumps you at the start of the process, with no easy way to find where you left off. Points of interest are added by any user, but many of them are redundant and there's no way to know what's what (except that some have stars and some don't), many don't even tell you what country they're for, and if you load U.S. points of interest you get things from other countries as well. On the "manage my device" screen, which shows where files are stored on your computer, you can't highlight and copy file paths so as to navigate to them easily in explorer.
Note that if you're willing to live without purchasing updates for a while because you don't need every single one in your day-to-day life, be prepared to pay for them anyway - when you DO decide to update, you'll have to pay for all the ones you skipped (though apparently sometimes they'll offer a slight discount if you need four quarters or more).
Customer support is poor. Two of my three calls to customer support connected me to people who did not understand words such as "reinstall" and "default," and who could not understand that I could run out of space on a particular hard drive.
The best thing I can say about the navigation is that I've seen parts of town that I never knew existed. The routes may be good according the the algorithm, but not in real life. It will tell you to make a u-turn when it would make more sense to go around the block. It will send you by different routes between the same two points, seemingly at random - or does it somehow channel Elvis to know which route is better on a given day (I don't have traffic services)?
I wish I had gone with a Garmin.