TomTom GO 300

...Tap, tap, tap on the TomTom Go's screen with his index finger and he'd have been back in Bethlehem performing miraculous deeds before sunset!

: : : What does it do? : : :

Let me tell you a little about the TomTom. It's a portable satellite navigation system, which means that as long as it's turned on and can see the sky it can pinpoint its position to within 1 square metre anywhere on the surface of the earth. Yes, ...
...too.

The TomTom Go comes complete with detailed maps of your country and you can buy maps of other countries so you'll know where you are when you're on holiday. The TomTom turns the maps into realistic 3D images and displays them on screen, as though the road is spreading out in front of you. And the image keeps up with you as you move so you always know what's up ahead when you're driving.

If you select a destination ... more

If this little gem had been around in biblical times then there is no way that Jesus would have had to spend 40 days and 40 nights lost in the wilderness. Tap, tap, tap on the TomTom Go's screen with his index finger and he'd have been back in Bethlehem performing miraculous deeds before sunset!

: : : What does it do? : : :

Let me tell you a little about the TomTom. It's a portable satellite navigation system, which means that as long as it's turned on and can see the sky it can pinpoint its position to within 1 square metre anywhere on the surface of the earth. Yes, anywhere. And if it's beside you then it's pinpointed where you are too.

The TomTom Go comes complete with detailed maps of your country and you can buy maps of other countries so you'll know where you are when you're on holiday. The TomTom turns the maps into realistic 3D images and displays them on screen, as though the road is spreading out in front of you. And the image keeps up with you as you move so you always know what's up ahead when you're driving.

If you select a destination with a tap, tap, tap by, say, picking a point on the screen map, entering a Post Code or choosing a pre-loaded Point of Interest like a tourist attraction a cinema or a shopping centre, then the TomTom will plot the quickest course and guide you there by telling you to turn right or left when you need to in plenty of time.

Gone are the days of fighting with maps, thrusting them against the windscreen and peering at unfamiliar place names while trying to find where the B1923 crosses the B1922 to find out whether to turn left or right and not being quite certain where you really are.

: : : How does it do know where it is? : : :

The TomTom knows where it is by using as many of the twelve geostationary satellites as it can see to find its position. Geostationary satellites hover 22,000 miles above the earth, which always keeps them over the same place as the earth rotates, so they all know where they are in relation to each other and in relation to the Earth. Then it's a simple task for the TomTom to work out where it is using trigonometry.

Now you'd be forgiven for thinking that a sophisticated piece of technology that watches distant satellites and calculates routes for you to conveniently get from A to B is probably going to be the same size as your average garden shed with a satellite dish attached. But it's not. It fits in the palm of your hand and weighs about the same as a camera. And what's more its battery lasts for 4 hours and you can power it from your car's cigarette lighter.

: : : Where do you leave it when you're driving? : : :

The clever people at TomTom have designed the TomTom Go to clip onto a plastic arm with a suction cup that will stick to your vehicle's windscreen.

Now, I remember suction cups from my childhood; they were normally attached to the business end of the arrows from the bow-and-arrow and headdress set that you'd (unwisely) been given for Christmas. The arrows would disappointingly rarely stick to anything much, particularly your friend's or your dad's forehead, and would end up being manually attached to the nearest window after being liberally daubed with chocolaty saliva. And then they'd drop off after a couple of minutes.

But suction cup technology has moved on. Has it?? Apparently it has. The TomTom's suction cups are not like the bow-and-arrow ones. Of course they do require 'a light application of saliva' but, once the cup has been pressed to the glass and the lever pushed into place, they are STUCK. You could safely suspend a compact bulldozer from the plastic arm but when you want to unstick the suction cup so you can take the TomTom on holiday there is a clever little plastic tab to tweak and the suction is released immediately.

So now that you've clipped the TomTom to the suction cup arm, plugged it into the cigarette lighter and fired it up, you only have to wait for a minute or so for it to find where the satellites are hiding and to sort itself out and it's ready for you to start tormenting it.

: : : What happens if I miss my turning? : : :

The TomTom copes with split-second changes of mind very well. If you don't turn when it tells you then it will tell you to "Turn around when able." If you carry on regardless the TomTom will decide that your probably related to Thelma or Louise and that you're just not turning back and will recalculate your route within 5 seconds. And it doesn't bear grudges or have an attitude or start with the snidey tone of voice when it tells you when to turn.

An you can choose a voice for your TomTom, which comes equipped with Jane a female English voice, Tim a male English voice, Lisa a female Dutch voice and Catherine a female French voice. Those who don't speak Dutch can use Lisa for mystery tours.

Or there are a number of alternative voices available on the internet, so, depending on your preference, Arnie, Clint Eastwood, Darth Vader, Sean Connery, Yoda or Victor Meldrew will happily direct you to your chosen destination, if you're feeling lucky, Punk.

Alternatively there is software available to let you record your own instructions by reading a set of 58 instructions into a microphone. If you chose to, you could have your mother-in-law telling you where to go.

: : : How do I tell the TomTom where I want to go? : : :

So the unit is on and has found the satellites - you can tell by the coloured display and the mobile phone-style bars - and you decide to key in your first destination. But there's no keyboard. Tap, tap, tap. And that's because the TomTom has a touch-sensitive screen, which is one of its best features. There's no fiddling round with those little plastic styluses that hide as soon as you want to use them and seem to wriggle out of your grasp at the first opportunity. You just use the nearest available spare finger. The TomTom's screen is about 2 by 2½ inches and is clearly visible in bright daylight and suitably pressure sensitive. It'll need the occasional wipe to remove the odd chocolate smear and can be difficult to view when sunlight falls directly onto it but it can be switched to a low light setting for night driving.

Entering your first destination is as easy as tap, tap, tap to navigate clear and logical screen icons until the TomTom has enough information to plan your route for you. The software allows you to pick your destination in a number of convenient ways, for example you can pick it from a map, tap in a post code, select a Point of Interest from a pre-installed list, select a previous destination, choose from a list of your personal favourites or select a town or city.

: : : Can the TomTom find me a petrol station? : : :

Yes it can. Petrol stations are included as Points of Interest, which work in two ways. You can either select them as a destination or you can tell the TomTom to show them en route and as you drive POI symbols will appear along your route.

The TomTom is supplied with a large array of POIs that range from post offices to railway stations to tourist attractions to petrol stations to cash machines to castles to shopping centres to name but a few.

Additionally you can download a huge array of extra categories such as abattoirs, accountants actuaries, glaziers, supermarkets and zoos from www.poidownload.co.uk.

Once the TomTom has calculated your route it displays it on screen with the estimated journey time, the total distance, a symbol for the next turning and the distance to the next turning.

: : : Can I make the calculated route avoid motorways? : : :

Yes you can. You can choose a number of different options such as avoiding motorways, the fastest route, the shortest or if you don't want to take the car, biking routes or walking routes.

: : : Will the TomTom make me a cup of tea? : : :

Ah, no. It's a satellite navigation system not a teasmade. But it can direct you to a shopping centre, which is bound to have a coffee shop serving tea.

: : : Are there any other features I should know about? : : :

Yes. You can download a POI file from www.pocketgps.co.uk that has the locations of all traffic cameras in the UK and you can set the TomTom to warn you when you're within a certain distance of red-light cameras and speed cameras and what the local speed limit is. Now OF COURSE you wouldn't dream of exceeding the speed limit at any time while driving but it is useful to know when speed cameras are coming up so that you can avoid the sudden braking of the cars in front!

Also the TomTom Go 300's big brothers, the 500 and the 700, are equipped with Bluetooth technology to download weather forecasts and traffic updates through your (Bluetooth enabled) mobile phone and can be used as a hands-free kit. The TomTom can be programmed to avoid traffic congestion or weather events like Michael Fish.

: : : Where can I buy one and what will it cost? : : :

The TomTom Go is widely available from a large number of number of outlets including Curry's, Dixons, Comet, Maplin, Amazon and Halfords.

Expect to pay about £370 including VAT although beware of some outlets that advertise it more cheaply but exclude the VAT.

: : : Conclusion : : :

Is the TomTom Go 300 worth having? Yes. It seemed expensive when I first looked into it but now that I have it and realise the technology and functionality packed into such a tiny but powerful box the price is justified.

Driving is much more pleasant and much safer because I don't have to think about where I'm going and I can fully concentrate on avoiding cars with maps covering their windscreens.

Now I wonder how I ever did without it! And I place it alongside other great inventions like the fridge, the photocopier and the automatic washing machine.

I feel sure that Jesus would have wanted one. Tap, tap, tap.
 

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