The first thing I must say is that within minutes I got the hang of this Go 700, it really is that easy to understand.
Don't worry if you think you're going to get a long winded confusing instruction book because you don't.. and you don't really need one, but then who needs a confusing sat nav when driving?.
It takes a few minutes to find satellites when you first turn the unit on but after that you will never want to turn it off again.
You set your home address into the unit on the first power up, after then whenever your off on your travels you just press (touch screen) the 'Navigate to' button, there you can either select the town/city followed by the road name & number or even easier just the postcode - only UK & Netherland postcode are accepted so far.
When you come home again you can just select the 'navigate to' button... and then the 'home' button, easy peasy!
Instructions are loud and clear, and you can download the speed... sorry 'safety' camera database which warns you when approaching them (There is a site offering this for free).
The unit turns itself up when on a motorway when you have increased road noise. You have a choice of loads of different languages and you can also download a celebrity voice for it - Most are rubbish imitations, I'm using John Cleese.
I was so impressed with the response of the unit - if you stray off the route it works out your route within seconds, I've tried this out myself and it works everytime.
When new I first tested it on a 50 mile journey, it took me down country lanes, through villages I've never heard of where people looked at me as if they've never seen a car before, and at one point nearly through someones front room while they were eating their tea!, but it got me there and back and did its job well and I learned a thing or two about the county I live in.
I decided on this unit because I am off to Portugal to live and because I can't sell my car I will need to drive there - I am confident that this unit will do the job and I will cover the 1497 miles (so it says) in 24 hours without a hitch.
But there are so many other features I can talk about..
.. The unit has an anti glare screen.
.. You can switch from day to night colours after dark.
.. The bluetooth which is brilliant includes traffic updates (subscription only, but you get a free month). the unit doubles up as a hands free kit for your car and you can even type and send texts if you wish.
..The Points of interest which enables you to look for restaurants in leeds for example, and then presents you with a list of them to choose, from posh ones to Burger Kings.
And loads more!.
Stuff it comes with:-
The unit & case and cleaning cloth, A car mount which is solid as a rock and attaches to the windscreen via suction and has never fallen off, A CD rom with everything on it which enables you to even backup your TomTom 700, USB lead, cigerette lighter charger lead, a charger for your home which comes with attachments for UK & euro use, remote control & holder.
So far I haven't had any drawbacks, I have heard some people have had their problems with the unit not turning on, but until something like that happens to me I will continue to think that this is the best bit of kit i've bought in ages... if not ever!.
If I were to force myself to admit a down point, i'd only say the price, but then I do also think it's worth it. I got mine from amazon for about £399 but I have seen them in other places for much much more.
Get one - download the speed camera database, have fun!
22.03.2006 19:26
Judging from the reviews I think I am going to go for this. Thanks for another user perspective ... always useful. Not sure about Basil Fawlty sat nav though " naughty driver, going the wrong way, right that's it ... now you're getting a dam good thrashing" I hope its the 'calm' Cleese :-) BTW if you get a moment can you drop me a note of the download site please, Thanks Awooga
20.02.2006 16:38
I really want one of these. I think I'd have John Cleese as well.
20.02.2006 16:26
Great review.