TomTom GO Navigation

Recently we purchased a TomTom GO 'stand alone' satellite navigation for our car. We have our own chauffeuring business and it has become apparent that we really can't manage without some sort of navigation assistance. We were looking for a 'stand alone' unit that does not have to be wired up to the car etc and it was also important that there wouldn't need to be any fixings required on the dashboard, that would involve any sort of damage to the ...
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-- TomTom GO itself
-- AC Adapter, comes with several international
pin adapters
-- SD Memory Card, containing map data
-- Installation poster
-- Installation CD, contains PC connection
software and extra maps
-- Suction mount cradle, for attaching unit in
vehicle
-- DC power lead, with 12V cigarette lighter
adapter
-- USB data cable
-- Instruction manual
more

Recently we purchased a TomTom GO 'stand alone' satellite navigation for our car. We have our own chauffeuring business and it has become apparent that we really can't manage without some sort of navigation assistance. We were looking for a 'stand alone' unit that does not have to be wired up to the car etc and it was also important that there wouldn't need to be any fixings required on the dashboard, that would involve any sort of damage to the car.

TomTom GO is operated by mainly using a touch screen, therefore there are no annoying fiddly buttons or cursors etc to use - not the sort of thing you want to be doing whilst driving! It guides you on your journey by way of a 3D map and also by voice. It 'tells' you where to go!

This system is boxed and ready to go with everything you need for peace of mind motoring, without getting lost!

~~~ The package and contents ~~~

The box contains the following:

-- TomTom GO itself
-- AC Adapter, comes with several international
pin adapters
-- SD Memory Card, containing map data
-- Installation poster
-- Installation CD, contains PC connection
software and extra maps
-- Suction mount cradle, for attaching unit in
vehicle
-- DC power lead, with 12V cigarette lighter
adapter
-- USB data cable
-- Instruction manual
-- Registration card

NB There should have been a carry case with the unit, but there was a note in the box saying that they had ran out due to excessive demand! Not a problem though, you simply go onto their website and register and they will send you one within 4 weeks.

~~~ Getting started ~~~

First things first, you need to insert the enclosed memory card into the unit. This holds all the details of the UK maps. There then follows a series of on screen prompts for you to enter various information, such as home address. The on screen prompts are very simple to follow and you really can't go wrong - in any case the instruction leaflet also acts as a backup if you are unsure of anything.

The first thing you need to do is to input your home address, this is used as your first "reference point". Obviously your home address is the most likely place that you would be needing to start your journey from. There will of course be times when you will be starting your journey from a different address, but this is extremely easy to alter later on, by following the on screen prompts.

So after inputting the set up information, the unit needs to be charged in your home from the mains - it takes about 3 hours to fully charge. On the bottom right of the unit display is a battery symbol, which shows you the status of the unit, i.e. whether it is fully charged or running low on battery power. The battery will last approximately 12 hours before needing to be charged, although there is always the useful option of using the supplied power lead to connect it to your cigarette lighter socket and run the unit of there. After being fully charged, you are now ready to go! The next step, is for the unit to locate available satellites. When you switch it on it will try to "lock on" to whichever satellites it can find in the sky. This process should only take a few moments.

We had problems when we first switched the unit on in our house - it couldn't find any satellites and the GPS connection was unavailable! Not quite sure why that is - we can only assume that is is because we live in quite a built up area and are surrounded by a lot of buildings - the instruction booklet does state that this may be a problem. As soon as we went out to the car, it instantly locked onto 7 satellites - so we can only assume inside the house, the signal was not good.

For those who have no understanding of GPS, I shall explain the basics. GPS stands for Global Postioning System. It is a satellite based system that provides location and timing information around the globe. When you turn your TomTom GO on, it immediately seeks out orbiting satellites that it can find and locks onto them. On the unit, there is a 'phone style' signal indicator to give you an idea of how good or bad the GPS signal is in your current location. It's very similar to the sort of display you have on a mobile phone - i.e. no bars mean there's no signal. The signal indicator on the TomTom has 5 bars. There is a guide in the instruction booklet to explain what this means:

no bars - no signal
1 bar - weak signal - less than 3 satellites locked
2 bars - minimal - 3 satellites
3 bars - healthy - 4 satellites
4 bars - good - 5 or 6 satellites
5 bars - very good - at least 7 satellites

If Tom Tom GO is prevented from seeing enough GPS satellites, for example if you've been travelling for some time among tall buildings - the display may be shown in black and white as a warning that the positin may not be correct.

~~~ Functions of the unit ~~~

Well there really are too many to go into detail in this review, but I will explain the most obvious ones and the functions you would be most likely to use frequently.

TomTom GO tells you how to get from A to B. You input your start address and you then input your destination address. Tapping in the information is easy peasy, as you have a keyboard which comes up on the screen and you just touch the letters that you need in order to spell out your address. TomTom GO has a predictive text function, so that as you tap out each letter it instantly finds matches for you. This is good for saving time, it means it's very unlikely you would ever have to sit there and tap out a full address. For example if you wanted to go to CHERRY AVENUE, BIRMINGHAM - The first thing to do is specify which City you need to go to (TomTom prompts you to do this). If you tapped in BIRM it would bring up BIRMINGHAM as a choice without needing to tap the whole name out. Then it will request you to input a Street, So If you tapped in CHE, it will bring up a variety of possibilities, i.e. CHERRY LANE, CHERRY TREE ROAD etc etc - among these choices given should be the one you want to get to, CHERRY AVENUE - so you would simply choose that one! Then TomTom asks you which house number you want - again simply enter this information. Now - the system has all the information it needs to plan your route.

It then will work out the fastest route for you to take and then displays this route in the form of a 3D map. This takes a matter of seconds. When it has fininshed calculating the fastest route, a summary is displayed on a suitably scaled map. Tap on "DONE" and you'll find yourself back at the main 3D view, but with the route now clearly coloured in for you. White arrow heads show the direction you need to move along the current road and a specially-shaped green arrow shows what to do at the next turn or intersection.

So thats the planning done - now its time to drive! As you approach a specific turn in TomTom GO's calculated route, your chosen voice (you can specify which gender voice you would like to hear at the start up!) will tell you what to do (e.g. "In 100 metres, turn left", followed by "Turn Left"), without you having to take your eyes off the road.

It's no problem if you miss a turn or drive down the wrong road. TomTom GO will automatically (and virtually instantaneously) recalculate a new fastest route, based on your new position and direction of travel. Wherever you go, it will always give you instructions that will take you to your chosen destination.

As you drive, following the voice instructions, you'll notice that the 3D display is updated constantly, always showing upcoming roads and junctions and presenting the best route to you. If you miss a voice instruction, just tap again on the turn instruction in the bottom left hand corner and it will repeat.

Its pin point accurancy is amazing. My partner has tried to confuse the system deliberately to see how it performs. He has a very good knowledge of certain roads and routes and has deliberately taken alternative routes, which locals would term as a 'rat-run'. It took the unit about 5 seconds to realise you've taken a different route and to re-route you from the road you are currently on. The 3D map is absolutely brilliant. The voice prompt is clear, concise and very accurate, giving you plenty of notice before your next manoeuvre.

The on screen icons are easy to follow and it is clear in every way. You can increase or decrease the volume or gender of the voice with total ease and in seconds. One really useful function, is that you can change the display to "night vision". When driving in the dark, if you change to this mode - the on screen map is displayed using dark and subdued colours, so as to not interfere with your night vision. My partner thought this was brilliant, as he does quite a lot of driving at night and he said it was far easier to see the display this way at night.

There is another function on the system, called POI (Points of Interest). This is very useful and incorporates so many different locations such as airports, railway stations, cinemas, places of worship, restaurants and petrol stations. Basically all these places are located on the map for you so you could use this tool either if you wanted to specifically look for something (i.e. a petrol station) or if you simply wanted to take note of a landmark that you were going past to settle your mind that you were definitely on the correct route! One point to mention about this function, is that if you were trying to locate a train station, for example, in another town or city - it is better to get nearer to the town or city and then programme the POI - it then finds the station straight away.

There are many other functions that TomTom GO performs which are too numerous to go into on this review. These include such things as follows:

-- Being able to program in your favourite routes
-- Advising you of how many miles your journey
will take
-- "Find Alternative" option, if you wish to avoid a
known roadblock or if you simply wanted to
travel via a particular destination

~~~ Installation in vehicle ~~~

The unit comes with an in-car bracket, which requires no drilling, thus causing no damage to your car dashboard. It has a rubber suction cup fitted to the base for windscreen application. If you use this option, it would be very unlikely it would ever fall off as the cup is designed of a really good quality and good size, so it works well. Within the package, there is a plastic suction cup with a very very strong adhesive pad. This cup can be placed 'anywhere' within the vehicle - I should imagine most people would put it on the dashboard. The bracket is very sturdy and free from vibration. It is fully adjustable and made of a very good quality hardened plastic. The bracket is totally unobtrusive and doesn't get in the way of any driving manoeuvres.

The whole unit is 11cm wide and 8.5cm from top to bottom. At its widest part it is 5cm deep from front to back. It is extremely compact and lightweight, but absolutely the right size for the car.

~~~ Summary ~~~

TomTom GO is extremely easy to use, it's like childs play. I'm reasonably technologically literate so found it a doddle anyway - but my partner, who is a self confessed technophobe found it to be very simple also. A combination of visual 3D maps and a soothing voice telling you where to turn next etc, could not be any easier to follow.

The only negative point to make - and its only a small niggle - is that the connection of the unit to the in-car bracket, could have been made a tighter and more positive fit. It just feels a little bit loose, although there's no chance it would fall off. Perhaps the manufacturer should have designed it so that when you put the unit on to the bracket - there should be some sort of audible 'click' so you know it's nice and secure.

Aside from this - we think TomTom GO is absolutely brilliant - how did we ever manage without it!! We would recommend it without hesitation. On a final note - if you are looking to buy one of these perhaps phone your preferred retailer ahead to check they have it in stock as TomTom GO seems to be very popular and we had difficulty in finding it. We purchased ours from PC World for £499.00 - although I appreciate you can find it cheaper on the web, it's just that we needed it like now!

Thanks for reading,
Fiona :-D
 

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