TomTom GO 740 Live 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable Live Internet Connected GPS Navigator by TomTom
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Digital camera reviews of TomTom GO 740 Live 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable Live Internet Connected GPS Navigator
Digital camera Review: Great GPS, except for all the FAILS
Summary: 2 Stars
We just got back from a 2500 mile road trip. In preparation for said road trip I replaced my aging Garmin Nuvi with a new TomTom GO 740 Live. I was a bit uncertain about making the move from the familiar Garmin interface to TomTom's Eurocentric UI, but went for it anyway. For those that don't want to read the entire review, let me just give you the end result: I am returning this to Amazon. If you want to know exactly why, read on....
The unit had a number of WIN's and FAIL's. I will list the WIN's first:
WINS
* Built-in cellular network connection
The GO has a basic cell modem built-in which allows access to Google (see below) as well as robust traffic info that transcends simple 'traffic info' on other GPS units. Of course, this feature is not free.
* Google search integration
This is a major win. The ability to use Google search is a great idea. For example, during our trip we found ourselves in a small town along Hwy 101 and needed a hotel for the the night. All GPS's can use POI data to list hotels, but the Google search data on the GO allowed us to see how the hotel was rated by the Google community. Very helpful.
* Traffic info
The TomTom displays traffic data much better than the Garmin. Not only does to tell me there's a delay on my route, but it tells me exactly how far away it is. And it does it with a nifty sidebar so the info is always available.
* Faster screen refreshes
The TomTom 740, being a newer unit, has a much faster screen refresh rate than my old Garmin. This was especially helpful when navigating the freeways of LA at 85mph 65mph. I have made this same road trip several times in the past and my old Garmins' map refreshes would basically be a slide show at that speed.
FAILS
* User Interface (aka UI)
I expect a learning curve when coming from the Garmin UI, but even after 2500 miles the TomTom UI is still a joke. For example, it takes no less than 5 clicks to do something as simple as cancel ones route. No fun to do while moving at freeway speed. The Garmin took only two. Also, the TomTom gives lots of useless information on the main display. GPS signal strength? Why do I care? Current time? Yeah, my car has a clock thanks.
* Map accuracy
While the map is pretty much accurate most of the time, there are several glaring errors. Once while trying to create an itinerary the TomTom behaved as if there was no connection from Reedsport, OR to Coos Bay, OR (Hwy 101 drives right through both towns). Another time, while crossing a freeway bridge, the map showed us as 'off road'. And, our final destination did not even exist on the map...the best I could do was navigate to a nearby intersection.
* System stability
This is the FAIL that ultimately motivated me to return the unit. The GPS spontaneously reboots at random times. During our trip it must have happened 20 times. I thought it might be a problem with the bluetooth so I turned that off but it continued to happen. I would be cruising along and poof! I see the boot screen and unit comes back up....and about half the time it would dump my route and the connection to my phone. Again, a huge hassle when on the road.
Digital camera Review: Great GPS.....Awful Customer Service
Summary: 3 Stars
If I were just going to review this GPS, it would receive a 5-star review.
I received this unit approximately 10-days before the date of this review. The features are great. It finds the satellites quickly, calculates routes quickly and, should you go off track, recalcutes the course VERY quickly. The Advanced Lane feature makes complex and confusing road tranfers easy and safe. Thanks to the built-in Google Search feature, there are virtually unlimited Points of Interest (although I would recommend not using that feature while driving).
As an example of how reliable this unit is, I recently had to drive to a location that is approximately 2-hours from my home. This GPS knew that the exit I usually take was closed due to construction. Instead, it detoured me around the closed exit and got me to my destination with only a minimal loss of time.
If I have any quibbles with the unit, it is that the computer generated voice does not always pronounce road or streets names clearly. If you use the Human Voice feature, it is clearer; however you lose some voice features. Also, I found that the Voice Command feature is unreliable.
This unit will serve as a bluetooth with most cell phones. It linked into my Blackberry 8330 easily. I have not extensively used the bluetooth features and cannot comment about them yet.
The unit comes with software to help facilitate the many updates that are available, as well as certain other functions. The software installed on both my Mac and PC without incident. The unit links into the software through the use of a docking station. On both the Mac and PC it linked in and updated without any problems.
That is the Pro.......now the Con
A couple of days after I received the unit, I installed the software and did my first update. Daily updates include map corrections, gas prices, satellite positions, etc. You receive these features, as well as other live features (such as traffic and Google Search) free of charge for the first 3-months. After that, the annual cost is about $160. I knew about this when I bought the unit. However, the maps are completely updated once each quarter.
When I did my first update, it told me that my map was out-of-date. I had a 1st quarter map installed. But the newest map was the 3rd quarter map. it was then that I learned 3-things.
1. You cannot update from 1st quarter to 3rd quarter without first installing 2nd quarter.
2. Even though I had just purchased this unit, I was charged $11.95 for the 2nd quarter.
3. Subsequent map updates would be an additional $60 a year.
While these numbers are not huge, it would have been nice if they had mentioned this up clearly. Also, why nickle-and-dime me on the 2nd quarter update when you are trying to get me to subscibe to now over $200 worth of service?
I paid the $75 for the update and map subscription. However, after doing so, I noticed that the traffic feature just stopped working and was telling me that I did not have a subscription to it.
I called customer service right away and it took me over 1-hour before I got a representative on the phone. To say that this representative was clueless would be an understatement. I work in technology and even write books on the subject. This person's only answer seemed to be that the unit was broken and would have to be returned for repairs. I questioned this considering that it happened after I did their map update. I finally asked for a supervisor. The person I was connected with had to have been one of the nastiest people I have spoken to in a long time, and acted like she was doing me a favor by gracing me with her voice. After a while I hung up.
I called back the next day and got through to a different representative. This person was a bit more technically savvy and tried a number of different fixes. However, he as convinced that it was the unit. I kept asking if there was a way we could rollback the map updates. He kept saying no. But, after nearly 90 minutes, he sounded annoyed with me and suddenly discovered a way we could rollback the map updates. The process took approximately 30 minutes. As soon as I rolled back, to everyone's surprise but me, the traffic feature came alive and worked fine. Bottomline, I spent nearly 3 hours on the phone diagnosing THEIR buggy update.
After they had to admit that the problem was on their side they announced that a bug report would need to be sent to Amsterdam for research. We should have a fix in approximately (ready for this?) - 5-weeks.
So, for the next 5-weeks, despite my paying for the service, I will be without some of it. Of course, they told me that they don't usually give a credit for such a problem. Only if there is a service outage of some sort.
Great unit.....the worst customer service I have seen in a long time.
Update One Month Later:
The traffic feature problem I talked about above was a problem related to their update software. Apparently it was not installing the map software properly. I found this out from a Tomtom user's group, NOT from any technical support from Tomtom. As a matter of fact, after I updated the software, uninstalled the map on the unit, and reinstalled it (and established that all was working properly), I called Tomtom's technical support to let them know. They seemed completely in the dark about this problem. I find this most difficult to believe considering that this user's group had a number of people with exactly the same problem.
Bottom line: It is a good unit and does its job as advertised, but if you have a problem be prepared to get help from user groups and not from Tomtom support.
Digital camera Review: Great as long as you do not use it during the day or when it rains or if you do not know where you are going
Summary: 3 Stars
I have been a TomTom one user for many years and I loved that device. It did exactly what it is supposed to do, always works and is accurate for less than $100.
I decided to treat myself to the latest and greatest version of TomTom but I have had quite a few disappointments.
First of all the screen is completely unreadable in even modest sunny days. My TomTom rarely had this issue. Luckily the voice feedback is pretty good although it often warns you too late and you miss an exit.
The other and probably most important issue is that it frequently reboots itself when it looses signal. When you are driving in the rain or in a city with a lot of tall building expect a reboot every 10 minutes. This leaves you without navigation device for about 2 minutes each time.
The live service is very very slow and is often not available. About one in four times when you want to check gas prices or lookup an address using google you get a service not available message. A google address lookup takes between 1 and 2 minutes which seems long when you are driving (obviously your passenger is operating the device). My other mobile devices can do google lookups in seconds.
Lastly the destination it gives you can be a few blocks off which is really annoying when you do not know where you are going. For example the local zoo in Chicago was 2 blocks to east from where tomtom said it was. If you do not know your way around you would have spend a long time searching for it.
Occasionally the device just works like it is supposed to and it is great but most of the times you will be cursing at it. Not what you would expect for a top of the line product.
Digital camera Review: Great concept; mediocre execution
Summary: 3 Stars
As of today (05 September 2009), this unit is "not ready for prime time." When I brought mine home earlier this week, I immediately connected to [...] using the supplied TomTom HOME software program. The program recommended that I upgrade to the latest North American map series (835), which I did. The next day, I noticed that I was not getting any live traffic data, even in a traffic jam on an expressway. When I called TomTom, I was told that the 835 map upgrade breaks the ability of the unit to provide live traffic data. (Note: Since their server "knows" that it is a GO 740 LIVE connected to it, you would think that it would at least issue a warning about potential loss of live traffic capability, before "upgrading" the map. The server does no such thing.) They tried to supply me with a downgrade to the former series (830), but were unable to do so. Following their instructions (which involved purging all maps from the unit), I was consistently offered only the latest map series (835), even though the representative had issued instructions that I was to be offered the 830 series. They told me that either the unit or the 835 map series, or both, would be fixed so that traffic would work in that combination, but they could not give me any idea when that might happen. I am about to return the unit for a refund.
The IQ Routes feature was decent, but still not as good as local knowledge of frequently-traveled roads. It failed to keep me away from an expressway exit that was severely backed up, perhaps because expressway traffic was flowing normally down the road by that exit (just a guess).
In passing, I would also note a couple of ways in which the unit is less functional than my old Magellan 3100. One is that the power adapter for the TomTom connects to the mount, not to the unit, itself. If you live in California (or any other place where it is legally forbidden to mount such devices to the windshield), this can be a real inconvenience, as the mount is annoyingly in the way when I try to place the unit somewhere else. Or, for the few days I have owned this unit, I run it on battery, and recharge when I get back home. This wouldn't work on a long trip.
The Points of Interest are also much less friendly than the Magellan (at least out of the box), because they aren't organized in enough of a hierarchy. In the TomTom, all restaurants are grouped together, whereas the Magellan offers either an overall list, or a partial list, filtered by restaurant type, such as "coffee" or "Chinese" food, or any of dozens of other categories. TomTom does allow you to set up your own classification scheme, but I was less than thrilled by the opportunity to parse a few million POI's and sort them into categories one at a time.
There is also a lot of information that is not available from any public source, not the manual and not [...] Support FAQ.
The GO 740 LIVE gives me the impression of a product that was rushed to market before adequate functional and usability testing had been performed. The "out of box experience" is disappointing. Customer support tried to be helpful, but didn't have the capability that they needed at their disposal.
When TomTom does eventually get the unit sorted out so that it works the way the brochure suggests, it may well be a serious contender.
Caveat emptor!
Digital camera Review: Great features but buggy software
Summary: 2 Stars
Got this new unit at a Best Buy clearance sale for $ 209 - a seemingly great deal for TomTom's internet connected flag ship PND. Unfortunately, the excitement lasted less than a day. My first impressions of the product were good - voice commands, google search through navigation satellite ( the only brand of PNDs to offer this feature in US market, I think) , lane guidance, 3 D views, and all the usual Tom Tom features such as route planning, multiple waypoints, etc. But a little testing showed the product was half baked. Google search and other live services were intermittent and unreliable: they would work one time, and next time would give an error: "Cannot connect to server". Pairing with my Motorola phone was easy, but when ever I tried to dial out a number shown on a POI or on a Google search, it would give an error: Bluetooth Not Connected; dialing from phone book did not give this error message. Voice Commands were similarly unreliable: one time they would recognize a command, the next time they would not recognize the same command spoken in the same way. Much worse was the glitches with routing. I tried to plan a route that would take me via the main toll free express way in Florida, ie I 95. Every time I selected this particular waypoint, the system would freeze and then reboot in a few seconds. This happened several times. Figuring that this might be a software bug, I immediately tried to update the software and maps. This process was excruciatingly slow: it took the better part of 14 hours to complete thanks to extremely slow Tom Tom servers ( I have a standard 1.5 MB/ps DSL connection). After updating, the product would not boot up to the main navigation screen. Resetting did not solve the problem and tech support was not reachable in a timely manner. Just returned the product for a refund.