TomTom GO 700 Portable GPS Navigation with Hands-Free Calling Reviews

• No support and two major design problems

  
  By A1CPRP3VFJRS1R on 2005-08-12
  I used this product for about two weeks and decided to return it for three reasons.
  
  First, whenever you are on the freeway and it tells you where to get off the freeway, it only gives you the exit number and not the name of the street. While that might be fine back east, here in California, the exits are marked primarily with street names, not exit numbers. In fact, several of the exit numbers that it has recommended were wrong (because the exit numbers had changed).
  
  Second, when the system tells you to get onto a freeway (or change freeways), it almost never tells you which direction you are going to go (i.e., north or south on the I-5), making it difficult to figure out which lane to choose? Sure, you can figure it out by carefully studying the map while you barrel down the highway, but I'd rather just have it tell me which direction and then read the signs on the highway to select the correct lane...
  
  Third, there is absolutely no support for this product. You cannot reach them by telephone, and although I sent a message through their website more than two weeks ago asking if there's a way to fix these two issues, there has been no response at all.
  
  Ultimately, I replaced this with a Garmin product, which does not have any of these issues.
  
  

• Good but Flawed

  
  By A249FMLQOTFTZT on 2005-07-12
  The TomTom Go700 is great! I own a Garmin c330 (also phenomenal product), but this one is equipped with excellent new features that keep it bleeding-edge car navigation.
  
  First off, the Bluetooth connectivity makes this product a winner in itself. The phone calls are crystal-clear with my Ericsson T637. Callers also say they can hear me perfectly. The connectivity is awesome, plus with web access on your mobile, you can collect current weather and traffic data from TomTom. The voices are loud and clear, and the 3D navigation outperforms the Garmin.
  
  Navigation-wise, the product is also awesome. Route planning is easy and intuitive. If you don't like a certain route, you can select alternate routes on-the-fly. You can select from a large number of route views (text only, map, both, etc.), and route demos can be sped up or slowed down (unlike c330).
  
  Other awesome features include tips and tutorials for learning the intracacies of the product. You can also download new voices to the device (such as John Cleese) for added customizability. This is so much fun! The features go on and on....
  
  All in all, this is a significant improvement over the Garmin c330. It adds all the functions I wished were available on the Garmin. This is so greatly customizable and easy-to-use. I consider it the Mac version of GPS car navigation.
  
  -----
  
  One week later...
  
  After owning the product for a week, I decided to return it. I had a few issues with the unit powering up; I needed to reset it several times. I also found a few annoyances with looking up points of interest. Unlike the Garmin, you must first select a category before searching for a POI. This made it impossible to search for Dry Cleaners, Banks, and many other very necessary locations!
  
  Map data is also a bit outdated. Entering my office address didn't work on the unit. It only registered a certain range of "house" numbers, with mine not being one of them. TomTom also uses TeleAtlas maps, which (in my opinion) are not as nice as Garmin's NAVTEQ ones. They both work, but I find usability easier and more efficient on the Garmin.
  
  Also, reading cell phone text messages via the unit was practically useless. Messages were encoded with a string of strange text before the actual body of the message.
  
  Many fun features (such as Traffic & new POI's) are not yet available in the US, either. This product is a little bit of everything rolled into one. It's a really cool unit, with tons of features, but I think it's a bit flawed. I hope TomTom continues to support many of the features it advertses (Weather, Traffic, Voices, etc.).
  
  

• Excellent interface, mediocre performace, buy the 300 instead

  
  By A1BSXA133HN44Y on 2005-12-09
  After weeks of research, reading reviews, and comparison shopping between the Lowrane IWay 500c, the Garmin StreetPilot 2270, and the Tomtom go 700, I finally decided to plunk down $800 for the Tomtom Go 700. Following a week of use including a roundtrip from Sacramento to LA, here are some of my findings.
  
  
  Pros:
  Start-up time is quick. It typically only took 10-15 seconds to start up and an additional 10 seconds to accurately find my position. I imagine the 12 receivers help to find your position fairly accurately and quickly should a couple satellite signals be too weak or not within line of sight of the unit.
  
  The user interface is fantastic. The layout of icons and and GUI is very intuitive. It's easy to save destinations, POIs, adjust your preferences etc.
  
  The audio cues are great too. Audio output from the speaker is amazingly clear, and the language selections are extremely comprehensive.
  
  The predictive text feature is also very accurate although sometimes you may get two results. For example, if you type in Walnut Street, you might get two options N. Walnut and S. Walnut, traditional maps or even addresses of businesses often times do not make this distinction (which isn't necessarily their fault) When I looked at the street signs at the intersection, the sign simply said "Walnut Street."
  
  The 3D map is helpful for gauging future turns and provides a better perspective than your typical 2D or bird's eye view of the map.
  
  If you are able to pair your cell phone using the integrated Bluetooth feature on the Tomtom go, you'll find that the hands free audio quality is impressive as well.
  
  Another big benefit is that the Tomtom Go 700 is truly portable. Since there is a battery in the unit you can take it with you on walks while on vacation through San Francisco, NYC, etc. The Garmin StreetPilot 2270 or the Lowrance Iway 500c do not have this feature.
  
  
  Cons:
  I found the maps to be slightly outdated. It's my understanding that the maps used by Magellan and Garmin are more recent and tend to be more accurate.
  
  The Tomtom 700 does not have WAAS (Wide Area Augmentation System), which provides a more accurate position within 3 meters. Sometimes after starting the Tomtom 700 on the freeway,it would tell me that I was on a suface street close-by and parallel to the freeway. The Garmin StreetPilot 2270 does have WAAS.
  
  I live in California and most of our exits are labeled with street names, not exit numbers. Unfortunately this is one of the major flaws with the Tomtom systems as often times they only provide an exit number and not a street name. There were times where it did offer both, but having the street exit names in the map database would be helpful to me.
  
  As with many other GPS navigation systems, the Tomtom's screen tends to get washed out in direct sunlight. It's not unreadable, but direct sun will definitely hinder your ability to quicly glance at the display and read any helpful information or prompts.
  
  The POI database is fairly comprehensive but there were exits along my trip to LA that did not list gas stations close by where I could visibly see gas stations present. Also it's fairly difficult to search for a particular store or restaurant since when you select the POI database it lists POIs in increasing distance based on your present geographic location or city center. Not the easiest way of finding what you want when you know where you want to go.
  
  The assisted satellite navigation (ASN) feature is pretty much useless as on the satellite signal, the GPS system display's you going in all sorts of directiosn until you're out of the tunnel.
  
  
  Conclusion:
  I found the Tomtom 700 to be a competent automobile GPS system, however if you're considering buying it, I'd select the Tomtom Go 300 instead as the only feature it's missing is the hard drive and ability to control via the wireless remote which is an option with the 700 model. With the 300 you still get the entire map database of the US compressed into a SD card, where as with the Tomtom 700 it takes a long time to back up the map database to your personal computer and it takes a vast amount of hard drive space (3.5GB). The 300 also has a slightly slower processor but I expect performance to be fairly comprable to the 700 model.
  
  I for one will probably exchange my 700 for a 300 model or wait and hope that Garmin comes out with a battery powered model with an integrated speaker to suceed the Streetpilot 2270 in a few months.
  
  

• A Contender

  
  By A1PJDVG5TV6XVX on 2005-10-04
  Tom Tom is one of the newer GPS makers to do business in the US, and I was very pleased to get a chance to try out the GO 700.
  
  First, a discussion of basic usability: it's very good! The box promises that you can just turn it on and go, and it's true. You don't need to hook it up to a computer first, and there is no aggravating "activation" step.
  
  The user interface is very different than what I am used to from competing products, being as it is all touch-screen aside from the power button. The tasks and various preferences are also arranged differently than I am accustomed to. Not that it's bad . . . just different. It is at least the equal of its major competitors in ease of use, and probably better in customizability, such as map colors.
  
  Speaking of the map, it has a pleasant smooth scroll as you drive, and an easy to read 3d perspective mode. All of the text is sharp and readable, though some fiddly bits like satellite status numbers are rather small.
  
  The windshield sucker mount is great. It's the best I have seen on such a product and it may even be better than my trusty old RAM mount.
  
  The built-in Bluetooth speakerphone should work with most Bluetooth mobile phones. It did not have a problem with my Sony Ericsson S710a, which is relatively new as of this writing. Sound quality for both parties is quite good, but there is no support for my phone's voice dialing and answering features-I suspect that all phones with voice dialing will suffer this way. But fortunately the GO 700 will grab your phone's address book and let you choose a number from it on the touch screen, which is an adequate compromise for the lack of voice dialing. Answering (or rejecting) a call is just a matter of pushing a big button that pops up when a call is coming in.
  
  So that's all good, but there are two other very neat things about the GO 700. For one, the voices. They are very clear and high-quality, noticeably better than anything else I have heard in a car GPS. You can purchase additional fun voices from the TomTom web site, if you want. One of them is even John Cleese, though it will cost you about $10 to get him. The other voices are about $5.
  
  The other simple yet very pleasant feature is the built-in rechargeable battery. When fully charged off the included auto adapter, the GO 700 will run for a few hours all by itself. That means you can take it for a walk in the city, or grab it for a trip in someone else's car without worrying about power.
  
  Speaking of trips, I would put the quality of the routing and verbal directions on par with everything else I have tried. Honestly, all the major makers seem to do a good job with this. Of course for any GPS product there is local variation in the quality of the maps, but in my area (around Seattle and Los Angeles) the GO 700 is fine though I did not get a chance to test LA freeway exits much. Quality of the GPS receiver seems to be very good.
  
  On the down side, we have the screen. I have read other reviews that state it is unusable in sunlight, but I find that to be an exaggeration. There is certainly a drop in contrast, moreso than I see in the big competitors, but I find the screen to remain usable in all lighting conditions, even direct sunlight. I would not rule the GO 700 out for this reason, but it is something to be aware of.
  
  What about reliability? Well, no problems so far. The device uses a 2.5 GB hard drive, not flash memory. Hard drives can die, so caveat emptor.
  
  Now, a big part of the Tom Tom offering is their "plus" service, which is premium downloads straight to your GPS over your mobile phone. That's points of interest, voices, extra maps, and real-time traffic information. Pretty cool, but this service is not for everyone. For one, you need a GSM mobile phone and an active data account... that's at least an extra $20 on your phone bill. For another, the services themselves are not cheap. A yearly subscription to UK traffic is over $60, and American traffic data is not even available yet. Same with POIs . . . UK safety cameras are over $70 for a yearly subscription. I didn't see any US POIs.
  
  Now for a constant business driver, that could be worth it... but if your main use for a GPS is to not get lost when driving to some new spot across town, these advanced data features are not worth their additional cost. And more to the point, they aren't even available in the US. (Tom Tom is a European company, but I had hoped they would have better data support for their US customers.)
  
  Speaking of POIs, this is where I found my one and only "hate it!" issue. You can't look up POIs by name alone. You must specify a category first. So is that big museum downtown a, uh, Museum? Cultural Center? Exhibition Center? Or maybe a Tourist Attraction? You won't know until you search each of those categories.
  
  Lastly, the included PC software will let you back up your settings to your PC. (The GO 700 shows up like a USB drive under Windows.) By the way, if the thought of downloading a high-quality voice over your mobile phone data connection freaks you out, you can do Tom Tom Plus data transfers through your PC instead.
  
  Other than the disappointing Plus services, I was pretty impressed with the GO 700. The quality of the hardware and software is very good, and it works as advertised. The next time I have to recommend a car GPS to someone, the Tom Tom GO series will be a serious contender.
  
  

• it is a lethal weapon

  
  By A8S2V47OM3E55 on 2006-05-07
  I am in Michigan and I used this instrument to guide to Rock Financial Center in Novi near Detroit. This is a very famous place in Detroit area. This instrument just guided me to get off the I-96 at exit 160 and "make a sharp right turn and another right turn". Actually there is no way to do this except to off road. The whole area was well established more than 20 years. I do not know what kind of map system TOMTOM uses. I have to call this instrument a lethal weapon because it has asked me to do off road for many time. Maybe it is designed specifically for SUV.
  By the way, its customer services is unacceptably mean.
  
  
• device nice, but the maps are horrible
  By A3Q7TUDJ6VUDYE on 2005-11-26
  TomTom has made a great device and nice interface, but the maps used in this device are horrible. To save money, they went with the very sub-par maps from Tele Atlas, rather than the much better maps from Navteq.
  
  Many of these Tele Atlas maps have parts that have not been updated in over 10 years.
  
  I encourage you to save your money - paper maps are better than the ones with all TomTom devices. Look at the Garmin or Magellan devices for similar product that will get you to where you want to go.
  
  
  
• TomTom Go 700 is a NO-GO
  By AV49NHRBK8XWH on 2006-02-21
  Evaluation of the TomTom Go 700 GPS
  
  I have owned a Lowrance I-Way 500C for about 11 months. I have been extremely happy with the I-Way until the unit recently developed a problem with the touch screen. I returned the unit for repairs and thought this would be an excellent opportunity to evaluate the TomTom, since it had been given some pretty nice reviews and we were leaving on a 10 day trip.
  
  I have read that a lot of folks thought tech support was not responsive. I did not find that to be the case. Tech support responded to my question in a reasonable time, about 24 hours. I did not like their response, but they did respond. Here is the exchange.
  
  To technical support:
  I just purchased the 700. So far I like the unit but when traveling, I very frequently need to find a bank or ATM. I find no POI category for banks/atm's on the 700.
  Is this an oversight or am I doing something wrong?
  Surely this is not an intentional omission.
  Thanks,
  
  Dear Mr.
  Thank you for contacting TomTom Customer Support. Due to the great demand for our products, we were not able to answer your mail sooner. Please accept our apologies for the delay. We do not provide ATM POIs yet. However, lots of websites on the net offer a wide variety of POIs online. We hope we have answered your question. If not, please contact us again.
  With best regards,
  The TomTom Customer Support Team
  
  Below are my findings after using the unit for about a week.
  
  The first hour that I used the unit I was quite pleased. The audio is great and the turn by turn instructions when accurate are better than most. The Bluetooth cell phone function turned out to be an unexpected positive.
  However, once I started to navigate using the unit, glaring deficiencies became evident. Although the unit has a few nice features, bad design and major deficiencies far outweigh any positive features. Below are the problems I found using the unit.
  
  1) Has no WAAS
  
  2) Cannot receive (display) altitude data
  
  3) Time does not set using satellite data, you have to set time manually - a pain when driving through different time zones
  
  4) Other units I have used use the Naviteq databases which are definitely better, more detail and more accurate than the database used in the TomTom (TeleAtlas)
  
  5) POI's must be accessed using categories. There is no ability to find a destination by name. This is a Major Deficiency
  
  6) POI categories are sparse and not pertinent to US users. Example, when is the last time you needed to find an embassy? Embassy's are listed, however if you need a bank or ATM, you are out of luck (see letter to tech support). On our trip for example, we were in Ashville NC. We wanted to visit the Biltmore Estate. There was no way to put that destination into the GPS
  
  7) Screen washes out in most daylight conditions - worse than most - screen not bright
  
  8) Screen display much smaller than other 3 1/2" units. This because data is displayed at the bottom of the screen which takes up about 25% of the screen. This data cannot be made transparent or eliminated which reduces the usable map display considerably
  
  9) Many roads are not in database including major interstates, I-185 out of Greenville SC for example.
  More than once the unit "got lost", became confused and left the user clueless on how to navigate. A few times, the unit tried to have me turn on roads that did not exist. A few reviewers have said they expect some roads to be missing. Those reviewers are more forgiving than me. I don't expect a GPS to miss much and certainly don't expect to receive wrong directions or directions that are sometimes dangerous
  
  10) Unlike other GPS units, the map display does not show much detail - i.e.; lakes, rivers, airports etc. Most other GPS units give a good overall view of the terrain. And this is in the non-3D mode on the TomTom. The 3D mode is even worse.
  
  11) When trying to set the map display scale by using the (+ -) on the display, the screen automatically goes back to a factory preset scale in a few seconds, not allowing the user to keep the scale chosen
  
  12) The remote control is not included and a $50.00 extra
  
  13) The CD that comes with the unit will not install properly (Windows XP)
  
  This is not meant to be offensive to any previous reviewer, but to give this unit a good review tells me that the reviewer is not familiar with other GPS units on the market.
  
  Don't buy the TomTom. To say it is not ready for the US market or any market for that matter would be a gross understatement. It has so many deficiencies that I believe the company should do a complete revamp of the software and choice of mapping database.
  
  Final conclusion - the TomTom Go 700 is a NO-GO
  
  
• Good but not great
  By A2Q4QDK0XW5WJ on 2006-04-17
  I have owned this product for about 4 months. It works reasonably well for the US business trips I take, but I would not purchase it again. I am travelling to Australia in July, and as far as I can tell, there is no map available for Australia for the Tom Tom Go 700. The map of Australia on their web site is priced at an astonishing Euros 199, but doesn't appear to work on the 700.
  
  My screen almost immediately developed what appears to be a stain under the touch screen. On-line support is not very comprehensive or helpful. I have not tried the customer support number for the USA, mainly because it is not available when I have free time, nights and weekends.
  
  My advice is try the Garmin, it has better customer support and map availiabity and updates.
  
  
• Pass Pass on TomTom
  By AG22VA23F3ZTE on 2006-03-04
  I bought a TomTom 700 from a local wholesale club and took it back after a week.
  
  There were a lot of things I liked about the unit. The 3D graphics were good, and its size was appealing. Its offline navigation software runs on PC or Mac, although product firmware updates were available only PC.
  
  The unit has a suction-cup mount that worked well and has a rechargeable battery so that it doesn't have to have to be plugged in all the time, especially for short trips.
  
  The major flaw in the device is locating destinations. In some cases the device could not locate the destination by address at all, and in other cases it would incorrectly misidentify the location as being several blocks away. The audible directions were also confusing, though the display always seemed to give pretty good guidance on turns, etc.
  
  The maps were missing some major roads in my area that have been around for at least 5 or more years. When I looked for updates on the website, I noticed, first of all, that prices were in Euros. That makes me wonder if this product is just emerging in the U.S. and whether or not TomTom is equipped to support U.S. customers.
  
  While perusing their site, I also noticed their website indicated map updates would be available in 2006. If the older map updates on their website are any indication, updating the North America maps will be pretty expensive.
  
  Another annoyance is that one has to set the clock manually on the device. GPS works by using propagation delays on atomic clocks, so it baffles me why the device needs me to program in the current time.
  
  I bought a Garmin StreetPilot 2720 (which can be found for about the same price, maybe a few dollars more) after taking this unit back, and I recommend Garmon to others considering this product. It offers the following advantages over TomTom:
  * More accurate maps and navigation
  * Clear voice instructions with better text-to-speech navigation ("Turn right on Elm Street")
  * A great trip meter that gives miles traveled, current speed, and elevation
  * A display more readable in bright light that automatically adjusts its settings at night
  * Easier route planning
  * Remote control included
  
  The Garmin has only a couple downsides compared to the TomTom
  * No battery
  * No built-in speaker. Its speaker is attached to the dc power adapter.
  
  The TomTom 700 has a lot of potential, and I believe it will be a serious contender in the U.S. market in a few years. For now, though, you'll want to look elsewhere.
  
  
• A Lousy Product and No Customer Service
  By AFU3LZQEGR51J on 2006-10-07
  I purchased this product on the recommendation of Amazon.com and have regretted it ever since. It's the worst consumer electronic item I have ever purchased. No wonder the price has dropped 50% since my purchase. They probably can't give them away. After about 90 days, the product goes completely dead. After contacting customer service, I was told to reset the product. Two weeks later it went dead again. The last time I went to the manufacturer's website, I couldn't even find any contact information for customer service. They must have so many complaints that they can't handle them. Not to mention product returns. Save yourself some money and a lot of grief. Buy a Garmin system. The graphics aren't as good. But at least it's reliable.
  
  
• Don't Buy This!
  By A1R4H2GDR3X96C on 2005-07-22
  If you live in the US first of all, there is NO support for this. The first problem I had was inability to link with my bluetooth phone. I emailed customer support with this question. No response. The next problem, I couldn't get the website to accept my registration. Another email, no answer. Next problem, I couldn't download John Cleese's voice, which is one of the main reasons I wanted the TomTom anyway. Another email, no answer. Also the TomTom Plus service is not in place in the US yet, which I didn't know until I got it home.
  The last straw was the first trip I used it for, out of town, it got me lost and stuck on a dead-end road in the middle of nowhere. I had to call my girlfriend and have her do a mapquest, and guide me to my destination. AND AS IF THAT WASN'T BAD ENOUGH - I GOT BACK IN THE CAR AND THE UNIT WAS AS DEAD AS A BRICK! Even though it was fully powered and the power light was on, IT WOULD NOT TURN THE SCREEN ON!So there I was, having followed an impossibly circuitous route to the middle of nowhere, and NO GPS to guide me home. Back to phone and mapquest. On the final email, I described this experience. I finally got an answer which was directed to the entirety of my set of problems. The answer was 'are you sure it was plugged in?'.
  If I could give minus-stars I would.
  
  
  
• Needs help
  By A1XGFYVR9N8YM3 on 2006-08-22
  My husband bought me this for Christmas because we were moving to a new city. He picked it out because unlike Garmin and Magellen it was created from the ground up for use on the road. The features are easy to use, the directions are great and when you need a new route because of roadblock or traffic - it really comes up with a great plan. However - my first one lasted 3 months before it died, I then replaced it with another one and it died 3 months later as well. I was very reluctant to buy a different brand - but had to for dependability. I still don't like my Garmin as much - but at least it works. Come on Tomtom - get the electronics working as well as the maps and directions.
  
  
• terrible GPS and sub-par customer service
  By A1IQW9SAF4ZQG5 on 2006-09-17
  I purchased a TomTom Go and have had problems with the touch screen ever since. It malfunctioned within 6 months of purchase and I had to send it in to be repaired, they said they were unable to repair it and sent me a brand new one. The new one began malfunctioning in exactly the same way within another 6 months. After the subsequent 6 months, I sent it back again for the same problem and they told me it was out of warranty and they no longer repair the TomTom Go but they would send me a newer model for an additional $300-400. Ridiculous, I have been trying to get some sort of satisfaction to no avail. I paid nearly $1000 for this unit when it came on the market and it never worked more than 6 months at a time. It would be best if this company went out of business in my opinion especially after reading the other reviews listed here. I am now having to "trash" my unit and buy a different, more reliable, brand.
  
  
  
  
• TomTom 700 Great unit if you aren't going anywhere!!
  By AH9LI4LT88OI2 on 2006-01-12
  The unit itself is great, 3d mapping, spoken turns, easy operation. The problem is the routing engine!! On simple trips it makes them complicated sometimes adding upto 10 miles to a 7 mile trip. A trip to my work which is a straight shot with only 2 turns and 7.2 miles it planned a trip with over 15 turns and 11 miles out of the way. It also took me to the middle of nowhere on 2 different trips using their database of POIs. It had every store in the Oakbrook Mall as 5 miles south of their actual location. If I didn't know the area I'd of been in real trouble. Great looking, poor operation. I returned it, and got the Garmin Streetpilot 2730.
  
  
• Tom Tom Go No No!
  By A3PUGVXSVFMP9U on 2006-02-10
  Unquestionably one of the worst purchases I have ever made! I travel the country as a Sales Mgr. and have utilized mapquest as my guide. Recently purchased a Tom Tom 700 after all of the glowing reviews. On my most recent trip to Cleveland, Minneapolis and Chicago I found it to be the most inaccurate tool I have ever come across. It is missing addresses, it offers incorrect directions and it is not user friendly.
  To be quite simple about it, don't buy one!
  
  
• Average
  By A1JEUFVC9KE968 on 2006-01-09
  Opinions on GPS systems are obviously very subjective. For me, this was my first experience with GPS units. I drive about 2,000 miles a month in the midwest for work and getting rid of my atlas was a must. I found the maps on the Tom Tom to be quite outdated. New roads as well as reconstruction (interstate interchanges) that are 4-5 years old were not on the Go700. Along I-70 between Indianapolis and Dayton there are 3 rest areas in either direction.....none of them were on the Go700. There were just to many inaccuracies with maps, directions and points of interest on this unit for my liking. My final decision to return this unit was made after I sent an email to Tom Tom technical support regarding these issues and they never responded. The bottom line for me is that all GPS may have these issues to one degree or another, but personally I expect better (...).
  
  
• A Contender for Best Portable GPS Nav Device
  By A261U1F9HORF25 on 2005-12-06
  In short, this is what I think: The TomTom GO 700 is one of the best after market GPS devices because it provides great directions in multiple formats, is the easiest interface to use, speaks clear and appropriate voice commands, and in the end - gets you to where you need to go.
  
  Longer story: Map quality is important but often misunderstood. Personally, I have used several GPS devices (mostly garmin, tomtom, and acura in-dash units) and all of them have map errors from time to time. Even so, the 700 I am using now is the best GPS unit I have had to date. The teleatlas maps in the 700 are very accurate (even mapquest has chosen TomTom and teleatlas maps to supply their new portable device, which was my old go-to for online directions).
  
  Beyond these basic requirements for any GPS, the 700 also has a bunch of additional features that are not usually offered on most other GPSes (see below).
  
  Routing Options - Fastest, Slowest, no highways, etc... Allows you to customize your route to get you there in the fashion you need to.
  
  Itinerary Planning - Quickly add multiple destinations and it will route right from one to the next without having to continually change things when driving.
  
  Voice selections - Heh, if you lucky you can find Darth Vader or some other crazy ones. But in the end, Jane is the best IMO.
  
  Color Schemes - If you can't see the map very well you can change the map colors so that it fits you better.
  
  Customizable - There are several online communities that have a ton of awesome applications that you can add to the 700 or you can download and add additional points of interest.
  
  Bluetooth - Allows for accessory subscriptions to Real-time Traffic and Weather updates in real time (PLUS services), but most useful, Hands Free Calling. It is easy to setup for any of the compatible phones (make sure to check the website) allowing you to import your contacts and make/receive calls and text messages right through the unit.
  
  In the end, I have been incredibly happy with the GO 700. Make sure to play for a bit before jumping to conclusions that you will find on any GPS unit. And believe me, the 700 is just as good as any other portable nav device, if not better with the added features. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a user-friendly nav unit.
  
  
• It works, but....... too many buts
  By A1QQMZNOXGQFPJ on 2006-06-15
  My husband and I used it for 20 days in Europe, it came as an extra with our rental car.
  We drove through Belgium, Germany, Netherlands.
  
  Off the bat, I want to say that it got the 3 stars from me only, because it had the European maps in it, not just American maps (although I am sure that was only compliments of the European Car Rental company, who must have installed those as add-ons), if it comes without them on the standard purchase, I'd give it a 2 star rating only, because it is quite expensive for its performance!!!
  
  
  The touch screen is easy to operate, (and the competition has them, too) although it takes a (too long for my taste) while before it finally comes online and is usable, ready for data input.
  One unpleasant aspect in terms of destinatin entry is that you cannot enter "Brussel Airport", just in case you don't know if it has a name and what that is, or if you don't know in what suburb the airport is located (Zavantem in this example). For tourists, this should be a must for such important points as airports, train stations.
  
  You can find them under POI, however, but it is somewhat awkward to accomplish.
  
  Also, we had a hard time in Brussels, the capital of Belgium itself, to find our way out of the city center to the airport. It misguided us several times and demanded U-turns.
  
  I know Berlin quite well, and also a couple of other cities in Germany, and it guided us all over the place to any destination, very often not the most efficient route. In smaller cities, it even sent us off in the opposite direction, although it "knew" that village in its database. It lay 5 km next to where we stood, and it sent us off on a route where we would have driven about 30 km to get there!
  
  This was aggravated often also in Germany and Holland, when you could suddenly see the little blue arrow wander off aimlessly into noman's land, or also, when stopping at red lights, it suddenly rotated the map on the screen 3 or more times around and around like a dizzy thing... or quite a few times, the map also simply got stuck for a couple of miles and did not respond to our driving along. In such cases, it helped to simply stop by the roadside and allow the GPS to catch up with our location... not very convenient!
  My guess is that the software is too slow and has trouble interpreting the data fast, as it could not be the fault of the GPS system, which is the same for everybody.
  
  Actually, coming home and reading up on the TomTom product description, one feels so enthused and wants to buy it right away, it sounds so perfect and great. However, after practicing it, I am quite disappointed.
  What good is it to have a gazillion of voice choices available? One gets used to one and then never changes again! And how many times would one want to hear instructions in Italian, German, or French, or Suaheli? I mean, English is probably all any US citizen ever expects. OK, put in 3 male and 3 females voices to pick from, and voila! (Besides, its French and German performances left something to desire, it spoke often like a foreigner, ha ha ha! (I happen to have several European mother tongues, as I grew up there, so I am fluent!)
  
  I would prefer less voice and language choices, and see better and faster response times from the unit in terms of precise locating of my position at all times!
  
  Another annoying thing: It also tells you to "take the exit, then take the exit", even when you are not exiting but rather "entering" an interstate, with a double entrance of interstates, e.g. and without saying in which direction one should go (usually, one has 2 choices on each entrance: South/North or East/West) and it also tells you "exit ahead" or "right turn ahead" about 1 to 2 miles before it shows up, which can be confusing. You have to glance at the screen to see the arrow and read the distance to the next turn, otherwise, one might be tempted to take the very next upcoming exit. Once one is used to this not-so-smart habit, it is A-OK, but it is not what I prefer.
  
  So, I am going to probably buy a Garmin product.
  
  
• Can't see the screen during bright sunlight
  By A1GUH0AQS52M8W on 2005-11-07
  I bought the 700 and installed it. When I plugged it in, the light on the plug-in device didn't come on. Tried it in my car and one other....I then started to drive out on the road during a sunny day and couldn't see the screen. I had to pull under an interstate highway overpass to read the screen in the shade. This may work well in clouds or the dark, but not well at all in the sun. Sent it back next day.
  
  
• You CAN'T SEE this unit in DIRECT SUNLIGHT and barely see it outside
  By A1NM4XG1T1FQL9 on 2005-08-31
  I purchased this product after tons of research. In concept the product seemed to be just what I wanted. Nice looking, bluetooth phone capability, works on a battery, has excellent sound and many great features and was reasonably priced.
  
  In reality the product is very flawed. Here are some of the problems that I found with the unit after only two days of use...
  
  1. You CAN NOT SEE the unit in direct sunlight, period. Outdoors in the shade is not much better. This is totally not acceptable to me.
  
  2. The maps are not very accurate. It says you have reached your destination a 1/2 block before you actually do and once when the expressway split, it never said to stay right or left!
  
  3. I was driving down the street toward a destination and it continuously said to make a "U-Turn" for no reason at all. This happened several times
  
  4. It tells you when to turn at 500 yards, 300 yards, 100 yards and then when you are right at the intersection it says turn now...as you are virtually in the intersection.
  
  5. POI's are very weak. It says it has millions, but the main categories did not include any stores, banks, ATM's or many other useful categories.
  
  6. It had problems finding a satellite several times and took up to 5 minutes find a signal, in suburban Chicago.
  
  7. The included manual is about 10 pages and is designed to be a "quick start" guide. It does includes a manual on the cd but when I tried to load it, the CD did not work on my PC (confirmed by customer support that the CD does not work)
  
  8. The keyboard is way too small when entering addresses, (and I don't have a large hand).
  
  A few good points:
  
  1. They have excellent technical support. I called and spoke to a very pleasant customer service rep who then handed me over the the Customer Service Manager who conferenced in the Product Manager who addressed my problems. However, they did not admit that the screen totally washes out but rather said "all touch screens will wash out in the sunlight, ours just happens to be the best of the lot". I challenged them by telling them that their web site states in the features section that the unit has an "Anti-glare screen: Always an optimal view, even in direct sunlight" and that was not an accurate statement. They were pleasant but could not fix design problems over the phone.
  
  2. Very good sound quality, if you don't mind not seeing the screen, you might like this unit for that reason.
  
  3. Very attractive unit.
  
  4. Great windshield mount
  
  The Final Decision on keeping the unit was made for my by TomTom as the the unit broke on my third day and would not power up so I returned it to Best Buy and my problems with this unit are over.
  
  Bottom line, the product sounds great on their web site and with a different screen, better maps, and the bugs worked out it would be great. My advise, make sure you can return it without a restocking fee because the product is really disappointing.
  
  
• TomTom Go 700 a good GPS solution
  By AG6TE3YYLRWZO on 2005-10-12
  Having used built-in GPS systems for several years, we were pleasantly surprised at the performance of this product. It has most of the features of the best systems and clearly stands ahead of some. Our latest built-in is in a BMW 5 series, and the TomTom beats it hands-down!
  
  One of the biggest benefits is the ability to program it in your hand then snap it into place on it's holder. The screen is a bit small, so this enables the hard work to be done close at hand. But the screen is very bright with good detail, and the voice directions are excellent, so the small screen size is not a major drawback.
  
  The Bluetooth connection to our Motorola 635 was simple, although the phone is not listed as one of those supported. The only glitch was in the downloading of the phone book - from all appearances it downloaded properly, but no entries were available in the GPS's address book. Still the hands-free operation is a real plus. The speaker is good, but it can become difficult to hear when traveling at high speeds or on rough roads.
  
  We have not yet attempted to download or update maps, but the data base seems very complete. I have noted a few glitches at some intersections, but I understand the company's website asks for such comments, so it seems that updates will be made available regularly.
  
  Overall it is a very useful product and worth the purchase price.
  
  
• Bad Support Improving (?)
  By ACADD12W2P99Y on 2006-01-31
  The product works better than the Magellan product I tried last summer. However, the mounting bracket broke and it has taken over two months to get a commitment for TomTom to replace it. Until recently they did not have a published US support phone number. Now they do (it is 866.486.6866).
  
  It is very good in open areas, but in a city with many tall buildings (like New York), it (and every other GPS I have tried) gets very confused.
  
  When restarted in a new location (i.e. when you take a plane trip and turn in back on in your rental car) it can take several minutes to figure out where it is.
  
  All in all, it provides clear voice instructions and is great when you are someplace with a lot of freeways (like LA).
  
  More frequent updates would be appreciated, as would Macintosh support.
  
  The bluetooth stuff is not ready for prime time.
  
  
• Read all the reviews and decide yourself, I guess.
  By A1TBH7Z4RK7PRK on 2006-11-19
  I have had a 700 TomTom for about five months. I actually won it from an electronics magazine I subscribe to...Anyway, I love it. I also have Magellan 760's on work vehicles, but much prefer the TomTom. Here's why;
  TomTom has no buttons. All touch screen. Beautiful.
  TomTom does NOT say "REROUTING" when you don't go the way it wants. It silently, obediently assumes you went another way (for your own good reason) and continues seamlessly giving you the route from that point on.
  Magellan annoyingly repeats "REROUTING" when you really don't care. Just get me there, damn it.
  TomTom has a far far superior view which looks so much like the view from the driver's seat it is uncanny. A pleasure to use.
  My TomTom 700 does NOT,however, announce the name of the street you have to turn on. It also does not show the name of every street, for some odd reason. It also has made errors but these have to do with the database. Things like saying turn left when you can't...taking me off the freeway and then putting me right back on for some reason..only at one location on one freeway. Must be something to do with the total distance being slightly less that way...
  Magellan has an auto nightcolor feature. TomTom runs on it's own battery.
  TomTom comes with a case. Magellan has too many buttons on it.
  I never use the bluetooth features. Don't care about them.
  All in all, my TomTom gets me there, and I like it better. Also faster acquisition of satellites, I think.
  One thing I wish TomTom did was eliminate the letters you don't need when spelling streets or cities, like Magellan. Sooo much easier with Magellan. Bottom line, you are better off with a GPS than not, do your homework, get one, and don't enter data while you are driving! Or not too much.
  
  
  
• Works right out of the box
  By A3JQXNPXWXPM3D on 2005-07-11
  It took me 3 min to get the unit set up and working. I used it to get me out of the Circuit City parking lot.
  
  The first test was to see if it used my secret shortcut home. The most logical route is busy and easy to find. However, my route is quicker but less obvious. It chose my route. VERY impressed.
  
  This weekend I used it to get me home from the lake. I normaly go a set route, but the 700 took me a way that I never realised exsisted and was a damm sight quicker.
  
  At this stage, there is little US support for the product, but if the EU sites are anything to go by then we are in for a feature rich future.
  
  I realy like the option to change voices. Being a Briy in the US, its nice to have a female UK voice to drive me round. The demo mode of route's planned is nice. Check it out before you drive it either in real time or fast forward.
  
  I have 2 Garmin handhelds that I love. It was a tough decission between this and the Garmin 330. I am very glad I chose the Tomtom.
  
  
• Missing Customer Support
  By A124UNKFL9RXP6 on 2006-03-02
  I bought this unit for some trips from Ohio to the East Coast. The first issue I found was that it comes with out of date maps. This is not a problem unless you travel somewhere that has changed in the last five years. Secondly, it has some routing quirks. It will detour you off a major interstate and then back on in 10 or 15 miles. I though that it was a software issue. So I reported the map issues and downloaded the software update. This update, 5.42, has some spontaneous rebooting issues. So I emailed Customer Support and received a nice note that they were experiencing greater than normal wait times and that they would get to my issue shortly. Shortly is defined by them as three weeks! They told me to reset the machine and closed the ticket as "solved". Their suggestion did not solve the issue, so I reopened the ticket and they replied that the next version to the software should solve the issue, but while I wait the months for the update, I should load the old software. Unfortunately, they don't have a Mac version of the old loader, so I had to hunt down a windows machine. I did the update which deleted the maps and now the unit is in a continuous reboot mode and I am waiting for Customer Support. I am on my fifth week of this issue, so buyer beware. The American office is not prepared to support their product.
  
  
• Never got me where I wanted to go ...
  By A4V0KWQSGOTSA on 2006-06-19
  I had this unit for two months and ended up selling it on ebay. I tried it in three different states (MO, WI, TN) and it failed to get me to the correct address every time. Oh, it would get me in the general area OK, but the last turn or two were never right, usually sending me in the wrong direction and requiring me to get my bearings the old fashioned way (call, ask, or follow street numbers). I've been in cars with Garmin units that work flawlessly, but I thought I would try this brand based on a pretty neat design. I guess looks aren't everything.
  
  
• Bad Joke
  By AI4ROX8C2I6EM on 2005-08-08
  The first time I entered a destination and previewed the text routing this silly Tom Tom left a necessary Hwy out of the mix. I then took it for a spin from Phoenix AZ to Tulare CA, If I did not already know where I was going this device would have had me more lost and off route than if I were blind folded. I have a 05 Dodge Ram that has factory Nav and my wife has a 05 Toyota Sienna with factory Nav and they are both right on the money. The features are great on the Tom Tom Go, the map softwear stinks. I used the Magellan Hurtz Never lost and it worked well with just a conductivity issue probably brought on by a spilled soft drink by an earlier renter.The units graphics are fine and with a download from a competent map program it may be worth it's price. I will be sending mine back, life is too short for the aggrivation poured on heavily by the Tom Tom Go 700. And where did they get that name? With the Tom Tom you not could not find your wigwam. The Blue Tooth Did not work with my Motorola V 710 either.
  
  
• TomTom Go 700
  By A2URGETAXHGEB on 2005-09-15
  The 700 works well when its working! I have had to reset it twice. The GPS signal is lost often and can take as long as 20 minutes to come back on line.
  
  
• No major problems and great route planner!
  By A13Q690826MBK1 on 2006-02-28
  I've been using the Tom Tom 700 for 8 months now and have been very pleased with most of the functionality.
  
  Pro's
  1. Routing clear and generally accurate, both in Northern Virginia and recently on a business trip to St Louis
  2. Instructions clear and screen well laid out
  3. A lot of setup configurations possible to suit your needs
  4. Excellent blue-tooth connectivity
  5. Very accurate speed and positioning indicators
  6. Comprehensive POI's for restaurants
  
  Con's
  1. Map is at least 2-3 years out of date. This is fine for 90% of driving, but doesn't have newer addresses in my area of N Virginia where there has been a lot of growth in recent years. The unit says I'm driving in fields a lot of the time! I understand a lot of nav systems have the same problem as they are all using the same base map prividers.
  2. Website has not had a single downloadable update since launch in the US, although there have been system updates via remote satellite download.
  
  **Update: The website has recently been improved and you can now buy maps for additional countries. On a trip to the UK last month, I was able to buy a map of the UK, install it with no problems and the Tom Tom worked flawlessly, helping me navigate both rural and city destinations accurately.
  
  Overall I'm pleased with the Tom Tom. Sure, there are some annoyances, but any in car system has numerous drawbacks. The Tom Tom gets you where you need to get most of the time, and the interface is very useable.
  
  
  
• Most user friendly - Mac Compatible
  By A2QRP67H61POA6 on 2005-11-13
  Tried the other two major brands, they are good but this had the best combination of data and interface. The Tom Tom 700 is the most user friendly and is both PC and Mac compatible. AND - it has a built in battery so you can take it out of the car, change the route preferences to "walking" ( this way it ingnores one way streets) and navigate on foot to that resturant you have heard about but could not find while fighting traffic. It allows you to create custom points of interest categories and add sites to these categories with your own names. You can modify the startup screen to show a favorite photo instead of the normal logo. My wife has ordered the John Cleese voice, although the unit comes with oodles of built in voices with different accents and in different languages.
  The Tom Tom company donated 300 of the 700 Models for use in recovery after Katrina. They were mounted in Blackhawk helicopters and used on rescue boats.
  A very good product.
  
  

• TomTom Maps of Western Europe on 6 CDs for TomTom GO Navigators (1D90.010)
• TomTom A/C Power Charger for GO and Rider Navigators (9D00.006)
• GGI International LCD Screen Care Kit, with Overlays, Care System Microfiber Cloth & Wipes
• TomTom Maps of Western Europe on 6 CDs for TomTom GPS Navigators (1D90.012)

• TomTom GO Deluxe Carrying Case
• TomTom Remote Control for GO 500, 700 (9D00.015)
• TomTom A/C Power Charger for GO and Rider Navigators (9D00.006)
• TomTom GO 910 4-Inch Portable GPS Navigator