TomTom GO 510 4-Inch Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator (Factory Refurbished) Reviews

• Good basic unit, not perfect. but it works...

  
  By A20QO2RE88L616 on 2007-08-25
  Good unit and it routes well.
  For $299 refurbished its a pretty good deal.
  However I used to have a Garmin Nuvi 660, which was stolen from my truck.
  That was expensive so I thought I would try something different\cheaper.
  
  This is a good unti for the money.
  But when compared to the Garmin, its not as easy to use from an interface perspective or use in a brightly lit car.
  
  The good:
  Cheap. Gets job done.
  Good unit for money.
  Routing engine is very good. It does not get confused like Garmin does.
  Its syncs up fast.
  
  Things that do not work as well as the garmin.
  
  1)Dim display, its very hard to see in the sunlight on the dash. Polarizing sunglasses also make it hard to read.
  
  2) Windshield mount sucks. This is because the unit is pretty bulky and heavy for the bracket provided. It cannot hold up the unit without sagging in a few minutes. There is no adjustment. I ended up putting it very low on the windshield and let it rest on dash board.
  
  3) Interface does not learn from usage. So if you are searching for a destination it provides a list alphabetically not by the closest state you are in. I live in MA....so I have to scroll through all the other states to get to my destination. Poorly thought out. It should start from the state you are in or your home location. It does a poor job of remembering the locations you reguallry search in. I am a computer tech...so I am on the road goign to different houses\businesses in same town. I have to keep putting in same town every time I search. Its annoying.
  
  4)Points of interest are terrible. I was in NH on vacation. It could not locate most interesting things, like Mount Washington resort, restarunts, camp grounds.
  
  5) Display info is not great. It uses the smaller fonts for things like destination duration and when to turn.
  It doesn't display speed, or arrival time at destination. WHich I fine to be the most useful feature of any GPS. What time will I get there and then I will know if I am gong to be late or early.
  It just says you will get there in 40 minutes,. You have to figure out what time it is and do the math.
  
  For $300 its pretty good for a basic unit. I will get you there.
  I would buy the cheaper unit though. If you are ok with spending the extra $80 or so, buy the Garmin 360 or 660.
  The software patches released recetnly supposed fixed the routing issues on the Garmin.
  
  
  
  
  
  

• Love Tim-Tim

  
  By A189ZI6KDM8BH1 on 2007-03-16
  I love this product. Only thing is I have a sense of direction and it doesn't always take me the way I think it should. My son is in hysterics when I start arguing with it! The bracket to the window isn't worth a damn when it gets warm so I sit it on the dash. So long as you can trust it, it works. Once you start playing around with it and learning how to use it, its even better.
  
  

• Could do better

  
  By A6IYHG1Q0ME34 on 2007-03-10
  I ordered this refurbished device because it was offered at a good price and looked as if it had everything i needed. Picture is misleading. While the device is "portable" it's the shape of a television (bulky back) which is fine for the car, but not for the purse. It comes with everything you need. Device works great- tells you to "turn right up ahead", but not "turn right on to Broadway" which is one thing that bothers me. Has a lot of POI (points of interest) which is great. I've returned it because, overall, it's not what I was looking for. However, for $300 you can get something that suffices.
  
  

• Somewhat Disapointed

  
  By A21Y943NZPQT1X on 2007-03-15
  The worst thing about the Tom Tom GO 510 is the software that comes with it. I know twelve year olds that could write better software.
  If you make a change to your favorites menu, and then choose to back it up to your computer, the 510 forces you to reset ALL of your previously set unit preferences.
  If you do a restore from the computer to the 510 the same thing happens. Apparently the only thing that truly flows between them is the favorites menu, maps, and voice files.
  Why there is a need to set the clock every time, I don't understand. They could easily have pulled the clock sync off one of the satellites.
  Accuracy? I don't know if it's the 510's fault but my own house location is off by about 400 yards. It's a good thing I know where I live. But in honesty, most location are, right on the money, and sometimes to the doorstep.
  Speaking of money, the 510 is not top of the line, but its price for what it gives is probably a good buy if you don't mind putting up with the aggravating software.
  
  
  

• Not bad, but not perfect

  
  By A1VIECOHRHHA3P on 2007-07-22
  I used to have a garmin 350, which was stolen, and this unit replaced it.
  
  The TomTom showed up, and came with more than the garmin unit, pouch, etc. However, right off the bat, the unit needed an "unlocking" code, and it took several tries over a series of days to activate the map that shipped with the unit. Tech support was great, they answer very fast, but it was still annoying.
  
  Compared to the garmin, the TomTom has many more features. It has more voices, more options, it calculates routes much more quickly, and it finds the satellites much more quickly.
  
  However, the maps provided with the TomTom are not as good as the ones that were provided with the garmin. I have found several annoying map errors driving around rural wisconsin, and it doesn't seem to have a very good database of local stores; i can't find several of my favorite restaurants, and it doesn't know where the nearest target is.
  
  The device does update with my mac, which is great, but it has a problem with my dual-core macbook pro.
  
  Entering addresses is in some way better than the garmin, and in some ways worse. It has a superior completion mode, but you can't restrict the area as easily, so you may have to wade through a lot of similarly-named towns.
  
  The simm card is easy to pop out, so if the unit is being used in anything but dashmounted mode, you have to be careful to leave it in place.
  
  In short, this is a nice full-featured unit, but not as plug-and-play as the comparable garmin.
  
  
• Out of the fog
  By A34X2NC8UTHSSK on 2007-03-09
  I found the Tom Tom to be an easy to use navigational device the will ensure my timely arrivals at importaint meeting.
  When away on busness its no longer necessary to get directions. I just type it in and and it gets me there quickly.
  My refurbished Tom Tom works as well as factory new. Along with a very inexspensive two year warrenty I'm sure I will have reliable sevice for years to come.
  
  
• TomTom GPS
  By A38AMNC9WTPOT4 on 2007-03-09
  The system works great. However, I ordered the latest map and had difficulty activating it. Customer Service was very slow and it took me (3) calls to get it straightened out. The first Representative gave me the wrong information. The last time on the phone it took 1 1/2 hours and I had to talk to (2) people.
  Also, their product manuals are not well done.
  
  
• Good GPS but room for improvement
  By A1JQR8F55MKN23 on 2007-05-13
  Overall, I am very happy with this unit. On my first journey with this not knowing where I was going, it had a hiccup and took me 40 miles out of the way when I realized its error. Good thing, because it wanted to send me another 220 miles. That said, that was the only time it sent me wrong.
  
  I have no idea if the TomTom Plus is good or not because I cannot hook up my phone to it. I wish that it said somewhere its inability to use Sprint PCS services with it.
  
  On a final note if you are going to travel to Europe as well, then you are better off buying the 910. I didn't realize just how pricey their maps were. The Euro maps are appx 150 Euro, which is much more than the difference between the two units.
  
  
• Go 510
  By AJEF9T4FALQHK on 2007-05-12
  The product worked well rightout of the box. The manual was on t he CD and It did not take long to master the essentials of this GPS. I think if I had to do it over again I would have purchased the 910.
  
  \The 510 does everything any one would need for a car GPS. Would recommend it for anyone.
  
  
  
• review of tom tom go
  By A1XYNC7T2FMZ0B on 2007-05-13
  In, my review I have found that the tom tom go 510 is a good tool to save time and money on the road weather near or far.
  
  
• Pretty good with little flaws in POIs
  By A2VJZ7RZ7JIHLS on 2007-03-25
  Mostly accurate with address entered destinations. But, need to look for a specific POI after the navigator says you arrived at your destination. It's not supposed to give you door-to door navigation instructions. In general, satisfied with the product.
  
  
• Tom Tom GPS
  By A3P7FG7UFG44C1 on 2007-08-07
  The product seems fine however the price, after comparison, was satisfactory but not as great as I thought.
  
  
• good unit
  By A36TJIQ5OETU4X on 2008-02-05
  At first I was really hesitant with all the negative reviews, but I got my product and I love it. It started off with some problems, but I was able to fix them without having to call customer support.
  
  
  I had an error with it saving to my flash card. I found a simple solution to that.
  [..]
  Down the tomtom clear flash tool, and run it, and it'll fix that problem easy.
  
  Another problem I had was the TomTom would lock up on me when I went to the route overview screen, or oftentimes when I tried to put in a new destination. I sent an email telling them about this, and they had me download a new map-- don't get too excited, its the same map I had, but just had a new little fix on it. That fixed that problem.
  
  So then I had a perfectly good TomTom and it's been working perfect for me ever since. Granted the extra work was a bit of a pain, but it was worth it for a refurbished model and the price. Plus all the free POIs and voices you can download online, its neat.
  
  I didn't have any problems with the bluetooth by the way. I have a motorola E815, which came through clear, I just cant see my txt msgs on the TomTom. The TomTom comes with a microphone so that'll help those people who haven't figured it out. I had one time where my tomtom messed up a bit on a roadtrip through st. louis where it couldn't find sattellites for a few minutes, but I restarted it and it worked fine after that. I think all the tall buildings just messed with it a bit.
  
  
• My favorite little travel buddy.
  By A3KY3ZCUMPZXLO on 2007-11-21
  I felt the need to wait this one out before giving a review because I was waiting for it to disappoint me, but.. so far so good.
  
  I spent hours and hours researching GPS's before choosing this one, and while TomTom was recommended to me by people I know, the Garmin was looking pretty good too. At the end of the day, this just had more to offer, more customization (i'm big on that), the bluetooth phone feature, and a little social network (tomtom buddies). I paid $220 refurbished, which was way cheaper than what I could have gotten in a Garmin for that price.
  
  I'm inlove with this little guy. Like, not romantically, but close to it in a non-awkward sort of way :)
  
  The only issue I've had with it, is that sometimes I like to fight with it and tell it to go a different way than it would like me to go, and it ends up bringing me a different way, but it's probably because I don't have the latest map software. And I must say that whenever I try to take my own way, the "time of arrival" changes and I end up going "the long way". DRATS.
  
  Also, the wireless bluetooth phone feature doesn't work as well as it could.. but I think it has more to do with my piece of garbage Motorola Razr than the GPS. And the issue, btw, is not that I can't hear them, but that they can't hear me. Static and whatnot.
  
  Edit on that: It comes with a microphone. Ooops. It's been cleeear sailing since I found it in the box :)
  
  But despite all that nonsense, I love it. LOVE IT. It syncs up super fast, and I'm kind of a tech nerd, so I love how customizable it is and you can find all kinds of free downloadable voices online (I have "dr. evil" haha). I also like that you can have TomTom buddies, which is why I've convinced my boyfriend, my mom, and a couple of my friends to get one too :D
  
  
• Save your money!
  By A15BMW39QMALAP on 2007-11-22
  This product is crap. The routing sucks, the traffic display is useless, and there is little support for U.S. customers. I would never buy another product from this company. I've gone back to my trusty Emap.
  
  
• Didn't work
  By A1A5ENLV9M7798 on 2007-12-04
  This was a rock out of the box. It reebots while setting preferences. I am writing the review as I am speaking with TomTom tech support. It hasn't helped.
  
  
• Time problems
  By A3EQ2QF15RARB on 2007-12-05
  I bought the refurbished 510 because I was going on a 10 days road trip to tour the National Parks in California, Nevada and Arizona. Right out of the box, it was not keeping the time, for example, it would indicate 10:30AM and the next minute 10:29AM. This prevented any accurate estimate of time travel, telling me I would reach my destination 100 miles away in 6 hours. Anyway, I needed a GPS, and had no time to return it before the trip, so I took it along, ready to cope with the timing problem.
  The very first day I used it in the car, it crashed badly when we entered Hollywood at night. Fortunately, we were close to our destination because it wouldn't function again until the next day, whatever I tried. I still don't know what happened, but for the next 9 days we drove in fear of another crash and bought maps just in case...
  It didn't happen and the 510 was quite useful (except for the timing problem) and accurate. There were some times in Arizona when it wanted us to take a dirt road instead of the main road, but I guess that's when common sense takes over the computer ;-)
  I returned it as soon as we got back to New York. I don't think I would buy again this model, it's quite bulky and I don't need the extra-wide screen. But if it had been functioning correctly, I would have kept it.
  
  
  
• BUYER BEWARE. OR MAYBE I JUST GOT A LEMON ...
  By A2QXD8MS1OF4JW on 2007-12-17
  I had problem right out of the box.
  
  I'd plugged it into my cpu for updates and added some languages. when everything was done some of the languages were missing.
  
  I'd set up the bluetooth. Made one call great it works. Now i cant get it to work again. Tried setting it up again, didnt work.
  
  Next day, time to test this out. plugged it in, turned it on. blank screen (like a cpu monitor at start up). ?Its lit but blank.
  
  Got to work, went online was told to reset, reset, then an error (File access error , Unable to store setting). This message shows everytime I'm trying to do something with the gps.
  
  It starts to work,then screen freezes. Reset again.
  
  seems like it working now. Sitting on my desk (no movement) its telling me to turn right every minute or so(yes, I had it set to go to another destination). My other GPS doesnt say anything when I sit it down without movement.
  
  I cant deal with this anymore refurbished stuff is not for me. I'd thought maybe they would really try fixing the problem the 1st time.
  
  I guess if i would of gotten a working one I may of enjoyed it, but this is too much trouble. Anyways GPS prices are going down everywhere. This model is no longer being made. a newer model is coming out.
  
  I also dont like the back. This gps unit is shaped like a half of a ball. Many new ones are flat on the back, maybe because of the bluetooth and other features. i'm returning this back to them. hope you dont get mine.
  
  
• Tom Tom---buy something else
  By A16G33772QPQL on 2007-12-18
  I got a Tom Tom 510 for christmas last year. What a waste of money.
  The battery must charge about an hour in the car before the device can be turned on. Most trips are over by then. It must charge several hours in the house before it can be turned on as well.
  
  The website and program for it would not run on multiple computers (mine, my friends, etc.). It took months to get it to work. And, what for? There is nothing helpful.
  
  Customer service is poor and not helpful.
  
  
• Great Navigator
  By A7QRUT5O3468L on 2007-12-22
  TomTom GO 510 4-Inch Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator (Factory-Refurbished)This is a very good inexpensive navigator Easy to use. Much better engineered than the Pioneer.
  
  
• Total piece of junk buyer beware
  By A2JI69FAXTWWER on 2007-12-30
  Shame on Amazon for even having this on there site to sell. You buy this refurb your going to get freeze's reboots and a host of other software and map problems as soon as you upgrade the software. Its not a certified refurb according to tomtom so help is limited as i was told.
  
  Very disappointed in amazon about this. I have sumbitted my return request and will now stick with a quality product from garmin.
  
  
  STAY AWAY FROM THIS PRODUCT!!!!!!!!!
  
  
• TomTom GO 510
  By AWFCBPMXQ938Q on 2007-12-30
  This GPS tracks a new destination within 2-3 seconds and has gotten me to every location I have chose to drive to in the last month. It is easy to use and easy to navigate with and I would recommend this to anyone who wants to be able to get somewhere and feel confident that they can get there. It also asks if you have to be there within a specfic time frame and can choose a different course based on this. I had another GPS before it and it was not very accurate. This is the best GPS I have ever used. I give it a 5 out of 5.
  
  
• Passable, but problematic
  By A7AWB1POBNM9Q on 2007-12-31
  I've used the TomTom GO 510 for about 8 months ago, and feel like I'm qualified to say that you can do better. There are several problems with the device. First, as many users have stated, the windshield mount is horrible. It sags under the weight of the device, and is prone to breaking. I've gone through 2 mounts -- and they're not cheap to replace ($50 or so). After the first mount broke, the company replaced it for free... but no so for the most recent one.
  
  Second, the device is too bulky. It looks like a miniature tube TV set.
  
  Finally, my device often takes a long time -- up to 15 minutes -- to located a GPS signal. This is weird, because I live in the suburbs, and am not surrounded by tall buildings (which might block the signal). I'm not in the boonies, either. If I'm only going on a short trip, I occassionally arrive before the device can find a signal. Big problem.
  
  In short, pick a different GPS.
  
  
  
  
• Said New but it was Used
  By A60HWF8XOK6OE on 2008-01-08
  The Tom Tom 510 is a good GPS unit. I do wish I had bought the portable unit that has the text to speech feature. I am a Realtor, so I use it a bunch and so far it has found every property correctly. My only issue was Amazon said it had so many used and new units. I bought the new unit, but when I received the product it was refurbished. A very misleading advertisement!!! The 510 has a good windshield mount, but the thin portable unit would have been better for me. I could have bought two mounts and swapped the units very easily. I would recommend this unit to people who are using it in areas they are fairly familiar with. Some of the new addresses it does not have. I am not sure how you update this unit!!! Tom Tom is a good brand to buy!!
  
  
• Tom Tom Go 510
  By A2DZA76XKX2KVL on 2008-01-13
  So far so good. Missing a couple of features that I have in my 910 but it works great. I have had on, maybe two instances that the locaton for a point of interest was incorrect.
  
  
• This is my second TomTom, love it!
  By A34WFJDC24KQ4O on 2008-01-14
  I do a lot of traveling and purchased my first 510 last year. My wife, who is directionally challenged, marveled at how easy it was for me to find any destination without even looking at a map. As a result, I purchased her the same model for Christmas. She says this is the best present I ever gave her! It was easy to use right out of the box, and generally right on the money. My only complaint is that it sometimes takes a few minutes to catch the satellite signal.
  
  
• TomTom GO 510
  By A23R18MVCFF5WE on 2008-01-18
  I'm not too good with words but here goes; this is my first GPS unit so I don't have any thing to compare it to. The 510 is very user friendly and has almost all the options I wanted. The only exception being the voice commands rather than the touch screen. I am extremely happy with this GPS and would recommend it whole heartedly.
  
  
• It's what I had expected
  By A109CF0CFG1JJ6 on 2008-01-21
  The product was what was advertised & delivered as promised. I do recommended the seller as being very truthful. There was no run around as I have gotten in the past espically like HP.
  Thanks
  Matt Duffy
  
  
• Why buy new?
  By AHRNDSKWH1YBT on 2008-01-26
  I got this model for my husband for Christmas. So far, we love it. We had one instance where we had to restart the machine, but other than that, nothing. I couldn't beat the price (which was closer to $130).
  
  However, we are not explorers. Ours is used mainly to pick up a used toy on Craigslist or occasionally to navigate DC traffic on a business trip.
  
  So for light travel, occasional fun and random business, this is a good buy.
  
  
• Amazing Tom Tom
  By A320ACTBS5YWJG on 2008-02-08
  I did not expect to recieve what I got. It is a little big, but I can handle that. The price, unvillievable.
  
  

• GGI International LCD Screen Care Kit, with Overlays, Care System Microfiber Cloth & Wipes
• TomTom Remote Control for GO 500, 700 (9D00.015)
• TomTom External Antenna for GO 510 and 910 and ONE Navigators (9N00.000)
• SanDisk 1 GB Extreme III SD Card ( SDSDX3-1024-901, Retail Package)

• Tom Tom iPod Connect Cable and Audio Cable
• Bracketron UFM-100BL Nav-Mat GPS Friction Dash Pad
• TomTom External Antenna for GO 510 and 910 and ONE Navigators (9N00.000)
• TomTom Remote Control for GO 500, 700 (9D00.015)