TomTom GPS (1 Viewer)

Does anyone have any experience with TomTom GPS devices in cars? I'm looking at a GO 300 right now and wonder if anyone has thoughts or suggestions. Thanks.

They are rather popular over here and I have many friends who own a TomTom Go 300 or 500. They are considered the best, or at least one of the very best.

I myself just bought a TomTom Navigator 5 system three days ago, which is suited for a PDA (it has a GPS connector that's either connected by a wire, like a sort of "mouse" or through a Bluetooth connection - I have the Bluetooth version). It can be used in a car as well as when walking around.

The TomTom Go has a monitor of it's own. There seems to be ample coverage by maps of the US and Canada (I currently have the Europe maps only - plan to acquire the US maps soon) and "points of interests".

My friends are raving about their TomTom Go systems.


Cees

That's great. I really like what I see when researching the TomTom GO 300 and 700. The 300 is a bit cheaper but doesn't have the handsfree BT that the 700 does. i really like the way they look. How's your TomTom so far?

Bobby,

I'm getting more and more excited about it! I just bought extra maps to cover Europe (and I'm looking for some of the maps of the US - they don't readily have them in shops in Europe yet). This thing is amazing. I used it during some walking in the streets in Amsterdam and it tells me exactly where I am. Also I can set out destinations and get journeys based on parameters like "fastest", "by foot" (!), "shortest", "no toll", etc.

It's highly accurate and clever: when I go to the back of my house (the GPS receiver doesn't get a proper signal inside) and enter the garden it positions me "at" the adjacent street!

Those maps are the same as the TomTom Go maps, the main difference is the PC itself: a PDA for Navigator and a propriety monitor + processor for Go. They all have the same basic functionality. Just some added niceties in Go 500 and Go 700 (like a remote control and a cellular phone link).


Cees

That's great that you like it so much. I'm still trying to make up my mind. I really liek the remote control and the hands free BT that you mentioned. Finally, I might be able to start driving around without getting lost all the time.

On the news today was a press release, saying that Time-Warner's MapQuest division licensed TomTom to incorporate it into a system of their own. Soon (when?) to be available in the US.

Bobby, today I took it with me in my car for the first time: really amazing. It even found a shorter route inside the city that I had never realized before. (Although it also lead me to a traffic sign I always avoid, because I know I always get the wrong phase coming from my direction - it does not take traffic lights into consideration afaik).

Also, when I "disobeyed" it's suggestion once, it quickly resumed proper directions from where I really was. It kept my track wonderfully. In this case, a bridge in the city was temporarily closed for repairs. The system cannot know that in practice. So I moved on instead of turning left (for about half a minute it advised me to try to turn around at places where it could be done! ).


Cees

That's really great. You are really getting me excited. I hadn't heard that news about Mapquest. I'll go try and find the story. I can't wait to get my hands on one of these. Have you taken a road trip yet?