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TomTom GO 300 Portable GPS Navigator with Maps of US Pre-loaded on SDdUser Review: - great consumer gadget(updated review) So the TomTom rocked when it came out-- now there are others that have many of the same features. Here's what I loved: - "cute" (unlike the more techie-looking ones from garmin, etc.) including outrageously cool and funny voices, even a free programmer's toolkit for making your own! - inexpensive - has built-in, long lasting batteries, so you don't need to use the car's cigarette lighter (i.e. useful for camping trips, etc.). - fast startup/shutdown (incl autodetect car off from the cig lighter), and fast route detection etc. - accurate and thorough maps (as far as we can tell so far) - **great** user interface-- all our friends becames experts immediately. - points of interest (POIs) work reasonably well, though it was inaccurate a couple of times (e.g. nonexistent gas station) and the by-category lists of POIs were sometimes... strange. - nothing silly: the box comes with everything you need, the maps are pre-loaded (no PC required), the device itself walks you through its setup the first time you turn it on, etc. etc. one small con: it can take a few minutes (bay area) to lock onto the GPS signal. This wasn't a problem when I first got it. User Review:  - Six months ownership leave me worriedI bought a TomTom 300 in June and I now have six months' experience with it. On balance I like it, but it not as reliable as I would wish; I am not dropping my membership in AAA and its access to good maps just yet. For example, around State College, Pennsylvania, it seems to get confused often; telling the driver to take exits that do not exist on some occasions and failing to recognize established highways on others. I would not recommend a TomTom to someone who lives in the State College area. I live in the Washington, DC area, however, and TomTom is pretty good there, although it occcasionally chooses odd routes to get places. But I recently asked it to guide me to an address in the 100 block of an avenue in Vienna, Virginia, and it took me to the 1100 block instead. Not a big problem in daylight, but it would have been at night. And in Yellowstone National Park it was pretty useless for navigation. It could have taken me through the park as it recognized the main roads, but it did not seem to recognize anyhting withing the park. I could not find any way to put address within the park into the machine, and its Points of Interest did not list the hotels, post offices, gas stations, restaurants or other amenities in the park by name. Oddly, it listed some hiking hiking trails, but nothing else. I wondered if the problem lies in the fact that TomTom is manufactured in Europe. I am not sure about the company's customer service, either. Last Saturday, my TomTom screen froze; I could not turn it on or off. After a long search tedious through the web site, I found telephone numbers for customer service, but they were all in Europe; there was none for the United States. I then called the merchant that sold me the TomTom, and it gave me a number in the U.S. When I called that number, 978-287-9555, an answering machine verified that I had reached TomTom, Inc., but it also informed me that customer service is limited to something like 9-6, EST, Monday through Friday. Since my TomTom had chosen to freeze on a Saturday, I continued searching the web site, and eventually found a place where I could e-mail a question to TomTom. I did, and I am still waiting for an answer on tuesday evening at about 11:00 pm. Happily, the TomTom started working again when I let the battery run out and recharged it. But if I were depending on customer service, I would have been up the creek over the weekend. I like TomTom, but if I were buying again, I would make a real effort to find out if other brands are more reliable. And I am very worried about customer service, should something go wrong. That does not seem to be a priority with company. User Review: - Good maps, accurate instructions=good buyI love the TomTom GO 300, it is easy to use and is well built for the most part. All the maps for the US come on the included SD card, so you don't need to use your computer to upload maps. I don't plan on using the bluetooth traffic/weather service so I can't tell you how accurate that is. I first tested the unit within town, and it acquired a good satellite signal within about a minute. When you're driving, if you have audible alerts turned on, when you speed up the voice gets louder so you can hear it above the road noise. Likewise, if you are going slowly, the unit won't scream its instructions to you. I couldn't believe how accurate the unit was, I could probably drive blindfolded just using the verbal commands. A good feature with the TomTom is that if you have multiple turns within a short distance, it will say, "Turn right then turn left" so you can get into the proper lane to make the next turn; useful if you're out of the area and haven't memorized what lane you need to be in. Some of the POI's were not updated, but that's not too big of an issue since it did have about 75% of them. This isn't much of a problem either because there are several 3rd party sites that allow you to download additional POI's for free. Also, another reviewer mentioned that the TomTom doesn't give phone numbers with the POI's, but mine does show phone numbers (I expected it not to, so when it did, I was pleasantly surprised). As far as the software, it is fairly responsive, but it can seem frozen when it's thinking particularly hard. Of note, I tested its ability to map long distances by having it program a route to Denver from my home in California which is a considerable distance. It took about 20 seconds to analyze several hundred thousand roads and give me a complete route. I also deliberately missed turns on the way home one evening and that didn't even phase it, the TomTom took about 3 seconds to analyze another route. The pros: -Small unit -Entirely touch-screen activated -Self contained, comprehensive maps of entire USA -Phone numbers with POI's -Very accurate -Fast satellite acquisition -Cheap (well, cheaper than the Garmin c320/c330) -Voice prompts adjust according to speed -Night mode -Intuitive interface The cons: -Small screen -Screen can get washed out in bright, direct sunlight -Not a comprehensive POI database -The windshield attachment arm sat in the sun one day and it became really hard to keep it adjusted (it sticks to the window like nothing else, just the arm kept falling under the weight of the TomTom). I tightened it so hard, one of the screws broke. -I hear TomTom customer support has much to be desired, but we'll see. In all, I recommend the TomTom GO to anyone that needs an easy to use, accurate, quick and cheap GPS solution. User Review: - Great Maps, Great Interface, Lousy GPS SignalI was looking forward to using the TomTom GO 300. All the reviews were above average for this unit. Out of the box, the GO is ready to rock. The beauty of it all is the detail (and accuracy) of the maps. There is a 1 GB SD card preloaded. No "downloading" of maps is required to use it. I found the street level maps to be better than the Garmin and Magellan maps. The POI's are a bit dated, but you will find this as common with all units. I did not like the fact that the POI's phone number is not part of the database. It is a great convenience I have come to expect from GPS devices. The Satellite acquisition was quite poor. It would take 3-8 minutes on average to establise a location. The antenna receiver is not flexible and points forward on the horizontal. Satellites are vertical. ON a hot start, warm start, cold start.... all the same results. Further, when driving- the signal was intermittently lost causing the directions to be changed to account for a "missed turn" that was not missed at all. This creates confusion for the driver and frustration for me. All-in-all, its a nice package. BUT- be aware, you may experience the same satellite acquisition issues. I returned the unit for the Garmin iQUE M5. The Garmin is a nice total package... The maps are not as accurate as TomTom, but the signal never fails me. User Review:  - Worst support everExperienced setup problems. They have no telephone number at all anywhere to contact the company. The only support is via email. They keep emailing me the same already tried and failed "solution". I would never buy another product ever from this company or any other company that only offers support via email. |
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