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| TomTom GO 720 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator | 
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| Brand: TomTom
Category: CE
List Price: $449.95
Buy New: $319.95
You Save: $130.00 (29%)
New (7) Used (3) Refurbished (4) from $234.98
Avg. Customer Rating:  164 reviews
Sales Rank: 2153
Media: Electronics
Memorabilia: No
Tracks: Unknown
Batteries Included: No
Native Resolution: 480 x 272
Display Size: 4.3
Includes MP3 Player: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 3.2 x 0.9 x 4.7
MPN: 1M00.780
Model: 1M00.780
UPC: 636926017114
EAN: 0036926017112
ASIN: B000SATCUQ
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 The great GPS with loads of features January 12, 2008
I purchased this for my wife (not very good with electronics). She finds it very easy to navigate. I like the short-cut feature that puts up to six short-cuts at the touch of one icon, which is great because some features take time to get to. My wife especially likes the handsfree calling feature as well as the FM radio transmitter that can stream music, directions, and phone calls through the car's stereo. The handsfree feature is so clear that I couldn't tell that my wife was using it. I also like the expandable memory card slot, map correction, and an output jack for the AUX on my stereo (being able to hard-wire the TomTom to my stereo when there is too much FM interference). Personally, I think that Megellan has better map/POI software but I went with TomTom because of the Buddy feature. Since I own a TomTom Rider and go on frequent rides that take me to unpopulated areas, my wife can now send messages and see my location using her TomTom... helps lessen the 'worry' factor of me riding a motorcycle.
 TomTom 720 Failed Me January 12, 2008
11 out of 13 found this review helpful
Back Ground:
I bought the TomTom as a Christmas Present to myself since The Wife gave me an Amazon gift card, A Friend has one he's been using for a few months and it seemed to have some features I liked.
What I Liked:
The Bluetooth, The 4.3 inch Widescreen, The Built in FM transmitter to be able to play sound over your car speakers and the MapShare feature that allows you to upload/download Map corrections.
What I did not Like:
Besides the Fact it was way off in it's accuracy (More on that later) I thought the menus were to confusing, packing too much into each menu, Once I started to get use to it, it wasn't that bad, but the fact it took me a full day just to figure out how to cancel a trip didn't bode well with me. I've used Garmins before and to cancel a trip in a Garmin is a simple 2 step process, Touch menu - Touch Stop - Trip Cancelled. So I found that aggravating on the TomTom since the Trip Cancel is somewhere on like the 5th menu screen. The Bluetooth would not sync with my phone no matter what I tried and yes, my Bluetooth phone was in 'discovery' mode. The Bluetooth was mainly what appealed to me since my job requires a lot of travel time on the roadways I liked the idea of not having to use the cell phone and try to talk and drive. So at this point my reason for buying it was a mote point. The real kicker came when I tried it out for navigation. I first made sure it was charged up, Connected to TomTom Home and downloaded any updates per the instructions and spent the night before familiarizing myself with the menus, features and how to enter destinations etc.
My Trips:
Trip Number ONE was to my Doctor's office, about a 30 mile one way trip using back roads, half way thru the trip after turning onto a side street it kept telling me to turn around, finally it corrected itself only to try and take me on a longer un-necessary route (Luckily I knew where I was going) The Real kicker came when I got to my Doctor's office, the TomTom insisted I was still a 1/2 mile short of my destination. Ok, that was the first trip no big deal, probably just a fluke.
Trip Number TWO: Leaving the Dr's office I'm going to head to downtown Baltimore to my Office. The TomTom did a Good job of getting me there until I got to my office. Parking is in short supply so I ended up driving completely around my office building until I found a parking space. the TomTom still insisted that my office was a 1/4 mile past where it really is, At this point I'm beginning to think I made a mistake buying this thing.
My Last Trip Number THREE: I leave the office and map a route to my house. The TomTom did ok up to the point of reaching my House. TomTom insisted I lived 1/2 mile in the Opposite direction and was in fact telling me to turn the wrong way. And no, it was not a shorter route since there is only one way to my house and that was the opposite direction from what the TomTom was saying, I think I actually did a double take to make sure I didn't drink some bad coffee the night before. Nope the TomTom was telling me to go the wrong way.
The Turning Point:
I ignored the TomTom, drove to my house, parked the car and removed the TomTom to be boxed up and returned to Amazon. I had read a few reviews on Amazon about people having a similar experience but just figured maybe they were just Technically Challenged and went ahead with my purchase, After all my buddy has used his in several States with No problems. From what I've read there doesn't seem to be a fix for the problem and it doesn't seem to be every TomTom, I assume TomTom probably has some bad processors out there, which happens. Hopefully TomTom is taking proper steps to get the bad units off the market and into the shredder where they belong. As an interesting side note, I've noticed that since Christmas is over all the TomToms seemed to have gone up by $50 while the Garmins have come down even more in price.
The Bottom Line:
I have to give this a 1 star rating since it failed at it's very primary function. That function being to get you to your destination accurately. However as stated the TomTom does have some Cool ideas with the MapShare feature being one. I may buy another TomTom someday but for now I'm switching back to Garmin, who BTW has never failed me, and I'll wait for TomTom to work out the bugs in their Gps's. I give Amazon a perfect 5 Star rating for their No Hassle return policy, This was the first ever item I had to return to Amazon and they made it easy. They scheduled UPS to pick it up from house and within 5 days I had a Credit for the full amount back in my account. Kudos to Amazon.
TomTom 720 users: be careful when updating January 11, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I need a GPS this new year for my driving from Los Angeles to San Francisco vacation. I first bought a Tomtom XL-W. The box inludes only a quick set up. The quick setup neglects to mention that the TTS is not on by default (it is advertised prominently on the box though), it took me a few days just to find out how to set up the correct TTS (change the speech to computer voice). On the box, there is a bluetooth symbol, but I found out, again after a few frustating days trying to connect my phone, that the XL-W bluetooth is only for traffic report not handfree phone. The last straw is that it refused to connect to my computer. Calling tech support did not sems to help, they recommended that I returned it for another one. I decided to return it for a different one, a TomTom 720 because it has handfree bluetooth. Since I already have experience with the XL-W, I know how to change the default speech (no TTS) to TTS. But the TTS has a problem of correctly pronouncing the many spanish street name in California. If you did not read the name on the GPS before hand, you would not know what in the world it was saying. The 720 however, connected to my phone just fine. My trip to SF from LA through Santa Barbara was uneventful with the 720. It worked fine most of the time but with a annoying flaw: it always announced that I have reached my destination about 50-100 ft away from the Hotel or at my home. Some of the tall buildings in downtown SF caused the 720 to lose the satelite tracking for a few minutes. It was unerving to drive in downtown SF in the rain trying to find your way in bad traffic & had the map screen suddenly rotated around when the car was iddling or was going straight. It directed me to turn left on some streets with no left-turn. The battery only last 3 hours, may be four with the power-saving on. After, I got home from the trip, I tried to update the 720 using the latest TomTom Home which I download from the TomTom website. The software update downloaded and installed fine as report on the TomTom home screen but after I tried to turn on the updated 720, it gave me the TomTom version of the blue screen of death and refused to work again even after I pushing the reset button. I have to return this one too.
pretty impressive January 7, 2008
I have owned this product for a month and I couldn't drive without it. I like the TOMTOM Plus traffic service, it really shows the traffic in real time.
TomTom GO 720 January 7, 2008
Up to now I have been 'old school' and have relied on paper maps and mapquest to get me where I needed to go. A friend recommended this unit and I added it to my Christmas wish list. Fortunately for me my wife bought the unit and I have been very pleased and satisfied. I really cannot compare it to other devices since this is my first, but so far it has passed every test I have given it with flying colors. Very easy to use and very trustworthy to get you where you are going fast and efficient. I have learned new routes in the Houston area that I would have never considered to be the best route, but in every instance I have saved time and miles by using the GO 720.
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