TomTom GO 730 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator Review
September 30th, 2009
TomTom GO 730 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator Review from timmerk. Some good, some bad, Overall, I really like the 730. However, I ended up returning mine to Circuit City and biting the 15% restock fee because of a few serious flaws (see cons section).
Pros:
- Extremely fast interface response. You tap a button on the screen, and it switches screens instantly.
- Very fast routing. A 15 mile trip with many streets takes about 1 second to calculate the fastest route using IQ Routes mode.
- High quality; both the over-all feel of it and visually.
- MapShare. MapShare is great and I use it all the time. If a road was recently renamed, closed, the speed limit changed, etc, I could instantly correct the map while driving and share the changes with other TomTom users.
- Tons of features! Hands-free calling through Bluetooth cell phones, FM transmitter, MapShare, IQ Routes, iPod control, etc.
Cons:
- My main complaint and the reason I returned the 730 was because it would freeze while in hibernate mode about once a week. It never froze when “on”, only when it was “off” (which is really hibernate/sleep mode). The power button would do nothing to turn it back on. I had to use a paper clip to hit the hard-reset button to start it back up. Maybe I just had a lemon unit. If not, hopefully a software update will fix it in the future.
- The second reason I couldn’t keep the 730 was because it was hard to see the screen on sunny days. The screen could be a little brighter, but I think the main problem was the screen itself. I would see a reflection of myself on the screen during the day, even when the unit was on.
- The computer software (TomTom Home) that connects the TomTom to your Mac or PC is horrible. It crashes all the time, is slow, has a strange interface, and is pretty limited. You cannot plan routes on your PC in a real app and load it into your TomTom. You have to use the “Control my TomTom” feature to do this, but that is just seeing the TomTom’s little screen on your PC and using the normal TomTom controls.
- FM transmitter is weak. While I’ve never seen a good FM transmitter, TomTom messed it up with a firmware update. It was a lot stronger in the same place all the time, and with the firmware upgrade, it made the signal weaker.
- Hands-free control of the TomTom is useless to me because you have to interact with the TomTom with your fingers just to start it, and even while speaking commands to it.
- Last, but not least: when upgrading the maps on the 730, you loose all your MapShare corrections. For some reason, TomTom keeps specific MapShare corrections tied directly to the specific version of the map. This doesn’t make sense to me, and seems to defeat the purpose a little.
Conclusion:
A great product that has a lot of potential. If your unit doesn’t freeze and you don’t mind seeing your reflection in the screen, I would recommend the TomTom 730.
To check price or purchase TomTom GO 730 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator.
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Posted in TomTom | Tags: Cell Phones, Circuit City, Computer Software, Fm Transmitter, Gps Navigator, High Quality, Inch Widescreen, Interface, Iq, Mile Trip, Power Button, Reflection, Reset Button, Screens, Sleep, Software Tomtom, Software Update, Speed Limit, Sunny Days, Tomtom Go
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