I decided to break down and buy one of the hottest items on the market in 2007, a portable GPS unit. After reviewing different brands, models and such I decided on the TomTom GO 720. I’m not much of a GPS guru - in fact I don’t know much about them other than what I researched. Given that, I’ll share with you my opinion on the TomTom GO 720.
This is quite a handy little gadget. It’s made well, with a rubberized casing that won’t easily slip from your fingers and a bright 4.3 inch LCD display. Text on the screen is easy to read. I didn’t realize how useful it would be until I set it up and stuck it to my windshield (with the included suction stand). I used it for the first time the following evening. The TomTom took me the same route I would have taken myself - it preferred the highway. When the voice is set to pre-recorded human, you won’t hear street names or highway numbers, just “turn so and so after so and so miles/feet”. When the unit is set to use the phonetic computerized voice, you’ll hear street names, road signs and highway numbers. The computer voice doesn’t sound obnoxiously computerized. In fact, it sounds somewhat normal - most of the time.
Other features include speeding alerts, FM-transmitter for your iPod, an anti-glare screen, points of interest, Bluetooth, additional voices and something I learned by researching this article - voice address input. You can speak the address of your destination to your Go 720. This would probably be the most useful basic feature, because admittedly inputing an address through the touch screen is not all that intuitive. The TomTom comes with decent software that lets you control just about every feature of the GPS through your computer. For a nominal fee, the TomTom will redirect you through traffic, point you to the cheapest gas station, give you the weather and even list where traffic cameras are located. Some of these “Plus Services” may be useful to certain owners.
All in all a fantastic little unit that does exactly what it’s supposed to do, with a number of cool features that make it a neat toy in addition to a sophisticated navigation device.
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