Product Description

TOMTOM 1M00.783 Auto Navigation System/ Refurbished. The TomTom GO 720 4.3-inch GPS offers you the ultimate driving experience. This stylish new device combines groundbreaking new technology that allows you to make daily map improvements, with a host of new features, such as safety extras, and the ability to record driving instructions. The TomTom GO 720 features a new elegant slim design with a high-quality finish that allows it to fit perfectly in any car or to be carried in a shirt pocket. The large 4.3-inch touchscreen has TomTom¿s renowned easy-to-use and intuitive user interface with 3D graphics, including building footprints, that ensures you will have an even better overview of your surroundings. With the TomTom GO 720 you will get the best navigation, the best maps, safe and efficient driving, and Bluetooth compatibility. TomTom¿s award-winning software means groundbreaking new technology for the ultimate driving experience. TomTom guides you door-to-door with turn-by-turn spoken instructions, including street names. TomTom has the most accurate maps, and with TomTom MapShare technology you can instantly modify street names, street direction, and POIs on your own device. The GO 720 makes driving even safer with hands-free calling. And now, there are added safety features so you can easily access local emergency providers. Previously Road Tested

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #11651 in Consumer Electronics
• Color: Silver/ Black
• Brand: TomTom
• Model: Go 720 Refurb
• Dimensions: 3.00" h x 6.00" w x 6.90" l, 1.50 pounds
• Native resolution: 480 x 272
• Display size: 4.3

Features

• 4.3 inch widescreen 16:9 format LCD
• CPU 400 MHz, 64MB RAM
• Maps of US and Canada Preloaded on 2GB internal flash Memory
• Voice Recording Capability/Record Your Own Voice for Turn by Turn Directions
• Compatible with an RDS-TMC Traffic Reveiver

Customer Reviews

Garmin 6xx series vs. TomTom 7xx series
I have tried a Garmin 680 and a Tom Tom Go 720. You can argue back/forth about the gps abilities of the two brands, but there is one BIG negative that the Garmin has vs. Tom Tom. The Garmin navigation screen is pretty, but information poor. No distance to objective. No speed. No miles travelled. No street names as you pass them. And no option to see any of that except by slecting a different screen. Tom Tom lets you see all of that on the navigation screen. If you never had it, you may not miss it. Once you have had it, if you buy a Garmin, you will regret doing it.

Compare Apples To Apples
I've read a lot of reviews comparing this refurbished unit with other competing units that have similar features but costing much more. That type of comparison is really not fair or appropriate when price is a major deciding factor.

My goal was to buy a unit with nice features but that I would not mind literally throwing into a backpack or glove box. It must be something I could use as a reliable tool without worrying about damaging it. After doing several comparisons, I narrowed it down to the refurbished Go 720 and refurbished Garmin 680. Since the price difference between refurbished Garmin/Tomtom units and units from smaller competitors was marginal, I decided to stay with the big names. I eventually decided on the Tomtom because of the lower price and feature set (described below).

Physical Unit: Appears well made with good attention to detail. Nice chrome accent makes this unit look refined. Rubberized back panel protects unit against shock. In fact, I dropped it a couple times last week and was able to rub off most of the scuff marks.

Touchscreen: Bright enough and very responsive.

User Interface: Garmin seems a little more intuitive and refined than Tomtom. This may be important to someone who enjoys exploring all the menus of a GPS unit. However, Tomtom met my minimum standard of functionality to get from Point A to Point B and the free Mapshare convinced me to go with Tomtom.

Map: The unit I received shipped with a Version 7 map and would not allow me to get a free upgrade to a Version 8 map. Not a big deal with Mapshare. Version 8 map (not free) + Navcore 8 (free) should add LANE GUIDANCE and IQ ROUTES. But I haven't tried this and can't verify for sure.

PROS:
- Feature rich when compared with similarly priced units
- Free Mapshare which allows participants to share map corrections; users can choose various levels of trust for accepting or rejecting user submitted changes to maps. This was enough for me to choose the Teleatlas map even though I prefer the Navteq map used by Garmin.
- Loud speaker.
- Bluetooth phone capability; only imports phone numbers but not addresses; not compatible with all phones so check before purchasing
- FM transmitter; transmits MP3s and navigation; does not transmit phone calls over radio
- Free and easy updates using Tomtom Home. Includes updates to the operating system, Mapshare maps, and Points of Interest (POIs).
- Text-To-Speech (TTS). Voice sounds more natural with a touch of robotic. The TTS on a few Garmins I tested at a local store sounded more robotic than natural. It's not perfect but it adds a nice touch.
- Voice recognition. Yes, the Go 720 has it. It really is a useful feature.
- Custom POIs, voices, and icons from other Tomtom users.

CONS:
- POI is not as intuitive as on Garmin. It consists of only one level which means I can't search sub-categories. For example, Garmin allows refining restaurants per the type of cuisine but Tomtom only shows one big list. Tomtom also leaves out commonly used POIs. I like to buy fresh food when traveling but Tomtom doesn't have a grocery store POI. I can't believe they omitted the entire category. However, there are grocery store POI lists from other users but I don't totally trust them to be accurate or up-to-date.
- System locked up and crashed once. I told the unit to avoid toll roads and then intentionally drove along a long stretch of toll road. It froze up and didn't know what to do. I had to press the small reset button to restart the entire unit. (This was the only instance of a major system malfunction so I'm not upset about it.)
- TTS on Navcore 8.300 stutters. Yes, it actually stutters certain names in real world driving but pronounces them perfectly in demo mode. I downgraded to version 7 which removed the stuttering. Hopefully they will fix this in the next Navcore release. Again, it's not a major problem for me since they offer free updates.
- Flimsy OEM suction mount that is pretty much useless. See product pics. It's too weak to reliably stick on the windshield and too short for gravity/friction dash pads. Recommend buying an after-market suction mount; there are a few out there for about ten to twenty bucks.

For the price I paid, I could have purchased a brand new bargain basement generic model or a refurbished Tomtom. I chose the Tomtom due to its reputation, quality, and features of the Go 720 unit. This unit has done it's job well and I think it deserves all five stars. Word of pricing caution, Amazon no longer has a price guarantee.

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* UPDATE 2/3/09 *
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Overall still very satisfied with this refurbished unit. It's crashed a handful of times and misguided to deadends a few times but I would presume not much different than any other unit. Satellite acquisition is overall very fast and stable. Used it driving in canyons with no problems.

Comment about limited FM transmission capability is true with version 8.300 of the operating system. Older versions of the OS have more complete FM transmission functionality. Version 8.300 also has text-to-speech stuttering problems with long street names. Recommend downgrading to older OS until this is fixed.

Recommend taking a look at the refurbished 730 if you are considering this unit.

Overall great product for the price!
I have used this product a little over a month now and have no major issues with the unit. The only problem I have had so far is with the fm transmitter, because my antenna is in the rear of the car so it does not pick up the signal too well so there is a lot of static. For the price there is no other product in the market that can meet the TomTom 720 specs, such as bluetooth, voice guided directions, mp3 player, and so much more. By far the best feature is the quick re-routing directions, for example if you miss a turn or exit it will quickly calculate another route. Overall, great product for the price and you may think it is a refurbished unit there has to be something wrong, but there isn't and on top of the low price is an original factory warranty! :-) (Note: the suction cup can be difficult at times to stick onto the windshield, so first clean the glass with a little hydrogen peroxide, wipe dry, and apply some petroleum jelly to the suction cup and place on glass and I bet it won't come off again!)