Battery Life is horrible, but still the best GPS I've seen and used!

Great for ESL users | TomTom GO 720 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator

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	• TomTom GO 720 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator TomTom TomTom average customer review:based on 154 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

i like it

hi i bought this excellent peice of GPS after reading many reviews in Cnet and other related websites..after very careful reviewing i bought it from amazon for an amazing price and still the GPS is the excellent peice i have bought so far..my previous one being the magellan.. i am sure TOmTom will upgrade its website to have us all the updated maps as early as 2008..well it doesnt have the MP3 play back option in the unit .. i find many pros while 2 cons.. it doesnt support a SD card slot and its mem is 1gb..however it should have street spelling option instead of calling the turns..well its the price that makes it worth..

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Battery Life is horrible, but still the best GPS I've seen and used!

Alot of in-depth review but some reviewers missed alot of key things. The Tom Tom 720 is a much better device than you would think.

Things I want to add.
1. The menu layout is completely user changeable so you don't have a cluttering of numbers and information on the bar. The reviewer doesn't mention that although he criticizes the 720 for having a cluttered info bar. That is simply a factory default setting that anyone can change.
2. The map layout, colors and ease-of-use is much much much better than both Garmin's and Magellan. The company I work for allows us to have private car service home when working late and I've seen and studied just about every brand of GPS in the various Town cars during my 1 hours commute home from NYC to Westchester. So I've gotten a sense of how cities and suburbs/rural areas are displayed on all these GPS units and the Tom Tom brand has the best, cleanest graphics. The reviewer fails to mention that when said and done, quickly understanding the screen graphics during a quick look up from the road during your journey is just as important as anything else.
3. The 720 also allows you to pick alternate routes based on how and when you want to get to your destination. The factory default settings on the 720 will obviously be way off and will have you driving around alot more than you would want to. Which is why I suspect the reviewer detracted from the 720 mapping intelligence when paired alongside the Garmin's Nuvi and Magellan's GPS units. I'm 100% sure he was routing under the factory settings so the 720 gave him longer and incorrect routes. Simple adjustments to your 720 factory settings will allow the unit to pick the best routes based on where you live and drive(whether in a city, near highways, or rural areas)
4. Outside of GPS function the 720 has a myriad of feautures that are on par if not better that Garmin's pricier Nuvi 700 line. In his Nuvi review he praises the Nuvi for having the "Where Am I" feature as if it is a rare and super cool thing. Whiles the 720 has the same features and he fails to praise the 720 for the same proficiencies.

5. The 720 does fail big time in the Battery Life department. I previously owned a Tom Tom 300 and once did a round trip from NY to DC (6-8 hrs of driving) on one charge before the unit's battery died. So I expected similar results from the 720 even though the Tom Tom 720's box advertises 4-5 hours.
needless to say, after a full over night charge I only got about 1 hour use before the battery died my first time out with it. After lowering the brightness to 50% I got about 2 hrs max.
I don't like wires across my dash so this was important to me; having the unit work only off its battery for the duration of my round trip commute of 3 to 4 hours max. I soon found out at a few GPS forums that to get about 4 hrs from the 720 you need to lower the brightness to 0% (and even at 0 it is still pretty bright), completely turn off the FM and BlueTooth features, take out any SD Card and turn down the volume and refrain from playing MP3s. Which worked to get me 3 to 4 hrs of battery life but totally elimated all the cool features that made me want to get the 720. At any rate, I went to a local car stereo shop and got a power lead installed behind my dash that goes up thru the windshield area and plugs into the 720 whiles it is mounted on the windshield. This is the best deal since the wire is pretty much hidden and not in front of my dash. I now not only get unlimited battery life whiles driving, but I can have the screen at 100% brightness, Bluetooth, FM and everything else that made me buy the 720 on and working whiles I'm on the road.

When said and done, the Tom Tom 720 is a stellar device!

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Great for ESL users

TomTom GO 720 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator

The main reason for me in buying the TomTom over other units was that it had Thai language available.

My wife has recently immigrated to the US from Thailand. So I thought a GPS would be a good thing to help her find her way around when I was not with her. But I also realized that trying to drive on what to her is the wrong side of the road, remember new laws, find her way around a major US city while trying to translate computer spoken English into Thai may be over whelming for her. To make her a little safer on the road I started searching for a GPS with Thai.

TomToms and a single Garmin unit (the Nuvi 350 Asian) seemed to be my only choices. As the Garmin retails at $520 and seemed impossible to locate I went with the TomTom, and I am glad I did.

It is remarkably easy to set up and operate. My wife could figure out most of the functions with only a slight glance at the manual. Which can be downloaded in 22 different languages here:
http://www.tomtom.com/lib/doc/device/manual.htm

We have only had it a short time but have found the 720 to work much better than we expected. It locks on quick, the voice is very understandable and even better when sent through the cars FM radio system.

So if you or a love one is not native English speaker and your mother tongue is not one of the other 2 or 3 languages you generally find in on electronic devices (I.E. Spanish, French, or Japanese.) then this is an answer to your prayers.

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The TomTom GO 720 is the ultimate car navigator, with unique new features and MapShare technology, combined into one compact and stylish design. It comes pre-installed with the most up-to-date maps of the US and Canada stored on the 2GB internal memory, and with unique safety features so drivers always have direct access to safety and roadside assistance information. The extensive "Help Me!" menu includes information such as the nearest police station, hospital, or car repair center. It also allows the user to quickly identify their location for emergency assistance. The shortcut menu lets drivers jump straight to their most accessed information with just one touch on the screen. The enhanced hands-free kit features a new high-quality sound system via Bluetooth. As with all TomTom products, it comes with TomTom HOME, a free desktop application. TomTom's large satellite navigation community contribute and exchange their map corrections through TomTom HOME, making the most accurate maps available to all users. In addition, it comes pre-installed with a host of other TomTom PLUS services including TomTom Weather and TomTom QuickGPSfix (for extra fast connection to GPS satellites). Navigate to millions of POl's, including restaurants, gas stations, ATMs, hotels / Create your own POI categories and add your own locations. Route Planning options include fastest, shortest, avoiding highways or toll roads, pedestrian or limited speed. 4.3-inch (diagonally) 16 by 9 format LCD display (WQVGA; 480x272 pixels). The unit is driven by a 400 MHz CPU with 64MB RAM, and powered by a Lithium-polymer battery that provides 5 hours of continuous operation. Bluetooth-enabled for hands-free calling, and compatible with most mobile phones. Also features a dual microphone for improved sound quality Unit Dimensions: 4.7 inches wide by 3.2 inches high by 0.9 inches deep; 7.7 ounces. Inculudes -year TomTom Warranty.

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