TomTom GO 930 4.3-Inch Touchscreen Portable GPS Navigator

TomTom GO 930 4.3-Inch Touchscreen Portable GPS Navigator
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Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: TomTom
Average Customer Rating: Average rating of 3.5/5Average rating of 3.5/5Average rating of 3.5/5Average rating of 3.5/5Average rating of 3.5/5

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Binding: Electronics
Brand: TomTom
Display Size: 4.3
EAN: 0636926021517
Feature: Touch-screen: 4.3 inch full TFT color LCD (480 x 272 pixels, supports 64K colors)
Includes Mp3 Player: 1
Label: TomTom
Manufacturer: TomTom
Model: GO 930
Native Resolution: 480 x 272
Publisher: TomTom
Studio: TomTom

Features
Touch-screen: 4.3 inch full TFT color LCD (480 x 272 pixels, supports 64K colors)
TomTom Map Share updates
Memory: 4 Gb Internal Flash (SD slot for additional storage)
Maps: Pre-loaded maps of USa,Canada and Europe from TeleAtlas
Bluetooth: for Hands-Free calling, PLUS services, remote control and audio output

Accessories
Scosche IU2PS Dual 12v Power Socket
Bracketron UFM-300-BX Nav-Pack Weighted GPS Dash Mount/Carrying Case
Transcend SD Memory Card 1GB
Transcend SD Memory Card 2GB

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Editorial Reviews:

portable GPS satellite navigation unit with built-in antenna * 4.3" color (480 x 272 pixels) touchscreen control * 5 million points of interest * SD card slot * Bluetooth 2.0 wireless technology for hands-free calling with a compatible phone *


Spotlight customer reviews:

Customer Rating: Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5
Summary: Comparison with Garmin Nuvi 370
Comment: [Introduction] I bought this product after much frustration with Garmin Nuvi 370 and could not be happier. Of course 370 is about 100 dollars cheaper (street price wise, although the official price is a lot higher -- I wonder why) and people might say they should not be directly compared. However, functionwise the only difference between the two are (1) screen size and (2) voice input feature availability and since these two add at least 100 dollars value in today's navigation market and since the fundamentals are not affected, I think this head-to-head comparison is fair. As far as I know these two are the only models that come with European maps pre-installed. Below is the review that I put under Garmin Nuvi 370. I simply paste it here for the benefit of full, detailed comparison. If you don't need the review on 370 and simply want a review on 930, I suggest you skip the first half.

Garmin Nuvi 370

There are 3 fatal flows with this product: (1) announcing too late and (2) giving confusing directions at complicated lane guidence situation and (3) taking too long to find satellite initially. I have been testing this product for a month in San Francisco and the Bay area.

(1) announcing too late

When your car is about to pass the intersection at which it is supposed to make a turn, then and only then it announces you to prepare for a turn. I missed so many turns because of the late announcements. It is also incredbly dangerous as you are tempted to attempt last-moment lane changes in order to make the turn. Also the distance to the turn is not that accurate -- when you are almost already at the intersection it shows you are 200 meters away (I changed the measurement setup to meters). SUGGESTION: Certain navigations have a bar-graph showing countdowns to the intersection, and perhaps that's what this navigation must have as well. Also certain navigations ask you to prepare well ahead. Make a customizable setting how long before to make the pre-announcement.

(2) giving confusing directions at complicated lane guidence situation

Time and time again, I missed the right exit on the highway. The map is absolutely no help. The multiple lanes look all overlapped!!! Red lines are cofusing as hell. Annoucement is in this fashion: "Keep to right and then keep to left." What is that supposed to mean and which lane are you supposed to be in? In a fast highway situation, this is incredibly dangerous. I almost got into accidents at many interchanges as I was trying to look both the road signs and my navigation and could not make any sense. SUGGESTION: the map needs major improvement on interchanges -- show us the way!!! Also get rid of "keep to right and then keep to left" style BS for a clearer direction.

(3) taking too long to find satellite initially

If you park your car outside, that would be fine but if you park it in a garage, woe to you. It will take at least 20 blocks to find the satellite and you will be either parking your car on the roadside waiting for godot or meandering down the street without knowing where you are going for very very long time. This is not acceptable. I used other product (magellan) before, and it found the satellite so much quicker. SUGGESTION: technological improvement or better processor.

TomTom 930

[ADDED TO THIS AFTER I BOUGHT TOMTOM GO930 AND TESTING IT FOR A WEEK]

After my much frustration with Garmin NUVI 370, I purchased a Tomtom GO930 from local Best Buy. (The price of TomTom 930 at Best Buy was the same as the price at Amazon at USD 450, although I had to pay the tax.)

Wow, what a difference. That's all I can say. TomTom 930 is a bit more expensive than the street price of Garmin NUVI 370, but is so much better that the price difference is immaterial.

(1) prepare... prepare...

TomTom announces well before each turn and actually tells you on which side of the lane you should be in for the next turn. Incredibly friendly announcements. The arrow direction on the map display shows whether you should be making left or right turn as well. I never missed a single turn thanks to the ample announcements.

(2) guiding complicated lane situation with ease

the roads never appear overlapped like the NUVI 370. If there are five diverging roads, all are clearly shown, with the clear indication where you are and where you should go. Mind you, I haven't seen that many Advanced Lane Guidance screen yet as TomTom advertised (I hear that they don't have this on every intersection yet) but even without this, lane guidance is incredibly clear and easy (they show both on the map and on the status bar with muted arrows and one clear arrow). What a refreshing change from Garmin NUVI 370. The voice direction is a lot more clear and easier to understand as well -- it is as if somebody is actually speaking fine English to me. I never missed the right exit.

(3) lightening fast in finding satellites

It actually finds satellites when I am in my room with 4-5 bars. Need I say more?

(4) extras... extras...

TomTom has voice address input feature that is very useful. There are many situations that you hate to put in long characters (In California there are so many cities starting with San...). Simply pronounce it and the machine finds it for you, including the streets. I find this to be working well about 95% of the time. Also it gives you a few choices so that what you pronounced is almost always among the choices. SUGGESTION: This voice feature is not available for Place Name under Point of Interst (available only for the actual address).

Point of Interest feature in TomTom is incredibly extensive. I tested many restaurants listed in Zagat survey and found out that almost all (even obscure ones under "Best Value") restaurants have been registered in TomTom by names and phone numbers. I did not find that to be the case with Garmin NUVI 370 (I actually had to type in the exact address under my favorites). This makes inputing job so much easier. I typed in "Marshalls" under Point of Interest in Sunnyvale, and TomTom returned 7 results, some of them are as far away as San Jose, Mipitas, etc. Again, not so with Garmin.

Downloading updates and changes through computer seems painless and efficient as well. Works perfectly and took about 3 minutes to get the latest updates. Again, Garmin NUVI 370 does not have this feature. I don't know how actually useful the updates would be, but it is assuring that I am using the latest whatever.

Time estimation in TomTom is so much more accurate than Garmin. I found Garmin to be always a bit on the optimistic side (ie I never actually arrived as Garmin estimated especially in a city traffic). I don't know if it is because of the IQ Routes feature of TomTom but the timing estimate seems to be right on and there is little need for any traffic subscription service.

CONCLUSION: I will be updating this review to find any shortcoming of TomTom 930 (and I am sure there will be many) but so far it seems that TomTom is a very clear winner and fully justifies the extra USD 100. If you are looking for a navigation that includes both American and European maps, I guess your choices will be cleary limited: you would have to go for either the Garmin NUVI 370 or the TomTom GO 930, and my recommendation would be the latter -- not for the extra features but mainly for the basic abilities that I listed earlier in this review.

ADDED Later: I have been using TomTom for some time now, and again the fundamental qualities are excellent. In addition to reliable guidance, I find the voice address input feature truly useful and accurate. I use it all the time.

Another incredibly useful feature is the initial preview of the whole route (Garmin Nuvi 370 does not do this). When I used Garmin 370, I did not even know highway 280 existed since it almost always guided me through 101! However, with TomTom 930, at the outset I have the chance to view the entire route, pick and choose any alternative routes from it. This is just so convenient. 280 may be a tad bit longer route, but it has much less traffic than 101, with much better road conditions and scenic views, and just whole a lot better than 101 -- I can't believe Garmin simply never showed it to me!

However, here are a few suggestions to make TomTom better: (1) "Clear Address" is not immediate. If you want to clear the previous address input, you have to touch the screen a few times. This is not convenient. There must be an instant way to clear address. (2) Occasionally (bur very rarely) it misses U-turns. (3) When you turn off the ignition, it does not automatically turn off (unlike Garmin). You must push the button on top. This is not very convenient.

Customer Rating: Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5
Summary: Well-Thought-Out Features
Comment: Pros:

* Ability to enter address using voice command
* Advanced lane assistance
* 3D renderings of complex intersections
* Ability to use historical traffic data to optimize route
* Keyboard option for left-handed users

Cons:

* Voice command feature not as accurate and sensitive as could be
* No dashboard mounting disc included in box
* Lane guidance feature not available for all roads
* To change preferences, need to navigate through several sub-menus

My favorite feature is the IQ route. No I don't want a route based on what the speed limit is supposed to be but on what it actually is.
For a more thorough review please check out http://gpselector.com/TomTom/tomtom-go-930

Customer Rating: Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5
Summary: The Tomtom 930 delivers as promised
Comment: I have had the pleasure of using the 930 in Europe and in various major cities in the U.S. and I have never been disappointed. I have found myself in obscure areas of Italy, Spain and France not adequately reflected on paper maps and the 930 was successful in guiding the way every time. It has proven to be an indispensable navigational tool. All other GPS devices referenced in other reviews here simply pale in comparison. Is the device entirely fool proof, no, and neither are those devices from Tomtom wannbes such as Garmin and Magellan, but it is the best available product on the market in this price range. I have owned many Tomtom devices over the years including various PDA versions of the software and each has provided years of reliable service. Further,I have had the occasion to contact Tomtom customer service/technical support from time to time and in each instance the support proved both prompt and curteous. That being said, I am not suggesting that there is no room for improvement. However, I am confident that it will be Tomtom that will lead the way in improving the navigational device experience in the future. By the way, the lane guidance feature of the 930, when available, is phenomenal.

Customer Rating: Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5
Summary: TomTom Go 930T Review
Comment: The TomTom Go 930T was simple to install. It was simple to operate for basic navigation functions, however for route planning it took a little longer to learn and I had to ask for technical support.

It would preplan and create a route and it would calculate the shortest route (default option). Knowing the route I wanted to go a different way so I modified the route. After turning the unit off and then back on it would recalculate the route again and not use the modification I wanted. I later had to create an itinery and put a waypoint on a specific road I wanted to travel on so that when it created the route it would include that road.

I also found out the unit would not reverse an itiniary route for a return trip so I had to create the same route in both directions.

The map is very accurate as it had my street at the correct location which on all other maps I've seen including paper maps the location was incorrect. It appears another user had updated the street name with Map Share which is a great feature.

The traffic feature (T) works great as I was 25 miles away from Nashville, TN and it told me there was a 20 minute delay. As I approached the city, it kept updating the delay time. When I got to the location the delay was down to about 6 minutes and that was close to what the delay was. It also informed me of road construction when I was aproaching another City. This is another great feature.

Overall, I am very happy with the products performance and would recommend it.

Customer Rating: Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5
Summary: Great
Comment: This is my 2nd one, the first one I ordered had horrible battery life and would turn on by itself. But the new one is great. It definitely prefers the highway, even during rush hour, but a quick find alternative route fixes that. Bluetooth and the ability to play MP3 are a big plus.


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All prices are in US dollars