Do NOT buy this refurbed, or for Bluetooth Rating:2 out of 5 stars Have owned this model for about a month now. Started with a Refurb, then eventually returned it and got a new one. The problem with the Refurb is, it comes with maps that are a year old, and refurbs don’t include the New Map guarantee. Ordinarily, this wouldn’t be a problem, BUT. There is a HUGE difference with what is on the refurbs and what is on a new updated one. One of the selling points of the Go 630 is Advanced lane guidance. A feature that more clearly shows you what lane you should be in. I found, through experience that the older maps have only a SMALL fraction of roads that support this, while the update adds MANY MANY more. With the old maps, it only came up ONCE in my travels, now it comes up in many more. This GREATLY enhances the usefulness of the device.
Other considerations: If you are buying this unit for the Bluetooth, look elsewhere. It is simply NOT reliable, and TomTom CS is useless. When it DOES connect to my phone, it repeated and randomly announces it is connected throughout your drive, and then, also randomly, it just sometimes decides that it is not going to connect. You get in your car, ready to drive, and boom, it just does not connect. Doesn’t even try. Just says “can not connect to your phone” A call to CS, and they tell you that your phone isn’t on their list, which is Baloney. That only means they haven’t taken the time to test it. They have only a small handfull of tested phones. This allows them to get away with saying it’s YOUR fault. I have found that I can restore BT functionality by re-syncing it to the Home software, but of course, this doesn’t help you when you are sitting in your car ready to go somewhere and it decided not to work, or if you are away from home. Just pathetic. Bluetooth is pretty standard, there is NO excuse for it to be this flakey, and it’s not on my Garmin.
The on-screen buttons on this unit are ridiculously small. In fact, dangerously so. Try and hit the correct one while driving and forget it. What’s amazing is, this screen is bigger than my Garmin, yet the Garmin has easier to use buttons. TTS? hahahahaha. It is ATROCIOUS. Most streets are pronounced wrong, not even CLOSE. I will say the “IQ” routing is somewhat good. It has found some interesting routes I wouldn’t have thought of that have been efficient. But, as with all GPS’s, this is not consistant. Some routing is not so good. I have also found that sometimes when it gets a particular route in it’s mind, it locks onto it, even when you have gone a completely different way. It keeps trying to take you back to its original intention, which can include and even LONGER route. You should also note that the display washes out in daylight, and this is made worse if you use the dash mount. The mounting arm is FAR to short to make sense, and it makes the unit angle upwards, into the light. I find it hard to beleive that this flaw wasn’t obvious to the designers. A longer arm is all it would take. Duh! As for the resto of the display. Colors seem to change randomly, most of the info is in letters and numbers that are difficult to see without a magnifying glass, and the mapping is a bit cartoonish. Also missing is a warning tone before turns.
In summary, there are some nice features this unit has that other brands don’t, like the Map Share and IQ routes, but also a lot of flaws. If you buy it, go for a new one, not a refurb, and if BT isn’t a major need, go for the cheaper 340
Piece of junk, horrible warranty service Rating:1 out of 5 stars TomTom is without any doubt the WORSE GPS unit/ Customer service / Warranty service of ANY GPS manufacturer.
My first TomTom the on/off switch was so flimsy it would turn the unit on by itself while it was sitting in the car or on a desk. TomTom finally replaced that one under warranty, but the reconditioned repair they sent runs out of battery power after 45 minutes without being plugged in. When turned off fully charged, the battery will be completely dead within a week WITHOUT the unit being turned on.
I called TomTom customer service, and their warranty department tells me they WILL NOT WARRANTY REPLACE a GPS unit that runs at least 30 minutes under battery power. Also, they told me it was normal for their GPS units to run the battery down within a week WHILE TURNED OFF, and will only replace it under warranty if the battery dies completely within 2-3 days while the unit is turned off.
To recap, TomTom warranty says a fully charged battery only lasts 30 minutes, and a fully charged battery will die after 2-3 days with the TomTom GPS TURNED OFF.
So, if you want to be like me and have a hundred dollar paperweight after purchasing it only 10 months ago, buy this GPS for yourself, or even as a gift! Otherwise, I would avoid this manufacturers products entirely.
Arthur Penrose
p.s. TomTom customer service, if you are reading this, my case number for the facts in this review is 091006-000350. I would not want anyone to think I was making any of this up.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Do NOT buy this refurbed, or for Bluetooth
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
Have owned this model for about a month now. Started with a Refurb, then eventually returned it and got a new one. The problem with the Refurb is, it comes with maps that are a year old, and refurbs don’t include the New Map guarantee. Ordinarily, this wouldn’t be a problem, BUT. There is a HUGE difference with what is on the refurbs and what is on a new updated one. One of the selling points of the Go 630 is Advanced lane guidance. A feature that more clearly shows you what lane you should be in. I found, through experience that the older maps have only a SMALL fraction of roads that support this, while the update adds MANY MANY more. With the old maps, it only came up ONCE in my travels, now it comes up in many more. This GREATLY enhances the usefulness of the device.
Other considerations: If you are buying this unit for the Bluetooth, look elsewhere. It is simply NOT reliable, and TomTom CS is useless. When it DOES connect to my phone, it repeated and randomly announces it is connected throughout your drive, and then, also randomly, it just sometimes decides that it is not going to connect. You get in your car, ready to drive, and boom, it just does not connect. Doesn’t even try. Just says “can not connect to your phone” A call to CS, and they tell you that your phone isn’t on their list, which is Baloney. That only means they haven’t taken the time to test it. They have only a small handfull of tested phones. This allows them to get away with saying it’s YOUR fault. I have found that I can restore BT functionality by re-syncing it to the Home software, but of course, this doesn’t help you when you are sitting in your car ready to go somewhere and it decided not to work, or if you are away from home. Just pathetic. Bluetooth is pretty standard, there is NO excuse for it to be this flakey, and it’s not on my Garmin.
The on-screen buttons on this unit are ridiculously small. In fact, dangerously so. Try and hit the correct one while driving and forget it. What’s amazing is, this screen is bigger than my Garmin, yet the Garmin has easier to use buttons. TTS? hahahahaha. It is ATROCIOUS. Most streets are pronounced wrong, not even CLOSE. I will say the “IQ” routing is somewhat good. It has found some interesting routes I wouldn’t have thought of that have been efficient. But, as with all GPS’s, this is not consistant. Some routing is not so good. I have also found that sometimes when it gets a particular route in it’s mind, it locks onto it, even when you have gone a completely different way. It keeps trying to take you back to its original intention, which can include and even LONGER route. You should also note that the display washes out in daylight, and this is made worse if you use the dash mount. The mounting arm is FAR to short to make sense, and it makes the unit angle upwards, into the light. I find it hard to beleive that this flaw wasn’t obvious to the designers. A longer arm is all it would take. Duh! As for the resto of the display. Colors seem to change randomly, most of the info is in letters and numbers that are difficult to see without a magnifying glass, and the mapping is a bit cartoonish. Also missing is a warning tone before turns.
In summary, there are some nice features this unit has that other brands don’t, like the Map Share and IQ routes, but also a lot of flaws. If you buy it, go for a new one, not a refurb, and if BT isn’t a major need, go for the cheaper 340
Piece of junk, horrible warranty service
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
TomTom is without any doubt the WORSE GPS unit/ Customer service / Warranty service of ANY GPS manufacturer.
My first TomTom the on/off switch was so flimsy it would turn the unit on by itself while it was sitting in the car or on a desk. TomTom finally replaced that one under warranty, but the reconditioned repair they sent runs out of battery power after 45 minutes without being plugged in. When turned off fully charged, the battery will be completely dead within a week WITHOUT the unit being turned on.
I called TomTom customer service, and their warranty department tells me they WILL NOT WARRANTY REPLACE a GPS unit that runs at least 30 minutes under battery power. Also, they told me it was normal for their GPS units to run the battery down within a week WHILE TURNED OFF, and will only replace it under warranty if the battery dies completely within 2-3 days while the unit is turned off.
To recap, TomTom warranty says a fully charged battery only lasts 30 minutes, and a fully charged battery will die after 2-3 days with the TomTom GPS TURNED OFF.
So, if you want to be like me and have a hundred dollar paperweight after purchasing it only 10 months ago, buy this GPS for yourself, or even as a gift! Otherwise, I would avoid this manufacturers products entirely.
Arthur Penrose
p.s. TomTom customer service, if you are reading this, my case number for the facts in this review is 091006-000350. I would not want anyone to think I was making any of this up.