Comments on: TomTom GO 730 4.3Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS

By: V. Cusumano

V. Cusumano — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 12:52:53 +0000

Smooth as silk: Just 10 minutes into first trip and I was the PRO GPS operator!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Tom-Tom Go 730 was a breeze to operate————> after 10 minutes I was the Captain aboard the Starhip Honda Odessey. I would recommend it to anyone. If I was to NIT-PIC this unit it would be the lack of charged time the unit has-> walking with it in unfamiliar city maybe risky due to the unit not holding a longer charge time

By: Michael S. Greenberg

Michael S. Greenberg — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 04:16:40 +0000

Crappolla
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
Tomtom does not support Latest Map Guarantee for the refurbs. If you want to subscibe to the map update service, it will cost $47 to get a current map. A new Tomtom has the LMG and cost $30 more and has a longer warranty.
The battery lated only 20 minutes. Then Susan sounds like she was talking under water and the screen goes dim when she talks.
The direct voice input is deactivated when you update the firmware.
The FM transmitter does not work.
The mounting arm is too short. When the unit is mounted on the dash, it faces up at a 45 degree angle.
The internal memory is not sufficient. An SD card is required for any map updates or voices etc.

Sent it back to Amazon.

By: The Postman

The Postman — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 01:18:31 +0000

Amazing TomTomGO 730
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Amazing technology in a small box . We are planning a long trip and purchased the TomTom on the advise of a friend . Since we received the Tom Tom we try and use it every day so we will become adept at using it on our vacation . So far we have been very satisfied with ease of operation .

By: Chopper

Chopper — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 16:23:33 +0000

Refurbed TT GO 730
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
The GPS hardware works OK but the suction cup attachment is inadequate and don’t buy a refurbished TomTom. When they say factory refurbished, they mean it was returned it to the factory to fix the broken HARDWARE but they DID NOT UPDATE the original dated map software (mine was 18 months old when I received it). It will cost more to purchase the map update than if purchased new with current maps. The other disadvantage with a refurbed TT is that you only get half the warranty. This is precisely the situation with my purchase. This is my second TT and when I wrote the company about the price disconnect between buying new vs. refurbed, they blew me off three times. Bottom Line: If this is how they treat loyal repeat customers, it is the last they will see of me–next time I will buy a Garmin.

Remember: Refurbished means HARDWARE ONLY, software will be old/outdated and the warranty will be reduced as well.

By: KDS The Traveler

KDS The Traveler — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 09:55:21 +0000

Tom Tom GO 730 Is A Strong Performer
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
After using the Tom Tom GO 730 for over 3 months, I feel that it is very easy to use, seems to find good routes to destinations, and performs well. I do like it’s ability to tell you the name of the streets where you turn and the way it shows / tells you which lane you should be in when there are options. It seems to be pretty fast to lock on to the satellites and tell you where to go on startup. The POI database also seems to be quite good as well as up to date. In general it’s a strong performer and does the job very well. However, there are some annoying things about it that make it seem as if it were put together by amateurs. One thing you notice is that few of the names in the POI database are capitalized beyond the first word in a name. This may be okay in some European languages, but it just looks wrong in American English. Similarly, some of the pronunciation is just bad or comical. Interstate 405 comes out as Interstate four west five. In what language does zero translate to west? Then there’s the pronunciation of something fairly simple like Los Angeles. It is so strange and unusual that I was still laughing the tenth time I heard it as we drove toward LA. I could excuse this if LA were some obscure place that few people have heard of and even fewer have visited. However, Los Angeles is one of the best known cities in the US. From a performance and functional standpoint, I think this is an excellent product. However, these simple issues that are frequently visible cause me to give this product only four stars. The one function that my previous Sony GPS had and displayed which this one does not is altitude, which can come in handy at times. I also had no issue with my GO 730 being Factury Refurbished. It looks like it was knew, came packaged as if it were new and has had no problems.

By: Craig Bakken

Craig Bakken — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 14:43:32 +0000

Updated Map guarantee: Buyer beware!!
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
When inquiring of Tom Tom about my map for this unit I got this reply:

Dear Customer,

Thank you for contacting TomTom Customer Support regarding the Latest Map Guarantee for your refurbished device. My name is Patrick. We are always happy to help.

Refurbished devices do not come with the Latest Map Guarantee. For more information on our Latest Map Guarantee, please click on the link provided below.

Patrick
TomTom Customer Support

By: Alain Braine

Alain Braine — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 09:27:03 +0000

What a deception!
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
If you read advertisement about this product you will probably be seduced with the new features like voice recognizing, new road shapes on the screen a.s.o. Reality is not the same! Those new gadgets are not reliable, not running well and consequently not usefull at all. So, if you have an old tomtom 3rd generation, keep it!

By: Arthur H. Penrose

Arthur H. Penrose — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 10:50:55 +0000

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.

By: Julie Miller

Julie Miller — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 02:11:22 +0000

Super Product, but Map Update is a joke.
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
tomtom does not honor anything refurbished from amazon.com. so add 100.00 to the price tag, you can get a new one for 219.99 on ebay. but the unit is a great piece of work, i love it and probably will pay the 100.00 for the updates.

By: Elizabeth Marks

Elizabeth Marks — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:06:55 +0000

The best GPS I've tried
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Coming off of a horrible experience with a Garmin Nuvi over a series of months, I was despairing that a GPS unit could actually handle the overlapping/stacked freeways of Houston. The nuvi more often than not had no idea where I was on the road- whether I'd missed an exit, was on or not on an access road, etc. I grew to dread the "recalculating" announcement so much that I traded it in for this TomTom.

And now, I am happy with my GPS device.
The most important thing is that the TomTom is precise enough to know which road I am on when they overlap or run parallel. It updates quickly when I miss a turn or change direction. It hasn't gotten me lost a single time since I bought it. And it's actually pretty fun to use! I love the Map Corrections option, as I've entered a few of my own and made use of corrections by others. I also love being able to create and download point of interest maps. The TomTom Home software is easy to use and lets you sample fun things like new voices and icons before installing them.

The voices are easy to understand and the screen easy to see- and I LOVE the lane guidance- a feature you can only get in much more expensive, newer garmins. On the many multi-lane roads in Houston it's so nice to know where I should be. The "stay in the left lane" (for example) announcement has made me a calmer driver on many occasions.

A bit of advice- before doing any major map upgrade, do a backup with the TT Home software. It's just a good idea, though I haven't needed to revert to a backup yet. (Do be aware though that doing a map upgrade for some reason erases your saved locations, which is easy to fix by just dragging them back to the TT if you have a backup, but a big pain of you didn't back up.)

A great buy at the price currently listed here- and far superior to Garmins worth many hundreds of dollars more. I had no problems getting TomTom to provide me with the latest map (came out 15 days after I got this) for free. I just took a screen capture of my Amazon order page and sent it to them via the form on their website!

p.s. buy a Dash mount. They make life easier, as there's not a GPS unit I've tried that stays on the windshield well.