TomTom GO 740 Live 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable Live Internet Connected GPS Navigator Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I have used multiple generations of the TomTom, and I have been a fan for a while. TomTom has always had the best user interface, but the rubber meets the road on directions and map accuracy, and here the new GO 740 Live shows solid improvement.
I drive in the Washington DC area, and occassionally commute up I-95 to New York and Long Island. In other words, it's traffic, traffic everywhere.
I depend on the TomTom GO 740 Live. The traffic updates are frequent, and almost always match what I am seeing in the real world. And IQ Routes are clearly having a positive impact on route selection. IQ Routes is the feature than anonymously gathers actual driving experiences from all TomTom users and then factors that history into its route computation. I suppose it works best in metro areas where there are many users.
Why this matters: Anyone who drives north out of DC knows that 16th Street is much, much better than Georgia Ave. They both appear as normal city streets, and though Georgia appears more direct, it has more untimed lights and more local traffic. Before IQ Routes, TomTom would suggest Georgia, and I would ignore it. Now, TomTom suggests 16th. With IQ Routes, TomTom is gathering the experience that only local drivers have.
After second-guessing TomTom for a few months, and usually being wrong, I now let it automatically route around traffic. Between the traffic reports and the IQ routes, I am getting the right routes and very accurate estimates of arrival times.
My previous TomTom was the 930, which reached its traffic service through a bluetooth connection to my phone. The connection was flaky (I blame Verizon, not TomTom.) and did not work if I was on a call. The new LIVE series has it's own cell circuitry built in. I stopped paying $15/month to Verizon for "broadband access connect", and I will gladly pay $10/month to TomTom for the LIVE services, which include traffic, fuel prices, speed cameras, Google searches, etc.
Final note: In addition to the LIVE services, I subscribe to TomTom's map update service, and I dock the unit to my PC often to download map corrections. I depend on my GPS, so these update services are a positive feature for me, and my review assumes use of all these services.

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Amazon.com Product DescriptionTomTom GO 740 LIVE is navigation and so much more. Real-time information saves you time, money, and stress. GO LIVE automatically accesses traffic feeds, updated fuel prices, Local Search powered by Google, Weather, and Buddies--so you can stay in the know on the go. Real-time services work right out of the box via a built-in wireless data connection.* Three months of service included.


TomTom's award-winning software means the ultimate driving experience. Switch on and go right out of the box. Just enter your destination address with voice recognition or on the touchscreen and start driving anywhere in the US and Canada. TomTom GO 740 LIVE guides you door to door with turn-by-turn spoken instructions, including street names.

The GO 740 LIVE features IQ Routes Technology, which gives you the fastest route every time by using actual average speeds of travel on your route to calculate your trip time rather than posted speed limits. You'll always travel the smartest route.

TomTom has the most accurate maps, and with TomTom Map Share technology, you instantly can modify street names, street direction, POIs, and more on your own device.

The TomTom GO 740 LIVE is the ultimate connected car navigator.

*Services available in the United States only.

GO 740 LIVE Features
LIVE Services
TomTom Traffic
Fuel Prices
Local Search powered by Google
Weather and more

Maps of United States and Canada with TomTom Map Share
IQ Routes Technology
Voice Recognition
Advanced Lane Guidance
Bluetooth Hands-Free Calling
Spoken Street Names

All TomToms Feature
Plug & Go--Works right out of the box.

Preloaded Points of Interest--Easily find millions of gas stations, restaurants, hotels, and more on your route.

30-Day Latest Map Guarantee--Up to date, off the shelf.

TomTom Map Share--Modify your own map and benefit from others' verified changes with TomTom Map Share.

Help Me! Emergency Menu--Easily access local emergency providers, such as police, fire stations, and hospitals.

TomTom HOME--Always up to date.

Traffic Ready--Optional RDS-TMC traffic receiver accessory keeps you up-to-date on traffic events to minimize potential delays.

Fuel Price Service (optional)--Know more, pay less.

Why TomTom? TomTom believes that personal navigation should be as easy and safe as possible. TomTom develops smart technology that gives you straightforward solutions, innovations to make life easy.
Easy to Use

Award-winning navigation software
Plug & go

Best Maps

30-Day Latest Map Guarantee
Modify your own map and benefit from others' verified changes with TomTom Map Share

Best Routing

QuickGPSfix
Traffic ready

Leader in Safety

Help Me! emergency resources menu
Safety preferences menu

What's in the Box GO 740 Live device, windshield mount, USB cable, adhesive disk, car charger, and user guide
About TomTom Founded in Amsterdam in 1991, TomTom has established itself as a global leader in navigation by being an innovative company with a strong brand, clear customer focus, and high-quality products and services.
TomTom is a leading navigation solutions provider with navigation products sold in 30 countries and in over 20 languages. To further its commitment to car navigation, TomTom acquired Tele Atlas maps in 2008 so that the company can continually provide the most up-to-date maps and intelligent routing.

TomTom has its own mapping company!

Did you know that every year, roads change by up to 40% in high-growth areas? Tele Atlas manages this by using the world's most comprehensive systems to identify and incorporate these changes into our maps with unprecedented levels of speed and accuracy. All TomTom devices benefit from the Tele Atlas advantage--more coverage, more points of interest, and more freshness and accuracy.

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TomTom GO 930 4.3-Inch Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator (Factory Refurbished) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Bought the GPS on Jan 14th 09. I did realize that I would get a unit that was repacked, maybe even used but fully functional. That I only get 6 months guarantee is mentioned in the description.
What I did NOT know at this point - and what is certainly not mentioned in the description - is the fact that TomTom does not give Latest Map Guarantee (LMG) on refurbished units! The LMG is a nice feature that (AFAIK) goes with every unit and gives you the opportunity to update the installed maps for free in the 30 days after purchase.
That means that you get the newest map for free in case right after your purchase a new map is released by TomTom, which is normally the case every 3 months.
This you do NOT get with the refurbished units. OK, I would accept that when the maps that I got with the unit would be fairly new. What I got are maps from spring 2008! And after talking to TomTom Support I realized that it is a game of luck what versions may come with the device, depending alone on the time when the unit was refurbished.
The feature I was looking forward to was Active Lane Guidance(ALG). I'm driving up and down I-95 and I have not yet seen a single ALG image! So the map version is pretty useless to me. The coverage with ALG surely gets better with every map version, ergo: by new maps.
The new maps will cost you at the moment 110$ for North America and another 160$ for Central and Western Europe.
Unit cost me 289 add both maps and you are at 559$.
New units sell currently for around 400$.
Think about it. Does that make sense?
BTW: Calling TomTom Support didn't change a thing: "...yes, no, very sorry, but no, no LMG on refurbished units..."

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TomTom GO 930 REFURB 4.3 Inch GPS Navigator. If you're looking for the ultimate portable GPS navigator, you've got to consider the 930 series. TomTom's 2008 flagship models bring all of their technological advancements together with ease of use and a sleek design to present a severely cool device. For a couple of year's now, TomTom's been driving forward community-driven navigation features. They began by introducing with Map Share, which lets you instantly modify street names, street direction, and custom locations called points of interest (POIs) on your own device, then upload them to TomTom's HOME network and download changes made by all of the other users. When you do this, TomTom gets to find out what routes your device has been taking. The data is anonymous, but it's given TomTom an enormous pile of route and speed data, which they've used to tie community data to routing with their new IQ Routes feature, which calculates routes using the actual recorded average speeds of travel to calculate your trip rather than posted speed limits, giving you an extremely accurate prediction of how long any given route will actually take at any given time. There are a host of other interesting features, and you can read about them here. Refurbished.

Click here for more information about TomTom GO 930 4.3-Inch Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator (Factory Refurbished)

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