TomTom GO 5000 feedback thread NOW CLOSED

[AngelieMumsnet]

This thread is for the MNers who've been trying out the TomTom GO 5000.

Below are some questions to get you started but please feel free to add other comments too.

In terms of your first impressions...

• What was your initial impression of the TomTom GO 500?
• How easy did you find it to set up your TomTom?
• What journeys have you made so far with your TomTom?

Please also note that TomTom may use your anonymous feedback comments on their website and social media channels, as well as elsewhere.

Thanks,
MNHQ

Marking my place here!

This is an excellent product and I can see the money in it. It looks great and is so easy to use. I just climbed in my car and plugged it into the lighter and away I went. The traffic build up feature is great and I am more than happy with the voice on the device. I have made lots of short journeys and the device takes me on my usual routes so it is pleasing to know that these are the fastest. I have also deliberately taken some wrong turns and the device has navigated me back again, sometimes not asking me to turnaround which I like.

My first impression of the TomTom GO 5000 was that it was bigger than other sat navs I've used but this I found better because it was easier to see the navigation.

Setting up was a simple yet long process, putting the updates on took over 12 hours, not sure if that was just my computer speed?

So far I've tested it out on the school run and my husband has used it on a trip to London.

The touch screen is easy to use, very responsive and the TomTom picked up signal of where we were very quickly.

Overall, impressed with initial usage.

Place marking, at work, but will be back

• What was your initial impression of the TomTom GO 500? "Wheres the DVD that tells me how to work it..Oh wait...this is fairly easy...wahoo I've set home!" Was pretty much my first reactions as soon I got it out at the box. I love love love the screen holder. Its so easy to slot it on and have it charging as you go.

• How easy did you find it to set up your TomTom? Incredibly! It went into pinks and purples within seconds :D As I said above I had home set within in minutes. Just make sure you're by a window or in the car as otherwise it wont find you (it might have taken me a couple of seconds to figure this out)

• What journeys have you made so far with your TomTom? My husbands used it for work and it saved him a 30 minute traffic queue, we've used it for trips to a hospital, local shops and various other local places and I love the fact that it tells you which road to go down rather than just hang left! It saved us going wrong (we tested it against husbands old one)

The interface is pleasant and I like the large screen. It sticks to the windscreen well. I haven't figured out voice control but then I havent looked at any instructions.
I found it relatively easy to just go and download the software onto my pc, then the updates took about an hour (which seems a lot less than other people reported)

I have been using it without reading the instructions, and its ok. I am a little frustrated when it cannot find things by name - I don't carry postcodes in my head. On Thursday I typed in the name of the clinic we were going to the other day. Didn't recognise that. Why not? Its been there for at least a decade. I don't understand why it isn't in the directory. It doesn't recognise the street name of where I work (Eaton Court Road - which I now know that TomTom thinks is Eaton Court (its not) , or the name of the business park its on either - had to use the postcode.

It didn't highlight the massive queue of traffic on the street I drive through every morning (which I luckily can avoid but I drive into it to start with) It tried to take me a bizarre route to work multiple times (although yes it recalculates quickly as I just ignored any suggestions it made)

It didn't recognise a wood we wanted to go to either. Which frankly should have been in the 'points of interest box' if nothing else.

It did know where Waitrose is when I checked in my lunchbreak.

The boys wanted a different voice, so I changed it to James the Aussie, but he repeated the same annoying 'sunnies' sentence over and over at the end of the journey and the kids told me to turn it off. Which I did. Why just the one sentence - can TomTom not add in about 20 of them and generate randomly at the end of a journey?

I will keep testing. We will be going on longer journeys to places we don't know in half term, so I'm hoping it gets us to our destination reliably. I also need to hand it to DH for a while as the traffic on his route is generally appalling so he always takes the back roads. will be good to see if it picks up this information.

So far, my impressions have been very, very positive and I've used a lot of sat navs! Mine updated very quickly, never seems to have a problem finding itself out and about, and has taken us on sensible routes.

Very easy to use, and voice control is great for me. I love the petrol station indication

So far, its been out and about locally (rural, lots of possible route options), on a cross country jaunt (again lots of equally sensible routes, it took the ones I would have chosen), and to a tricky city centre location which has previously caused sat nav issues. Tomorrow its going on a long journey to a city which is hell to navigate in with dh

Marking to feedback later. X

First impression: sleek and compact, nice clear screen. Shocked there was no charger or case.

Setup; very straightforward and am quick for me. I plugged in and updated in under 5 min.

Journey: so far we've only been out locally and no long journeys. I haven't had an issue with the routes at all. I'm disappointed in voice control as it never hears me and I always always have to type in where I'm going except for home. The battery life is very short and to put on charger and on windscreen is a huge faff.

My first impression
my first impression was wow its come a long way since the first tomtom. After turning it on I was rather pleased by how quick it loaded and connected.

How easy was it to set up?
Ive not updated it as I dont have hours to sit with a laptop to update it. Its been working fine and ive had no problems apart from with voice recognition. Will see how I can get around that

what journeys have you made
ive taken it on the school run but theres 2 routes amd the one I take is shorter than the other so not really an alternative.

Its been the retail park with me too and to tesco. Will be taking it to the hospital and to gps this week so will see how it is on longer journey

I really love the 3dness! Makes it sooo much clearer and love thst serena can read street names so makes it easier when need to turn at right place!

What was your initial impression of the TomTom GO 500?
it looks nice. Good sized screen and graphics. I had no problems getting it to stick to screen.

How easy did you find it to set up your TomTom?
No trouble at all. I was looking for a guide but didn't really need one as it was quite straightforward and fast to set up and go. There is one that I found online if anyone feels the need to read a manual!

The voice control has also worked with no problems. You have to speak clearly, but that's expected.

What journeys have you made so far with your TomTom?
I've done some regular journeys that I usually do. Have found a shortcut that I had no idea about to a sports facility I go to. Brilliant.

I've also had to make quite a few trips for work to unknown places. I am sure that it would have taken me far, far longer with my map and phone as back up. I have many new routes to try out next week also. I'm actually looking forward to not getting lost for once.

I went somewhere today that I had a vague idea how to get to. It took me on a different route than I expected. A colleague said that there was a crash on the road. So, I think it kept me away from this route. I have to go there again next week, so we'll see.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to test this. I've been looking at these as I need one for work. Can't believe I've resisted buying one for so long. It's such a time saver.

Place marking. We have only done one journey so far, and I certainly haven't read any instructions or played with it much and it kept falling off the dashboard because it was too heavy for the grip pad it was on but so far, so (unsurprisingly) a different world from my 5yo Garmin, and actually much better than any I have used in hire cars. I liked the general search - no faffing around when I was already late this morning, just typed in the name of the station and away it went. Much much quicker to connect and work out where it was than my old one too. I haven't turned the voice on yet - I will do, in the interests of research, but I generally mute sat nav unless I am really off known paths and in a city I don't know.

Marking my place. Stephen Fry though.

initial impression larger than my current TomTom ,the screen mount is much nicer ,graphics are really clear

set up well as my level of technology usage starts and ends with the iPad I left the set up to DH . He felt it was very easy and straightforward ,or it would have been if he wasn't trying to do it on an archaic laptop !

trips so far. I've used it on a daily basis for my usual running around . I have now worked out the exact tone to get the VR to respond reliably and that's a great feature . The speed camera updates are also really useful .

Having had a Tomtom before I wasn't expecting it to come with a case so that didn't surprise me . I like the fact that if I choose to go a different route it quickly updates rather than trying to turn me round . It told me about a traffic jam the other day which although I couldn't avoid it it was quite accurate about the time it would take to get through .
All in all I'm very happy with it and DH is printing off a manual today so I will have a read and see what else it does that I have not discovered yet . Thank you for the opportunity to test it !

I found the set up really intuitive, straight out of the box, into the car charger. Love the funny New Zealand voice, have been experimenting. Love the traffic feature, has been really accurate, even on local A roads. Saved about half an hour on the m23 as it saw the roadwork traffic. Google maps on my iPhone is nowhere near as reliable.

I've mainly used it on every day to day journey and a couple of longer motorway runs. Really happy so far, thank you.

Was so excited to try this out, thank you MN and TomTom!

What was your initial impression of the TomTom GO 500?
Nice sleek design and great screen quality. By comparison our old Navman (circa 2009) looks like a dinosaur!!

How easy did you find it to set up your TomTom?
I just plugged it in the car and off we went. There weren't any instructions with it?? People above who have mentioned updating it or plugging it into their computer, how did you know how to do this and how did you manage it? Apart from the charger cable there was no other cable and no instructions. Is there a start-guide built into the machine somewhere?? We just had to work it out by pressing random buttons to figure it out. How do I find out what features it has and what else it can do?

What journeys have you made so far with your TomTom?
So far I've just been on short journeys around town and one 30 min drive to somewhere new. I like the voice/map and the fact that it is quite thorough with the voice directions, eg "take the 3rd exit at the roundabout, roadname, town signposted". Our old satnav just used to shout "take the 2nd exit" to you, which on a big roundabout wasn't too helpful as you'd have to look at the screen to see which road this was to match it up with the road signs, which involved looking at the screen which wasn't great near a roundabout, whereas the TomTom means you don't have to take your eyes off the road.

We think it's great so far. DH has a work trip later in the month that will involve going on several motorways (including the M25) so that should give it a good trial!!

This thread is for the MNers who've been trying out the TomTom GO 5000.

Below are some questions to get you started but please feel free to add other comments too.

In terms of your first impressions...

• What was your initial impression of the TomTom GO 500?

It was bigger than I expected but this wasn't a negative. Love the design and how clear the screen is.

• How easy did you find it to set up your TomTom?

Very easy indeed. I haven't synced it with the PC yet but intend to do so when I have more time. This shows how easy it is to set up as without the PC or instructions I managed it straight away!

• What journeys have you made so far with your TomTom?

Mainly local journeys with a few to neighbouring towns. Used it for regular routes and have been surprised when routes I normally use haven't been the fastest. It was very helpful when trying to find a sports pitch in a built up area at the weekend!

First impressions- it was bigger than I expected, I loved the big screen. I also expected there to be a case for the price of the product.

I found it very easy to set up the TomTom, although I regretted doing the updates as it took hours and I just wanted to use it!

I've found the touch screen bait washy washy, sometimes I can be jabbing at the screen for it to register the touch.
The voices irritate me to, I find myself getting abit annoyed!

I'm a very nervous driver and don't do motorways and haven't ventured on one with the TomTom yet, however I did have some training with work which was an hour away on a roads. I would never have attempted the drive without the TomTom and other than one wrong turning (and heart palpitation!) it got me there no problems and I was so pleased with myself!
I've been on lots of shorter journeys too, and it's very clear which lane to be in.
The kids love talking to the TomTom, so it's kept them entertained but I'm sure the novelty will wear off.

The TomTom also gave us a new simpler quicker route to our supermarket, only been going for the past five years!

The TomTom has definitely given me more confidence to try new journeys which will give me so much more freedom, so I can't thank you enough for the opportunity.

In terms of your first impressions...

• What was your initial impression of the TomTom GO 500?

My first thought was "wow" if it is internet enabled then it should be able to play cbeebies radio too.

But it is quite cool. I have never had a sat nav before.

• How easy did you find it to set up your TomTom?

Good. I didn't read the instructions.

• What journeys have you made so far with your TomTom?

To and from work. It annoys me a bit and sometimes I turn it off as I know how to get to work and don't like being told where to go. But it did give me an alternative route this morning that I might not have taken if not.

In terms of your first impressions...

• What was your initial impression of the TomTom GO 500?

I was very impressed. Sleek design. I'm a sucker for a manual, though, and don't like the trend towards wordless pictorial instructions. Also, I felt that for the price bracket, a UK plug adaptor and case should be included. I'd also like more than one air vent clip so the cable can be neatly routed.

• How easy did you find it to set up your TomTom?

Very easy. Updates were quick.

• What journeys have you made so far with your TomTom?

I've made several school runs, a trip to a shopping centre using a route I was unaware of. Trips to a city.

I haven't found the voice recognition easy. For example, the need to say 'number three' rather than simply saying 'three'. VR had only recognised 1 address out of many I tried. Partly because, for instance, I know a place as 'Whiteley Village' but the TomTom uses 'Whiteley Village Outlet Shopping Centre'.

Also, the speed limit alert is out of date on one road I used, telling me it was a 60 zone when in fact it was 40.

In terms of your first impressions...

• What was your initial impression of the TomTom GO 500?

Lovely and slim, great wide screen, really clear instructions, easy to navigate controls, easy to fix sucker to windscreen, easy to click screen on to holder. Our old TomTom is ancient and this one seems so much better in every respect.

• How easy did you find it to set up your TomTom?

Very, but i was in a real rush on the day it arrived and so havent updated it yet. Still works like a dream though!

• What journeys have you made so far with your TomTom?

Local school run, supermarket run and a journey to a city I dont know at all and an airport i've never been to. All very simple and easy to follow and got me there in good time. Also helped me navigate round a diversion flawlessly.

I love what i'm seeing so far, and I also love the Aussie navigator, whose quips have kept me entertained on longer journeys. Would be nice if the 'fun' voices weren't only male though...

What was your initial impression of the TomTom GO 5000?
Lovely big screen, clear, easy-to-see graphics. Very surprised it didn't come with a plug or a case. My DH's ancient Tomtom even came with a case. At this price I expected more.

How easy did you find it to set up your TomTom?
Very easy but incredibly time-consuming. In all the updates took about 4 hours. I am therefore currently ignoring the pop-up on my laptop telling me that there are two updates available.

What journeys have you made so far with your TomTom?
Regular journeys to school, work and shops. Also going to visit a friend at a new address. Was very impressed today when it took me to work down roads I never knew existed with no queues at all, when my usual route is queue-city.

Other impressions - the voice control is a bit hit or miss. It sometimes understands me straight away, but other times it thinks I want it to do random things like change to night colours when I have actually asked it to "volume up".

I really really wish you could tell it to go to one of your favourite stored locations, but just can't seem to find out how to do this with voice control.

Finally - Stephen Fry? No thanks. Why not let us just pick who we want as per the original letter from TomTom? I will definitely not be using that voucher. Seems pointless to foist a voice on us that is so marmite.