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

Tequila - the charging cable plugs into the back of the cradle.

Sorry for late feedback, we are currently on holiday near Murcia in Spain and I must say our Tom Tom has been a godsend while we are here. So thank you for selecting us to review it. We were looking into buying or downloading one but didn't know which to choose.

When we opened it up we were surprised at the size, compact enough for a bag but with a good sized screen that you can actually see.

Pleased to say that it was very easy to set up and we used it in journeys near home from a few days to get used to it. My 6 year old DD is loving the fact that she is able to set the destination very easily as well.

Both my husband and I have used the Tom Tom on journeys for work as well as local weekend driving. I found the traffic updates very useful as well as the speed camera alerts. On arriving in Spain, we have used it to get from the airport to our accommodation as well as to go sight seeing and shopping. I was amazed at how quickly it found the gps signal when we landed, previous sat navs have taken a considerable amount of time to do this. It has been accurate on every occassion. I also liked the decent length of cable to plug it in to charge it while in the car.

All in all we are very pleased with it and are currently planning tomorrow's adventure with it.

oops! posted too soon. Only small negatives are that it did not come with a case or a screen protector but I suppose both of these could be purchased separately! !

TomTom has been accompanying me in rush hour traffic this week.

On the way in to work it came up with an alternative but 1) it was very last minute, would have involved a lane change to go a different way at the roundabout and I just didn't have the time to do that so I couldn't safely take the alternative and 2) I didn't know how to accept it as VR doesn't work for me and manual selection while driving is a bit of a bad idea. So I didn't take it.

But then on the way home it took me a different way. Never again TomTom thank you very much. A horrible, dangerous right turn across a 4 lane thing which I thought had a pausing space for a car in the middle but when I got there it turned out the space was not in fact big enough for a car to stop. So that didn't go well (though that is driver stupidity related but then I found myself shunted into no car lanes. So my supposed quicker route home was along a single lane (because the second lane was no car) 30mph road that was quite busy rather than a mostly 2 lane mostly 40mph road leading to a 70mph road to the point at which the 2 routes merged. Erm.....TomTom I'm afraid I do not always trust your judgement.

Today I decided to try the go via a petrol station thing. I really need to play more with the manual selection for stuff and adding set routes etc as I only have places saved rather than routes at the moment. I know the TomTom have told me to e-mail about the VR issues so I will do that when I have the chance but anyway I had to manually press the microphone on the menu to be able to tell it to drive home and then I had to manually press the button again to say "go via petrol station" REally don't get the voice issues, understands nme perfectly when I have pressed the button just doesn't pick anything up without my pressing it.

Anyway, I told it to go via a petrol station. On my usual route there are 2 petrol stations very close to my starting point and right on the road I take so I assumed it would automatically take me to one of those but no, a big list came up. Well I don't know the names so I just picked the second one as I thought that would probably be the second one on my route. Nope, Serena tried to get me to go in the opposite direction. So I ignored her and she continued trying rather desperately to get me to turn round for quite some time. Why doesn't TomTom jsut guide you to one directly on your route? Serena eventually realised I wasn't going to turn round and gave up trying to direct me to a petrol station and just told me to go home. I stopped at a petrol station anyway. Rebellious. 123.9p it was.

Monday we will be doing rush hour in a major city.

So far though, I definitely like having it for places I don't know. It might stuff up at times but it is definitely an advantage. I can also see the traffic update advantages for major routes and would use it for longer drives to avoid big motorway bottlenecks etc but I really can't see the point for day to day commutes, so far alternatives have been pretty pointless and not as convenient. Perhaps because I live fairly ruraly and don't have to cross major cities at the moment. When I'm back in uni full time and navigating a city I might feel differently. Will be trying that on Monday.

lilyloo do you realise you have to turn the traffic thing on? You have to have set up an account for it too.

Tomtom and I did a 250 mile trip yesterday - stress free thanks to being able to see road issues on the journey ahead. It's the first time I've done a 5 hour drive since potty training my 2 year old, so it's useful for playing service station roulette - being able to see if there are any delays ahead that might stop us getting to the next toilet, so should we stop at this one...

VR is now working well. Tomtom did take a long time to connect to its signal at the services when I stopped at one point, which caused brief consternation.

Taking TomTom on an adventure to Scotland, will report back soon.

Oh my goodness, has anyone listened to the previews of any other voices?! Finally got chance to download Stephen this evening and decided to have a listen to some of the others because I have nothing better to do on a Friday night.
I picked "All-the-way-Annie" to listen to, who knew you could have your own personal porn star version of TomTom??!!

Sorry for the late arrival on the thread!! Been using my TomTom lots!
What was your initial impression of the TomTom GO 500?
I was impressed with the appearance of the TomTom GO 500 - it looks like a quality product. The screen size is good and it feels reassuringly heavy rather than 'plasticky'. It found my location very quickly once switched on.

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

Setting up the TomTom was very easy. It's quite intuitive and I was able to start using it right away. I connected it with the laptop and it took a few hours to do the updates but that wasn't an issue as I was at home and just left it updating.

The cradle attached easily and firmly to my windscreen. I like how easily and securely the TomTom attaches onto the cradle; there is no 'fiddling' with this at all so you can just attach and go.

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

I have used my TomTom on my commutes to work which is about 12 miles from home. I travel to work and back in rush hour so it's always busy. It's good to be able to see where there are traffic jams and delays on my journey but the TomTom constantly tries to direct me onto a very busy dual carriageway which I have spent years avoiding. Yesterday it directed me onto a road that has been closed for weeks due to roadworks and then I had a problem trying to turn right to go another way. It has also directed me past schools at drop off time which has delayed me; at these times I'm thinking that I would be better using my tried and trusted route to work but I want to ensure that it gets tested thoroughly by me.

I've also used the TomTom whilst I've been doing visits at work; I work as a community palliative care clinical nurse specialist in a city so there is always lots of traffic. I think this is where it is invaluable in finding addresses where I have not been previously. I have saved lots of time as previously I would keep stopping to look at my A-Z but the TomTom has solved that problem plus it has offered me alternative routes to avoid traffic delays.

So in general I'm impressed with the TomTom from its use so far. We're off on annual leave this week so will try it as a family on some longer routes and feedback. I'm still very pleased to have been picked to trial it!!

Thanks to ChillingGrinBloodLover for the tip on VR, I've found saying Hey... (long pause).... Tom...(slight pause)...Tom works. I'd tried many times before and couldn't get it to work so was just going to give up on VR completely. It's really good when it works though - especially like the 'go home', feels quite satisfying after a long day when TomTom confirms if I really want to go home! Although, she wants me to park at the side of my house rather than in front of it, every time we arrive home, we get "you have arrived at your destination, please turn around!" :)

Also went out last night for the first time in the dark and quite liked the night mode, still really clear. We also got stuck in traffic for the first time yesterday and it was really clear when it came up on screen that there was a queue of traffic coming up - luckily we were turning off the road anyway so weren't stuck but nice to see the function.

We also found some buildings in 3d yesterday! We've obviously been driving in areas it doesn't know but suddenly buildings appeared yesterday when we were in a bigger city area; makes it more interesting on screen.

I'm not totally impressed with the carpark function - I think someone has already mentioned this but when I tried it, it just comes up with a list of 4 carparks but doesn't show on a map where they are or how to differentiate between them and you just have to choose a number, not very helpful.

When and where do we have to leave our review in the review section? I couldn't find a section for sat nav.

asuwere I'm pleased it helped someone I wish the command was 'Take me home please' though, 'Go home' sounds so rude!

I'm not impressed with the car park or petrol things yet. I need to see if there's a way to get them to display on the screen so you can choose from there, a list of them isn't any use when you don't know where you/they are!

As far as I know we only have to feed back on here, I'm sure Angelie will let us know if there's anything else we need to do.

Forgot to say that in voice commands it does OK recognising what I say, although it does seem to default to choosing a car park option quite a lot!!

I don't get how TomTom knows when there is a day closure of a road but still tries and sends me down a road that is closed for weeks?!

DH impressed with TomTom again, lots of delays on M6, live traffic kept updating and said he always managed to stay in moving traffic. Whether it meant it was any faster I'm not sure but it's always better to be moving!

TomTom is going on an excursion to Scotland soon. May take a photo of him by the sea in a tacky Tam O'Shanter.

I like the idea of TomTom finding an alternative route when there is a lot of Traffic, however not so good when it takes to Woolwich ferry at 8.30pm when it has already closed leaving me to find another route home.

Chilling I agree about manners!

Constantly on at DS about always saying please and thank you!

Also, have a since it's the morning

We are travelling with our Tom Tom to Stansted early in the morning .. First time closer to sunrise and something different to the normal routine... Will update with more pictures..

Is there a way to see the list (steps ) of the route like how we see while using RAC or AA Route planner? And Is there a way to Zoom and See how traffic the whole route is.

What was your initial impression of the TomTom GO 500?

Its a lovely looking product. Quite a bit bigger than my old sat nav (mio mio) but the graphics and colour are so much better and sharper.

I liked having a option to change the voice. I will download the Stephen fry voice soon.

Although I understand that not putting a manual in better for the environment I would like to have seen the quick start guide a little more detailed. I was disappointed not to have had a case with the product considering the price. I would also have liked a USB plug- we actually don't have spares here and considering the sat nav is charged overnight that was annoying.

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

It was relatively easy but as I would have preferred a better quick start guide or reference sheet to keep in the car.
I was annoyed at the length of time the update took when I first plugged it in. I already have more updates to do on it. Im dreading how much time it would start.

I haven't read the online manual but have managed to work out most features. It did take a while to find the volume control.

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

We have used it within our local area and a little further afield. It has taken me to the destination on each occasion. It picked up traffic build up around some road works. On the way home it took me a slightly different route home - a short cut I know.

The battery life doesn't last long.

I have continued to use my satnav to travel an average of 250 miles a day to various locations for work and I have made it to all locations. I have never been to most of the locations before so the screen is a great size to have a look around on the map and see what is in the area as I was afraid that relying heavily on a satnav would mean that I lose my sense of whereabouts in the country I am and just rely on instructions.

It is great to be able to see traffic jams further ahead on my route and I am starting to take the alternative routes more regularly, which has often detracted from the monotony of motorway driving and I have been through some beautiful towns and villages. I think it takes a while to trust the validity of alternative routes, but I have now taken over 50 since getting this satnav and I have only had a problem on one (man had to move stepladder he was using for hedge trimming off the country lane so I could get past). I think this is an excellent function.

All speed cameras and speed limits have been accurate, including average speed limits, so I am now pretty confident in relying on these too.

The 3D maps are great, but what I find more useful is the nightime maps, which are so simple to use and the bright pink I selected for my route stands out great on the grey background.

One of the best features of this satnav is that Serena tells me which lane to get into, which turning to take, but more importantly the name of the road I need to take, which means that I don't need to look at the map at all and can keep my full concentration on the road.

I have tried Steven Fry's voice but I find it really patronising and having listened to all the voices, Bugs Bunny was the least annoying and most entertaining of all. I don't think you'll ever find a voice that everybody is happy with, but I can safely say that Serena is perfectly alright for me.

I have never used voice control with previous TomTom satnavs (don't even know if they had this function) so was a little apprehensive, but it is so easy to say "go home", "go to work", etc. although I will probably only use it with the locations I have given names that mean something to me, like suppliers, friends and relatives.

The only thing I have struggled with a little is finding petrol stations, so I guess I might need to figure this out whilst at home stationary rather than driving along almost out of diesel. When I see symbols on the right hand side of my satnav with distances I keep thinking I can just press them and my satnav will take me to them, but I am pretty certain this isn't the case.

Also it would be good if I could plug my phone into the charger to charge at the same time as my satnav.

I wouldn't go back to my TomTom One XL for anything..................

I tried to do some updates today but the website said it was experiencing problems so I'm never quite sure what has happened.

I have yet to be able to connect to live travel as every time I try I get a message that says 'Oops Connection error, services temporarily unavailable.' I have tried at least 5 times since receiving it.

Used it again today on the M5, it thoughtthere were road works where they weren't any but apart from that worked well.

Would be good if the speed recognised temprary speed changes on motorways when they are reduced to 60 etc.

Can anyone put postcodes in or is it just street names?

Would also be good if you could update via connecting to a tablet rather than a laptop. I hardle ever use a laptop at home now so a cable to link via the tablet would be good.

Does anyone know how to make it tell you the journey time? I would rather have a clock for the actual time and a counting down journey time rather than just the eta. My old TomTom, which was a good 10 years old, did it this way and I much preferred it. I have looked in the online manual but can't find anything to help. Have to say as time passes I am becoming increasingly disenamoured by this version and would be very unhappy if I had paid around £250 for it.