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

Thank you so much for choosing me and my family to test TomTom 500.

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

This is the first dedicated sat nav we have used and we were impressed with the size of the screen and clear graphics. It really is a switch on and go device. We found using the device to be a easy experience, searching for addresses is fast. The lifetime maps is a very good bonus.

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

I did an update before taking it out the first time, and for some reason my acer netbook never recognised the satnav was attached even after playing around for an hour it still couldnt see it was connected. When i connected it to another laptop it connected fine and we had no furthur problems and i left it overnight to update the maps.

To set up the TomTom was very easy and foolproof where you follow the prompts. It has a very clear, user friendly interface. I loved that you can customize it change colours and voices etc.
However we own a 9 seater minibus and it has a quite loud engine, so we found the voice control is very sensitive and could only get it to work and recognise prompts if the engine was off and there was no other background noise. The voice control does suddenly come on its own accord which sometime shocks me lol.

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

As a family my husband has used it for work where he travels all over the UK from Leicester: Daventry, West Bromich, Hatfield, Birmingham, Wembley, Hemple hempstead, Coventry,Bristol. As a family we have used it locally in Leicester town center. So we have put the Tom Tom to the test lol, loved the live traffic updates and different routes suggestions.
I am not a very confident driver even after 8 years of passing my test but I am looking forward to this year of getting out more with the kids and driving to new places and events with the TomTom. The kids want the Homer Simpson voice so will be getting that for them, they didnt enjoy Stephen Fry so for now we going to stick to Serena.

Once again thank you very much, we really enjoyed testing the TomTom.

I have used postcodes, street names and place names with no issues. Tomtom do need to take a look at the M5 though - the roadworks round J5 are long gone, as are the average speed cameras. .

Traffic alert - very accurate locally, picked up recently closed roads and update high volume traffic. I would pay for this function yearly.

VR - still having problems recognising me, pauses help somewhat. Real problems on the yes / none of the above screen (after the name of rd recognised screen). Really liked the "go home" command, expresses exactly how I feel at the end of a working day.

Night screen is still proving a hit.
Petrol stations and car park finding functions have been accurate locally.

I think a password lock would be idea, especially if you have programed your home address in.

After saying how good Voice Control was earlier today, I have started to experience problems whereby it thinks I want to go to a car park every time I say an address, which is very infuriating and Voice Control only seems to work when I say "Display My Places" or "Go Home".

However, something else I have found useful this afternoon is that when you select Search you don't have to put an address, town or postcode. You can type Toys R Us, Wickes, Sainsbury's, Lidl, Aldi, etc. and it lists them in distance order. This has just made my life a whole lot easier as I don't have to look up where they are before I leave home or ring my husband (I don't have an iphone) and I can easily go to them wherever I am working.

We drove to Newcastle today and navigated the dreaded coast road.

I got my first taste of buildings in 3D through Newcastle. Lost them again by the time I got to Benton though.

Anyway. This morning in the car typed "coach lane campus" into the search thingy. Googlemaps finds it no problem but it was too difficult for TomTom. However TomTom did know where coach lane was so I jsut told him to go there. Rather infuriatingly when we arrived Serena told me turn left towards "coach lane campus" .

At first TomTom wanted to take me via the Tyne Tunnel. I believe this is a cost of £1.60 per journey. To be fair he did warn me there was a toll. I selected an alternative route which seemed to be my usual one. TomTom told me it would be a whole minute longer driving time than the Tyne Tunnel. I opted to save my pennies.

There wasn't much traffic and TomTom just took me my normal route with no alternatives offered along the way which was fine, all road works, speed cameras etc present and correct. Have been with a friend and her satnav before and hers always had a big hissy fit and tried to take her to the A1.

On the way home he offered the Tyne Tunnel again. Again the difference was a minute. This time he took me on a little diversion away from the coast road which joined it again just before the place I needed to come off it. Not sure how much it helped today given that traffic was flowing freely but could help one day.

Then he asked me to take the Northbound slip road to the A1 rather than the Southbound. I'm afraid I chickened out and took my usual route home (exact same way I came in). Arrival time changed to earlier than previously estimated . Thought TomTom was supposed to find the quickest route?

On getting home I have googlemapped and the only route I can imagine he was trying to make me do would have been a pretty long, wide circle round and to home from a different direction. Sorry TomTom but unless my usual route was at a complete standstill I have no idea on what planet that would have been a good idea.

I agree with a previous poster that it would be nice to be able to scroll through the route a little. When it calculates a route it would be good to be ablet o see what it is planning a bit more clearly so that you can pick an alternative if need be. It feels a bit like when you do go to select an alternative you are picking blindly at random.

All in all moderate success. Some indication could be useful in traffic.

Can I just say that I dislike the tomtom website for browsing the voices? My DD was keen for me to put on something silly, so went to have a look. It's irritating to have to click into each character to hear the samples, why not have a preview of each voice on the page that shows all the available choices? Put me right off choosing as it's so clunky to use.

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

This is an upgrade for us from an entry level tom tom 1 which is about 10 years old. The screen is mahoosive! The sucker for the screen is really solid. I like the feel of the touch screen and the shape of the product overall

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

Switch it on and it starts, navigating through the menu icons is a bit strange when you are used to mid 90's technology, but you get used to it pretty quickly

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

I do lots of motorway driving daily to meet different clients. It has helped me avoid motorway blockages and find my way to new places - no mistakes down one way streets or dead ends yet. The arrival time seems accurate too.

I used my TomTom yesterday to travel to Ikea, which is a familiar route for me but I'm using it all
of the time. It was sending me a very long way round until I turned round and went the quicker way! It tried several times to get back to the other route. Not sure that would have been the shortest and quickest route?

We've used tomtom in our campervan to travel to Scotland. Travelled over 350 miles so far. Only one minor getting lost moment which was due to the postcode covering a huge area! But all in all
Impressed. DH finds that when there's two turns in quick succession that it does keep up very well. Will post a better report once back home. Still have another 350 miles to get there!

Before we tried this we had a Garmin and let me tell you the hours of frustrations I have had with that thing made me literally throw it out of the window, so I was very excited to try this

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

First impression was the size, it is quite large which is no bad thing. Very bright, it looks utterly fabulous and well worth the money they charge for it. I felt like James Bond while using this, unfortunately without the Aston Martin

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

It took a while to download all the updates, after that it is surprisingly easy. It seems to have an issue with my accent though, I have to talk like Joanna Lumbley to make it understand me. I now have it all set up with my regular haunts programmed in and as someone who is almost computer illiterate I found it straight forward to do.

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

Work, home, school, supermarkets and in the interests of trying something new I went to Ikea in Leeds ( I tried it once and got so lost I went back home again). I have to admit TomTom worked like a dream and I got there in one try and in record time.

Overall I truly love this new gadget, It has so far been extremely reliable. It's bright and attractive and above all easy to use. It doesn't freeze or freak out and try to make you do a U-turn for the next hour because you didn't go the way it commanded like my last one. The speed camera warnings are so clear it almost feels like cheating, and the traffic warning element has been a god send. I have been gushing to everyone I know about this and indeed have been recommending it to all. Thank you for the opportunity to test this, it's been emotional.

Wondering why I got an email the other day from tomtom asking me to activate tomtom traffic? I thought the particular model we were testing had a lifetime connection and I can see traffic hotspots on my device.......???

Hello, one bit of feedback from DH and I after driving some very long, winding, small back roads in Devon today.

TomTom doesn't show the direction you are travelling. Would love if there was a display/compass so you knew which way you are travelling. That way if something goes amiss, you'd have some idea where you are headed.

i got that message to and then the system crashed and update wasn't done.

I'm so pleased someone above posted about the charger fitting in the back of the holder, I tried to figure out how to charge mine today and couldn't get it in the holder with it charging with the cable underneath and just left it on the passenger seat in the end !

I hadn't had to charge it yet as my car was in the garage for nearly a week having a new clutch. It's been an expensive week but looking forward to using it again now it's half term.

What was your first impression of the Tom Tom Go 500?
Nice and compact and sleek looking with a large screen, it fitted nicely on to my windscreen.Much better than using the satnav on my phone

How easy did you find it to set up your Tom Tom?
Really easy to set up and I was able to use it straight away. I have had a busy couple of weeks but look forward to exploring online over the next few days.

What journeys have you made so far with your Tom Tom?
I have done the school run, my journey to the gym everyday and also work and supermarket shopping. Its absolutely brilliant and has taken me various routes depending on local traffic in the mornings. I am really impressed with every aspect of this sat nav.

I also had that email. I ignored it.

Tom tom didn't recognise a postcode today. It was also giving wrong speed limits again.

Finally got round to writing my review. Overall, we like it.

Daily use - Aside from the awkward placement of the "MyPlaces" list which for some reason is on the second page of the home screen, rather than the first page which would be preferable, the overall start up process is quick and efficient. The Satnav connects quickly and routing is almost instantaneous, the display is easy to read, and directions are clear and concise. Certainly better than our old satnav, which seemed to take ages to connect and find a route, particularly when we weren't starting from home.

My daily commute involves travelling either into the centre of Liverpool via the M62 or a journey on the M56 and M6, both of which the Satnav has handled with ease. The Satnav has provided invaluable assistance and alternative routing information especially when the motorways have been closed or badly congested especially during rush hours, which has been a recurring problem on the M56 lately. One particularly bad day 2 weeks ago, the satnav came up with an alternative route to get home, that I wouldn't have thought of and saved sitting in a completely static jam of traffic.

Pros:
Very good and efficient traffic updates
Excellent large easy to read screen with clear audio descriptions
The wind screen caddy is very high quality, securely holds the unit with a good quick release mechanism
The charging lead connects via the screen caddy for easy of unit removal
Good touch screen sensitivity
Easy intuitive set-up.

Cons:
The update process experienced multiple connection failures between PC and the unit. Very lengthy process.
The placement of icons is awkward with "MyPlaces" stored on the second screen and "report Speed cam" just where I'd swipe to move screen - I've ended up adding 2 new speed cams - one in our road (in the middle of a new build estate!) and one in my parents road! And I haven't worked out how to remove them yet, so the beeping every time I arrive home is annoying!
Lack of full physical user manual (only downloadable as pdf)

Overall the satnav provides a better user experience than using my phone which we'd been doing since our old satnav died, and the satnav feels well built and has a quality premium feel about it. Like others, I would have liked a case with it for the rrp.

I would highly recommend this satnav to anyone looking to either replace an older model or who is currently using their phone.

Whilst it has in the main been great, we have had 2 not great experiences in terms of bizarre routes:
Driving in Manchester at the weekend, it completely missed the exit to join the motorway (we blithely followed instructions, thinking it must know of some super alternative route) and then suggested we do a u-turn on a very busy A road!

And also at the weekend we'd been to a rural 'pick your own pumpkin farm' and i wanted to take advantage of close proximity to Ikea. I knew we could only be about 10-15mins away, but really didn't know the direction to take. The satnav took us down the worst unmade up road (think unadopted, potholed track through a field) and then 3 miles in a big circle, to practically end up where we'd started from, all because it sent us right out of the farm entrance instead of left. It was clearly conspiring with my husband in an attempt to keep me away from ikea!

Used Tomtom around Lincolnshire countryside yesterday. Rather frustrating as a lot of the turns off main roads which were on bends and actually straight ahead rather than turns (hope that makes sense, v tired!) did not get a spoken alert so I nearly missed them.

Experienced my first tomtom crash yesterday too (also in Lincolnshire) - the screen kept tracking my place but the vocal instructions failed. When I eventually turned it off and on again it had completely reset my zoom right out and my volume to 10% - would have been a pain in the arse had I been on a motorway.

That said, my north - South West drive today was lovely thanks to tomtom. Avoided most problems and planned a toilet stop in time when we knew we were approaching a delay. Marvellous.

runswithscissors ,there is a little arrow ( I think its top left of the screen) which shows whether you are travelling north/ south etc , my DH pointed it out to me - can't see it being much help to me but you never know .

First motorway journey today with the TomTom, after a few difficulties with trying to update the thing, which to be honest was probably down to me! Having messed around and personalised it and also downladed stephen fry finally ( great as a novelty factor but may start to grate on me after prolonged usage)
Cant fault its performance on the motorway (m3 and m25) feels very high tech and got me to my destination in a timely fashion. Am already recommending to friends who want to upgrade their current satnav. Thanks again mumsnet.

It helped me around Ikea Croydon today, took me on a different shortcut each way and we avoided the traffic. So that's got to be good.

I have been using TomTom now for a few weeks and have really enjoyed using it. I have used it for the school run,shopping trips, work and days out. I am still discovering new things about it everyday. I like the way it tells you the speed limit on the road you are travelling. I did have an issue with the voice control it stopped talking to me ,then I realised that I had put her on mute! This week being half term we have used it to take us shopping and have picked my daughter up from the airport. I have recommended it to my friends as I have found it relatively easy to use and a great aid to my driving.

Have also now been using TomTom for a couple of weeks and although I like it, I still can't get on with VR as it only recognises me once in a blue moon and I find it very distracting trying to cajole it in to action when I should be concentrating on driving.
It is nice to have but there is no way on this earth I would have paid £250 for it when I can download a free app on my phone (which is what I was using before I got TomTom) which was pretty good (even if it wasn't quite as good at finding alternative routes etc).
Am doing a long-ish journey tomorrow so we shall see how we get on...