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

• How have you found using the TomTom GO 5000 over the past few weeks?
• What did you think of the TomTom GO 5000 overall?

It's perfect for what I need, traffic and directions for short and long journeys. Really spookily accurate for motorway traffic jams and much better than google maps traffic (I used both at the same time).

• Would you recommend the TomTom GO 5000 to other Mumsnetters and/or your friends and family? Why?

I have already recommended it to my inlaws, who are considering getting one. It's so easy to use, that even they won't have any problems, as self confessed technophobes! The children have nicknamed it Mavis (no idea why), but they do a great sat Nav impression. I love the custom voices too. A great product which I will continue to use pretty much daily. I will post Amazon review too. Many thanks.

I put some more feedback on recently, but it's been brilliant.

Overall, it has saved me quite a bit of stress and made it far easier to get around in my new job than having to rely on my map as before.

It's also done very well in terms of getting to somewhere the fastest way. Something I wasn't really able to achieve before I had it!

Avoiding roadworks has been brill. I've had no tech problems or issues with batteries etc... it's all gone very smoothly. Updates haven't taken that long either - that may be because we have a new and very decent PC.

I think I still have some features to check out. Also, I've only done a very short motorway trip, so have not much experience of that yet.

I would certainly recommend it. I think it's fantastic. I've said it before, but I can't believe I got by without one for so long.

How have you found using the TomTom GO 5000 over the past few weeks?

For shorter/local destinations the TomTom has been fab. Touch screen was very responsive and directions were easy enough to follow. Once we figured out how to add routes getting about was made simpler.

However my husband struggled in London, when avoiding traffic jams it sent him on routes that actually took longer. And once sent him to a ferry crossing that was already closed.

• What did you think of the TomTom GO 5000 overall?

Overall my husband I both liked it, it would have been nicer to have clearer, more detailed instructions on just how to use it though.

• Would you recommend the TomTom GO 5000 to other Mumsnetters and/or your friends and family? Why?

Yes I would recommend it, it has been the best satnav that we've used, having the lifetime updates means you won't need to spend anything after the initial payment unlike other brands so worth the money.

Over the past few weeks it's been useful for a few longer journeys. Easy to use and impressively accurate!

Overall I've found it a pleasure to use. Does what it says it does. Easy to set up and use.

Yes and I've recommended it to my dad! Definitely recommend to friends and family.

• How have you found using the TomTom GO 5000 over the past few weeks?

I've found it very reliable and easy to use but have stopped using ut for short regular journeys now

• What did you think of the TomTom GO 5000 overall?

I like it a lot. It's easy to use, battery seems ok and it starts up quickly. I'm never sure if if will tell me alternative routes depending on traffic- some people have said it often gives alternative routes on the side but I've never had this even when stuck in traffic. No idea if this is a fault or if I always take the fastest route!

• Would you recommend the TomTom GO 5000 to other Mumsnetters and/or your friends and family? Why? Probably- it works well but the price and lack of case etc might put me off

• How have you found using the TomTom GO 5000 over the past few weeks? For my freelance job I travel a lot to places I have never been, I've loved how much easier it's become now I'm using my new TomTom. It's easy to use, you can pick up and put down the finctionality as you wish, so even my Luddite Dad can use it! :)
• What did you think of the TomTom GO 5000 overall? Fab, loved it.
• Would you recommend the TomTom GO 5000 to other Mumsnetters and/or your friends and family? Why? Yes, for all the above reasons. Ease of use, clarity of instructions and its as simple or as complicated as you want it to be. Though at the price it really SHOULD come with a case.

How have you found using the TomTom GO 5000 over the past few weeks?
Really good. I travel a part of roadworks where the average speed limit is 50 rather than 70 and I am very very impressed that TomTom tells me my average speed all the way through it.

Its not taken me any different routes due to traffic, but there has been no traffic

What did you think of the TomTom GO 5000 overall?
Easy to use, have now found Stephen so dont know where he was hiding. I like the clarity of the picture.

Would you recommend the TomTom GO 5000 to other Mumsnetters and/or your friends and family? Why?
Yes definitely.

Do we still need to leave a review anywhere?

When we first got the TomTom we were a bit puzzled by some of it's suggestions for local routes, bearing in mind that there are only 3 from our home to the nearest large town where my husband works.
On longer journeys it has been easy to program and use, the display is easy to read and adjust. We really liked Stephen Fry's voice giving directions but they didn't seem to be as comprehensive as the standard voice. On a trip along the M4 we ignored the traffic congestion warnings and got held up for an hour, we'll need to practice learning to trust the traffic info.
If we were in the market for a new sat nav this would definitely be on our list and we'd certainly recommend it.

How have you found using the TomTom GO 5000 over the past few weeks?
It's very easy to use, The colour options allow you to customise it how you like it and the added voices are a fun bonus. (I do find Stephen Fry irritating though ). The instructions are very clear and made in good time and even found me a short cut I knew nothing about which saved me an awful lot of accumulated time.

What did you think of the TomTom GO 5000 overall?
Overall it is a very nice piece of technology, it's very bright easy to use and everyone who has seen it so far has been impressed. It picks up traffic jams very quickly and quickly redirects you to a shorter route immediately. It has saved me so much time so far, I absolutely love it. Me and DH fight over it often. I win

Would you recommend the TomTom GO 5000 to other Mumsnetters and/or your friends and family? Why?
I absolutely love it and recommend it to everyone who dare even mention satnav's. I wax lyrical about how fabulous I find it. Only downside is the price, it is possibly worth more than my held together with hope and prayers crap heap of a car

Thank you for all your feedback smile

Here are the final set of feedback questions:

• How have you found using the TomTom GO 5000 over the past few weeks?
• What did you think of the TomTom GO 5000 overall?

I liked the sleek design. I had never used a satnav before and after a few test runs found it easy to use and easy to set up. It had lots of things we liked like the voice directions, your current speed and speed camera alarms.

• Would you recommend the TomTom GO 5000 to other Mumsnetters and/or your friends and family? Why?

I have already recommended it to my niece and son. My niece goes to football matches all over the country and I have told her that the TomTom 5000 would really help her out. I have also recommended it to my work colleagues as they all agreed that as they get older they prefer to know where they are going rather than driving around trying to find somewhere.

How have you found using the TomTom GO 5000 over the past few weeks? The more I've used it the more I like it. I use it now even on roads I know because it'll let me know if theres a traffuic problem ahead and give me a quicker route. Fabulous when I'm dashing around!

• What did you think of the TomTom GO 5000 overall? I loved it. It took a little time to understand the commands but the more I used the more I found any niggles disappearing. Its lovely having the larger screen and the other day we were stuck behind an hours traffic queue for an accident and it guided us home in the dark down unfamiliar roads perfectly! Beats peering over a map with the light from a phone!

• Would you recommend the TomTom GO 5000 to other Mumsnetters and/or your friends and family? Why? YES! Its easy to use, it greatly helps your journey even on roads you know! I love the holder! and I love the fact that it goes to sleep when the car stops moving. A fabulous satnav!

how did I find using it for the past few weeks

I have found it quite simple to use . We downloaded the instruction manual so if I have had any queries I can find the answers very quickly .

what did you think of it overall

I love the VR and it's very rare that I have to actually touch the unit at all . Unlike my previous Tomtom I am using it for practically every trip as the live traffic aspect and speed camera are so useful .I like the way that if I choose a different route it adapts quickly rather than just telling me to turn around .

would you recommend it to someone else

I would recommend it but TBH much as I love it I'm not sure I would spend that amount of money on a satnav , that said I am singing Serenas praises to everyone I know .
Once again ,thanks very much for for choosing me to test this product I have thoroughly enjoyed it and have some trips to London in the next few weeks where I'm sure it will be indispensable.

• How have you found using the TomTom GO 5000 over the past few weeks?

It's been pretty easy and intuitive once I had got past the first couple of days. I downloaded the Stephen Fry voice and have actually got on ok with it. The voice recognition just hasn't been worth the bother so after my few aborted attempts to use it, I have given up on it completely.
I am still supremely frustrated by the battery life - it is set to power down when the power supply is off (ie when I turn the engine off) but the in-car charger is obviously not enough to enable it to work and charge at the same time as I am having to take it indoors every so often and charge it off the computer. A complete pain as I normally forget to take it in and then realise that I have a flat TomTom when I really want to use it, and plugging it in in the car still doesn't give it enough juice to function.

• What did you think of the TomTom GO 5000 overall?

Overall, it's a marked improvement on the old generation TomToms - bigger screen, better graphics etc (and this one kicks in straight away whereas my old one could often take 15 minutes trying to find the satellites which was a bit useless if I didn't know where I was supposed to be going straight off). My gripes are the lack of case to put it in, the voice recognition that didn't really work and the battery life.

• Would you recommend the TomTom GO 5000 to other Mumsnetters and/or your friends and family? Why?

Probably not; although it has a lot of good points, it is still an expensive piece of kit for what you actually get, especially if you compare it to free apps that you can put on your phone (and which I was using before this trial). Yes, it's better than the phone app, but not £250 better...

I have found the TomTom much more useful than I expected. Quick and efficient. It hasn't once dropped the service.
Frustrations are mainly with the voice recognition. I think it's poor and the way it insists on 'number 1' rather than '1', for instance, is infuriating.

The search facility is fine for general areas or post codes, but far to detailed for other places. For instance, I put 'The Swan Centre' in to the search and it couldn't find it, despite the doing centre being there for many years. 'Whiteley Village' wasn't found. It was 'Whiteley Village outlet shopping centre'.

I have also found post codes not to be found even though they are certainly right!

Overall I have found it very useful for trimming time off of familiar journeys. The night view is excellent. The search could do with being less fussy and the voice control needs quite a lot of work.

Would I recommend it? Yes. I'm not sure I'd recommend it for the price given my budget-I'd use my phone - but if someone was not going to miss £269, it's a great gadget to have.

How have you found using the TomTom GO 5000 over the past few weeks?
Very easy and intuitive. Very simple to set up and use. It really is plug and play. I feel like I have been unable to provide much feedback because it’s spot on every time. I have no complaints re functionality.

What did you think of the TomTom GO 5000 overall?
Overall very pleased, great design and user interface. Although I did find the screen quite large, if I were to buy a Sat Nav it would definitely be a Tom Tom but it would be a four inch screen. It was my only real bugbear and I suspect I will keep using my existing and pass this one on to DH who doesn’t mind the size so much.

Would you recommend the TomTom GO 5000 to other Mumsnetters and/or your friends and family? Why?
Yes would absolutely recommend the Tom Tom Go 5000 or any Tom Tom product.

How have you found using the TomTom GO 5000 over the past few weeks?
We have really enjoyed it- dh and I have both used it a lot driving for work, and its been great. Yesterday I went to a site that I've been to a number of times and the 5000 suggested a very different route that was much better than my usual. The times have been spot on, unlike our other sat navs
What did you think of the TomTom GO 5000 overall? Great, theres a few small things that would make it even better, but the basic functionality works really well.
Would you recommend the TomTom GO 5000 to other Mumsnetters and/or your friends and family? Why? Yes, it gets me where I need to be, and works out how long that will be very accurately

What was your initial impression of the TomTom GO 500?

Smart, modern, heavier than expected (which is good as it means it is full of technology and cleverness). Eye catching when switched on, I love the bright colours and easy to view screen. It is clear, easy to read and see, this is important as it's best to keep looking at the road rather than the TomTom!

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

Easy once I knew what I was doing. As I had home/work/Metrocentre ( all the important places) set within in minutes. I found it a straightforward process and was pleased once it sprung into action, the screen is great...just the right size and the colours are vibrant and easy to read.

What journeys have you made so far with your TomTom?

From Durham to Gateshead
Durham to Newcastle
Durham to Manchester
Durham to Whitby
Durham to Whinfell Center Parcs

These are the bigger ones, I've done lots of local ones but have still used the TomTom just to see the routes it suggests.

My only gripe, and this is only because I want to give a rounded critique is that it should come with a case. It's an expensive piece of technology and it should be protected. I've had cheaper satnavs in the past and they have usually come with a case, even it was just a cheap sleeve. If I had paid for the TomTom I would have been disappointed that there was not a case included in the price.

Thanks to Mumsnet and TomTom for the opportunity to try this out, I wouldn't be without it now.

How have you found using the TomTom GO 5000 over the past few weeks?

Really pleased with the device, however I didn't get on well with voice control i got a bit frustrated with it not understanding but then again can't see I missing out on much, I simply set it for a place and let it do it's job.

What did you think of the TomTom GO 5000 overall?

I loved it, its easy to use and colourful, the screen is nice and bright and i love the life time traffic feature, therefore will always have a up to date product.

Would you recommend the TomTom GO 5000 to other Mumsnetters and/or your friends and family? Why?

Yes definitely, if you want an easy to use product that is plug in and go this is the one. It is good well made product make journeys faster. The instructions are clear. Does what it says on the box.

• How have you found using the TomTom GO 5000 over the past few weeks?

I have really enjoyed testing the TomTom, it was great to find some new routes to places I didn't know. Loved it that Serena told me what roads I was turning onto and where I was heading towards. (Or 'tords' as Serena says )
Stephen Fry lasted about 2 trips-he's very annoying.

• What did you think of the TomTom GO 5000 overall?

I liked it, the screen was large and clear and the touch screen easy to use. Still think a case would have been nice-even if just a cover.

• Would you recommend the TomTom GO 5000 to other Mumsnetters and/or your friends and family? Why?

Yes, I would recommend. Even to my parents in their 70s and a bit technophobic. Not sure about the price tag, or how it compares to other satnavs on the market though.

• How have you found using the TomTom GO 5000 over the past few weeks?

It's been brilliant. It's taken the stress out of the longer drives, and out of drives to unknown places. I've found it great to plan toilet stops on motorway services - I can work out if there are tailbacks on route, so we can have a wee at the next services if we are likely to be held up. The children have liked me talking to it, and DH has loved Stephen Fry but still wants Brian Blessed

• What did you think of the TomTom GO 5000 overall?

I think it's a bloody good product. It's clear to view, easy to use and as said above, takes a lot of my common stresses away. It's bold and colourful and it doesn't fall off the windscreen! The few issues I've had with it (a few crashes) have been minimal, and aren't anything different to what I would expect with any other satnav). I still wish it had come with some sort of a carry case though, and I do think that TomTom let their customer base down by not providing one for the cost of the satnav. Even just a soft sleeve would have been a gesture. I like the lifetime maps - they're a great feature and gives me confidence that this isn't one of those gadgets that will be outdated in a year's time.

• Would I recommend it to others?

Yes, and I already have. My parents do a lot of driving, including abroad and are in the market for a TomTom upgrade. I'm going to lend them "Stephen" for their next trip so that they can see how good he is, with a view to purchasing their own. Same with a friend who is also doing a few driving abroad holidays over the coming years. It just feels like it gives that much more confidence - particularly when roads can be closed suddenly because of roadworks etc and TomTom can pick it up so easily and divert.

Thanks so much TomTom and MN. I'm going to write an Amazon review in the coming days too.

- How have you found using the TomTom GO 5000 over the past few weeks?
It's taken a bit of getting used to, programming in locations and changing settings, but having done all that it's fast becoming indispensable for all but the shortest journeys. Certainly for any journeys venturing towards the city where traffic can snarl up unexpectedly.
I've been learning the various voice commands and necessary inflections to get myself understood and can now have quite an in depth conversation with Serena as I set up my route for the day! I've noticed that it's learning me too, as it often doesn't double check my destinations anymore.

- What did you think of the TomTom GO 5000 overall?
Aside from a few mishaps where it tried to take us down back alleys or on a bus only route, it's been very helpful and saved us so much time by choosing the quickest route out of a city that tends to get snarled up with traffic in rush hour. It's taught us several new routes to regular places that we didn't know before and it's made going to new destinations a doddle - provided the address data is right!

- Would you recommend the TomTom GO 5000 to other Mumsnetters and/or your friends and family? Why?
Yes. I used to think that Sat Navs were only useful for travelling to locations you didn't know when you're by yourself, so can't map read as easily. But having used the TomTom, the traffic alert system is so incredibly useful for everyday journeys as well as longer ones! It takes the stress out of commuting and saves precious family time.

• How have you found using the TomTom GO 5000 over the past few weeks?

I love it, I've never had a sat nav before and I can't believe how handy it's been and how intuitive it was to use. I use it everyday for commuting and it really takes the stress away when deciding on a route, just get in the car and do what I'm told!

• What did you think of the TomTom GO 5000 overall?

It was a lovely sleek bit of kit, nice weight to it, clear bug screen and very easy to use.

• Would you recommend the TomTom GO 5000 to other Mumsnetters and/or your friends and family? Why? Yes definitely I've been raving about it avoiding the traffic. It's so satisfying when I'm driving home and the local traffic tells me of delays Serena has avoided.

How have you found using the TomTom GO 500 over the past few weeks?
I've found it brilliant. I find it really easy to use and it gives me confidence when driving around that I won't get lost or that the traffic mode will give me some idea of how busy a journey will be which takes some uncertainty out of journeys. I have just realised I still haven't downloaded Stephen Fry but I'm happy with the voice I have chosen for now. Even my 6 year old loves the TomTom and likes it positioned where he can see it from the back!

What did you think of the TomTom GO 500 overall?
I like the look of it, it is really easy to use compared to an old TomTom that I was lent a while ago so I'm really happy with it.

Would you recommend the TomTom GO 500 to other Mumsnetters and/or your friends and family? why?
Yes I'd recommend it for all the reasons above really, the traffic function is great, it's simple to use, looks good etc. I have already been singing its praises to loads of people!

Thanks for choosing me, this was a great product to test!