- What was your initial impression of the TomTom GO 500?
It scared the life out of me and I almost dropped it! I accidentally turned it on when getting it out of the packet and it started making noises. Once I’d gotten over the initial surprise, I was impressed by the substantial build and the responsiveness of the touch screen. I was a little disappointed by the lack of case or sleeve for it, however. I’ve since made it a little pouch to protect the screen from scratches, with the added advantage that it doesn’t look like a satnav box.
- How easy did you find it to set up your TomTom?
I didn’t bother reading any instructions or watching the initial tutorial until later on, but I managed to get the TomTom to set up a home location and get started with programming a destination. So it all seems pretty intuitive! I later went back to read the instructions and watch the tutorial and learnt a few new tricks, so it’s worth doing.
The initial update took a long time, but I was anticipating that and did it during the evening. I kicked it off after dinner and it took until bedtime! My computer now regularly reminds me there is another new update, but I’m a bit confused over whether the 4 x per year is limited to map changes or updates? I’ll plug it in again anyway when we get the free voice code.
The holder in the car works fine, it hasn’t fallen off yet! Placing/removing the TomTom is very easy. I’d like an optional little sticky clip thing I could attach to the side of my dashboard to hook the wire into in order to direct it down one side rather than over the top of my control console, but that’s just getting picky.
- What journeys have you made so far with your TomTom?
Lots of rush hour journeys into and out of a big city centre, and last weekend we headed on a journey to a place we’d never been before that was about an hour away. Next weekend we’re making a 6 hour round trip over two days to a place we’ve only visited once, so it’ll be interesting to see the route it takes us for that!
For the commuting journeys, I can already see the efficiency of the traffic management – particularly for the evening homeward journey when traffic is particularly bad! It’s sent us a huge variety of routes, some more successful than others but usually getting us home about 5-10 minutes faster than before and much quicker on gridlock days! For that reason alone, I love it. 
Other comments:
Voice
Serena is generally pretty good and much better than some other alternatives, but she has an issue with ‘ey’ at the end of words that is getting a bit grating. For example we get “Wetherb-uh”, “Puds-uh” and “Burl-uh” instead of “Wetherb-ee”, “Puds-ee” and “Burl-ee”.
I like that it doesn’t shout “Recalculating!” at you when you miss a turning or otherwise ignore the instructions. It just quietly does it.
For voice activation, I’m getting the hang of it now but I have a looong dashboard so the device sits quite far away and I have to shout to make myself heard by it – not ideal with a sleeping baby in the back!
When I was on the motorway the TomTom would occasionally ask me whether a road works speed camera was still there, but it asked me after we’d passed it. Would be useful to ask a few moments earlier so I can see and have it possible to voice respond.
Controls
They all make sense, but I’d prefer to see “My Places” in the first menu or an 8 grid so My Places appears straight away, as that’s what I use the most and I have to scroll across at the moment.
I’d also like an easier option to set the number of people in the car. We have a few 2+ lanes near us and there is an option buried in settings about whether to use these, but sometimes one of us is driving alone and it’d be easier to have a quick option to flip between 1 person in the car to 2+.
From a parenting point of view, I’d like an option to ‘stretch’ a journey to fill the time available. i.e. I can add 5/10/15 minutes to the arrival time and the satnav can then direct me on a scenic route to extend the trip a bit, while still avoiding traffic. Useful for nap extension when you have a baby that insists on sleeping only when the car is in motion and wakes the moment that it stops!
Routes
On the whole, the routing has been mostly fine. However we did have a bit of a disaster in busy traffic yesterday where the TomTom tried to send us down a back alley! Back Burley Lodge Terrace (Leeds), for your information. It’s an access alley for the back of a row of terraces. You could barely get a mini down there if it was clear and it was completely blocked with peoples bins/bikes/etc stored outside their houses.
I’ve noticed as well that it’s not terribly good at judging traffic speed on the roads with 2+ lanes. We’ve tested it a few times and usually the 2+ roads are quicker and easier routes than the one it suggests, if you can use the faster lane.
The top and bottom of the M606 also had some issues. The bottom is missing a lane in the direction when you come from the West, making it a bit confusing about where you need to be. The top of the M606 meanwhile sent us round the roundabout to turn right, rather than using the empty filter lane that cuts underneath.
When Stanningley Road becomes Stanningley-By-Pass also has an issue. It says “Stay Right and Take the Turning” or similar, just as you reach the turning to Bramley on the left. Being a big dual carriageway, there is no junction on the right so it’s confusing about what it wants you to do!
Out of curiosity, does the TomTom take into consideration school locations when routing? I have a ‘2 sides of a square’ situation near my house, one side of which has a school but is a fractionally shorter route. I’ve noticed that TomTom sends me that side unless it’s school drop off or pick up time – even when there is no traffic.
Parking/Supermarkets
Paused at traffic lights, I attempted to use the parking option towards the end of a journey last week, expecting it to find the one (or maybe list a few options) at my destination and direct me there. What it actually did was zoom right out, lose my route and show me parking all over the city. Not what I wanted when I was still busy following the instructions! Fortunately I was able to follow street signs for a bit and DH cancelled parking and went back into the route guidance.
Could be we just need more practice on how to use it, however. Will experiment again next weekend.