I've spent the past few weeks picking out the "best" portable GPS unit. Features in particular that I was looking for are Text to Speech, MP3 player, FM Modulator (transmitter) and Blue Tooth phone capabilities.

I purchased the Garmin Nuvi 660 (about 4 Bills), Garmin Nuvi 680 (about 5 Bills), and the TomTom Go 920 (about 4 Bills) to sample with the intention of returning the other two. My ultimate decision was the Garmin Nuvi 680. This review will be, in large part, a comparison between this and Garmin Nuvi's 660 and 680, but here is my review of the TomTom Go 920:

MAIN PROS
The GO 920 is VERY FEATURE RICH for a relatively low price. It was (and still is) promotionally priced at Costco at $399. In terms of navigation and mapping options, it has FAR more alternatives than Garmin's Nuvi 660 and 680. The two main features that it has over Garmin are Voice Address Input (speak addresses and it takes you there) and Map Share (making corrections to maps as you're on the road to share with others). The Voice Address Input works better than expected. It asks you a city and after you name a city, it lays out a number of options that you can confirm by saying "One" or "two" or "Three" based on where the city falls on a list. If it misreads your words, you simply say "back" and you can start over. It has maps of Europe which for many, is a make it or break it feature. The search time of points of interests is VERY fast - I would dare to say that its twice as fast as Garmins. There were a number of points of interests that I found on the 920 that I couldn't find on the Garmin. Over time, I imagine that the 920 will have FAR more POI with the mapshare technology. Another feature that I LOVED about the 920 is that you have the option to change the keyboard from an ABC to a QWERTY which makes keying things in MUCH faster.

OVERALL DESIGN:
Overall, great quality product. The materials feel solid and expensive. In fact, it felt much more expensive and "polished" than Garmin's units. From a sleekness standpoint, its well-designed and relatively compact. I really liked the fact that the SiRF-Star III antennae was internal and doesn't protrude out like the Nuvi. One thing that Tomtom should have done is include some kind of carrying case. Tomtom even reminds you to take it with you every time you turn it off. The least they could have done is provide some protection for your device. Garmin throws in a nice leather case to protect your $500+ investment.

My main complaint about the design is the mounting mechanism - it's absolutely useless. The suction cup mounting unit is probably the most primitive system out there, and although Garmin uses a similar concept, they have a much more effective mechanical solution that results in a MUCH stronger attachment. Realizing that it would likely fall, I used rubbing alcohol to clean the suction cup and the window, AND I used water to between the surfaces to improve suction. It STILL fell off within 2 hours of use (thats not a gamble you want to take for such an expensive gadget). MOREOVER, the TOMTOM does not incorporate the traffic antennae or the USB charging device into the mounting unit. Once you hook the unit onto the suction cup mount, you have to proceed to plug in the USB cable and antennae on the bottom of it. When you're done using the 920 and you want to take it off, there is no "quick release" button or anything. You just have to pull it up off of the mount and then proceed to unplug the USB cable. Horrible design mounting design.

EASE OF USE
This was THE deal breaker for me. Unless you're pretty tech-savy, using this device is an absolute nightmare. There are 3 screens of the "main" menu. Under settings, there are 8 screens worth of options. If you want to access your phone book to make a call, you have to go through 4 screens. If you want to cancel your current route, you have to go through 4 screens. You can create a "quick shortcut menu" from the main navigation screen, but again, you have to program it to choose what you want. There are numerous options available in terms of navigating that Garmin lacks such as avoiding certain roads and providing alternative routes. Moreover, you can pick a host of multiple destinations and it will guide you to each one (although it doesn't calculate the most efficient route such as Garmin Nuvi 760). But these features are WELL hidden and not very intuitive.

QUALITY OF NAVIGATION AND MAPPING
In my tests of using both the Nuvi 680 and the Tomtom 920 together, the Nuvi consistently chose routes that made more sense and would consistently save anywhere from 2-5 minutes over 30-40 minute trips. The announcement of turns and directions were provided in time for you to change lanes or to prepare for turns (a problem that the Nuvis need to work on), but it seemed that the Nuvis would give more frequent directions. The Nuvis announce directions in on 3 levels ("turn in X miles", "turn ahead", and "turn"). The 920 would give directions as needed, but sometimes, its nice to have a vocal reminder because the screen display isn't that great. There is probably some feature to adjust the frequency of directions, but I couldn't find it. Reception on the 920 was good, but not as good as the Garmin Nuvi. The flip-out antennae, despite being a hassle and hideously ugly, is more functional and effective. Driving through downtown LA, it took the 920 an extra 30 seconds to grab a signal when the Nuvi took about 5 seconds.

The mapping image is done MUCH cleaner on Garmin. The 920 has a more "realistic" layout of overpasses, roads, and parks, but as a consequence, the text is smaller and harder to follow. You have a number of color schemes to choose from, but none of them are anywhere near as clean as Garmin's. You can't see merging roads and freeways as easily as you can see on the Nuvis. The 920 provides alot more information such as ETA, distance remaining, time remaining, current time, current speed, the distance until the next turn, and reception. Thats all fine and good, but when you're driving, trying to find a destination, Less is really more. You CAN, however, cut out some of this display options under settings (if you can figure out how).

MP3 PLAYER
It works. You can connect the 920 to your computer and move about 300mb of music onto it, but I would recommend using an SD card (I used a 2gb card, but I've heard you can use up to a 4gb). You have to create a folder titles "Mp3" on your SD card and put your music in that folder for it to work. It has a pretty good search function, looking for artists and albums. Nevertheless, Garmin's was much more "MP3 player-like." On the Garmin, if you paused it, you can turn the device off, and it would start off where you left off. On the 920, if you turn it off, you have to find the MP3 again and it starts off from the beginning of the song. Overall, the MP3 player works. I would say that its essentially a wash when compared to Garmin.

FM MODULATOR (TRANSMITTER)
I'm in Los Angeles where there are virtually no open signals. The best signals in LA are 88.3 and 88.5. The strength of the transmission is VERY weak (although comparable to Garmin). In fact, unless your antennae is in the front of your car or integrated in your windshield, this feature is likely to be useless. But if it does work for you, I would say that works pretty well. Compared to Garmin, however, MP3 volume is substantially lower. Changing between FM and Internal speaker takes about 4 screens, but you can program it off of the Shortcut list. The MAIN shortcoming of this feature is when you use your bluetooth phone. Basically - it was not designed to transmit your conversation over your car stereo. See Below:

BLUE TOOTH PHONE FEATURE
It took me a couple of tries to get my Motorola RAZR V3 connected to the 920. I had to turn my phone off and turn it back on to get it to work. Once it was connected, it worked fine. Accessing the phone on the device isn't as intuitive as the Garmin, but its functional, and again, there are tons of options. You can set it to pick up automatically, or after a few seconds. Sound quality is pretty good. The person on the other side said that that the voice was clear, but it sounded "small." BUT... HERE IS WHERE IT FALLS WAY SHORT OF GARMIN - if you have the modulator (transmitter) activated, the phone DOES NOT run the conversation over your car stereo speakers. It mutes the music/navigation, and it turns on the internal speaker on the 920. If you're going 80 mph on a freeway, good luck trying to hear what the other person is saying through the tiny little speaker. The Nuvis have a MUCH more integrated system where it mutes your music/navigation, and plays the other side of the conversation over your car stereo so that you can hear. Sound quality is MUCH better on Garmin.

TEXT TO SPEECH
On the 920, you have a number of options of voices. If you're willing to stick to "In a quarter mile, turn Left," you can select a "human voice" and the vocal quality is great. It really sounds like someone is talking to you (in fact, its a real person who is recorded). You can even program your 920 to use your own voice. If you want your 920 to speak out street names, you're going to have a hard time understanding what it's saying. It seemed like about half of the streets are glitchy where the voice COMPLETELY butchers the pronunciation. You can find a video on Youtube of someone making a correction for Mapshare, but as it is now, I would say the text-to-speech technology on the 920 is sub-par. The Garmin does a much better job.

CLOSING
Although it seems that I hate the GO 920, I actually things it's a great device. But when you're comparing it against the award winning Garmin Nuvi 660 or 680, it pales in comparison. The 920 has a number of creative options that Garmin doesn't even bother with, and with all of those options, the only way to put them in the device is to make a very elaborate menu system. But when you're dealing with a navigation unit that you'll be using while driving or while stopped at a red light, LESS IS DEFINITELY MORE. Ease of use becomes one of the most important factors when you have about 3 seconds to get to a menu and select an action. Had I never used a Nuvi, I would have loved the 920, but the fact is that Garmin figured it out alot better than TomTom.

Just got this. I was debating between this and the Garmin nuvi 660. A friend has the 660 so I figured I try the TomTom. In terms of navigation accuracy, it's pretty good. Locked in on a gps signal in seconds after turning it on for the first time; I was still in a covered parking structure. Location accuracy is good as well but it always depends on your location and environment (eg, tall buildings). The 920 always reminds you of what turns to make. Usually I'm reminded about two or three times. Depending on how fast you're moving on a city street, the 920 will give a final reminder approximately 2-3 seconds before the next turn. My favorite perks of the 920 is the remote control and the custom POIs you can create.

Let's first start with the Pros:
1. Desktop cradle included to link to your computer
2. Slim but not as slim as the nuvi 660 since the TomTom has a curved back.
3. No antenna to flip up like with the 660
4. Multipoint destination planning (660 has no such thing; it's included on the nuvi 760 but that costs way more and would be an unfair comparison).
5. Voice activation (doesn't work too well but at least it's included)
6. Bluetooth remote control included but TomTom could've created one that attaches to the steering wheel. Aftermarket car stereos have this very useful feature. (Fixed this problem with some velcro on the steering wheel. Yet, this remote is very handy and an undervalued accessory; no more reaching for the windshield to get to the gps unit. It also has excellent tactical feel. The buttons are laid out perfectly and have little nubs to distinguish them. I can skip forward/back/pause my music, increase/decrease the volume, repeat voice commands, and bring up traveling info directly via the remote.) You do have to re-sync the remote everytime the 920 is shut on/off. That takes about 7 seconds and it's pretty annoying.
7. Search addresses with zipcode. Strangely, the 660 won't allow searches by zip.
8. FM Transmitter is nice but only is good as the available frequencies. You can have the 920 play music and directions through your car's speakers. But, when you answer a cell phone call via Bluetooth, the 920 won't send the call through the car's speakers. It shuts off the FM transmitter and the 920's speaker engages. Very strange.
9. Far more options for taking detours and recalculating routes than the 660. Unlike the nuvi 660, you can block a road or a section of the directions and the 920 will recalculate an alternative, or just let the 920 automatically recalculate dozens of alternatives unlike the 660 where it recalculates only a few redundant detours.
10. Map Share via the included TomTom Home software allows registered users to share new POIs and map corrections. Garmin has no such thing.
11. You can edit and add POIs. I have many major retail POIs installed such as Best Buy, Walmart, Costco, Starbucks, etc. I even have a listing for redlight cameras and speed traps. You can purchase these lists from vendors on the internet or visit forums operated by TomTom enthusiasts that will provide POI lists for free. They'll even have custom icons for those POIs that show up on your gps. Or you can make it yourself. It's very easy. Officially, the icons can't be greater than 22x22 pixels (I've created ones that were 24x24 and they work). Also, the 920 allows you to create an audio warning/reminder anytime one of these POIs are near you. It'll read the exact title of the POI or you can record your own voice warning. You can also adjust how close you have to be for the 920 to give you that audible warning. I'm certain you can customize POIs on the 660 but I'm not sure if the 660 will read the POI to you.

Cons:
1. Windshield mount does not include port replicators (eg, car charging port). This means that you have to plug the car charger (mini-USB) directly to the unit. On the 660, it plugs into the mount so you don't have to mess with the wires when mounting/dismounting the unit. In addition, the mount only has one ball joint, near the attaching braket. The 660's mount has a ball joint near the attaching bracket and a hinge near the suction cup. With the hinge, you can move your unit up and down and eliminates having to remove the suction cup on the windshield to move it around.
2. Because of Con #1, the unit does not power on automatically when the unit is mounted and the car is started. 660 has this excellent feature.
3. Windshield mount fell off in the first five minutes. My 920 fell and I thought I broke it. I had it mounted near my rearview mirror. I know that the nuvi 350 I had before never fell off but that weighed much less than the 660 or the 920. I didn't use the included windshield mount but if I change my mind on the placement, I'm screwed. My friend doesn't use it on his 660 and never had a problem. I used some water (more like saliva) on the suction cup. I think that'll work.
4. No carrying case included. 660 has an included carrying case.
5. Voice recognition is very poor (that's for entering addresses verbally) and it's fairly limited. And voice activation is only for entering addresses within the same state last entered. You still have to press a button to begin voice activation or to change the destination's state. That defeats the whole purpose of voice activation, although TomTom's literature specifies it's only for address entering. Unsuspecting consumers, like myself and others, would think that voice activation would be a little more robust and logical.
6. Auto Dimming feature is way too sensitive. During a partly cloudy/sunny day, the 920 thinks it's night so it's in night mode. If I want to change it to Day mode, it asks me if I want to disable the auto dim mode. If I enter "No," it won't let me get to the Day mode. Hence, I have to enter "Yes" but then it won't automatically go dim when it's night time. The nuvi never had an issue on cloudy days.
7. FM transmitter is weak and volume is very low. Volume for the FM transmitter do not have separate settings for the MP3 player and navigation voice. Also, volume for the FM transmitter and the voice via the unit's speakers cannot be adjusted independently.
8. Quick access to the TomTom Jukebox (mp3 player) via the Music Button on the driving map has a caveat: If other menu options are selected for the "Quick menu preferences," the Music Button becomes the "Quick Menu Button." That means that if you select the FM transmitter or 2D display functions for the "Quick Menu," the Music Button becomes the "Quick menu preferences" button and the TomTom Jukebox button is grouped with the FM transmitter and 2D display buttons on the next screen. 920's manual does not mention this and makes it appear that the music button is always available in the driving map if you select the option.
9. Names of bridges are sometimes announced as "Branch" (Br). That's because when you allow the 920 to read road signs (another plus), the signs abbreviate bridges as 'Br' as opposed to 'Brg' which is written in the 920's maps. The 920 doesn't realize it's a bridge and that it's not a suffix to a street name (eg, "George Washington Br" (road sign) as opposed to "George Washingston Brg" (map)).
10. In Manhattan, New York City, some of the streets are incorrectly labeled such as Sixth (6th) Ave. You won't be able to find 6th or Sixth Ave because it's labeled as Avenue of the Americas. Officially, Avenue of the Americas is an alternate name but no one really uses it and most people in NYC wouldn't know which avenue it's referring to even though they've heard of it. It took me about ten minutes to figure out that Avenue of the Americas was the "preferred" listing. This is quite strange considering Seventh (7th) Avenue is listed as well as its alternate name - Fashion Ave.
11. Bluetooth remote has to be reconnected everytime the TT is turned off. This is annoying.
12. Bluetooth calls are routed to the TT's speaker instead of the FM transmitter when taking calls, even when the FM transmitter is activated.
13. The software is a bit buggy. Since Jan '08, I've had to reset the device at least 6 times because the mp3 player and voice recognition stopped working and POIs disappeared.

I've only had this for a day, so I'll edit this review if there's anything else to report. I'm only giving it three stars b/c I feel like it's missing simple features like a port replicator for the windshield mount and very poor voice recognition/execution. I purchased this from a warehouse club and not on amazon.

UPDATE
Nov 30 '07: edited the FM transmitter function, volume control, missing auto on feature, hinge on mount, poor auto dim feature, and misleading music button feature.

Dec 10 '07: Bluetooth remote functions and improved navigation via detour/alternate route functions.

Dec 12 '07: Custom POIs.

March 25 '08: Bluetooth shortcomings, mislabeled streets, and buggy software.

Edited 2/14/2008 TT Home reported a new European Map available for the TT920. So, in the process of downloading this I have some interesting observations.

1) A distinct TT advantage, and one I really hadn't thought much about since my 920 is only a few months old, is that Map Updates are downloadable. With Garmin you have to order a DVD. For my i5 it took weeks for the DVD to arrive.

2) But even more interesting than that is that the new Euro maps would not fit on my TT920. It said I needed to delete 110MB to free up enough space, but I didn't have 110MB of stuff to delete. So, now I thought I had a real problem. What I found out is that there is a feature in the TT920 that neither my Garmin 360 or Magellan 4250 have.

Specifically, I put in a blank 8GB SDHC card into the TT. I selected removable drive from TThome. I then downloaded the update to the TT DOWNLOAD folder on the HDD of my PC.

I then formatted the 8GB card to 4GB while it was inside the TT. I then went to Files on My Computer and ADDED the new Euro Map to the 4GB SD card. I copied the contents of the 4GB SD card to my HDD. I then removed the SD card from the TT and reformatted it to 8GB on my PC. I then copied the the contents on my HDD that I copied from the 4GB card to the 8GB card and inserted the 8GB card into the TT

3) At this point, TT920 recognizes Guam, North America and Western and Central Europe.

4) The real impact here is that I can hold 10GB of maps between the internal and removable flash. This is great news. On my Garmin 360, for example, if the North America maps exceed 2 GB, then you have to split the installation of Upper Canada and Lower 48 US. You can't just switch between them, you have to reload the maps. On the i5, I can drag and drop upper and lower maps, but again, can't have both on at the same time.

5) So, the SD cards on the two Garmins I have really serve no purpose for mapping and navigation, whereas on TT the SD card can be an extension of the internal memory. What a great design.

As you are probably aware, with the release of the 2008 maps, Many Garmin units ran short of internal memory to handle the larger maps, requiring the splitting of Upper and Lower north america. This is far less likely to happen on TT920's. SD cards on the Magellan are for backup only and custom POI's.
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Edited 2/9/2008 The i5 refurb is now $99. The Nuvi 360 is going for $249. Prices are dropping and this is very good!
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edited 2/7/08

Well, there is a serious problem with the TTx20's. This may be enough to take them off of your short list. I am debating what to do here. The situation has to do with address numbers. TT does fine with an address in the form of, say, nnn street address. Like 414 Janes Street. What it can't handle is any street number that has something OTHER THAN A NUMBER in it, like 55N123 Anystreet, Anytown, CO. There is no way to enter 55N123, because all you can enter are NUMBERS, not the letter "N". Now this might not be so bad, but I'd guess there are millions of addresses that either have a special character, like a hyphen "-" or a letter N, S, E, W, embedded in the street number.

Both the Garmins and Magellans referenced above, can handle the forms of address numbers that have alpha+numeric combinations. Others who have reported this to TomTom say that the problem is known, but there is no indication as to when or even if TT plans on fixing it.

So, if the TT920 didn't have that nifty Bluetooth Traffic feature, I would go with the Garmin i3... or the Magellan 4250. I can buy 4 i3's or 1.6 4250's for the price of 1 TT920. I should note that the TT720 has the same feature, but I got the TT920 for just about the same price as a TT720. The price has now gone up $90 on the 920 in the last 30 days.


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ORIGINAL REVIEW

During a recent illness I think I read nearly every review of the most popular GPS's on the market. I also have had the chance to use

Garmin i5, 200, 360, 550, 680.
Magellan 4050, 4250
TomTom 720, 920
Navigon 2100t

I bought the i5 for my daughter, the 200 for my mother, and the 920 for me. Different markets, different needs.

After reading all reviews and using these products I have concluded that there is a cult-like following for GPS's. There's the Garmin, TOMTOM and Magellan Cults. Probably the Mio, Sony, HP and other cults that I am not following as well. They will banter and chatter on the relative merits and demerits of the various technologies. In the end, the following summarizes my analysis of the comments and products. Note that for the most part when you look at the distribution of Positive and Negative comments, there is almost always a plurality of positive comments for all units. I attribute some of this to the Cult-Status of GPS's

1) They **all** produce goofy routes at times, but overall work about the same. If you had the choice of either having any one of these or not having anything, I'd take any of them. One needs to acquaint ones self with the manual in order to get all of the value out of the products. They all do some things in arcane ways, at times, so it may not be obvious how to make it do what you want it to do. Even the easy to learn Nuvi's have some cryptic functionality.

2) None of the maps are 100% accurate, but all are pretty good. I don't see a big difference between products based on Navteq and TeleAtlas maps, considering all the chatter that is written about Navteq being better than TeleAtlas. There are probably differences in maps, algorithms, routing engines, etc. that all play a part in determining the optimal route, but they all do pretty good on average and badly at times.

3) The best value for a basic GPS is the GARMIN i3 which can be had for $100 refurbed with 1 yr Garmin warranty. The i5 is about $130, also a great deal. If you have expensive nails (ladies) it's nice because it has a touch wheel instead of touch screen. It also runs on 2-AA batteries... slick.

4) For simplicity, the Garmin 200 series is great. Rechargeable, Garmin Lock, nice form factor, fits in pocket or purse. Handy when leaving car with a valet.

5) I really like the Garmin 360, nice form factor. Not sure if it's much better as a GPS than the 200 series, didn't do a side by side, but has SIRFIII and other features that the 2XX don't have.

6) For me, the TT720/920 offers a very nice feature, Bluetooth Traffic. I can establish my route without having to be anywhere near the site. Don't have to be near a highway with TMC FM Traffic. With TMC FM traffic, you must be near the FM transmitter in order to receive the traffic signal. Otherwise your GPS is no more intelligent, traffic wise, than a GPS without traffic at all. And by the time you get the signal and get stuck in traffic, it may be too late to realize that you should have left earlier. Since the TomTom Traffic is via bluetooth, there are no cables to buy or plug in. I can check the traffic in LA from NY. Therefore, I know what my current travel time will be and can adjust the time I need to leave accordingly. I can't do that on ANY other unit that I tried. Note: I couldn't get MSN traffic (680) to work in my area, and TMC traffic (Navigon) is pretty spotty as well. I should add that TTx20 also has TMC FM Traffic available as an extra cost option.

7) POI's are important, the more the better, and there is a BIG variation in the POI libraries of the different brands. Magellan's AAA tour book is very cool! You can pick a location and from the Tour Book, plan your sightseeing adventures, and then figure out how to get to them. Many of the tour book sites don't exist in other GPS's POI data bases. Also the 4250 comes with TMC Traffic cable, so there's no extra cost for that and the annual subscription is only $40. It also has route optimization. So this is a very nice unit and worthy of consideration, IMHO

8) TomTom has integrated with Google Maps. You can find a POI in Google Maps, save it as a Favorite in TTx20 and then convert the favorite to a POI. Basically put together your own Tour Book. It's nice, but it's extra work.

9) All of them let you import POI's from some sort of spreadsheet or comma delimited file that you create, but you need the Latitude and Longitude of the location to do that... big pain. But there is 3rd party software to do that.

10) There are a lot of 3rd Party POI lists that you can download and import in for all units.

11) Contrary to many reviews, all 3 companies have very good tech support. Like anything you have to be patient with people on the other end of the phone, and describing a GPS problem to someone can be hard. Also, some support people are sharper than others. I saw no major differences. Although I have been a Garmin customer longer than anything else, several years, and have always gotten very good support from them.

12) With Garmin, make sure you have the latest maps. All of the units I mentioned above qualified for the new 2008 maps, at the time, for no additional charge, although they didn't all ship with them. So upgrade if necessary.

Hawaii addresses, perhaps the majority, are of the form 46-047 Kamehameha Hwy. That s a bank. It's in the Points Of Interest that way. There is no "-" key on the TomTom house number screen. There's no other way to enter the address.

So I both called and emailed their customer service. The advice I got was to fax their USA HQ, which I did a week ago. Two faxes. No response.

Garmin and Magellan units have both the hyphen and space characters so entering Hawaii addresses is no problem at all.

Anyone living in Hawaii who is interested in buying one should know this. Also anyone who plans to visit here with their TomTom GPS will run into this as soon as they get out of the city centers which have the usual form of address, a number and a street.

I also learned how well TomTom customer service works. Do they have a fix for this problem? They haven't told me. Do they plan one? Or is it just going to be unusable in this state? They could confirm that.

Amazon refunded my purchase. I'm sorry that I couldn't keep the unit, but after learning it doesn't take addresses here it had to go back.

I tried a Magellan early in the fall. Didn't like the routing or the "hangs" so returned it. (Amazon has great service). I ordered a Garmin Nuvi 750 but didn't even bother to try a road trip. Routing from Hollister to Carmel CA it chose a route through some back roads that I know is very slow. Adding a via didn't help -- it took me through Monterrey and Pacific Grove on 68 instead of simply following 1. Routing a trip to Nebr, but going through NM, it wanted to route me to LA to stay on freeways. Adding highway 58 from Bakersfield fixed that part, but it then chose a really strange route to get to to that point. With enough messing around I finally got a good route. If I hadn't known how I wanted to get there, I might not have known how bad some of the choices were. (I use DeLorme Street Atlas as my standard) I got the TomTom 920 yesterday. It handled both of these correctly with no effort, and even gave the right choice for a route I used in the fall (Newport RI to Poughkeepsie NY)

TomTom 920 has plenty of features, and that might be a problem for some people. Yes, there is room for improvement in the user interface. (These companies apparently haven't heard of objective testing of interfaces....)

Voice recognition is more or less OK, but keyboard entry is as good as or better than others.

Update 12/25....

Voice recognition is actually very good. Routing is good, although "fastest" route isn't accurate because of the assumed 60 mph average speed.

The map quality is even worse than I expected based on feedback from others. On a drive from CA to NE via I40, I25, I76, and I80 I found that 3 out of 3 motels weren't in the right place, A Starbucks didn't even exist near the location selected, a retail site was off by over a mile. I did successfully find a couple of places, but more than a 50% error rate just isn't acceptable. It doesn't matter how good the routing is if it takes you to the wronge place.

I'm glad I bought this through Costco and can return it without a restocking fee. I'm lowering the rating to only two stars.

Let's back to the primary question: why should i buy the TomTom 920 Go GPS? Personally i do not really care about the MP3 player, the bluetooth features and all the fancy features all current GPS provides (if i want such features, i buy specific devices which provide an high quality for a given features, e.g., a real MP3 player). So i bought the device for one major features: THE MAPS! With the TomTom 920, if you travel in Europe, in the US or in Canada like i do, no need to buy extra maps, everything is included. And i check the accuracy of US, Canada and French maps, this is pretty good.

After that, i also had the opportunity to check few other features:
- Connection with the cell phone via bluetooth: it works just fine with my cell phone.
- MP3 player: works just fine too, the integrated speakers are not that good but who is expecting something else in a so small device? Moreover you can plug the device to your car music system if you have an input for MP3 player.
- Voice recognition to enter your destination: kind of useless, the input typing directly the address is so efficient that i do not see the interest of such a feature. Moreover, i do not enter addresses while driving (too dangerous), i always plan my trips in advance so it is not a problem to type addresses.
- capability to personalize the voice that gives you the directions: kind of fun. :-)

Therefore at the end, if you are looking for a GPS device with a maximum of maps (i.e., a real GPS device), this choice is i think the best choice currently available. Other features are fun but not that useful. If you do not need those maps, buy a cheaper device that will work as fine as this one.

Had the Tomtom 920 for one week for a trip from Los Angeles to Mammoth Lakes. Found 2 of my friends homes which Nuvi 650 had located on the wrong sections of streets. It did not find 2 business addresses correct though which really bothered me more as it drove me a mile away. Also had funny routes going back to LA that were not ideal. I bought it mainly for the voice recognition feature which does work well but as others found does not really save time, just hands on. I'm willing to give that up as I'm returning the TomTom 920 and getting another Nuvi 650 (had 2 stolen in a year!) for the following reasons:

1. Screen is not as bright/readable during daylight vs. Nuvi. Also TT has more stuff on the screen that takes away space from the map. This is a big complaint among many reviews I read. It helps to change the text to vertical so it's on the side but still bulky.

2. Too difficult to CANCEL Routes, I had to start a new route to find a Cancel button! Nuvi takes 2 taps to cancel. It was VERY annoying that Tomtom would not shutup when I made a detour...I had to shut her off.

3. TomTom's only included "computer voice" that speaks out street names sounds quite unpleasant, like a computer. Nuvi has a very pleasant voice, it has a big effect on a long drive;) TT's other voices are nicer, but don't read streets, lame. All of Nuvi's voices speak names.

4. Zoom out function is limited, could not zoom to see my whole state.

5. Cannot scroll map using finger like Nuvi, similar to google maps. That is a very nice handy feature I loved to use to see where my route was headed from the big picture perspective.

6. Maps/graphics just don't look as nice on TomTom as Nuvi, especially the night maps. Hard to say exactly why, but I miss my Nuvi after a week of TomTom.

7. After entering your destination, it asks if you need to arrive by a particular time. That is so lame, and I doubt most will use it, yet this step cannot be disabled. Nuvi is lame to ask which State each time so I guess they are even on having a forced wasteful step...

8. Estimated time of arrival is WAY off, way later...even my Grandma could make it earlier. Not just a by a few minutes but by over 2 hours on a 5 hour drive. Does it assume I am having dinner and stopping for bathrooms 5 times? Even within 20 minutes of arriving home it still estimates 30 minutes...Nuvi is VERY accurate given light traffic, and usually I arrived within minutes of the ETA.

9. The mount sucks, fell off once after a short while indicating I had not installed it properly. It's more difficult to remove vs. Nuvi, the angles of the unit are more limited, charging cable is in the way of dashboard.
I strongly suggest removing any MOUNT as well as GPS unit as my car was broken into in San Francisco just from leaving the mount on the dash, and hid the GPS which was found and stolen as well. The Nuvi mount is much nicer and easier to deal with.

I find it interesting that others called the Nuvi operating system "dumbed down" as I find it just right with a good balance of features, decent mapping/directions vs. others I've tried, nicest screen, mount, charger, hardware=a quality product. Not to mention significantly lower price recently at big warehouse stores and online auctions vs. TomTom.

In conclusion, if you have not used a Nuvi before you would not have another standard to compare TomTom with. Most of my issues would not be as relevant as you wouldn't know what you're missing. I actually really like the voice recognition feature and it worked really well for me. It's a big deal to give that up to go back to Nuvi 650 for now, until the future Nuvi's with Voice Recognition come down in price. The 650 is nearly the same GPS as the much more expensive 660/670/680 but without Bluetooth and Traffic which for me is a gimmick anyway as Bluetooth cannot pull out the ADDRESS of my contacts and I don't use speakerphone or need another device to control my phone...I see google traffic on my phone (PocketPC XV6700) so I don't need to pay the extra yearly fee for Nuvi Traffic. The 650 just dropped significantly and is one of the nicest GPS Navigation systems I've seen and used. I have had experience with 5 other brands and none were as nice as the Garmins. If you intend to just use a GPS for GPS use, the Nuvi 650 is a great choice. Physically they look/feel nicer than Tomtom.

I was in search of a simple to use GPS with a wide screen for my Wife.Never had owned a GPS I searched for reviews. The Tomtom 920 being new had very few reviews,some were deceptive. I've used it for the last month and beside one address problem( I mistakenly entered the street on the North side of a road when it was actually on the south side)have had no problem. The voice command amazed me that it could repeat and find difficult sounding names. I like the Web update function and the remote control. The European maps I appreciate very much since I travel the Western European roads twice a year.The Battery life is around three hours. I tried charging it for 24-48 hours with a total discharge several times, but it did not improve the run time.

I upgraded from TomTom One (2nd edition) to the TomTom Go 920. I have also used the JD Powers award winning line fit Navigation System on the Lincoln Zephyr.

The main reason why I was sold on TomTom GO 920 vs Garmin or Magellan was for the following:
1) TomTom offers Map Share Technology that allows you to get map updates more frequently, also POI database can be more up to date and you can create your own POIs on the fly. Magellan and Garmin do not offer this killer feature.
2) After using the remote control on the GO 920, I will never go back to a PND that does not offer it. The remote control is a back saver. You can control almost 95% of features remotely. I don't believe Garmin and Magellan offer blue tooth remote control

Pros:
1) Map Share Technology: To my knowledge only TomTom offers this type of technology. It allows the ability for the user to add POIs on the fly, make map corrections, plus a variety of other options. For me personally, this is what sold me on the TomTom 920, the ability to get the freshest data. For other systems, you may need to wait up to a year to get a new map data
2) Remote control: I don't know any other PNDs that offer remote control. Remote control is very well designed and easy to use. Because my PND is located a little outside of arms reach, this remote is very valuable to me. It prevents me from over extending my back trying tor reach the touch panel.
3) Voice Address Input: Fom the various address locations that I tried it worked 100% of the time. Only searched in Michigan and Minnesota and the location that I pronounced was alway the top choice under filtered list
4) Connectivity: Allows PC connectivity to get frequent updates, new voices such as celebrity voices, upload pictures, documents and music. You can also add contracts to your phone list by editing the file.
5) I like it how fast it provides a find button to search your favorites location, this saves a lot of time
6) High configurable (can create quick menu or remove some of the options)
7) Ability to plan route via Google Maps


Things to improve on:
1) FM transmitter: Very week FM signal compared to other FM transmitters. I normaly listen to my radio at the volume set at 10 (max is 30). When using the FM trasmitter to listen to iPod I need to set the volume to 30 to sound about the same. 1/3 of the sound level.
2) Internal speaker volume on TomTom One was louder than the one on Go 920
3) Why only Voice Address Input? Why not add a Voice Recognition engine to control all the features?
4) While POI is displayed on the Map with Generic Icon, would be very helpful if information could be about that POI at the touch of the screen, rather than going to map explore mode (this feature is available in the line fit Navigation System in Lincoln Zephyr)
5) Cancel route button should be on main screen and dynamically appear if route is active. Why in the world do I need to go through 2 screens to cancel a route?
6) Once final destination is reached, route guidance should automatically be cleared, have to this manually
7) Suction cup sucks. If I don't put spit on it, it will fall down. Need a design similar to Navigon's or Garmings where you don't need to spit on it for it to stick for good on the windshield
8) No carrying case included

I read and heard comments that Garmin and Magellan in general provides better voice guidance and shorter routes compared to TomTom. Living in the Detroit area, I can say that the different routes I have tried with TomTom, it provides a very acceptable route. I also took this unit to Orlando, Florida and Naples, Florida and it worked well over there.

After waiting two months for my TomTom 920, it finally showed up. While there are lots of good features about the unit, there are enough disadvantages to make you think twice about purchasing this unit.

As with another reviewer, I live in Hawaii. As he described, the unit does not work for Hawaii-based address formats. I contacted e-mail support and this issue and within 24 hours they responded with the following:

"Thank you for contacting TomTom Customer Support regarding addresses in Hawaii. Unfortunately there is no work around or fix for this yet. We have been getting a lot of feedback about it though, so hopefully the software designers and map database people will add a - button or at least allow all five digits to be entered, but we don't have any information on whether they are working on this issue."

So they know about this major flaw, but apparently Customer support and Developement don't talk to each other.

Another major disappointment is battery life. While I intend to use the unit in the car most of the time, I also wanted to bring it with me when walking or touring with me. The battery life is advertised at 5 hours, but I can barely get 2 hours out of it.

The Point of Interests in the unit, as least for Hawaii, is incomplete. For example, the brand new Queens Market Shopping Center in the Waikoloa Beach Resort area in the list, but the Kings Shops Shopping Center, which is essentially across the street and has been there for years, is not listed as a shopping center. I also noticed gas stations and tourist lookout points that appear in the maps, but don't exist in the real world. Also, I noticed that a lot of resturants were not listed.

The touch screen is a little hard to use, especially when you want to zoom in and out the Browse Map section.

I really want to like the unit, as it has many nice features (see the other reviews and the feature list), but until TomTom can update their software, I can't recommend it to others.

Keep in ming this is the second 920 I have had, we sent the first unit back to amazon because we thought it may be defective, as it turns out we are having the same problems on a completely different unit.


Using this on my first long distance trip mount fell off windshield several times. It was mounted after I cleaned the windshield with rubbing alcohol so no excuses for this one except cheap mount. Voice prompts just stopped working as did the FM transmitter and blue tooth. All sound just stopped. My wife called support during the trip and they were unable to fix this issue. after several hard resets it started working. Updated to latest maps using the "latest maps" guarantee and they don't all fit on the units internal memory, have to buy an additional SD card and move Europe or the USA map to it. We will be driving and the map will randomly show unable to write map data file access error.

TOMTOM just updated the application that makes the unit run to version v7.480 this version removes the ability to plan itineraries with the TOMTOM HOME application. I called support and they said they had to remove this function, but they could not tell me why.

I spent 16 days in Europe with this unit and when I switched to the European map I was prompted "The Computer Voice is not available for this map." Which means no text to speech, even though I kept getting this message every time I turned the unit on it seemed to function ok. I called support yet again and was told that I had to use a non English voice so when in France use a French voice. The only problem is I am not fluent in French so this seemed insane to me.

Overall I would recommend do not buy this unit, wait until the memory and map size issue is resolved so you don't have to buy an addition sd card. Maybe by then they will resolve the many many many many software glitches.

Used this device in Spain. Very disappointed, Did not have any of our hotels in its POI. Does not have a grocery dtore in its category list. Not very easy to use. Am going to return it.TomTom GO 920 Portable GPS Vehicle Navigator

I purchased this GPS unit in anticipation of taking a European vacation, in that it includes mapping of all of Western Europe including Hungary, in addition to complete coverage of North America. Not many other GPS devices, if any, offer such comprehensive mapping without having to buy supplementary chips. Apart from entering itinerary info for my forthcoming European trip, I have not yet had a chance to test out its accuracy and performance overseas. I have, however, given it a trial within the US, with extremely satisfactory results. The unit is easy to program and to read, with an amazing number of special features and user options.
Spoken directions can be dialed in a number of languages, with a number of different voice styles available among American English alone. The POI catalogue is exhaustive. User preferences can be set for every imaginable variable. The unit can be enabled to receive traffic advisories and it can be made to play music, audiobooks and to display photographs. Bluetooth-enabled phone calls are possible. In sum, it is a consummately well-engineered device. My previous GPS experience was with a factory-installed dashboard unit from Chrysler's Navigation Technologies Corporation. The Tom Tom GO 920 is vastly superior in virtually every respect. Detachable from the car, it can guide you even when you are on foot in a strange city.

I recently purchased the TomTom 920 and thought was the 920T model and it wasn't. The difference is: The TomTom GO 920T includes a RDS-TMC Traffic Receiver in the box and a year subscription to TomTom's traffic service. You can also purchase the traffic kit separately for other TomTom GO and One devices; price is $129.95 and $24.95 for yearly service subscription. I completed all of the updates from the TomTom web site and had to to go on a business trip; I was more than half a mile off from my hotel; I also was directed to take turns on roads that do not exist or u-turns into barriers on the Hi-way. Amazon.com or seller do not offer extra warranty coverage. This is my first GPS and do like it; I just hope TomTom can fix the mapping errors.

In the weeks prior to my purchase of my TomTom, I spent countless hours reading reviews and reccomendations of many, many different brands and models.

Ultimately, my choice came down to either Garmin, or Tomtom. While I cant speak to the Garmin, I can say that I am quite pleased with the TomTom 920. The mapping is excellent. Small, un-named roads here in the North Georgia Mountains are often listed, much to my surprise.

I love the hands-free, bluetooth hookup with my cell phone, but moreover the absolute best feature is the ability to add, and edit new roads, via tom-tom home.

I love it!

Was on hold for over 2 hours waiting for customer support...but no luck. Tomtom after sales service is quite appalling. I need to download HK and Singapore maps via TomTom Home and it just will not accept my credit card. Have checked with my bank who tell me there is no problem with the card and have made purchases all week, but for whatever reason Tomtom does not accept it. And if you try calling Tomtom customer service, you are left on a never ending hold. Arghhh!!

High quality, very attractive unit. Well made of quality materials. Looks right at home in my car. Very luxurious European looking GPS. TomTom is based in Europe in the Netherlands and the European quality shows.

Very user friendly and easy to use.

Excellent maps of the entire USA, Canada, Guam, Europe. The first time I hooked mine up it automatically downloaded and updated the maps to the latest version over my broadband Internet connection. The detail is very nice with building footprints ( in major metro areas, including here in Albuquerque ) and color shading. Routing accuracy and speed has been very good.

The MapShare feature is really cool. No other GPS manufacturer has it. Sorry you Garmin owners ! You can send and receive map & POI updates with other TomTom users over the Internet and keep your unit very current using the free TomTom Home software. You can build and maintain POI's right on the TomTom too or create on your PC and copy over to your TomTom. Thousands of POI's can be downloaded for free from TomTom user forums on the Net and copied over to your TomTom.

This unit has 4GB of internal memory and I put in my 8GB SD card giving me 12GB of memory for maps, music, and photos.

Windshield mount is simple and holds on well if you slightly moisten the suction cup first. Mine has been on for weeks now. The desktop cradle is well made and looks nice on my desk.

I am looking forward to taking it with me on our annual road-trip in Europe this spring.

I contacted TomTom tech support a couple of times with questions and their help was great. There is also the excellent TomTom user forums out there on the Net.

I highly recommend it.

I was using a nuvi 660 and decided to try the tom tom 920. This is what I have found.

(1) The driving instructions are not as clear with the Tom Tom 920. The tom tom doesn't always voice prompt how many feet or the street name so I find myself having to look at the screen to figure out what to do. The nuvi always has a prompt such as turn left on in so it is always easy to know what to do

(2) The tom tom is much harder to use than the nuvi, but I believe it does have more options so maybe that is why (although I just may not have tried to find them all on the nuvi). You can just startup the Nuvi and pretty much figure it out (my mid 70's aged parents did anyway), but I had to play around with the Nuvi to get started (I work in the computer industry so I'm usually pretty good at figuring things out)

(3) Although the Tom Tom advertises that you can pick from several voices, the only one that will voice prompt the street names is the computer generated female voice. It took alittle bit of effort for me to figure out why I wasn't getting those street names.

(4) I took my Tom Tom to NY with me and it "blank" screened on me when I turned my car off. I couldn't get it to go back on until my daughter thought of pushing the reset button. That worked, but most people probably would have just thought it was broken.

(5) The Tom Tom seems to route me through town whereas the Nuvi seems to get me on freeways. I have the tom tom set to default to "fastest" route and there are not tollroads here so I'm not sure why it takes me through streets with lots of lights before finally putting me on the freeway.

(6) The Tom Tom seems to have more POIs which is very helpful

(7) The Tom Tom works with the bluetooth on my cell phone (a Moto Razr) better then the Nuvi (the Nuvi worked, but I was always losing my connection)

(8) The Nuvi display seems to be better. I never had trouble seeing anything with the Nuvi during any lighting conditions, but did have trouble with the Tom Tom when the sun was shining into my car from the back (so was hitting the gps unit).

I think that I'm going to send the Tom Tom 920 back and get one of the 700 series Nuvi instead. I find the Tom Tom somewhat frustrating in the way it provides directions and I think that is probably the most important thing (although I do think that the better selection of POIs with the Tom Tom would be very helpful)

While this device has some positives, the biggest disappointment is that the maps are clearly many, many years old. This becomes evident at unfortunate points in time, e.g., two weeks ago when I was attempting to reach the car rental location near Philadelphia airport, Tom Tom led me astray (after telling me to exit the highway on a non-existent off-ramp into a field) into a rather seedy neighborhood.
br /
br /I was very near my destination it turns out, but after Tom Tom realized I was lost it rerouted me into a traffic jam on the highway (fastest route does not take into consideration time of day/highway rush hours) instead of the mile or two through back streets. After I took the first exit and used the "avoid highways" route, Tommy got it. Luckily I still made my flight.
br /
br /Another example is that the Tom Tom 920, sadly, isn't aware of the traffic routing in Manhattan since 9-11. I wasted 45 minutes going in circles because Tommy wanted me to go through streets that have been closed off since that sad September day.
br /
br /I suspect that Tom Tom loads the old maps on the device intentionally so that, after your frustration mounts, you will pay the $50+ for the "update" for one map region - which is pretty steep considering this device costs so much new.
br /
br /Russian, Slovak and other Eastern European maps are included in the Western Europe pack, but for some odd reason Greece is not.
br /
br /Other than this major shortcoming(the maps), the device functions fairly well and the menus etc are reasonably intuitive (although after 4 months of use I recently discovered the shortcut to the volume - which I previously thought was only accessible in the 4th sub-menu. Trust me, it's not obvious).
br /
br /There are other quirks, for instance, the American voice actors didn't record the words "meter" or "kilometer", so even though you switch to metric (e.g., when in Europe) it still says "miles" and "feet" even though it is written "meters". Confusing, and could have been easily avoided.
br /
br /The touch screen is nice, the display is nice, and about 80% of the time the maps are accurate - consider how much the roads in your area have changed since 1999, and that's what you'll get.
br /
br /Still not sure why they didn't include a "scenic route" option, it would have been a nice addition to the "avoid highways" etc., choices.

I'got previously a Viamichelin (many mistakes and long time to acquire gps) and now Viamichelin has left the gps market (no more support, no new maps). I tried Mio (no comment, forget it, you will never be able to read the screen on sunny days). I finally go to Tomtom in order to get North American and Europe maps. Good product, very short waiting time for gps acquisition, accurate and precise. I've bought the 920. Important things to mention :
br /- after updating a 920 with v8 maps, you have got a 930 !
br /- if you buy the T version (with TMC) in US, your antenna won't work in Europe and vice versa. If you want to use TMC on both sides, you need 2 antennas (which are physically identical, so don't mix them or it will be a mess !).
br /- I travel a lot. I can use it in Singapore, Hong-Kong, Australia etc. but you don't have maps of Mexico and Malaysia (that Garmin has). It's a pity.
br /- remote control is a gadget except if you have a very big car...
br /- no home charger, no case provided. It's a pity.
br /- software is very simple to use. You will never be lost !
br /- some map mistakes, but very good improvements with map share. These improvements are depending on the size of the community : in Europe, maps are perfect due to the large number of users (TT is #1). In US, maps are perfectible and it will take some time which could be short if their products are well sold. No need to buy an updated map, sounds good !
br /- bluetooth hands free works very well.
br /- voice recognition exists but forget it (gadget which doesn't work while driving).
br /Conclusion : quite perfect, reliable, always working (no bugs)... Only one improvement for future : Mr Tomtom, provide more maps, please !

Great GPS unit it has a long list of features and maps for more then just the USA. Everything is pretty easy to understand and use. Screen display is bright.
br /
br /Voice entry is hit or miss, short list of cell phones that will use all features (can not get it to read my text msgs) Does not include a carry case for the price it should.
br /
br /Overall I would tell anyone looking for a GPS unit this is a good one even as good as the newer model that just came out (the 930)

Overall very satisfied with the GPS. Handsfree calling is good quality. Map has some minor issues but I'm hoping mapshare will fix those eventually. Similar issues were found in Garmin as well (don't know how I could have fixed in Garmin).
br /Pros: TTS - as crapy or good it is, its still comparable to Garmin Nuvi750. choices of different color schemes (can have your own or download from web). Lots of points of interests (Garmin also has) can download more from web (don't know if you can do that for Garmin). Lots of Flexibility of customizing the GPS to your preferences. This may also be somewhat confusing to user with non programming background.
br /Cons: Cannot see distance travelled. I think this is one of the nice features that Garmin had, there was a separate window in which you can see current speed, distance to destination, distance travelled max speed. TomTom provides other features but doesn't provide distance travelled which is the feature I would like to use if I just went out for a run or biking to see how far I'm since started.
br /
br /I recently used it for 1500 mile roadtrip and was very useful in finding tourist interests, food places hotel locations. Overall I would have rated this product 5stars if I didn't know Garmin Nuvi750 as well. But Nuvi750 would have been 3stars compared to TomTom GO 920.
br /

We purchased the TomTom because it came preloaded with maps of Europe. Little did we realized how useful it would be here in the US! We have had a Garmen navigator for 3 years now and use it often. The TomTom is so much more and gives us much more info -- we even found our car's speedometer was a little off since the TomTom tells us how fast we are traveling. Wonderful product!

After much deliberation I finally decided to get the TomTom Go 920 w/ the and here is my review. I put the TT Go 920 up against my buddy's Garmin Streetpilot c550 on our ski trip to Vermont. My TT came with software v7.220 with the 700maps.

Go 920 and its features I love...

-The remote makes using the unit about 100% easier when having to do stuff on the road.
-POI's near my current location feature (Not on the garmin, as far as my buddy could tell.)
-Smoothness of the tracking on the maps.
-Horizon view shows an extremely accurate view of the roads coming up.
-Rock solid window mount
-Auto night mode
-Superfast (re)routing
-Great speaker
-Notify me when certain category of POIs are coming up.
(In downloaded a POI list of all brewerys in the world and through it on and set a warning for Homer Simpson's "mmm, Beer" to play. However I would love to be able to tap the POI icon as it comes up in the map or in the right hand corner when it blinks and have it give me the information about that POI. Not details, but just the name of it. In order to see it you have to go to menu, POIs near me, and then (in my case) click the brewpub category.

Things the Garmin did way better than the TomTom...

-TTS on the Garmin was much better than that of the TomTom. (I tried both Kate and Susan) Example... when on I-91 the TT would pronounce it nah-eee-n-tee-one. When approaching any bridges the TT would say Brooklyn Branch or Triboro "Branch" instead of bridge. Come on now. Also, the Garmin would read to you the POIs name to you upon reaching it.
-Actual directions. The Garmin would warn your earlier about when to get over to the exit and actually say the exit number to get off. "Exit ramp at Exit 14 (exit name)" opposed to TT's "14 (exit name)"
-Tell you which side of the street your destination is on.
-The Garmin would actually warn you when your battery was getting low, the TT just stops and shows the battery low screen.
-When waiting at light with the road we are supposed to turn on in front of us leaving a shopping center the TT would tell me I was already on the street I should be on, where the Garmin would show us perpendicular to the road we were supposed to turn on.
-Sign notifications were easier to read. The Garmin would show you your next move prominently on the screen I-89 to I-91

Other things I noticed about the TT

When trying to route from Burlington to Smugglers Notch (our ski resort of choice) the TomTom tried to take us on a road that is closed during the winter months do to snow. I tried to mark the road as closed but it told me it could not. I presume this was because we were driving on the road for a good 20 miles already and couldn't just mark a section of it closed to upload to mapshare.

I just couldn't get my Blackberry 8700 to pair up for data on the TomTom, no matter how many settings I have tried. Handsfree pairing was a breeze though.

Now for a weird anomaly which I am not sure if other TT users have reported. I noticed that if I had my TT unplugged and about 5 minutes before the low battery screen would come on, you would start hearing weird cracking sounds coming from the speaker. Almost like there was an electrical short. Like the sound of unplugging one end of a speaker cable from the source and touching it to metal. Normal? I don't think so...

Oh yeah, what the heck is Car Preferences? It's always grayed out in the preferences screen.

Notes: I have done the same exact trip many times, however this was my first GPS assisted one.

If you think you wont like the TomTom maps because it doesn't anti-alias like the Garmin does and its maps have less detail, DO NOT worry. I got annoyed by the extra roads at times the Garmin would display. (You can always reduce the level of detail on the Garmin though.) Surprisingly I like the map view on the TomTom much better than Garmin's.

Bought the 920 specifically to minimize squabbling with the "co-pilot" on a road trip around Italy. I like to take the "scenic routes" which usually mean taking the backroads and which can be a nightmare for the navigator. The maps seemed very accurate and the 920 performed beyond our expectations. No stress, very little worry and a very pleasant experience was had by all. We became so trusting that we just accepted "God's" (a downloaded voice) directives, though from my human perspective, he did get it "wrong" a couple of times. The screen is a tad small for my eyes and, if not hidden away from most of the sun's dashboard glare, can be a bit difficult to view. Otherwise a very smart purchase.

Overall the Tom Tom 920 is easy to use and accurate. The map however needs to be updated as I found one street not on their map. Also, it would have been nice if they had supplied the full user's manual with the product rather than have you download it from their website.

GPS was delivered with in 1 week of the order. Product was in perfect condition.

This is a wonderful product for anyone, who has to drive and is always using a map or an older GPS system. It is so easy to use. Several things, I like about it is the ease to find locations, the abilty to make corrections, not that there are a lot errors and the ways you can custom set up the unit to your liking.

My reason for buying TomTom Go 920 was simple: I was going to Europe and it came with the maps of both Europe and North America. If that is the reason you are planning to buy this unit, get ready for an unpleasant surprise: the map comes in with an older version (715) of European map. As soon as you try to update it to the current version 722, you find out that the internal memory of the unit is not enough to accommodate this new European map along with the North American map!

And if you try to call the customer service, they will simply insist that both maps should fit the internal memory! I spoke to several tech-support people followed by a "higher-level" technician but to no avail. They promised to call back or e-mail me several days ago and I have not heard from them.

If you ignore this main disadvantage, then the maps are crisp, blue tooth works like a charm and the device is full of nifty features like MapShare and interface with Google maps. However, the FM transmitter is very weak, making it practically useless and the device does not come in with a carrying case.

Pros
Good price
North American and European maps in one device (but see below)
MapShare
Interface with Google maps
Strong GPS receiver picks up signal even while indoors

Cons
Either you live with an older map of Europe plus North America or you have up-to-date European map without North American map.
Weak FM transmitter
No carrying case
Poor tech-support

Note: Device internal memory is 3.76 GB. The new European map is about 1.9Gb and so is the North American map. The device also needs application files, making the internal mammary insufficient. However, tech-support simply does not seem to understand (?admit) this simple math.
I found a way around this by buying a 4GB SDHC card and putting North American map on Internal memory and European map on the card.

This GPS, like all other GPS devices, has its own pros and cons. I believe for the price tag, it could be better. First, the pros:
- Great screen and neat map display
- Tons of points of interest
-Voice-activated address entry
-Quick satellite pickup.

Cons:
- Very questionable routing most of the time
-Map is not up-to-date. Tried to get to an address in Elizabeth, NJ. Took me two blocks away from the exact address. The address has been there for over five years. MapShare is not as good as you think it is. I corrected this particular map error in MapShare and tried to navigate to that location. Although the map shows the correction, the GPS still wants to take you to the mistaken address it has in its database. So, you can correct a map error but can't navigate to it. What use is it for then?

-For some reason I don't know, it doesn't understand some addresses: e.g.it doesn't know the address for Ikea in Elizabeth, NJ. The address is 1000 Ikea Drive. The GPS doesn't know Ikea Drive exists. Also, I tried to enter 26 Federal Plaza in NYC. The GPS doesn't know it. Again, I tried to enter an NYC zip code 10118. Nope. It is possible the former two streets may have an alternate name. But those are the most well-known names for both locations. I have no idea why it doesn't have the 10118 zip code in its database.

-If you touch a point of interest icon while navigating, it takes you to the menu option, instead of showing you the info for that particular point of interest. That's senseless. (At least, to me.)

I really wanted to like this product but I couldn't with all the shortcomings it has, especially when it does not understand very well known addresses. I bought the Magellan Maestro 4250 and am more or less ok with Maestro.

I drove some 950 miles in Arkansas and Louisiana last week making various business stops and staying in different hotels every night. The TomTom 920 showed me the way flawlessly. However, common sense must be used; on country roads far away from Interstates, at times, the maps showed roads that we'rent there (never were) and one time I was urged to turn left, right dead smack into the middle of a cow pasture... At the end of the day though, I reached destinations right on I was not dissapointed.

Arie V. from Kirkland, WA

Simply put, I ordered and received a TomTom 920. The service was fast and the product as advertized. I couldn't be happier!
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br /Steve J.

I am writing this after just having my TomTom 920 stolen from my car. So, get this unit and keep it safe...
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br /I took this on a month long trip to Europe with my family. We drove extensivly in the UK and Portugal. This unit worked flawlessly everywhere.
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br /We rented small cottages and apartments in several locations and the 920 found them without fail. It handled senic route changes with ease and gave us great confidense to travel about without worry.
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br /IN the UK it was especially handy for us Yanks dealing with the left side drive. As we would approach one of the countless roundabouts. The unit shows and tells you to stay left and which exit of the roundabout to take. It made my left side drive headache smaller.

Tom Tom Go 920 is everything as described. Very easy to use. Got this for my folks who are in their 70's. Turned it on set their home address, chose a voice and a few options and ready set go. Technology to them is beyond their imagination. Yard sale hunting for them now will be a breeze!
br /Excellent product.

Easy to use, clear, and accurate. Easily compensates for mistakes or changes in the route. If you don't know the exact address for a store or hotel or whatever you can browse through a menu to find the place you're looking for in a particular zip code. Bluetooth syncs just fine with Motorolla Razr phone.

We have just moved to CT where it is very hilly and the roads have no logic. The Tom Tom has helped us find our way from point A to B. It quickly recalulates new directions when we take a wrong turn. Have not lost the signal unless we venture into NY and go underground for a while. My only complaint is there is no standby button to push when you are at your destination and are going somewhere you know how to get to. The only way to shut off the computer is to turn it off or turn the volume down. I would definately recomend the Tom Tom.

I saw some reviews that described difficulties in some of the Garmin and TomTom line in acquiring signal and location. I purchased the 920 because it appeared to have all the maps preloaded for the US and Europe but I was skeptical and a little confused by the tape covering the SD card slot with a note printed on it to the effect that no extra memory was required. But I should not have been skeptical. The unit worked wonderfully in several European countries in small towns and cities alike. Very effective navigation directions, always clear and with signal acquisition in well under 60 seconds. The updates over the Internet worked flawlessly using the included software (but I had to use a Windows emulator on my Mac because there was no Mac version). It also works flawlessly in the US. The one nit; it does not seem to last more than 2 hours without a charge so I drive with it plugged into the vehicle's DC outlet.

Product worked very well and delivered more than expected.
br /product support also good. Easy to use.

Got it at a good price ($315) so decided to try it out. Although it has some really cool features, overall I was dissapointed. It felt like I was beta testing a GPS unit. Like it just wasn't really ready for prime time yet. And no, it wasn't because I couldn't figure it out. I am an uber-nerd and gadget junkie. I did finally get the bluetooth syncing to work (despite the lack of help from TomTom) where I could access the internet through my blackberry, but it would only synch the gas prices when it was docked, which was pretty useless. The suction cup mount that comes with the unit is worthless. There were a lot of things that just didn't work, or didn't work they way you would expect them to, so in the end, I returned it for a refund. I'm still going to give it 3 stars though, because it's a nice unit, but I don't think it's quite ready yet.

Compared to Broadwayphoto.com CameraAddict.com, Amazon is a little more expensice, but it's fully loaded and no trick. You'll be asked to pay additional $40 by the previous two sites to buy USA maps. They claimed their lower price is for European maps ONLY, which is not true from their web sites. How ridiculous a GPS for sale in US has no US map loaded!
br /Therefore, Amazon.com is a honest and good choice for purchasing TomTom GPS!

this is a great product. i already had a TOM TOM and had no hasitation in getting this top of the line model...worth the money.

GPS works great. Good value for the money and it comes with both the U.S. and European maps which is great for us since we are living in Europe and then moving back to the States in about a year. The only problem we have had is with the suction cup not sticking to the windshield but when we put a little water on it it seems to stick better.

I bought this because I travel all over the world but live in HK. Was cheaper buying it on amazon despite the hefty shipping cost. Downloading the HK map was not completely straight forward but in the end managable. Product works quite well - my kids live the "moo" sound it makes when over the speed limit which encourages safety. Navigation is fine also although it sometimes takes some time to find satellite coverage. Hands free feature is also good for calls but would be good if it was voice activated which it is not. Overall a good buy for a specialist GPS product but I still think improvements can be made. Not sure if the traffic system can be used here but ironically given all parts and components for it are made here or in China surprisingly difficult to find them here. Disappointing that a case is not included. Music feature also a little limiting since it does not allow enough music to be kept onto the disc.

I read a lot of the reviews for GPS units here and in the UK. I needed a product that would work in Europe and the US as I drive extensively in both regions. This does limit the products available.
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br /For the money (and perhaps for any money) this is a great unit. All the features work as you would expect. The navigation and the various options to choose the place you want to navigate to are excellent as are the POI and itinerary planning features. One review mentioned the screen was a bit hard to see in direct sunlight, but I would guess all products are to some extent and with the spoken navigation as good as it is, that has not been a problem for me. The windscreen adaptor is excellent (never seemed to fall off even after 6 hours of bumpy road driving) and I love the fact it is small and light weight as I travel so much.
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br /TomTom support seem excellent in their response via their web site / e-mail. For some reason best known to TomTom the only way to use the latest map guarantee is to ask for the latest maps to be added to the account. This they did quickly and the 810 updates to the maps have the IQ and junction features, so I am more than happy.
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br /The 920 is an excellent unit and a much more cost effective option to the 930. I'd buy one again.

Case Logic hard case shown as "FBTogether" is sized for smaller screen GPS units. TomTom GO 920 not matched - must be "jury-rigged" to fit.

I am very pleased with my 920 GPS, it is very good at locating points of interest and other cities. I highly recommend it.

I live in a rural area and the TomTom GO 920 was unable to guide me to my home address. It was off by several miles. The GPS should allow to set HOME wherever it may be. TomTom does not allow that; it allows only to type in the address. Sorry, I had to return it, even though I was able to find all other locations. All features were easy to operate and I had no problem with the volume.

I've enjoyed my TomTom Go 920 and feel it is a real bargain for the included features. It's easy to use and very accurate. I bought it because of the included European maps, but haven't had a chance to use it in Europe yet.

Slimmer, lighter than its predecessors this product packs easily, survives the inevitable drop better and still has all the necessary functionality. International maps for Ireland are good in major cities but not so good in the countryside. Hands free phone functions well. Definite Tom-Tom fan!

If you're new to an area, the TomTom GO920 is the near-perfect companion. Expect issues in urban areas amidst high buildings (probably the case for all navigators, though), and in very remote areas: had a very dangerous experience in Yosemite Park, when it directed me to a road that doesn't exist on the local maps: it didn't warn me that the road was unpaved, very steep and only suitable for 4x4 vehicles. But then again, it was my decision not to make a U turn - so not sure how much of it I can blame on the navigator.
br /On several occasions, the route suggested from A to B changed: one day it suggested one highway, another day another one; sometimes the return leg was completely different from the outbound leg.
br /The commands are easy to use, with sufficient features and settings.The hands-free feature doesn't work with my business cellphone, looks like the phone overrides the navigator's bluetooth commands. No problems however with my private cell: once it works, it's great!
br /I travel a fair bit for work, both in the US and in Europe; this machine came with maps for North America and Europe.I worked out the daily rate Hertz charge us for their Neverlost system: the GO920 pays for itself after 32 working days.
br /Some aspect need improving but all in all very happy with the product.
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Most place names are spoken understandably, but both US English readers frequently say "thord" or "thorth" for "third", as well as "thorteenth", "thortyninth", etc., which can be confusing.

Everythig was clear and fast. I have recieved that, what I expected. Original pack without any damage or opening. Everythig what was suppose to be inside, was there. I am satisfied with this product. It is workng without any problems.

We spent 6 weeks in the Chicago Illinois area, house sitting my sons home and his two children. To take the kids to soccer, karate, their frioends were to be picked up and taken to church. This would have been an enormpusly difficult task for someone from Florida, but the TomTom came to the rescue. We entered the various locations into the GO920, hit the ON button and off we went. The GPS got us to all locations without any difficulties. I had made one mistake entering my Home address in Florida as "HOME" and the GPS wanted to return us to Florida instead of the Chicago address. This error was quickly corrected and all went well. We used it to drive from Chicago back to Leesburg Florida. It safely routed us thru Nahville, Chattanooga, and Atlanta by giving us advance instructions as to which lane we were supposed to be in to safely get through these difficult cities. We have NEVER had such easy drive through the traffic nightmares of these three cities. Never do without my TomTom again. *******

I've had the GO 920 for about a month now and I like the 4.3 screen. The map updates are great and overall, the 920 has served its purpose rather well. I use my tomtom for work (I'm a commercial/industrial appraiser for the county) and am quite happy with it, notwithstanding the following problems/concerns I encountered during this short time of ownership:
br /1)The 920 frequently turns on by itself (and alarmingly heats up when stored inside a case. 2)Sometimes I couldn't get the 920 to turn on. 3)The 920 will not prompt you to end navigation once you've arrived at your destination (you will have to go through 3 or 4 screens/buttons to "clear the current route" to end your navigation. 4)The FM transmitter is a big joke. Don't even try working this function while on the move. 5)The computer voice's pronounciation of (many) street names sucks (ex: sacramento is pronounced "sac-cal-muntah" ????) 6)I couldn't get my SD card to work (am I missing something?..why was there a sticker across the SD slot that read: "No need for SD card"? The manual says it accepts up to a 4GB SD card. Lastly, it gives inaccurate distance measurements. It asks me to make a turn in 250 feet when I know that I'm much closer to the turn (about 80 -100 feet). Wierd.
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br /BUT, despite the above concerns, I am indeed satisfied for the price I paid ($320.00). All the other features are great and I'm happy with it...for now.
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TomTom Go
br /Have You Ever Been Lost?
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br /My husband and I were lost in Washington D.C. for four hours. We went around and around on the freeway. The tree cover was so dense that we could not see any land marks outside the freeway. We then got off the freeway and found ourselves in a bad section of town. When we tried calling the hotel for directions, the person on the other end of the phone wasn't even in town, he was in India, and could neither give directions nor understand our questions. We found a policeman who directed us to our hotel.
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br /After that trip, we bought a TomTom Go and we have never traveled without it. I recently took the TomTom on a trip to Ohio, in my luggage. I did run into a problem on the first day. The TomTom was still trying to direct me to my home area, even though I had programmed the Ohio addresses in before leaving for the trip. I finally had to call for directions and buy a map. By our second day in Ohio, the TomTom had caught up and it worked fine in Ohio.
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br /My husband is Santa Claus. At Christmas time he uses the TomTom Go to navigate his "sleigh" and make all of his visits on time.
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br /For me, the TomTom Go has brought peace of mind and a sense of security when taveling.
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br /Jill Ammon Vanderwood
br /Author: Through the Rug
br /Through the Rug 2: Follow that Dog
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This is an awesome product! It has saved me on a couple of trips where i don't know where im going! The POI's always have lead me to good food or a nice hotel, or even to my school. It saves me alot of time not having to look up every places address. I love that it tells me gas prices and had live traffic, also extremely helpful!
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br /The only problem i had with it was one time it said that the location i was going to was closer then it said it was. Another problem was it couldn't connect to my Samsung Alias. It would connect to my friends Lg chocolate though.

I never thought I would need a navigation system. Then I went on a long trip with out one. It was a disaster. Now I have my Tom Tom and my long trips are much better. I have not had the issues with the screen "dimness" other reviewers have had. I see the screen fine and clear at all times of the day and night. I also have not had the issues with the mounting bracket that other reviewers have had. My Tom Tom mounts securely and has never fallen off the bracket nor has the bracket fallen off the windshield while tapping the the screnn options. It is easier to navigate using voice commands than using the screen alone because you are no taking your eyes off the road. The places I have gone have been accurately navigated 98% of the time. I purchased the feul program so the Tom Tom finds the lowest gas price for me. This has been very convenient in my travels. I would recommend the Tom Tom 920 because of the convenient remote control, so you are not having to tap the the screen and taking your eyes off the road.
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br /My one warning. I would recommend pushing the reset button when you first get the Tom Tom, before you begin selecting your features. Once I got my Tom Tom all programmed and downloaded the fuel package, it quit talking to me. I had to reset the device and reload everything for it to talk again. My friends who also have Tom Toms, but different models have also had this problem. I don't have any idea why this happens. But once I reset and reloaded I have not had the problem again.
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br /Over all I really like my Tom Tom Go 920. I hope that if you decide to purchase one you like yours as much as I like mine.

EXCELLENT GPS UNIT. HAS REMOTE SO FINGERS DON'T GET ALL OVER THE SCREEN AND CAN BE PROGRAMMED WITHOUT REACHING FOR THE UNIT. ALSO THE SPEECH RECOGNIZATION WORKS GREAT. THE MOUNT LEAVES A LOT TO BE DESIRED AND BOUGHT A FLEX NECK MOUNT WITH A BEAN BAG MOUNT.

We have really liked this device. Easy to install, easy to use and the maps and directions have been absolutely correct so far! Our only complaint is that it does not have any maps of Mexico. Otherwise, really good product!

I took my folks on a trip to see family in Minnesota from Michigan. After carefully reviewing many makes and models of navigators, I settled on this one. It was a bit more expensive than others, but I wanted to have ease of use and reliability; this one came through on both counts.
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br /The touch screen is easy to use and the menu system isn't too hard to learn. After inputting the starting and ending points, the unit did the rest. It flawlessly took us to where we needed to be in a city we really didn't know and in the dark; it was as though we knew exactly where we were going. It also did the same for points within the city. The only problem times were when there were several exits right next to each other, but that was the fault of the city planners and not TomTom.
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br /I can wholeheartedly recommend this unit to anyone.
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The Tom Tom 920 is a pretty good item. Overall I am satisfied with its capabilities, but there are a couple of things I don't like. (1) The remote just sucks the power from the batteries. If you leave them in there, they will drain within just a few hours. If I want to use it, I need to put the batteries in and then take them out as soon as I am done. After doing that a few times... I hardly use the remote anymore. (2) The maps are pretty good, but they are not entirely correct. I decided, just a few weeks ago, that on my way home I would follow the Tom Tom's exact directions. No kidding, it led me a scary house in the middle of the woods. According to the unit, I was supposed to be on a highway; instead I was on a dirt road at a dead end. On another occasion, I was on a major highway that did not exist on my Tom Tom. The same highway was present on a Garmin I had borrowed about a half year earlier. (3) The directions are very strange. The unit allows you to pick, among other things, the fastest route and the shortest route. Either one you pick, at least in my experience, will direct you one way (that is either the shortest or fastest from one direction) and then take you an entirely different way the next time (you would think the shortest or fastest distance would be the same both ways!).
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br /However, in light of these three things, the Tom Tom does have a benefit that I have not quite taken advantage of yet. It allows you to correct a route if there is a discrepancy. In my case, if you are on a road that doesn't exist, you can select that option. The unit then keeps track of that and when you connect it to your computer, that information will be sent to Tom Tom and submitted to the map correction people who will potentially research the error. This is all a part of their Map Share program that allows users to help Tom Tom constantly update the maps.
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br /Overall, I am happy that I have it. Although, I must say, I originally wanted to buy the Garmin Nuvi 255w, but it wasn't out when I wanted to go on a trip. I don't necessarily feel that I settled for the Tom Tom, but I wouldn't have bought it had the Garmin been out at the time. Perhaps I will sell this on eBay or something and buy the Garmin...

I purchased this TomTom for my husband for Father's Day and he's had a blast with it. He works out of town and has found it useful when looking for out of the way places. Well worth the money!

I purchased the TomTom 920 to use on my summer vacation in June, it worked great. We traveld from South Carolina to Kentucky, Nashville, Atlanta. 1900 miles round trip and TomTom never lead us wrong. Since our purchase my wife has changed jobs and it has heled her find her new customers with out a flaw.

I purchased this unit for general use in the USA and for a four-day driving trip through Austria. It has worked out great on all fronts. The unit is intuitive to use, and it gives fast and accurate directions. I have played around with all of the extra features, and they also work well to very-well.
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br /In Vienna, I set the unit to pedestrian-mode to find the rental car agency, and it worked like a charm. Once in the car, it got me to the hotel without a hitch. Before leaving for Europe, I set my hotels and destinations as "favorites" - all in all driving was stress-free and not difficult. Otherwise I think driving in Austria would not have made for an easy-going trip.
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br /The bluetooth phone connection is good. I like how the unit will read text messages as they arrive. The address-book function, however, could use some tweaking. I wish you could add and modify phone numbers directly on the unit.
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br /Voice recognition works well for entering city and street information. It makes entering your destination address that much faster. This function only seems to work for the U.S. map section. When I was in Austria, voice recognition was not active. It would also be nice if voice recognition extended to the phone functions.
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br /The MP3 player is passable. You cannot create playlists on the unit, nor with the PC software. Also, when I dragged and copied my Itunes music folder to my TomTom SD card, some songs refused to show up in the menu. These were from artists in the Itunes "compilations" folder. I spent about an hour trying to remedy this to no avail. Needless to say, I was annoyed.
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br /The included bluetooth remote control is useful. It would be better if it came with a steering wheel attachment.
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br /All in all the pros of this unit greatly outweigh any cons. With the European maps, this is a great value at Amazon's July 2008 price. After a month's of use in both the U.S. and Europe, I highly recommend the unit and give it five stars.

This unit is very accurate and relatively easy to use. I like the online updating and ability to program a trip with the computer. I so far have found its ability to use mp3 files and picturees somewhat confusing. The main reason for this purchase (Quite abit of overkill. I don't expect to need the European maps) was the ability to verbaly tell it where you want to go I have found this somewhat limiing as you still need access to the unit or remote. I haven't used the remote or bluetooth Telephone operation myself, but my sister has and is quite empressed with this.TomTom GO 920 Portable GPS Vehicle Navigator

I purchased this product a month ago and am extremely happy with it. I have found new routes to work and some new locations around work and home. The community share feature is nice and the additional voices available make it more fun to play with. The remote control option is a nice plus. There are a couple of downsides but they are minor. The points of interest for restaraunts are not sorted by category (very minor), but you can create your own categories and sort them yourself. The second is that very few phones from sprint are compatible with the plus services. There are ways to make them work, but it is a little more difficult.

I have a Mac and figuring out the initial set-up was much more difficult than I expected. Now that everything is set-up I am fine. I am taking it to Europe next week so I will give it a good workout up in the Alps.

I'm not a gadget person so my review will be breif. The Tom Tom is a great unit to have, I have not been disappointed once. The remote is a huge benifit, my wife is able to make changes while I'll drive for when we need to stop for gas/food etc.

I had a TOMTOM GO 910 and Greece was included in the European maps. I upgraded to GO 920 and expected improved maps. Greece was not included in their new maps compatible with GO 920. Plan to return unit. If they omit countries in their product upgrades I question their commitment to improved quality and functionality in their new products.

All is fine with the 920 except it is horrible at estimating trip times on anything but freeways. For instance on rural highways, it estimates elapsed times based on approximately 1/2 the posted speeds!! After sending queries through their web site (which they frustratingly label "resolved" immediately), I've given up - their customer support representative was clueless.
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br /My other GPS is an older Garmin, and even though it's screen is smaller, it is a far better navigation tool! (and cost less too!)

TomTom GO 920 Portable GPS Vehicle Navigator

I am now using the device for quite some time. Here is the fast summary of my experience:
+ best GPS receiver I have seen so far: fast, extremely accurate, even between high rise buildings like in New York it is accurate. Even inside some houses you still get a signal
+ Maps are good
+ Mapsharing is a cool thing and very elpful. Specifically very new streets in just recently created housing areas you get the maps
+ Screen is good, sharp, speakers are good
+ FM transmitter works fine with me
+ having MP3 music mixed with directions works great

- Points of Interest database must be improved: They have only a very weak structure
Others have a better structure: For example I like to search for Restaurants/italien but you can only search for restaurants
- The Points of interest database is at times outdated and has wrong entries even for things like AVIS stations
- In order to scroll trough the map you are missing a pen like you have with PDAs, doing it with the finger works bad
- the window holder is extremely bad. Actually you need to buy a different one because the one that comes with the device drives you crazy
- User interface is not very well structured, you keep searching for things
- the spoken street names are sometimes not understandable

All in all: I am not sure if I would buy it again. It works ok but considering the price I would expect a higher quality software.

I've used Delorme on my laptop in the past. It's like comparing a current PC to a Commadore 64 (if you can remember them!) It would have received 5 stars if there was a way for me to change a map instead of having to submit it to Tom Tom. You can change points of interest but not the map itself.

The only other thing that would really take this product over the top would be to have a built in radar detector that would not only detect the radar but show the location! Hey one can dream, can't they!

I have used GO920T since 6 month ago and also compared it to Garmin Nuvi680 side-to-side. Tomtom Go920T's maps are extremely not reliable and caused a lot of trouble on me. Tomtom Go920 is not as good as Garmin Nuvi 680 which is at least one generation older. Their support service is not friendly and not reliable as their maps. Avoid Tomtom.

The 920 is made of cheap rubberized gray plastic (same texture as a mouse ball), that will turn yellowish with prolonged use. The device is very bulky in the middle and does not easily fit in your pocket. Battery life is about 1 hour and 40 minutes with constant usage.

The map display is extremely jagged and difficult to read, you pretty much have to look at the menubar turn icon to see which direction your next turn will be, and not the actual map (kind of defeats the point of a map). The street labels often aren't fully aligned with the streets and run into other streets, causing confusion in areas with dense roadways. The Nuvi 760's map display is leaps and bounds superior to the 920 in both 3D and 2D view. The last thing you want while driving 70mph down the interstate is to have to squint at the 920 to see where the road leads to, because the jaggedness made the road look curved when it's actually straight. You can customize the color schemes of the maps on the 920, but the jaggedness and poor road contrast persist. On the Garmin Nuvi 760, as you approach a turn, the map automatically zooms into the turn for you to see clearly the details of the turn, and as you leave the turn, the map automatically rescales back to where it was before. Also on the nuvis, you can "pan and scan" the map like the iPhone, very useful for setting a location or plotting routes. Can't do that on the 920.

Also if you have ANY alphanumeric combination or special character in the House Number (e.g., 131-40 or 13N40), you are screwed with the 920 as these addresses cannot be inputted on the 920. Many rural roads in the US have these kind of addresses. The Garmin Nuvis can input these addresses just fine.

The 920's MP3 player is very barebones compared to the Garmin Nuvi series. Shuffling and replay requires going into another menu. Voice address input is mostly a gimmick (it takes more time to input by voice than by hand) and does not work well when you have the stereo playing (even at low volumes).

The 920's customizability comes at a high price for a car GPS: incredibly convoluted menus. There are many menus on the 920 with over 8 pages (and the biggest sin is there's no Back button on the menus, so if you scroll past, you have to go over 8 pages again). Some very important features are bizarrely placed several pages deep. The Quick Launch menu can only hold a maximum of 6 shortcuts (not nearly enough considering how convoluted the menus are and the many things one needs to do quickly, like STOPPING a route).

The only two good features the 920 has is dead reckoning (continue navigation even when you don't have a satellite lock, like in tunnels) and custom route avoidance (you can choose certain roads in your route to avoid). But with the Nuvi 760, you can avoid roads by using multiple viapoints.

I would have given the 920 three stars, but my cell phone (Samsung MPH-610 from Sprint) couldn't pair to the 920's bluetooth, while pairing perfectly fine with my Garmin nuvi 760. That was the final dealbreaker. Hopefully the upcoming TomTom Go 930 would give the Garmin nuvi 700/800 series a run for its money. The 920 though was quite the disappointment.

Yes this is a fair GPS Mapping device, should be much easier to operate and program for this kind of money. Additional maps are simply outrageously expensive. You have to use the enclosed CD of get to your pdf manual, not cool, very little written data and cannot load manual onto your computer for future use, not user friendly.
br /Trying to change a route is excessively complicated.
br /But I sent back two other vehicle navagators prior to this one!!!
br /Oh but it does play MP3's for you and the company certainly makes it easy for you to navaigate to their web sight and spend your money!!!!!
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br /Wish I would have spent the extra for another brand, but my fault!!!

I thought I would be upset I didn't get the 930, but I still haven't used all the features on the 920 and it absolutely rocks. It's been navigating me all over Portugal and Spain. Pretty soon it will be doing the same in Germany!

Received my TomTom GPS and all was as expected and rec'd it in a timely manner. I look forward to the enjoyment it will give me.

Some months have gone by and I feel I can give an assessment based on experience of using the unit AND using their tech support customer support.
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br /This is the fifth GPS navigator I have owned, my first TomTom.
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br /With most consumer electronics products the after-sale support is only important when something goes wrong; with GPS units it's also critical even when the item is functioning correctly. Mainly because of map and technical updates and the complicated nature of these feature-loaded units like the 920.
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br /The other reviews have give lots of info on the technical aspects of TomTom devices, so I'll just say that it works reasonably well if you don't expect to use features like voice-entry and bluetooth syncing with your cell phone. I would give it a 3 out of 5 for operational performance.
br /It's the customer support that really brings down the score: it's horrible! First, it takes many, many days to get an answer via email. Forget about toll-free phone assistance: you'll miss at least one meal waiting for someone to answer your call.
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br /My 920 package included a fancy certificate with computer-generated code (called "Always up to Date") that supposedly represented one year free map updates of the maps that came with your unit. That's what the certificate said, and it gave instructions how to obtain these. Problem was, it didn't work, so this initiated many email requests for technical assistance from me. First they said I had to fax them my receipt, even though this model was introduced less than a year ago and the guarantee is for one year. Okay, once that was done, the Activation Code on my certificate was apparently inoperable and the 1-year guarantee it clearly stated turned out to be 30 days. And the maps it guaranteed? only North America, not all the maps (namely, Europe) like the certificate promised.
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br /By the time all the delayed emails had been sorted out, my 30 days was up and I was out of luck. Too late to return it to the vendor, too.
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br /Everywhere I asked for advice while shopping for this GPS I was consistently told "Buy Garmin" !! Foolishly I ignored this advice and now I'm stuck with a so-so unit that has one-year-old maps.
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br /Don't make my mistake; Please !! Buy Garmin

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I am having such a great experience with this Tom Tom. I recommend averyone have one. The time I save by not having to re-read my directions while trying to get to the location is priceless.

Excellent product, easy to use right out of box!. I wanted something that worked w/i phone and it does that splendedly. The only thing I will warn you of is if you plan on using the FM radio link for speakers be sure you have an empty station in your area. This doesn't work in LA.

This could potentially be a perfect product if the mounting system is improved upon. TomTom should take note from Garmin on the mount. The Garmin mount is the best in the industry. Another gripe is the computer voices and the speaker quality. TomTom products have terrible computer Voice quality. Garmin is much better at this. I have to disable the announce street name feature because of such poor quality of sound. So i stick with human voices and don't have text to speech or street name annunciation. My last gripe is that the 920 lacks the very important "view screen upside down" feature that my cheap TomTom ONE has. Got a brand new tomtom GO920 as an upgrade for our tomtom ONE. And was very surprised to find that it is lacking one of the most important features to us that was on the much cheaper and simpler TomTom One. This is very important in my application and for my business. This was a purchase of many TomTom 920 devices for my business that now have to be returned because they are unusable for our business.

The 920 it great, up and running within five minutes out of the box. There are many option and they are easy to use. Ifyou get off the designated route it quickly recalulates a new route. I would highly recommend this unit