TomTom GO $499

[laketrout]

I found an announcement at clubtomtom that there is a new promo deal at several retailers:

"TomTom has released a new promotion for the upcoming holiday season with the purchase of any TomTom GO 300/700:

$50 Mail in Rebate and Free TomTom PLUS Traffic updates until 12/31/06

Available at all fine retailers, including Best Buy, Circuit City, Comp USA, Fry?s, Micro Center, Sharper Image and Tweeter."

I also found it at newegg and the GO 300 comes to $499.99 + one year of PLUS traffic. Thats the lowest I have seen yet. The unit is really good, based on TeleAtlas maps that are used by e911 services and USPS. Not too shabby.

 

[sinse7en]

Are Bongos on sale too?

 

[kamranziadar]

Umm price is high for 3" screen.

 

[Xyclone]

Originally posted by: kamranziadar
Umm price is high for 3" screen.

QFT

 

[BigLar]

What does QFT mean, anyway?

Acronyms.com suggests:

Qualified Funeral Trust
Quality Face Time
Quantitative Feedback Theory
Quantitative Fluorescence Technique
Quantum Field Theory
Quantum Fourier Transform
Quest For Tech, Inc.
Quot/ed for Truth

But those don't seem to fit.

 

[sinse7en]

Quoted For Truth

 

[llars]

I always assumed QFT meant Quit ****** Trolling

 

[azoomee]

Has anyone used one of these? I'm looking at getting one for the wife

 

[laketrout]

Yes, the GO devices are really easy to use and are very accurate. My mother has played around with it and she was very impressed and comfortable using it and she hates stuff like this. But then I can also use it, edit and customize POIs and get 3rd party apps that make it enjoyable for me. The directions are good nad can be customized for if you want fastest or shortest depending on where you are and the traffic looks great though I haven't tried it myself yet.

 

[brucekatz]

"One year of Plus Traffic" ? Can one use it without this extra subscription?

 

[CalamitySymphony]

Linky to reviews or whatever?

Hows this compare to the similarly priced Garmin Quest?!!??!

 

[laketrout]

You don't have to use the PLUS services, they are a bonus, and are free for a year.

You can search fro some reviews. But personally I think the TomTom is the next big GPS unit in the states. It already seems to dominate in europe and is only a matter of time before people learn how good of a device it is over here. All maps are much easier to read than garmin and the added bluetooth features are an easily differentiating factor.

 

[nealh]

beware of TomTom in the USA..they use Teleatlas maps which are at times not as accurate in the use as Navteq..which is used by Garmin

 

[robie]

What about the Cobra.

This one looks nice and is a 5" screen. Good reviews on amazon, anyone on here used it?

 

[Bacinator]

Thanks, ordered one for the misses. She's been swooning over a GPS unit for quite some time, and there's enough good reviews on this to take the plunge. The rebate and traffic are a nice bonus as well.

 

[azoomee]

I'm hoping this will become a little less expensive as we approach Xmas

 

[JasonK]

Here is my review of this device, used for approximately 5 months.

Good: Lots of POI, 3d mode is neat, talks to you and tells you where to turn, comes with a 1gb SD card that holds entire US map/or canada and lots extra features.
Bad: Sometimes glitchy. Maps are sometimes sketchy, they need to really update their maps more often, sometimes cant find streets. With older firmware, unit reboots itself sometimes. The glare on the nav is one of the worse, hard to see sometimes in direct sunlight, but i found it not too bad. The sunction cup window mount is kinda ******, I suggest a 3rd party gps mount(expensive). http://www.brodit.com/ Very good sturdy mount that can mount to your ac vent area.

Overall, its pretty good device. The biggest irritation factor is the lack of map updates, although now with the popularity of tomtom growing, that should change with more frequent updates.

 

[laketrout]

Originally posted by: nealh
beware of TomTom in the USA..they use Teleatlas maps which are at times not as accurate in the use as Navteq..which is used by Garmin

Key word: "At times." In my experience the TeleAtlas maps have been very accurate.

It may drop price some more, but this is the lowets I have seen it online. I think Costco may also have some sales....

 

[azoomee]

Anyone seen this less than $499 anywhere?

 

[laketrout]

Originally posted by: robie
What about the Cobra.

This one looks nice and is a 5" screen. Good reviews on amazon, anyone on here used it?

Looks good but its a grand. On a side note, this unit is based on TeleAtlas maps as well.

 

[shortspanishguy]

Garmin 2620 FTW!!!

 

[nealh]

Originally posted by: laketrout

Originally posted by: nealh
beware of TomTom in the USA..they use Teleatlas maps which are at times not as accurate in the use as Navteq..which is used by Garmin

Key word: "At times." In my experience the TeleAtlas maps have been very accurate.

It may drop price some more, but this is the lowets I have seen it online. I think Costco may also have some sales....

GPS maps have very few companies(I think only 3) that create them

In general in the US..NAVTEQ is more accurate with there newest maps more up to date than Teleatlas from what people have stated in various forums...now this means in most areas it is fine/perfect..but there are some places that accuracy is not very good

I personally own a GPS10..pda gps based on Navteq's newest maps(which I believe are from the end of 2004)...and it is incredible good even in areas of recent construction

But I think it is important to know I have seen people complain the Teleatlas maps are several yrs behind in some locations

BTW TomTom does not do the map updates..Teleatlas or Navteq does this then charges companies like TomTom a few for the new maps...thus the new updates cost end users for the newest maps(I hear the royalities can be $40 per user or more)

 

[Alternex]

Where can I find a comparison of the TomTom 300 vs 700? The 300 has a SD slot but the 700 has a 2 gig hard drive instead - so what does that mean to the consumer? Other things I've noticed are the 700 being used with your phone.

 

[laketrout]

Originally posted by: nealh

Originally posted by: laketrout

Originally posted by: nealh
beware of TomTom in the USA..they use Teleatlas maps which are at times not as accurate in the use as Navteq..which is used by Garmin

Key word: "At times." In my experience the TeleAtlas maps have been very accurate.

It may drop price some more, but this is the lowets I have seen it online. I think Costco may also have some sales....

In general in the US..NAVTEQ is more accurate with there newest maps more up to date than Teleatlas from what people have stated in various forums...now this means in most areas it is fine/perfect..but there are some places that accuracy is not very good

In general more people may find navteq maps better, probably because folks are use to garmin products. TomTom is fairly new on the market in the US but TeleAtlas has been here for a while and in my own experience have high quality maps. It is something to consider, you are right, but its better to go and see the units and compare for where you are if you are concerned, usually its the errors in both sets are limited.

You can look around for comparisons but the difference is pretty clear. 300 does not contain extended bluetooth features for handsfree dialing and has an SD card. The 700 has the handsfree bluetooth options and has a 2.5 GB hard drive. I believe the real difference was because of the european models. They sell a seamless map of europe that won't fit easily on SD cards so they made the harddrive to fit it in. The US maps are smaller and fit on both a 1 GB sd card for the 300 and 2.5 GB harddrive on the 700.