Discount TomTom GO 720 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator

I purchased this TomTom 720 after weeks of research - this IS our first GPS after all! I purchased one for my husband and I, plus one for my mother's companion as her gift to him. She told me whichever one I chose was good enough for her, and she trusted me. (no pressure there!)

I originally purchased a TomTom XL 330S, but returned it because it did NOT have an SD card slot.

This one DOES have an SD card slot (which is good for storing maps, poi's (points of interest), music files, etc.) so that you have the option of expanding the memory of the unit. This helps keep it from becoming a dinosaur too quickly.

The unit is compact, has a bright screen, clear graphics, easy to use software (TomTom Home is a bit "old school" - I'll explain later in this review), and is easy to use period.

I made sure to purchase additional accessories:
4gb SD card
carrying case (take it with you when you park your car - do NOT leave the GPS visible in your car or it will be stolen!!)
screen protectors (matte)
beanbag mount for the dash
alternate mount kit (from TomTom)

The day after I received it, I used it to navigate my way to a job interview. It tried to take me a VERY roundabout way out of my own development, so I just drove the way I wanted to. It recalculated (silently, thank you, instead of stating "re-calculating" like I have heard other machines do) quickly and continued coaching me on where to turn. Since then, I learned how to change the route BEFORE getting into the car so it doesn't do that, and so far I have been pretty successful.

I had bad luck with the "neck" it comes with. It was too short to use with my beanbag mount (it actually made the device come out of the beanbag), so I ordered the "alternate" mount from the TomTom website. This works GREAT with the beanbag!

I kept it plugged in to the cigarette lighter for the entire trip, just to be sure it wouldn't poop out on me - TomTom's are notorious for their short battery life - and it worked fine.

It connected to my Palm Treo 700p as a bluetooth device with absolutely NO problem - actually, it asked ME if I wanted to connect. I didn't expect that. I wasn't even thinking of using bluetooth (I do NOT have a bluetooth headset, rather I have a wired headset for my cell phone), but now I like it. The only thing that is a little weird is that it WON'T connect to my cell phone when I am making an out-of-state call (go fig!).

The updates were really easy to do, but the downloads were a little tedious. The "Home" software is a little "old school" in that once you find something you want to add to your device (such as points of interest) and download it to the device, you have to return to the very first page of the software and start searching all over again. It SHOULD have a "sticky" interface that could remember what page you left off on before the download started. This makes it VERY time consuming.

I made sure to download the 2 free "computer" voices so the TomTom would speak the street names during navigation. It comes with one, but I really like "Susan" out of all of the computer voices.

You get 12 months of mapshare downloads for no charge. At the end of that time you must purchase a full map upgrade to continue with free downloads for another 12 months. The full map upgrade averages between $80 to $120 depending on what you need. (BTW, this is comparable to the prices for map upgrades from Garmin, Mio and Magellan, but these companies do NOT allow for free downloads during the rest of the year.)

Also, you can submit map changes to TomTom - that means if something has changed since they did the map, you get to add your info! Garmin, Mio and Magellan do NOT allow you to do this, either. What does this mean for you? The power to help yourself and others. Heck, why not? Maybe your correction will help someone from getting lost and in return maybe someone else's corrections will help YOU from getting lost!

I purchased this unit (new) for $199 (that was my max budget). Since then it has jumped up to $300+. I guess that means it is in demand, but the newer models are around that price, so if you are in the $300 budget range I would research the newer TomTom's to see what they have to offer before buying this at $300.

If you are new to TomTom's or even just GPS in general, make sure to check out the user groups at: forums dot gpsreview dot net. You can find help for any and every brand/model.

That's all I can think of for now. If I forgot something I will re-post. Happy Travels!Get more detail about TomTom GO 720 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator.