TomTom GO 720 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator Best Quality

I chose this unit for the higher feature content as compared to a more basic unit from either Garmin of TomTom, and regret the decision.

As a basic GPS unit, the 720 functions fine- it gets me from place to place reliably, and usually chooses about the best route (all GPS units choose strange routing sometimes). There is a major drawback to the basic function, however- battery life. With Bluetooth on, the unit lasts about 20 minutes when unplugged, rendering it essentially useless if you don't plan to dedicate an outlet to it's power cord. It's been that way since about week 6 after purchase (now 6 months old). I broke the battery in according to manufacturer's instructions (fully charge, fully discharge, etc etc) for fear I might end up with short battery life but it didn't seem to matter. I accepted my fate and bought an outlet splitter from the auto store so I can charge my phone when needed. But for someone who needs battery functionality, I would consider this a non-starter.

The major disappointment for me was the feature content- as I said I chose this unit for the extras- bluetooth for hands-free calling, text to speech directions, and POI database.

Although bluetooth works fine, the speaker is weak and has poor sound quality- exasperated when you attempt to turn up the volume. I don't feel my Outback has high interior noise levels, yet phone calls are almost impossible and directions are difficult to hear. Friends report they hear me fine, so I guess the microphone is good- but the speaker should be bigger and better for this application.

Text-to-speech function is another disappointment which compounds the shortcomings of the speaker. First, the manufacturer must not have recorded very many basic words in their database because the female voice messes up a lot of things she shouldn't- for instance, she can't say 'tunnel' (her Dutch heitage comes out- she pronounces it TO-ooonl) which now makes me mute her when I drive through some parts of town so I don't cringe. Also, the only thing she uses text-to-speech for is highway exits. On secondary roads and in developments, where the function would be most useful, its 'turn right' or 'turn left.' Even on the highways, if there is a number associated with the road that makes the exit, that's what you get- even when there is a more commonly referred to name for the same road. This leads to further confusion.

The other big sore spot for me is the size of the POI database. The database may be much larger compared to previous ones, but I still find that roughly 60% of the entries I request come back as 'No POI found!' I end up using Google Maps on my phone, finding the address (Google always seems to know the address!), then thumping the address into TomTom to get directions on a screen that won't kill me while driving. To add insult to injury, the method to find a POI isn't very elegant, requiring several spurious button pushes that only frustrate me more. Keep working on that database, TomTom, or split it into maneageable reigons like other GPS units do. America is bigger than the Netherlands.

There are other little niggles I have with the unit, but no other show stoppers. I appreciate the customizing and wealth of settings and options TomTom allows as compared to other units as well as the software, and I really hope they push their European traffic system here to the states. However, in this case I would have traded the software for hardware (a better battery and speaker) and a larger database.

Bottom line- if you are looking for a basic GPS, don't buy this one because you can get a basic TomTom for cheaper. If you are looking for a nicely optioned unit that could replace an in-dash unit, look elsewhere.Get more detail about TomTom GO 720 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator.