GPS Sat Nav Systems

It came in as a big surprise when it was reported that TomTom was preparing its new range of sat nav systems in Nov 2008 as the company’s 530, 730 and 930 has just hit the shelves in June 08. TomTom refuses to rest on its market share laurels and hence have another iteration of their best selling and award winning GO LIVE range. With hindsight, we can say that the latter launch has been timed to just take advantage of the summer holiday rush. Though the X30 devices concreted the position of TomTom in the market of the high end Sat-Navs, they seemed to have offered a few major upgrades over their predecessor models. The X40 range is however an entirely different kettle of fish. It seems to be an overhaul in every sense of the word and is first in what is expected to be a wave of connected navigational devices. Check out its physical makeover by way of a brand new slimmer chassis and finally a new windscreen mount (a long overdue). In addition to this one of the most important upgrade is that, it sports an in-built SIM that TomTom prefers calling the HD Traffic.

In the following review, we will see in detail about the 740 LIVE, which is in the middle of the x40 versions. While the 740 gets both UK and European maps, the 540 has just the UK maps, with an option to pick and mix European maps at some extra cost. The high-end 940 of the series has also included North-American maps for more serious globe-trotters. The GO 740 LIVE offers live services including HD Traffic, Google Search, intelligent routing using IQ technology, Voice Control and Lane Guidance. Well, if you are someone looking for a SatNav system that goes that extra mile than being just a GPS device, then the GO 740 is definitely worth a try.

Design:

A decent looking device:
Out of the box, the TomTom Go 740 Live is a decent looking piece of hardware which is stylish and well made, featuring soft touch plastics and curved edges. It feels very robust and well constructed. Though it seems to be a bit on the bulkier side than some of the other GPS Sat Nav Systems that we have reviewed, it is not overly so and easily sits in our palms. A docking station has been included to connect the device to a PC and plug it in as and when required. This is one of the first models that we have reviewed to have a docking station and we sure did love it; a nice touch by Tom Tom.

Display:
The facia of the TomTom GO 740 LIVE GPS Receiver is dominated by a 4.3″ touchscreen display having a decent resolution of 480 x 272 pixels. It is bright and easy to see in all conditions. This display is used to control all the functions of the device, except for turning it on. As in the recent GPS devices in the market, there are both day and night colour modes.

Installation:
As in the case of most of the other Tom Tom navigational devices, the installation of the 740 too was a hassle free process. All you need to do is to press the suction cup against the windscreen twisting the centre portion of the cup in order to apply suction. Once the attachment is done, the device is held firmly in place. The cradle itself seems to be well designed, with a design that is similar to the ones seen on the other sat navs; you will be able to just twist and turn the cradle into desired position. Attaching and detaching the unit from its cradle is fairly simple too.

Maps:

Map Coverage in GO 740 LIVE:
As we has mentioned in the introduction, the Tom Tom Go 740 Live covers UK, Ireland and Europe. While the map coverage in most of the countries is 99%, Estonia covers 72%, Latvia 61%, Slovenia 47% and Croatia has 43% coverage. The complete list of map coverage includes Austria, Andorra, Belgium, Czech Republic, Croatia, Estonia, Denmark, France, Finland, Gibraltar, Germany, Italy, Hungary, Liechtenstein, Latvia, Luxembourg, Lithuania, Norway, Monaco, Poland, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Republic of Ireland, Slovakia, Spain, Slovenia, Sweden, Spain, Switzerland, Netherlands, Vatican City and the United Kingdom. The map coverage also includes the connecting roads of Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Belarus, Bulgaria, Moldavia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Romania, the Russian Federation and Ukraine.

TomTom Map Share:
With this feature you can rectify errors in your map sharing the same with the other users of the TomTom’s Map Share community and also receive corrections done by others. You can use Map Share to send and receive map corrections during the first year after the map’s release date. This means that one year after the release date, you will no longer be able to send or receive map corrections for that version of the map; you will still be able to make corrections to your own map for use on your own device. Note that the Tom Tom Map Share feature is not available in all regions.

User Interface:

Main Menu:
The main menu consists of three pages which paves way for the entire set of functionalities. Most of the option in the main menu have submenus that allows you to tweak and customise the system. The main menu options are Find Alternative, Navigate to, Tom Tom Services, Help Me, Change Preferences, Browse Map, Prepare route, Map Corrections, Add Music, Favourites and Media, Clear Route, Tom Tom Traffic, Mobile Phone, View Route with Itinerary Planning.

Complex sytem:
Though the main menu seems to be very simple, the system might be a little daunting to use especially while drilling down into the sub-menus. For instance, the main menu option Change Preferences will provide you with an array of eight screens. There are literally dozens of menu screens available, which is far more than what we have ever seen on the other high end sat nave systems like Garmin or Navman. With the design and customisable options available in the user interface, we feel that the device is more geared towards power users. This means, you need some time to eat in order to familiarise yourself with the system.

If you are looking for simplicity in menus and operation, this is probably not the device you are looking for. However, TomTom has offered ways to hide most of the menu screens in order to offer you with a much simpler looking interface. All that you have to do is, navigate to the 8th screen of the Change Preferences menu and select “Show fewer menu options”. On the other hand, if you like tweaking and fiddling with the gadgets settings, leave it alone.

On-screen keyboard:
The on-screen keyboard is just big enough for those with large fingers to enter text. While entering an address, you can do so by giving postcodes, actual address or simply by picking a town. As you type, the names of the towns that match what you have typed are shown. Instead of typing the name, tap the mike icon to say the address by speaking to your navigation device.

Maps are, as ever with TomTom, very clear although the heavily stylised chunky maps do struggle slightly with complicated junctions, and the software sometimes opts to announce ‘bear right’ at what most people would consider a full ‘turn right’ situation or vice versa.

Navigation:
When it comes to navigation, the TomTom GO 740 LIVE Satellite Navigation System provides with all the common navigational options such as, navigation to a specific address, Point of Interest (POI), Faourites, Home and Recent destination. The Google button allows you to search for the business listings. You can also voice command the address to the device, which in our tests worked surprisingly well. Once the address has been input into the device, you will be able to review the route as either text or images. Tom Tom has also offered a route demo which can be run at various speeds.

Route Planning:
Planning your route with the Go 740 is pretty simple. Select the main menu option “Navigate To”, where you will get the following screen.

If you know just the address of the place you are navigating to, just tap on the address icon where you can choose from the options of City centre, Street and House number, Post Code, Crossing or Intersection and Spoken Address. The other navigational options include the most common and well known options like Home, Favourites and Recent Destination. The Point on Map option allows you to select a point on the map as your destination using the map browser and the Latitude and Longitude icon allows you to enter the destination using the latitude and longitude values. Tom Tom Buddy allows you to navigate to the last known position of a Tom Tom Buddy and Position of Last Stop, as the name indicates allows you to select your last recorded position as your destination. On long trips, we would want to navigate to multiple destinations. This does not mean that you have to enter the address each time, instead you can setup an itinerary.

Features:

IQ Routing Technology:
Tom Tom has employed its IQ Routing Technology which helps to build some intelligence into the calculations while planning a route. You might be aware of the fact that the traditional Sat Nav systems always use the maximum speed limit of any given road to determine the expected time of arrival. But depending on time of the day, rush hours and off-peak, these calculations are mostly inaccurate as you might tend to drive a lot slower during the rush hours and these traditional calculations simply have no way of building these into route calculations. The IQ Technology works by collecting trip data from every single TomTom user. Whenever the device is connected to Tom Tom HOME software, the sat nav trip data is sent to Tom Tom. This data is then used to record how long a particular takes at a given time of day. In this way, data is collected from thousands of different users and this data is used to analyse the journey patterns and hence offer accurate route planning. These trip data are sent as anonymous to Tom Tom, however, if you any sort of privacy concerns you, the feature can always be disabled.

Preparing Route:
Preparing route is real fun with a wide range of option available. You can opt for the kind of route that you are planning to take namely the shortest or fastest route, walking route, avoid motorways, limited speed and bicycle route. Three options are available for when you will make the journey that you are planning including Now, Specific date and Time and No Specific date and Time. You might be wondering what is the great point of selecting when you are going to make the journey, but here is the deal; if you select either Now or Specific date and time, your GO uses IQ Routes to work out the best possible route at that time, using average real speeds measured in roads. In this way you can compare how long a journey takes at different times of day, or on different days of the week.

Navigation tests:
We got to test the Go 740 Live Sat Nav Device on several routes; motorway and urban driving. Overall, the GPS proved to be an excellent navigator. The route selection was clever, maps were easy to read and the lane assist feature worked well. The most surprising accuracy was that of the estimated time of arrival. The delays are displayed in minutes on the right of the screen and once the delays reach a stage at which a faster route is available, the 740 asks you weather you wish to re-calculate. With an approaching motorway junction, you will be guided by the status bar with the lane to choose, in addition to displaying the motorway junction’s number in the screen at the top. However, we felt that the bottom part of the display is crowded with too much of information and at the very first glance we guarantee that you will be perplexed. Again, Tom Tom has offered options to customise the status bar; so if you decide to go with the remaining time rather than the compass, the GPS can be customised accordingly.

Voice Recognition:
The GO 740 LIVE GPS Navigator supports voice recognition, which is one of the common features in today’s smart phones. The system is pre-programmed with a set of phrases that are linked to the most common tasks that a user performs such as switching between 3D and 2D views as well as simply entering the addresses. Just press the microphone icon on the screen and speak one of those phrases; for instance, “Start Itinerary” and the action is performed immediately. This feature is very handy, especially considering the fact that user has to navigate through several screens to get to the option that they need. The Voice Recognition worked well in our tests of recognising the street names and cities, but occasionally found it difficult to recognise numbers, bizarre huh?. However, you do need to remember the phrases that are programmed into the Tom Tom.

Tom Tom LIVE Services:
Tom Tom LIVE is a set of services including HD Traffic, Google Search, Local Fuel Prices, Safety Cameras, Tom Tom Weather and Tom Tom Buddies. All of these services are offered free of charge for the first three months and thereafter, you will be charged a flat monthly fee of £7.99 and unless you are a regular road user, you might find these ongoing costs to be quite expensive.

HD Traffic:
HD Traffic is similar to the traffic modules seen in the other models and the idea is basically to warn users of the upcoming traffic issues. Most of the other satellite navigators use TMC (Trafffic Management Channel) for broadcasting traffic data to the sat navs with the help of regular FM-RDS radio stations and as you can see, Tom Tom gone that extra mile. The company collects information from Vodafone’s GSM network to track how mobile phones in cars are moving all over the country, which in turn is used to calculate how fast the cars are moving. For instance, if there is a traffic congestion, the cars move slowly and so do the phones inside the car and this information is used to warn other TomTom users in the same area. Some might consider this as some kind of privacy invasion; but this is certainly not the case as they only collect GSM data and do not physically tap into your phone to snoop on you.

Unfortunately, TomTom has not been able to convince the various operators concerned to enter into roaming agreements with them and one another and thus the UK HD Traffic SIM card works only in the UK with the same being true for every other country where the service has been offered.

It is also notable that the HD Traffic system does not solely work on this information as they also collect traffic data from third parties such as TrafficMaster cameras, the government agencies and conventional traffic providers; which is a genuine attempt to offer the most comprehensive traffic picture as possible. With the bygone generation of GPS’ just recalculating your route and providing a faster way to reach your destination, the Live system provides you info on the conditions to expect everywhere, thus providing you with a route that would only be better. Additionally, it also tells you the duration of the journey with this new itinerary. The HD Traffic is as impressive as it sounds in theory. It allows you to browse traffic between your home and office, which regular commuters might find very useful. Overall, the live traffic service appears to be more rounded and up-to-date than the previous attempts.

Google Local Search:
The built-in SIM card feature has a lot of other advantages too. Not only are you provided with this kind of extensive traffic information, but you can also use it to access Google Local Search. This ends the hassle of digging out the post code information for your destination if it happens to be non-residential address. The Google Search feature allows you to look-up for the local business listings and the search results allow you to directly navigate to the place. When we used the feature for a number of times, it worked very well. Just make a note that you will be able to lookup only business listings.

Low Fuel Prices:
The Low Fuel Prices service, as the name indicates lists you with the cheapest fuel available in your area and hence save heaps. With this option, you get to choose the fuel type (Unleaded, Super unleaded, LPG, Diesel, LRP and Other Diesel), fuel prices (cheapest on route, cheapest nearby, cheapest in area, find by distance, find by price and change fuel type.

Safety features:
Safety Cameras is one of the very common features in the GPS systems and the Go 740 LIVE has one too. This functionality detects mobile and fixes safety cameras as well as warnings of accidental black spots. This feature has been enhanced with the inclusion of updates from live speed camera. This is possible by tapping into the database of the “Road Angel Speed camera” offering users updated alerts regarding mobile speed camera spots in addition to conventional info of static camera.

Tom Tom Weather:
Though some of you might think that Tom Tom weather is just a gimmick, in real life it is pretty useful. Not only does this service on the GO 740 LIVE Touch Screen Sat Nav give you the local weather, it also offers you with the conditions in the place you are travelling to which allows you to take a decision if it is just the right day for a picnic. The weather report is displayed on the screen and a human voice, which is not a computer automated one, will read out the weather for you.

Tom Tom Buddies:
Tom Tom Buddies is a very interesting and unique feature of the Go 740 LIVE which allows you to track where your other Tom Tom friends are on the map. In addition to that, you will also be able to send messages and share favourite locations. Though we cannot say that Tom Tom is the first or only GPS system to use this, kind of a feature, we must admit that this was one of the most efficient one.

Bluetooth:
For the sake of networking and connectivity, the Go 740 sports Bluetooth hands-free calling and SMS support. This feature allows you to take control of your mobile phone via the sat-nav. There are options available to transfer your address book details on to the GPS device and surprisingly, one can also call a Point of Interest. While testing of this feature it worked flawlessly, however, we cannot guarantee its consistency.

Point Of Interest (POI):

The Point Of Interest Database did a reasonable job, but we felt that it was let down when it comes to accuracy. We looked up several hotels and restaurants and on each of those searches, the location provided by the 740 Live seemed to be inaccurate. The inaccuracy by a few yards is certainly normal and acceptable, but the 740 seemed to have missed the points by couple of hundred yards away and on the wrong street too.  After several misses, we no longer had the confidence in the POI of the device and rather preferred to use the Google Live Search which in turn offered much more accurate results.

TomTom Home:
The Tom Tom Go 740 Live Sat-Nav includes the TomTom Home software to be installed in your PC. With the help of this software, you will be able to perform a range of tasks like updating the software on the 740, share map corrections, download additional voices and also backup or restore Tom Tom. The installation of the software is very easy, simple to use and has no reported issues so far.

Package Contents:

The package contents of the GPS Sat-Nav systems includes the Tom Tom Go 740 Live GPS device along with a suction cup and a docking station, USB Cable, car/truck compatible 12-24V adaptor for cigarette lighter, a CD ROM for Tom Tom Home Software, User manual with a Quick Start Guide. All the parts are packaged and well presented inside the box. Taking the price tag into consideration, the omission of the protective case is a shame.

Guarantee:

The Tom Tom Go 740 Live comes with one year manufacturer’s Gurantee.

Verdict:

The Tom Tom Go 740 Live Satellite Navigation system is an excellent device with a wealth of  features and options that must keep most of the users happy. The device is packed with heaps of features and left us wondering how many of these will be actually used by a typical common user. All these do come with a bulky price tag though and in order to get the most of the device, you will also pay the montly subscription for the Tom Tom LIVE service and unless you hit the roads regularly, you will not get the bang for your buck. Interface wise it is a complex system to be used at the beginning with the vast array of menu options and even some feature like the HD Traffic which are difficult to interpret. In short, it is mainly aimed at a power user, that is, someone who is already familiar with the sat navs and wants to upgrade to something with more features to fiddle with. And this is definitely not for the novice users looking for their first GPS.

When it comes to navigation, the Go 740 LIVE put on a stellar performance. However, the POI was disappointing and was nowhere near the efficiency of Garmin in this department. The graphics could do with an update to some 21st century graphics technology. The voice commands are crystal clear and loud and the speech recognition was one of the best. In short this device is the best choice for those who drive quite frequently, have enough savings to pay the monthly LIVE subscriptions and will have time to play with all the included features.

TomTom GO 740 LIVE Sat Nav System – Technical Specification Table

Manufacturer	TomTom
Model Name	Tom Tom Go 740 Live Satellite Navigation system
GPS Application	Car
Dimensions (W x H x D)	127 x 85 x 23 mm
Weight	224 grams
Display	Widescreen 16:9 format WQVGA LCD
Display screen size	4.3 inch
Display resolution	480 x 272 pixels
Navigation views	Turn by turn
Memory type	2GB Internal Flash Memory
Memory slots	microSD card socket
MP3 Player	Yes
Maps included	Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Monaco, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands, United Kingdom and Vatican City. The map coverage also includes the connecting roads of Albania, Belarus, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Moldavia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Ukraine and the Russian Federation
Voice	Navigation instructions Voice command recognition
Connectivity	GPRS Connectivity with three months LIVE services Bluetooth USB 2.0
Audio	Optimised integrated microphone and speaker for high quality hands-free functionality
Compatibility	Windows and Mac OS X 10.3 and above
GPS Module	SiRF Star III
GPS Receiver	Highly sensitive GPS Receiver
Features to reduce driver’s stress	Latest map Guarantee Active Dock Advanced Lane Guidance
Features to save time and money	HD Traffic IQ Routes technology Safety Alerts Fuel Prices QuickGPSfix ECO Routes
Enhanced safety features	Hands free calling Help me – emergency menu Safety preferences
Additional features	8-digit postcode Real-time traffic information Voice address input High quality speaker QuickGPSfixT and high sensitivity GPS chipset Built-in receiver for LIVE Services Integrated FM transmitter Advanced lane guidance Text to Speech Light sensor for an optimal view TomTom MapShare technology Plug and Go Speed camera locations from Road Angel
Included GPS Software	TomTom HOME
Included accessories	Tom Tom Go 740 Live GPS device, a suction cup, a docking station with USB Cable, 12-24V cigarette lighter adaptor that is suitable for cars and trucks, a CD ROM containing Tom Tom Home Software, Quick Start Guide and User Manual
Battery type	Internal lithium ion
Battery life	Three hours
Guarantee	One year