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TomTom GO 520 Satellite Navigation System With UK & Ireland Mapping Average Rating:   |
Features
- TomTom Go 520 Satellite Navigation
Reviews
At last, sat nav with daily map updates!
by Paul Dodd from on 2007-08-13
By far the biggest improvement on this system compared to previous Tom Toms is that no longer will you ever have to suffer a map being wrong, with the Tom Tom 520/720 the maps are updated everyday. If you're driving along and you come across a road that isn't currently on your map just tap the screen and it will map the new road as you drive along it. Plug the Tom Tom into your pc each night and your map modifications are sent to the Tom Tom site at the same time as downloading everyone else's map corrections. Everyone who has mocked sat nav systems in the past for their inaccuracy will now have nothing to complain about as you'll never have wrong maps. You can even correct changes to 1 way systems or speed limits.
There are many other major improvements such as the ability to speak to the unit rather than having to press the screen. How many times have we all been tempted to lean over and tap the screen at a time when it isn't safe but you just had to do it? All you need to do now is speak navigational instructions such as "Glasgow" then it asks which road, if it hasn't quite understood you or there's more than 1 road with the same name in that area then you get a numbered list to choose from and you just say "1" or "2" etc. It also speaks back to you when giving directions so instead of just saying "take the next road on the left" it will say "turn into the next left, castle road" or whatever the road name is. It also sounds very human and not like one of those creepy speech synthesizers from the 80's that gave kids nightmares.
Despite having a larger than ever 4.3 inch screen this Tom Tom is far smaller than before which makes it much easier to carry around with you unlike the brick sized Tom Tom 510. It is lighter, thinner, sleeker and the battery lasts an hour longer than on the previous models so you can now navigate for 5 hours without recharging. The on/off button is greatly improved so it no longer keeps turning itself on when in a bag.
You can now not only store MP3 songs on your Tom Tom but you can send them through your car radio, even better you don't need a fancy blue tooth stereo to do this, it works with any car radio at all. Just select a blank frequency like 103.00 fm or whatever, tell the Tom Tom that frequency and hey presto, crystal clear mp3s play through your car speakers with the tom tom instructions coming out the speakers as well or just from the Tom Tom as normal.
It's hard to see how the Tom Tom 520 could ever be improved upon, I had many ideas I wanted to see used by Tom Tom and they've done them all - the ability to speak to it, the bigger screen, the map updates. The only advantages the 720 has over the 520 is that is has a 2GB hard drive built in but that seems pointless to me when SD cards come up to 8Gb in size now and they access much faster than a hard drive. A hard drive would also drain more battery power because it has moving parts. The 720 also comes with full door to door. European maps but that's only useful if you ever plan on crossing Europe. Although the 720 is only £30 more, the 520 is where the smart money goes in my opinion.
The hands free phone system is great and means you can answer your phone and talk legally. Some people critise the Tom Tom 520 for not being compatible with all mobile phones, well just to clear that up it does work fine for talking with any phone which has bluetooth, it is just that not all phones can send text messages to the Tom Tom and that's a very minor complaint as far as I'm concerned.
This may not be the cheapest system available but it does 10 times more than any other and you get what you pay for. There is no better sat nav system available today.
Excellent
by C. Renton from Scotland on 2007-11-19
Just back from a 1000 mile round trip and "Tom" behaved impeccably. The thing I like about it rather than the Navman is that if I ignore it's directions instead of telling me to do U-turns for the next 5 minutes it just quietly plots a new route.
I have inserted a 2Gb SD card full of MP3s and being able to listen to my music and the navigation instructions at the same time via FM is a great feature.
Hands free calling worked fine with my Nokia E65, though text messaging didn't, but the phone is not officially supported.
The mapping is still out of date, no matter what the fan boy with the top review said - there is a bridge in Glasgow that opened to traffic a year ago that doesn't even exist on the map, and a road that closed to vehicular traffic in Wyre Piddle within the last year that still shows ( as does the now defunct petrol station next to it ). But don't worry - I corrected these errors using mapshare so hopefully the missing bridge will be added soon (unlike what was said by the other reviewer missing roads don't appear until added by TomTom/TeleAtlas, but closures and speed limit changes appear immediately) and the road is now closed on the map.
To clear up one very important point - there is no where / no way you can tap the screen, drive the road and it appears on your map - you get to mark the location of an error, then change it when you get home. You then submit this to TomTom who submit it to TeleAtlas, who eventually will correct the mapping. There is a lot of misconception floating around about this feature!
I've made literally dozens of corrections, and hopefully others are doing the same. Then eventually it might get reasonably up-to-date.
The unit is easy to use, clear to read and altogether a marriage saver for me :-)
Ace piece of kit
by C. Belcher from UK on 2007-10-31
Basically i initially bought the TomTom 500, recieved it and could tell it was a return so i sent it back (not from amazon) so i had to look for an alternative, glad i did as this baby is amazing. Well what can i say, its slim, lovely design. Bluetooth set up as a doddle, simple to use, recieving calls is superb through it, no glitches, saved me alot on buying a bluetooth reciever (dont like the headsets) I recieved a text message through and it started reading it to me, i was shocked by it, i didnt know it had that feature.
Its so much easier to type in an address, well you dont type it in just tell it the place you want to go and it finds it, tell it the number and you are away, so easy, alot less fiddly.
So many choices of sounds and pictures for the display, alot better than a garmin or anyother sat nav available.
Well worth the money, wouldnt suggest getitng another one, this one is so ideal for use in car with the bluetooth feature, oh and i forgot to mention the FM Transmitter, as it has built in memory, store your mp3s on there and transmit them to the radio, or evan buy another SD card and loads more mp3s.
Only problem is the FM transmitter when driving can become fiddly if you go through a town with the signal being used, not usually a problem if you know how the car works ;-)
Well worth the investment, if you consider TomTom One £149 bluetooth reciever £39.99 FM Transmitter £59.99
I love this device!
by Jayzee33 from on 2008-05-06
This is my first ever satnav - and I am really happy with it!.
The main thing is that if you should deviate from the route given, it will very quickly pick up on this, and recalculate the route, getting you back on track. Very useful if you are in an unfamiliar area.
The spoken voice is certainly loud enough to hear out of the speaker on the satnav when on the motorway, although you can tune it in to your stereo and have it come out of your car speakers (or via an audio cable if you have an auxiliary socket in your car).
It bleeps at you if you're driving too fast on a particular road (should you select it to) and warns you of upcoming speed cameras (again, should you select it to).
Every time you connect it to your computer, you can update the information on it, so it is as up to date as you want it to be. If you notice an error on the TomTom map, you can even report and correct this with TomTom - including adding any missing points of interest that you feel should be on there.
It is certainly worth taking the time to get to know this machine before you use it, as it will do an awful lot of stuff (including being used as an MP3 player or allowing you to make and receive calls on your mobile via bluetooth whilst driving).
The battery life isn't so great so you will have to charge it quite soon after using it on a journey of a couple of hours, but it does come with a car charger so no real problems with this.
I am really happy with my TomTom and, despite all the stories I have heard about inaccuracies of directions, it has been spot-on for me so far.
TTG 520
by A. Messenger from on 2007-08-06
This is a real improvement on a TTG 510. The mapping is improved, the ability for it to speak a road name as you enter or turn into a road is wonderful (no more trying to see the road name on the screen whilst driving). Its ability to understand spoken instructions is unbelieveable. Its size and battery capacity should make all its competitors sit up and take note and the mount is better, although there is still room for improvement here. On the whole a brilliant piece of kit.
