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Manufacturer: TomTom
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  • Preloaded with maps of the US, Canada and Mexico with Lifetime Map Updates
  • Lifetime Traffic Updates included--outsmart traffic and avoid delays for life with real-time information via your TomTom
  • Preloaded with more than 7 million points of interest in over 60 destination categories--gas stations, restaurants, hotels, ATMs and more
  • IQ Routes Technology calculates the fastest route possible based on time of day, saving you time, fuel and money
  • Advanced Lane Guidance indicates exactly which lane to use, so you can go confidently
First opinion of this device is great
 
Review Date: May 17, 2010
Reviewer: yogi, Canada
I just bought it two days back. I was kind of skeptical with the map updates and activation code not working, after reading through so many reviews related with update failure etc.

So I started with a full explorer backup of the device at windows level. It took about 45 minutes. Then I took another backup using Home software. That was another 45 minutes.

Then I deleted unwanted voices to free up some space. It probably removed some 30-40MB of space. There was close to 400MB free after this step.

Then I entered the activation code for lifetime free map updates using the Home software. It worked fine (at least it did not give me any errors).

Then it detected that there is new versions of map available for download. I downloaded the new maps, which took another 20 minutes or so, and took further 30 minutes to update the device.

The downloaded size of new maps was about 1.7GB, whereas the previous versions of maps occupied 1.43GB. Now my device has close to 60MB free out of the 1.9GB memory it has. I think if I would not have deleted unwanted voices, I would have come close to filling up all the space.

I also downloaded the GPSquickfix.

For the safety camera, when I had entered Canada as the home country, it did not show any information available to download. But after I switched it to US (from within HOME software), then it showed the data for US-Canada safety cameras, and I was able to download them.

So overall, I did not face any issues earlier reviewers of TomTom XL/XXL series had mentioned.

Regarding performance, I was pretty impressed with the speed it took to acquire satellite signal. I have a four year old HP-IPaq GPS (which runs TomTom software), and this new one is much faster than the HP one.

Now before I made this purchase, I had bought Garmin 755T last week. I did not like it for one main reason that it did not have up to date maps of my area (especially it didn't show my home even after 7 years it is on TomTom maps). I updated the maps to latest, and still didn't show my home street. Contacting the customer support for Garmin was a pain, with 30-40 min. of wait every time I tried to call them. It was a breeze to contact TomTom support. First time I was connected instantly, and every time after that, it took only few minutes to get connected. Finally, I did not like the colour schemes and sounds which came with Garmin. May be that is my personal preference. But Garmin is not too much customizable, pretty basic stuff you can configure. So it went back within few days.

Hope this review will be useful to you all.
A fine choice
 
Review Date: May 29, 2010
Reviewer: Official US Govt Taxpayer,
I ordered this to replace an older TomTom (GO-720) which gave us wonderful service for a few years. The appeal of this one was the free lifetime traffic (we did ok with the MapShare map updates on the 720, so free map updates were only a minor selling point for the new one).

I opted for one-day shipping - pretty expensive, but it got here in less than 24 hours!

First thing, I downloaded updated map, then tried to download the list of safety cameras. That got me a fatal error, repeated each time I tried to do it. Finally called Tech Support, and was told that safety camera info is not supported in the US, but only outside the US where it is legal. It's too bad they don't bother to tell US customers about that up front.

Then I opted to Add POIs, and was confronted with a 95 page buffet of POIs, submitted by anyone and everyone. Most are rated, which helps, and a few were flagged as having been "reported, and under investigation by TomTom staff for possible removal, which gave me a bit of confidence in them. There were lots of useful ones in that list (such as a list of Ohio Turnpike service plazas, Radio Shacks nationally, Credit Union Service Centers nationally, breweries and brew pubs in several states, etc.), and they don't take up too much room.

On our first test drive, in a small town where there are rarely any traffic tieups, the built-in traffic receiver actually connected, although I don't expect it to get any alerts around here. It should be great when we visit bigger cities.

The XXL picks up GPS satellites much faster than the old 720. It even got a few while we were indoors in a cafe.

The 5" screen is noticeably easier to read than the old one (4.3"), although the traffic bar takes up a bit of the extra acreage on the screen.

In summary, this is a very nice update to the old GO-720, with a number of appealing new features.

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