I love my Tomtom!

I love this thing! We just moved to London and not only do I have to always drive on the other side of the road but I also have to be cognizant of one way streets and all these inane roundabouts that make it impossible for me to glance at a standard map to figure out where I am going. Frankly, I was quite concerned that I would end up in Scotland by mistake or worse get in an accident along the way, so we bought the Tom Tom GO. It really has made a difference in my driving.

Entering in information is simple and intuitive. I can choose an address, a point of interest, a saved favorite, or a recent destination. To enter an address, I start with the city or post code, then move onto the street and house number. I like that it saves any previous entries because instead of having to type London for each new trip, I can simply select it from the list to save time. The pre-loaded points of interest are a real lifesaver for someone that is new to an area. These are tourist attractions, gas stations, ATMs, shopping malls, etc. that are not always shown on a standard map. Another feature I really enjoy is that I can save a GPS position so that it is easy to return. So, if driving down the road you see an interesting store or sight that you want to see later it is very easy to load the Tom Tom with the location without having to know the exact address.

Most importantly, the Tom Tom makes driving easier. It has verbal instruction in a language/voice of your choice of how to get to your destination. For instance, it will say "left turn in 100 yards" and then as you get closer "turn left here." If I do take a wrong turn, which is now rare, it will automatically calculate how to fix my mistake. Moreover, in London you can download a listing of most of the speed/red-light cameras so that it can give you a warning…not that I would speed, of course. ;-)

There are a few things I wish the Tom Tom GO could do. It would be great if it had the route preferences of: shortest, fastest, most scenic routes but it doesn’t. I have no idea how it calculates the route, but it doesn’t seem to take into account areas that generally have congested traffic. It does seem to take into account the speed limit, but as we all know those two are very different!!

Also, I have noticed a fault with the TomTom though. When it is first turned on or recovers from lost satellite reception, such as in a tunnel, it doesn’t seem to pinpoint my location accurately. Perhaps it is due to the number of satellites available or perhaps it is because I live in an area of tall buildings but it often puts me one street over or going in the wrong direction. It always fixes itself quickly so it is no big deal, but I have learned that in these instances to make sure to check the map before following its verbal directions.