Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

Whats in the box:

• TomTom Go 740 Live
• Windshield Mount
• Desk dock for charging and computer connecting
• Car charger
• Adhesive Disk
• Documentation and CD-ROM

Features:

• 4.3-inch WQVGA touchscreen display
• Internal storage plus a microSD card slot for additional storage
• A “high-sensitivity” GPS receiver
• A built-in wireless GPRS receiver
• Bluetooth
• Built-in battery that offers up to 3 hours of power
• Built-in microphone and speaker
• Weight of 7.9-ounces

Pricing:

The TomTom GPS website lists the Go 740 Live price at $369.95, however it can be found much cheaper (currently $319.23) on Amazon.  Additionally, the TomTom 740 Live also comes with a 30-day map guarantee where if you purchase a device and then a newer set of maps is released within 30-days you will be able to update for free.

Setup:

Upon first turning on the unit, you are given the option to go through a basic setup which includes choosing your language, deciding if you want right-handed or left-handed operation, miles or kilometers, how the time should be displayed, setting the time, choosing a voice, choosing a day color scheme, choosing a night color scheme and finally setting your “Home” address.  After the setup is complete you are given a brief tour of the unit and what you can expect.

One note is that Voice Control feature is not available with most of the voice options.  In other words if you are a US English speaker like myself and want to use Voice Control then you are limited to one voice option—Susan.

Basically, the setup is quick and easy, the unit even ships with a dock that makes hooking it up to your computer for updates quick and easy.  Overall, the initial setup took around 15-20 minutes, which included hooking it up to a computer to check for updated maps.  Time to head out and get ready to go for a drive.

Setting the unit up in your car is pretty standard, you have a suction-cup mount and car power adapter. Nothing crazy or involved here, however the suction-cup mount has a twist to lock setup that appears to hold very nicely.  Of course, I was not going to go off-roading to test that theory.

Real world use:

To keep this simple, I would say that overall I liked the unit, however it was far from perfect and there were a few issues that would keep me from making a purchase.

Lets get the bad out of the way…

The biggest annoyances for me was in regards to the display.  First of all, the touchscreen can be described as difficult and I often had to take two or three attempts to select an option.  Furthermore, driving around in sunny Florida was not always nice to due glare on the display.

Otherwise the TomTom 740 Live does have some positive aspects as well.  To begin with, it has a lot of features.  That said, I wonder how many of them would be important or even used by an average consumer.  The unit has real-time traffic updates, the ability to find cheap gas, check the weather and even search Google.  They all sound really nice, however I only checked the weather, looked for gas prices and searched Google to see how they worked—which was good.  However once the initial fun was done they were never touched again.  Additionally, the traffic updates are not free, expect to pay an additional $9.95 a month after a three-month trial expires.

Another nice feature that is included was the Help Me! emergency menu.  This is one that I would hope never had to get used, but is nice to see available.  Thankfully I cannot comment on how well this worked, because I was safe while driving.  According to the feature list it allows you to “easily access local emergency providers such as police, fire stations and hospitals.”

Initially, (like I have been in the past) I was excited by the voice recognition.  Unfortunately after some use my excitement level dwindled.  The voice controls worked, and generally understood what I was saying, however it requires you to remember some pretty specific terms.  I would imagine that with longer use they would come a little more naturally, however in my shorter testing period I could not remember what I was expected to say.

Final thoughts:

I like fancy gadgets that do it all, but I often try to think of reviews based on how the average (non-geek) would use and enjoy the item.  In this case it seems the unit is overkill feature wise.  Most of the extra connected features often seemed easier to get using my iPhone or G1 than trying to reach up and mess with the GPS on the window mount.

I prefer a GPS for what it is—a GPS.  I do not really need the extra features, nor do I want to pay 10 bucks a month for them.  I would most likely opt for a lower priced GPS.

Does that mean the TomTom 740 Live is bad?  Not entirely.  I mentioned I had issues such as the difficulty with the touchscreen and the sun glare, but I would say this is a decent model.  To further add to that, the features all worked well, the connected items such as finding a gas price and searching Google were easy to use.  In other words, it does what it is expected to do and it does it well.

As far as a recommendation, that would have to be a yes and no.  Which answer would just depend on who was asking.  For the geek that loves gadgets and does not mind parting with the 10 bucks each month—yes.  For the regular Joe who wants to get directions and would rather spend their 10 bucks on overpriced coffee—no.

Product [TomTom Go 740 Live]

Check out the gallery: Gadgetell Review: TomTom Go 740 Live