5 comments about TomTom GO 930T 4.3-Inch Touchscreen Portable GPS Navigator with Traffic Reciever.

1. Pros:
   
   * Ability to enter address using voice command
   * Advanced lane assistance
   * 3D renderings of complex intersections
   * Ability to use historical traffic data to optimize route
   * Keyboard option for left-handed users
   
   Cons:
   
   * Voice command feature not as accurate and sensitive as could be
   * No dashboard mounting disc included in box
   * Lane guidance feature not available for all roads
   * To change preferences, need to navigate through several sub-menus
   
   My favorite feature is the IQ route. No I don't want a route based on what the speed limit is supposed to be but on what it actually is.
   For a more thorough review please check out http://gpselector.com/TomTom/tomtom-go-930



2. [Introduction] I bought this product after much frustration with Garmin Nuvi 370 and could not be happier. Of course 370 is about 100 dollars cheaper (street price wise, although the official price is a lot higher -- I wonder why) and people might say they should not be directly compared. However, functionwise the only difference between the two are (1) screen size and (2) voice input feature availability and since these two add at least 100 dollars value in today's navigation market and since the fundamentals are not affected, I think this head-to-head comparison is fair. As far as I know these two are the only models that come with European maps pre-installed. Below is the review that I put under Garmin Nuvi 370. I simply paste it here for the benefit of full, detailed comparison. If you don't need the review on 370 and simply want a review on 930, I suggest you skip the first half.
   
   Garmin Nuvi 370
   
   There are 3 fatal flows with this product: (1) announcing too late and (2) giving confusing directions at complicated lane guidence situation and (3) taking too long to find satellite initially. I have been testing this product for a month in San Francisco and the Bay area.
   
   (1) announcing too late
   
   When your car is about to pass the intersection at which it is supposed to make a turn, then and only then it announces you to prepare for a turn. I missed so many turns because of the late announcements. It is also incredbly dangerous as you are tempted to attempt last-moment lane changes in order to make the turn. Also the distance to the turn is not that accurate -- when you are almost already at the intersection it shows you are 200 meters away (I changed the measurement setup to meters). SUGGESTION: Certain navigations have a bar-graph showing countdowns to the intersection, and perhaps that's what this navigation must have as well. Also certain navigations ask you to prepare well ahead. Make a customizable setting how long before to make the pre-announcement.
   
   (2) giving confusing directions at complicated lane guidence situation
   
   Time and time again, I missed the right exit on the highway. The map is absolutely no help. The multiple lanes look all overlapped!!! Red lines are cofusing as hell. Annoucement is in this fashion: "Keep to right and then keep to left." What is that supposed to mean and which lane are you supposed to be in? In a fast highway situation, this is incredibly dangerous. I almost got into accidents at many interchanges as I was trying to look both the road signs and my navigation and could not make any sense. SUGGESTION: the map needs major improvement on interchanges -- show us the way!!! Also get rid of "keep to right and then keep to left" style BS for a clearer direction.
   
   (3) taking too long to find satellite initially
   
   If you park your car outside, that would be fine but if you park it in a garage, woe to you. It will take at least 20 blocks to find the satellite and you will be either parking your car on the roadside waiting for godot or meandering down the street without knowing where you are going for very very long time. This is not acceptable. I used other product (magellan) before, and it found the satellite so much quicker. SUGGESTION: technological improvement or better processor.
   
   TomTom 930
   
   [ADDED TO THIS AFTER I BOUGHT TOMTOM GO930 AND TESTING IT FOR A WEEK]
   
   After my much frustration with Garmin NUVI 370, I purchased a Tomtom GO930 from local Best Buy. (The price of TomTom 930 at Best Buy was the same as the price at Amazon at USD 450, although I had to pay the tax.)
   
   Wow, what a difference. That's all I can say. TomTom 930 is a bit more expensive than the street price of Garmin NUVI 370, but is so much better that the price difference is immaterial.
   
   (1) prepare... prepare...
   
   TomTom announces well before each turn and actually tells you on which side of the lane you should be in for the next turn. Incredibly friendly announcements. The arrow direction on the map display shows whether you should be making left or right turn as well. I never missed a single turn thanks to the ample announcements.
   
   (2) guiding complicated lane situation with ease
   
   the roads never appear overlapped like the NUVI 370. If there are five diverging roads, all are clearly shown, with the clear indication where you are and where you should go. Mind you, I haven't seen that many Advanced Lane Guidance screen yet as TomTom advertised (I hear that they don't have this on every intersection yet) but even without this, lane guidance is incredibly clear and easy (they show both on the map and on the status bar with muted arrows and one clear arrow). What a refreshing change from Garmin NUVI 370. The voice direction is a lot more clear and easier to understand as well -- it is as if somebody is actually speaking fine English to me. I never missed the right exit.
   
   (3) lightening fast in finding satellites
   
   It actually finds satellites when I am in my room with 4-5 bars. Need I say more?
   
   (4) extras... extras...
   
   TomTom has voice address input feature that is very useful. There are many situations that you hate to put in long characters (In California there are so many cities starting with San...). Simply pronounce it and the machine finds it for you, including the streets. I find this to be working well about 95% of the time. Also it gives you a few choices so that what you pronounced is almost always among the choices. SUGGESTION: This voice feature is not available for Place Name under Point of Interst (available only for the actual address).
   
   Point of Interest feature in TomTom is incredibly extensive. I tested many restaurants listed in Zagat survey and found out that almost all (even obscure ones under "Best Value") restaurants have been registered in TomTom by names and phone numbers. I did not find that to be the case with Garmin NUVI 370 (I actually had to type in the exact address under my favorites). This makes inputing job so much easier. I typed in "Marshalls" under Point of Interest in Sunnyvale, and TomTom returned 7 results, some of them are as far away as San Jose, Mipitas, etc. Again, not so with Garmin.
   
   Downloading updates and changes through computer seems painless and efficient as well. Works perfectly and took about 3 minutes to get the latest updates. Again, Garmin NUVI 370 does not have this feature. I don't know how actually useful the updates would be, but it is assuring that I am using the latest whatever.
   
   Time estimation in TomTom is so much more accurate than Garmin. I found Garmin to be always a bit on the optimistic side (ie I never actually arrived as Garmin estimated especially in a city traffic). I don't know if it is because of the IQ Routes feature of TomTom but the timing estimate seems to be right on and there is little need for any traffic subscription service.
   
   CONCLUSION: I will be updating this review to find any shortcoming of TomTom 930 (and I am sure there will be many) but so far it seems that TomTom is a very clear winner and fully justifies the extra USD 100. If you are looking for a navigation that includes both American and European maps, I guess your choices will be cleary limited: you would have to go for either the Garmin NUVI 370 or the TomTom GO 930, and my recommendation would be the latter -- not for the extra features but mainly for the basic abilities that I listed earlier in this review.
   
   ADDED Later: I have been using TomTom for some time now, and again the fundamental qualities are excellent. In addition to reliable guidance, I find the voice address input feature truly useful and accurate. I use it all the time.
   
   Another incredibly useful feature is the initial preview of the whole route (Garmin Nuvi 370 does not do this). When I used Garmin 370, I did not even know highway 280 existed since it almost always guided me through 101! However, with TomTom 930, at the outset I have the chance to view the entire route, pick and choose any alternative routes from it. This is just so convenient. 280 may be a tad bit longer route, but it has much less traffic than 101, with much better road conditions and scenic views, and just whole a lot better than 101 -- I can't believe Garmin simply never showed it to me!
   
   However, here are a few suggestions to make TomTom better: (1) "Clear Address" is not immediate. If you want to clear the previous address input, you have to touch the screen a few times. This is not convenient. There must be an instant way to clear address. (2) Occasionally (bur very rarely) it misses U-turns. (3) When you turn off the ignition, it does not automatically turn off (unlike Garmin). You must push the button on top. This is not very convenient.



3. Purchased this unit as my first TomTom unit, after using several different GPSs over the previous years.
   
   It works, but there's nothing special about the TomTom. Several months ago, this unit had unique features. However, there are now common from many different makers ... which are either the same cost or better.
   
   When I received this, the RDS antenna was the wrong one. I had to send it back *AT MY OWN COST* so they could send me the proper one after two weeks.
   
   If you talk to TomTom Support (East Coast Business Hours Only) be prepared to send proof that you purchased this unit from an Authorized Vendor only - otherwise you will NOT be supported.
   
   All the connectors for this unit are on the bottom. This may not be an issue unless you want to use a dash mount (required for California). About the dash mount - you're going to have to buy one from a 3rd party - TomTom doesn't sell one (at least I couldn't find one on their site).
   
   After about 2 months of use the unit stopped working. Actually worse - it began acting erratically.
   
   Unit would turn itself on at random (draining the battery)
   
   The battery charge indicator was a joke. Even after charging overnight and verifying the charge was 100%. Attempting to use it an hour later would show a dead battery.
   
   When it did turn on, it would constantly reboot itself.
   
   Had to RMA this unit (after providing proof-of-purchase). Note had to send it via UPS/FedEx/etc... They DO NOT accept USPS for RMA. Seems the mailclerk who receives USPS is somehow unable to take packages back to the dock where UPS/FedEX delivers.
   
   The TomTomHome s/w. What a joke.
   
   Graphical & Slow.
   
   Expectation seems to be that you will only ever have ONE TomTom Unit at any time in your life. After I received my RMA GO930, I had to DOWNLOAD all the maps again to the new unit via TTH. Note - I already had the maps for the unit I returned.
   
   Somehow the maps are locked to an individual unit when they are downloaded! SO be prepared to have a high-speed line and wait as maps are downloaded while your TOmTOm is docked and otherwise useless.
   
   This was suppose to be a top line GPS from TomTom when I bought it 3 months ago. It was NOT ready for use.
   
   It shipped with incorrect parts, which made it non-functional and which *I* had to pay to receive the correct parts.
   
   The TTH software is NOT user friendly, nor is it fast for any activity which it does try to perform.
   
   The GUI on the GPS is nothing to speak of. It's there, but lacking in thought. Once you get to the configuration menu, any change you make will automatically take you back to the main screen. This means you have to constantly walk the menu trees to make another change. In fact this happens at most of the menus ... make a change/selection and get dropped back at the main screen.
   
   Bottom Line... But ANYBODY ELSE but TomTom. You'll probably pay less, and get an equal of not better product and support.



4. Am enjoying using this product and it continues to amaze me with what it can do



5. I've been using this device for over 2 months and have tested it in NYC and the Tri-State area, Houston-Texas and while on vacation in Hawaii (3 different islands).
   
   I pay close attention to what other Amazon consumers say about there purchases. When I choose to buy the 930 I read almost all the reviews available on Amazon and other sites.
   
   Overall I am happy with my purchase but I think that is because I have come to expect the TomTom product has flaws. I previously had a 2006 version installed on my PDA device and after using that for 2 years I learned there were certain shortcomings with TomTom in general. I have never used another GPS device but from what I've read, TomTom seems to lack updated USA maps compared to others.
   
   The 930 device works really well but if you are looking and more importantly depending on getting to an exact address as your destination, I would guess you will be disappointed at least 40% of the time.
   
   While on vacation in Hawaii, the 930 got us close to our destinations but in some cases was a block or two short. In Texas, we experienced similar results and in some cases we were on the wrong side of the road. In the NYC area I find it to be really accurate.
   
   The 930 has tons of cool features that makes me happy with the purchase. Once TomTom as a whole gets it's act together with updated maps the device will be well worth the money. Like many other TomTom owners, it can be very frustrating when you are trying to get somewhere and you don't arrive at your exact location. But I like my device and I would recommend you buying the product with the understanding the USA maps needs work.
   
   Sam

5 comments about TomTom XL 330 4.3-Inch Touchscreen Portable GPS Navigator.

1. I've had my TomTom for about a month and have not run into problems. I travel to unfamiliar areas a lot with a home party business and now feel confident that I will find my way where I need to go and home again. The voice speaker is plenty loud, directions are given clearly and in plenty of time. The unit picks up the satellite quickly on startup and calculates the trip well. On a recent trip 6 hours from home, I could easily find local banks & restaurants using the POIs. Money well spent.



2. wish I could put some of the routes in that I would take first, before it comes up with the whole route to take. Also very hard to put street adresses in.



3. hi i bought this excellent peice of GPS after reading many reviews in Cnet and other related websites..after very careful reviewing i bought it from amazon for an amazing price and still the GPS is the excellent peice i have bought so far..my previous one being the magellan.. i am sure TOmTom will upgrade its website to have us all the updated maps as early as 2008..well it doesnt have the MP3 play back option in the unit .. i find many pros while 2 cons.. it doesnt support a SD card slot and its mem is 1gb..however it should have street spelling option instead of calling the turns..well its the price that makes it worth..



4. Bought this product after a lot of research online and in stores. Am extremely satisfied. It is very easy to use right from the getgo. The only negative as far as I'm concerned is the user booklet. I had to make a few calls to their technical department when I couldn't figure something out. They were helpful and didn't have any wait time. I think the booklet could have been more detailed in it's instructions. My son bought the exact same one after seeing ours. Love the spoken street names which cost more in other makes and models.



5. Purchased the 330S and it wouldn't announce upcoming turns by street names as it is supposed to do. Also voice was so low on maximum one could barely hear anything with the car moving, radio off and windows rolled up. Totally unacceptable. Returned it for another, and that one also didn't announce upcoming turns by street names. Returned it also for a refund and will end up purchasing a Garmin 260W.
   Amazon's return policy is excellent and timely.

5 comments about Mio C520 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator.

1. After my previous Mio320 was stolen (some buggers busted into my car window while i was out for 10 min only), I explored the newer possibilities and fell for this one- and that was a good decision. For this price, the service is JUST LOVELY. It got all the things that one may wish to have: mp3 player, bluetooth for handfree (works well with my Samsung Blackjack), text-to-speech, fast enough computation, somewhat outdated map (but you can update it). The look is great and sleek, fits into the shirt pocket easily even with a large enough screen.
   
   Few minor downsides:
   1) Don't particularly like the shrill voice- last version was soothing
   
   2) Could not figure out any hard-button for the VOICE (volume)- so if you are running mp3 player, you need to go to that application (via touchscreen) and then control the volume.
   
   3) Few more hot-buttons for easier access would have been helpful, e.g., connecting to cell phones while on move, instead of going through the whole touch-screen
   
   These are just little hick ups, but, all in all, THE PRODUCT IS GREAT for the price and rating any less than 5 would be misleading...
   
   
   and now the last sentence: its too good, do not ever leave it in the car even for 1 min; i learned it the hard way :)



2. I owned a MIO C310x for almost two year so I can say with confidence that MIO produces excellent GPS devices. This Mio C520 therefore is an upgrade for me. I like the text-to-speech, which is definitely a major plus but the voice could use a little more help, it doesn't sound natural. My old mio C310x has much better voice. I also would like to see hot buttons like for volumes and main menu....it's inconvenient to navigagte your way around to look for them while driving. Lastly, the bluetooth function works great but the speaker is too damn quite and hides in the back of the unit....
   
   Well, if you can get over those little things (which can be annoying at times), it's a great GPS unit. The GPS function i think is flawless and takes you where you need to be. It's simple to use. A+++. The routing is not perfect as for all other GPS as well, but my point is this: if you never been to one location and this mio gets you there (maybe couple extra turns), you would never know the differences because, duh, you never been there. I found it rather funny that people actually compares the routes that GPS calculates and comments negatively when it doesn't give the best route. If you know the best route, then you should not rely on the GPS. I personally only use the unit when i have no idea where i am going.
   
   That being said, this is a 4 stars, it would be 5 if mio fixes all the little annyoyances.



3. I would put the same title even if the price was over $500. This is the best GPS device with a great deal of properties. If you unlock your Mio C520, you will be able to completely personalize it and use alternative navigation softwares and maps whenever you want! (Warning: Unlocking the device makes the warranty obsolete.) Also, the device turns out to be a PDA, when you unlock and do the necessary operations. You will have a word processor, a spreadsheet program, an e-book reader, a media player, a picture viewer, a calculator and whatsoever. (You cannot turn your Garmin into a PDA/PNA, you know.)
   
   Mio C520 is a user-friendly device and the look is amongst the better. The maps and commands are easily understandable and the navigation screen includes much more details than that of the other brands.
   
   One of the biggest advantage of using a Mio is the opportunity to select the type of your vehicle. You can use your device in your car, on your bike or even as a pedestrian!!! Great!
   
   The only drawback of a Mio is the terrible customer service department of Mio US. Other than that, Mio C520 is the best product in the market.



4. It's an amazing device. All the good things you hear about it are real. I'm very happy with my new toy.



5. I've owned this unit for over 6 months and here's my 2 cents.
   
   The routing of this unit is terrible. It gives weird and longer routs most of the times no matter what you select in the settings. I've used this device 3 times in different parts if downtown Los Angeles and it's basically useless there. All I get is "GPS signal lost" and/or "Route recalculation".
   
   I have also gotten lost a few times so far with this unit. One time it took me to a cement factory and was saying to go through it! Another time it was giving instructions to go through a residential house! There has been many times when it says to turn right in 50 yards when doing 65mph in highway or or on a street where there's no street to turn to!
   
   The prompts it gives are too long and very irritating specially on on/off ramps. It calls all the freeways by their names whereas all the freeways here are identified by numbers not names on their signs.
   
   The text to speech is ok but at times it's not pronounced clearly or doesn't make sense, for example instead of "La Puente" it says " Louisiana Point"
   
   This device has a lot of features but not much thought has gone into making them useful. For example it has a audio out jack which is one of the main reasons I bought it, however the audio out jack is 2.5mm and you will need an adapter to hook it up to your car's stereo or your headphone. So far I've bought 2 adapters for this and can't get stereo sound. Another good feature this device has is an MP3 player but its player has no playlist ability. The bluetooth works fine except the volume is so low while driving it's basically useless (I drive a fairly quiet car).
   
   One good feature this has is good POI database and ability to search by name. There are also a few good skins available with games and other software. Overall though I regret buying this device.

5 comments about Mio c230 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator.

1. I have only had my Mio for a few days but I am quickly learning how to use it. It is my first GPS experience and I love it. The only negative I can see is that updates are not available and some new addresses are not coming up.



2. I don't what some of these 5, 4 or even 3 star review people are using or where they are using them, but this thing is terrible!
   It constantly shuts down and restarts in the middle of a trip, usually at the most complex point of the directions.
   The directions it provides make no logical sense whatever. The Fastest setting is a joke. Google directions routinely save me 10 minutes per hour.
   It has directed me to turn the wrong way on one-way streets, driven me into dead ends and wants me to turn where there is no street.
   The time feature doesn't work. It is four hours ahead of my time zone in the Synch mode. If I manually set the time, the map color scheme still turns from day to night and back by the GPS time- not what I have configured.
   The spoken directions are annoying, repeating a turn constantly.
   Once I arrive at my destination, the unit does not know it. It even says "You have arrived at your destination." But then when I get back in the car and drive away, it recalculates my new position and keeps directing me back to the destination. I have to go in and manually delete the route.
   When driving in complex areas (an interchange with many options for example) it has no idea where you are and if you miss the option you should have selected you may as well pull over to the side of the road to wait for it to recalculate. Otherwise by the time it does give you new directions, you will have missed the next option and it has to recalculate AGAIN.
   It commonly has me turn off a main road and then directs me back on to the same road a block or two further on.
   
   Don't buy this!



3. I got this before a trip to Las Vegas. I had four address's to find, it located 1 out of 4. I think navigating by the stars would be more accurate. This thing can't even find my home address, it directs me six blocks away in town. I had a Niko GPS but broke the screen it was about the same price and 5 times the GPS. I got the Mio because of text to speech and that is good, but only for correct directions and that doesn't happen very often. Take a look at the Niko, you'll be smarter than me.



4. I purchased the Mio C230 to replace an old Magellan system that I had. The reason that I replaced the Magellan was because Magellan had stopped supporting my model with new map updates. I chose the Mio C230 because it was the least expensive model that would speak street names (rather than simply, "take the next right," for example). What a disappointment this has been!
   
   First, there is a software glitch in the C230 that doesn't allow you to enter an exact address for a destination. The "fix" according to Mio customer service is to add an address that is "close by" and the C230 will bump up or down the address so that, if you play with it enough, you can eventually get the system to find your desired destination. For example, if I'm looking for 224 Main Street and I enter that address, directions to 222 Main Street will come up. So if I really want 224 Main Street, I have to try 226 or 225 or 223 Main Street, and if I'm lucky, I'll get the right destination.
   
   Second, the map for my C230 was out of date right out of the box. I wrote Mio and was told that it was the most current map that they had, and there were no plans to update it. This device has been around for a couple of years now, and still no map updates!
   
   Third, if you go to the Mio web site and try to find downloads for the C230, this model is not to be found in most of the Mio pulldown menus. According to most of their support pages, the C230 doesn't even exist!
   
   Fourth, the image and information about your vehicle on the display is off from real time by about a second or so. So if it tells you to turn right in 500 feet, you probably should have turned right because you've already missed your turn.
   
   Fifth, I mapped out a return route from Raleigh to Winston-Salem recently. I requested the shortest route. What the C230 gave me would have taken me over ONE HOUR out of my way! What I eventually did was to pull out the free paper map from AAA and find my own route.
   
   Finally, I was in Radio Shak today and noticed that they were selling map and driver updates for the C230 for over $70!!! Had I known that the only way to get current maps and fixes for the many glitches in this thing was to shell out another $70 bucks, I would never have bought it in the first place.
   
   What a waste of time and money this thing has been!!! It's too late for me, but not for you! DO NOT PURCHASE A MIO PRODUCT!!!



5. 1. Screen goes black 3 to 4 times a day and then it displays "FATAL ERROR" it then takes about 25 seconds for it to reboot and recalculate.
   2. Its accuracy is 950 feet. When I miss a turn I travel 950 feet before the GPS realizes I have missed the turn. All Garmin models are accurate to 35 feet.
   3. The turn-by-turn voice stutters. She cant spit out a street name.
   4. The time zones don't make any sense at all. Apparently my time zone is in Bolivia... (when I live in D.C.) but every night at nine o'clock Bolivia's time zone goes forward three hours. So then I have to set the time zone to Eastern Europe.
   5. The compass is completely wrong, when I am traveling east, it says I'm going west. Whenever I'm traveling west, it says im going south, and whenever I'm traveling north it says I'm traveling west.
   6. When I turn it off and leave it off for more than a week the battery runs out and I have to let it charge. And while its charging it constantly tells me that my battery is low.
   7. I liked the POI feature a lot on this gadget. That is the main reason why I bought it. But in the millions of points of interest it says it has It cannot search for the following; Wal-Mart, K-mart, Gold's Gym, YMCA, Giant, Food Lion, Bloom, Chipotle, Ace Hardware, Quantico Marine Base, Rayburn building, Cannon Building, Longworth building, Verizon center, Verizon stores, VER, KFC, and target.
   8. Finally the stupid thing takes over three minutes to pick up satellites. Even when I am out in the middle of an open field.

5 comments about Garmin StreetPilot 2720 Portable GPS Navigator.

1. Product is good but not simple to learn. Works well on motorcycle and is water proof. Screen is small bur bright in the day.



2. This is the second Garmin 2720 I have bought. One for the car and this one for the motorcycle . Has the GPS functions I want without all the stuff one very seldem uses or wants. Had a problem withn the screen on this one but Garmin replaced the complete unit in 48 hrs. GREAT C/S with Garmin. One of the few companies that have C/S.................



3. This was the third Garmin we've owned. Our previous Street Pilot models were inferior to the 2720. While it worked, it was awesome. Unfortunately, the unit didn't even last 2 years. The touch screen stops responding. It was infrequent at first and a hard-reset would solve the problem (and delete all the user's data.) The problem got progressively worse to the point where it's not usable. A quick search of the Internet will show that there are dozens of people who've posted the same thing happening to their young units. Garmin owes a bunch of people money.



4. Bought this for use on my motorcycle. Dealer wants $1300 for essentially the same unit with Bluetooth (which I don't need) and their logo. This does the same thing at a fraction of the cost.



5. This is my first GPS unit and was fairly easy to get up and running though more hours of reading the manual lie ahead if I want to learn to use all of its features. As a home care nurse I use the unit daily and generally find that my routing gets me where I need to go quickly. The voice feature allows me to keep my eyes on the road and still follow directions. The unit quickly recalculates alternate routes when I encounter road construction or traffic jams. I also use this unit on my motorcycle mounted on a RAM mount, which works well. The two most annoying traits I've found, so far: It's impossible to make accurate entries on the touch screen with my big fingers much less using gloved hands, and the screen is very difficult to see when on the bike in bright sunlight. I understand that a hood is available that may help. Amazon's vendor sells this refurbished unit for a very reasonable 149.00 with a 1 year warranty.

5 comments about Mio P550 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator.

1. The GPS is helpful, but at this point is the only way I can use the product. The company has not made a driver for windows vista and when I was forced to buy a new computer when my computer crashed I got a windows vista computer. I spent alot of money on textbooks for work to download on the ppc and I can no longer use them because of the incompatibility with my computer. I tried to contact the company regarding this problem, but they don't seem to care.



2. The worst equipment you could ever buy.
   Firstly, it didn't come with any navigation software. I imagine some versions may come but mine didn't. After that, Mio gives you no support to buy a software.
   Battery life is just about negligible. Every time I wanted to use it, it was dead, even without having it on with the GPS function.
   When I finally got a navigation software, it is so slow, it tells you to turn after the corners. It constantly is looking for its position and never catches up with your driving. Only good for walking.
   As a Grand Finalle, it froze completely and never goes beyond the splash-screen. Hundreds of discussion groups on the Internet tell you what to do but seems that nobody can get theirs to go again.
   
   In summary: never used it for anything good!!!



3. It's really a terrible PDA with so poor quality. I bought it in November last year. It stopped working when I used the GPS last month, and when I tried to restart it, it formated itself. I had to restore the system and the map. Then this problem occurs again and again. Whenever I plug the charger in, it stops working. After some days it recovers.
   I contacted the customer service of MIO, the agent let me try this and try that. Now I still cannot use it.
   I asked for a return or a replacement, but they said no way.



4. MIO P550 has a solid construction feel and MIO Map is EXCEPTIONAL. The smart zoom feature truely showcase user interface excellence. My 06 Jeep's factory navigation (which is made by Alpine with Navtech) does not even come close with the amount of features.
   
   Useful features include graphical display that informs you Satelite signal, user selectable display on car speed, time, and destination distance etc. Real time one touch to change map view to birdeye view, true North or direction. You can view the entire route before doing any edit on the routing. User selectable routing methods include shortest, fastest, by car or walking. The map is so detailed, it even shows incoming lane and center island.
   
   "My POI" feature allows user to set a large # of addresses limited only by the size of "disk" space. One can also create groups for addresses by state, city or anything one wishes. I would say give yourself 15 minutes to play thru the basic features.
   
   Because the operation system is Microsoft. So one would expect to know the importance of performing "CTRL_ALT_DELETE" which is simplified by a reset button. The Microsoft media player, as many Microsoft products, is not exactly stable and can take up a lot of memory. When one closes a program, Windows DOES NOT close it; you have to go to system setting in order to terminate any Microsoft applications. MIO map needs 6 MB to run; so one needs to know "how to operate" the OS a little.
   
   Mobile PowerPoint, Excel & Word are actually useless. If you need to use any of these software, Take your laptop with you. IE works fine but finding a free hotspot is getting harder. I have not tested SkyPE, so really can not say anything on phone call performance under 802.11G or B.



5. Very good GPS, plus fully functional PDA. Short battery life - if you are going to use WIFI or bluetouth its just 20-40 minuties.
   Bigest advantage of PDA GPS - you can install software from different vendor.
   I tried to use Skype on this unit (WIFI). Built-in mic has very bad quality and I can't connect and re-direct sound stream to the bluetouth headset.

5 comments about Garmin StreetPilot c530 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator.

1. This is wonderful - "Gizmo" got confused in Atlanta - but so do I. Love it!!!



2. This is the second (or third if you count my Husband's) Garmin I've bought, all three were through Amazon. I bought this one to replace my old one that had recently died. I have yet to look at the manual that came with it. Everything is very user-friendly and pretty intuitive. Straight out of the box it was working great. The touch screen is a great improvement (my old one had a scroll wheel and made searching for addresses very difficult). The maps are a little out of date, but I live in a fast developing area, so there is a decent reason. Overall, I would recomend this to a first time or occasional user. I'm not sure if a real technophile or someone who depends on their GPS daily would be as happy, but it's fine for me.



3. I've had the Garmin Street Pilot 530 for well over a year now and love it more each time I use it. I took it to Hawaii and used it there and never got misdirected once. The only thing I noted was when I had it look for the Polynesian Cultural Center it couldn't find it BUT it did find the Pauli Nezian Cultural Center. We got a good laugh on that one. I would reccomend this model to anyone who is looking for a modestly priced, quality product.
   I do have one complaint, however. Recently, the auto power cord fell apart and I had to buy an aftermarket replacement unit from Radio Shack. The part that goes into the power outlet in the car, fell apart and we lost the center pin that makes contact with the power outlet. Other than that, no problems.



4. Initially had trouble, but was timely replaced by the seller, and since then have been using it very comfortably.



5. If you need to go all over in your city to places that you have never been to before this thing is the best ever. I have been using for about 4 months to find addresses of homes for my job. I would have to say it payed for its self just in gas savings in 2 months. you figure if you waste 30 mins a day driving around lost at 15 mpg that could be 2 gal. of gas at 4.00 a gal that could be up to $160.00 a month in wasted gas. plus it is very easy to use. like any computer you put in bad info you get out bad info.

No comments about GARMIN 010-00700-10 Nuvi 500 Travel Assistant.

5 comments about Garmin nüvi 850 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator.

1. I recently bought a Nuvi 850. Here's my advice for what it's worth.
   
   The real value of a Nav system comes from the fundamentals.
   * Receiver
   * Maps
   * Routing Engine
   * Display
   * User Interface
   
   Garmin does a solid job in all these areas. But that's not why you're paying a premium for an 800 series Nuvi.
   
   This model has a couple of "nice to have" features that were introduced on the 700 series of Nuvi's.
   * Where Am I
   * Where's My Car
   Both are very well implemented and can be very handy. But again, all of the stuff I mentioned so far can be found in a Nuvi costing $300 less.
   
   So what are you paying a premium for?
   * Voice Recognition
   * User Replaceable Battery
   * Front Mounted Speakers
   
   Well, the front mounted speakers are still drowned out by moderate road noise. So, I wouldn't pay a nickel for that. The only real sound solution remains the FM transmitter that everyone complains about. It works OK for me, in my car, in my area. Your mileage may vary.
   
   The user replaceable battery is excellent. For $30 you can carry a spare battery and go totally wireless in the car or use the Nuvi for 8 hours of walking around a city. I'd pay for that. In fact, every portable device should have user replaceable batteries.
   
   OK, that leaves the "Big Kahuna" feature, voice recognition. Don't believe the hype from the professional reviews or some of the hosanna's being thrown around in Amazon reviews.
   
   Does it work? Yes, it works amazingly well. In a dead silent environment.
   
   With moderate road noise or even indoors with a TV at low volume 15 feet away the thing to gets confused about what it's "hearing". It should have a microphone with low sensitivity and high directionality to screen out spurious noise. A little DSP noise filtering wouldn't hurt either. Unfortunately, the standard piezo mic that Garmin also uses for bluetooth phone calls will pick up any sound coming from any direction. The result is that voice recognition becomes an excercise in frustration.
   
   Still, I'm gonna keep the darned thing. I'll simply enter destinations in the quiet of my home, office, hotel room, or a restaurant before heading out on the road. The remote will live in my briefcase. It does save you from a lot of tedious keyboard entry. But, it is not the mobile safety feature that reviews would have you believe since voice commands are all but useless in a car. You can get essentially the same features in a Nuvi 760 and save yourself $300.
   
   Your decision.
   
   
   EDIT: Update.....OK maybe I was a bit harsh first time round. I have found that the unit will respond with moderate background noise.....some of the time.....if you yell at it. It appears to have the ability to lock in on the loudest sound it "hears". So, if you are relatively close to the microphone and speak really loud (yell), it does respond some of the time.
   
   On the upside, connecting to the Garmin website was very easy. I registered the 850, downloaded the newest firmware, and downloaded/installed the latest maps (2009), all in about ten mintues without a glitch.



2. The Nuvi 850 works well and is easy to use. One small problem is that the manual does not cover the satellite tracking display is not cover in the manual. Additionally the set does not appear to receive WAAS. The display position of the SUN and MOON does not appear to be correct. All that is very small and the GPS receiver is very easy to use and works well.



3. With very few glitches (one very long way around and tall structure interference in signal) the Garmin nuvi 850 made navigating San Francisco, the wine country and the Carmel areas delightful. I was able to travel around by myself in areas I never would have attempted before. Some of the instructions were a bit tedious but I always got to where I wanted to be.



4. The voice recognition is 100% WORTH IT! Keeps your eyes (& attention) on the road where it belongs. : ) It is astonishingly accurate and there is no need to pull over to type in addresses or perform searches. Really appreciate the 'Where Am I' feature, as well. It has come in handy when in need of a gas station in unfamiliar territory. Also...get the house charger, the car charger, the portable friction dash mount and the leather NUVI 800series carrying case. No complaints. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE IT! Would buy again and again.



5. The Nuvi 850 is much nicer than my Nuvi 350. The voice recognition works for me - very good.
   
   But, the 850 lacks a case (which my 350 came with) and lacks a home charger (which my 350 came with). I can overlook the charger since it can be charged with an usb connection but I can't forgive the lack of a case. Very chintzy on Garmins' part.

5 comments about Mio Moov 200 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Unit with Text-to-Speech.

1. We love MIO. We bought it to take on vacation traveling half way across the counrty and she worked better than we could imagine. Very quick on the recalculation if you take a diferent turn. With the voice direction, you do not even need to look at the unit as she will tell you with plenty of time, were to turn and to go. This is an awesome product especially for the money and features you get. We would highly recommend to anyone.



2. I bought the mio moov because the price was unbeatable for the text to speech feature. I was told by the clerk that I could update maps online - this is not true. When I tried to register my product on line I thought I was missing the product code to do so. I called the company and was informed that there are no on line updates for the product.
   
   Tom-Tom has on line updates to pick up any road changes etc.
   
   This product will quickly become obsolete.



3. Just a note for those who have reviewed this product.
   
   Moov 200's will have updates available this fall. The product is brand new, no naturally they would not launch and update if they are brand new. Check again after Thanksgiving. Why would you need an update shortly after you bought it anyways?



4. Full fetured bargian of a navigator. On the plus side, gets me to where I'm going with choice of voices indicating street names at a very reasonable price. Has all the options of a friend's $300 nav such as points of interest, updating the arrival time and computer connect for updating maps. Only minus I've found is while typing in the street & town names it is easy to hit the wrong letter as the letters are so small. I now use a plastic stylus which solved the issue (as long as I can find it). If I were using it every day that would bother me. For the occasional user this does the trick.



5. This device has very hard software I ever know. Many times I could not find some addresses.
   It happened to me several times. When you inter some addressee it will give you that tone to tell you this address is not exist. So I was printing my map distention from Google before I gone there. What the hick is this GPS. I was spending a time to know how is working. Moreover, it will give you a heart attack if you pass the street that you should make a turn on it. It will never re-calculate new road it will tell you to go back from where it was calculate first time. The nosiest thing when you type the roads name it will give all the roads with the same name in the state not in the city.