TomTom 710 and 910 Review

About this review

This review covers the features and operation of the TomTom 710 and 910. Only a small part of the Software functions are covered,  A full software review is planned at a later date.
The review unit (the GO910) was supplied by TomTom in Australia and I thank them for the opportunity to review the device. The 710 is my own device.

Introduction

TomTom are certainly maintaining the pace with new product releases and software updates. The newest GO models are the 510, 710 and the 910, however only the 710 and 910 have been released in Australia and these are the units described in this review. The software is now up to version 6.5xx and includes several enhancements and additional functionality which I will discuss further later on. The new models also have a larger widescreen format LCD touchscreen and a new mounting system. In almost every way, except for one irritating omission, the newer models are an improvement and increase the usability and function of the device. A new way of updating - TomTom Home - has been introduced since I last looked at the TomTom One and this too is a very useful addition.

Summary of new features

• Wider screen - 480x272 pixels compared to 320x240 on previous models
• New smaller and unobtrusive mounting system
• TomTom Home for PC connection - useful for updates and backups
• Version6.xxx Software
• iPod Control (not tested in this review)
• Light Sensor 
• Additional route types have been added
• TomTom buddies (not tested in this review)

Technical Specifications

• 4.0 inch widescreen WQVGA screen (480x272 pixels, 64,000 colors)
• CPU 400 MHz
• RAM 64MB
• Lithium-Ion battery (4 hours operation)
• 128 Mb SD card for the GO710- 20Gb Hard disk for the GO910
• High sensitivity SiRF Star 3 GPS chipset
• Dimensions: 112x81x66 mm
• Weight: 300 grams for the GO710 - 340 grams for the GO910

Differences between to 910 and the 710

Visually there is no discernable difference unless the unit is looked from the bottom then the inclusion or lack of an SD card slot makes it obvious. The GO910 does not have a SD Card slot like the GO710. All of the features of the 710 are included with the 910, but the 910 also includes

• a built in MP3 player
• a built in picture viewer
• a 20Gb hard drive in lieu of a 128Mb SD card on the GO710
• TTS - high quality text to Speech 
• Maps for Europe, the USA and Australia were included on my review device - but are not standard for Australia - If they are required, you need to purchase them separatley.  Europe and the USA get these as standard 
• the GO910 weighs 40 grams more
• the GO910 includes a remote
• the GO910 includes an additional audio connection cable
• the GO910 can read AudioBooks

What's in the box?

As usual the boxes are well presented and contain all you need to get up and navigating in minutes. I do recommend that you take your time though and read the printed manual (another new addition - good work TomTom) before you begin. One note of caution! the CD does not include a copy of the maps, so the first thing you should do is backup your new device. on the GO710 this can be quickly done by copying the SD card onto a folder on your PC using a card reader or just plugging in the home charger with the attached USB cable. On the GO910 you can do the same - but there is a lot more to copy.  Or use TomTom Home for a one click solution. Don't skip this step, if the SD Card or the Hard drive fails or get corrupted, you will have a lengthy delay while obtaining new a replacement from TomTom. Additionally with the installation of TomTom Home you will get the latest updates which include the current ephemeral data, so the first satellite fix is very quick. When I did this both units were updated by several point versions so it is definitely worthwhile.

I'm happy to see TomTom include an out of car charger on these models, something that was missing on other versions.
The following screenshots have been taken from the TomTom Product description pages.

Using the TomTom - Mechanical Aspects

All in one units like the TomTom GO are very easy to setup and use. There is no installation of software, and very little configuration to do. After first power on the unit will walk you through some setting up, mainly the time and date and then you are good to go. The first Satellite Fix may take several minutes (up to ten minutes in some cases) but for me it has always been less than four minutes and usually quicker. TomTom make available a Quickfix ephemeral file which is good for around 10 days - get it - it does decrease  the fix time substantially.

Mount

I initially didn't like the new mount - it seemed a little fiddly to set up, but having removed it and reinstalled it a few times I now find I like it better than the GO 300 mounts. It is considerably smaller and sits lower on the windscreen. The unit is quite sturdy and rigid once the screw fix has been fully applied. On the mount that shipped with my 710 I found that the position of the TomTom would sag over a day or too, also the click fix seemed a little loose. Coincidentally within two days of receiving the 910 review unit and my 710,  I found that TomTom issued a press release to the effect that some issues had been found with the mount and offered a free replacement to all affected buyers. The Mount with the 910 review unit did not have those issues  The power cord and any additional cables such as a microphone and external speaker cord all fit into the mount. This way when you need to remove the device there are no wires to disconnect (and reconnect later). If you do get a new GO be patient with the mount, and give yourself a little time to get used to it, after a few removals and reinsertions it does get easier to do and you will appreciate the smaller footprint.

Screen

The screen is bright and clear, however depending upon the where the light is coming from it can get a little hard to read, so the addition of a hood would be a good idea. I will certainly be getting one for my 710 unit. The units do have an antiglare coating which stops any reflections but that does not help if direct sunlight is striking the screen.

Hardware Items

There is only one hardware button on the TomToms; an on/off switch located on the top left. Directly underneath that is a led that illuminates when the unit is charging. All other interaction with the device is via Software touchscreen buttons.

GPS Receiver

All TomTom units now ship with the SiRF111 GPS receiver, this almost eliminates the need for an external antenna in areas with large building like the Sydney Central Business District. I have driven through George Street and had no problems with reception. My previous TomTom GO 300 failed to hold a signal within seconds of reaching that same area

BlueTooth

The 710/910 TomToms both included the ability to operate as a handsfree device when paired with a compatible BlueTooth Mobile phone. In more developed countries Traffic assistance and automatic rerouting based on those traffic alerts is also available via a mobile phone. Unfortunately this is not available in Australia. With a compatible phone it is also possible to download maps, voices and other "Plus" data, however this is much cheaper and more efficient to do via TomTom Home.

Phone Connection

Depending upon which phone you have not all features are supported. For example My XDA2 only supports handsfree calling, it does not allow importing of the Address book or sending and receiving SMS messages. My wife's new Nokia 6233 (although it is not shown on the TomTom website) on the other hand is fully supported, which means she can receive and send SMS messages and can download her addresses from the phone to her TomTom in addition to using it as a Handsfree telephone device. The TomToms support up to five (5) devices which is handy if you have multiple mobile phones in your family.

There is no direct way of adding telephone numbers to the TomTom, for some reason TomTom have not made this available, which is a pity really because many BlueTooth equipped phones are not fully supported. It possible to do this via your PC however by simply editing a simple text file.

Using the microphone supplied with the package I'm told that my voice sounds natural and clear. Similarly, the callers voice sounds good over the TomTom speaker. 

Speaker

The speakers on the 710/910 are very good given their size, but I wonder why anyone would use the device for playing music, given that the sound quality doesn't come close to matching my normal car speakers and of course does not play in Stereo either. For Voice and other alerts though, the speakers do an excellent job, with little distortion even at maximum volume. Both the 710 and the 910 have an adaptive sound feature where the sound volume is varied according to the speed you are driving. This option can be turned on or off. typically I have the volume turned down to approx 70% otherwise it is just too loud.

On the GO910 an additional cable is supplied that plugs into standard RCA connector, so that MP3's stored on the Hard Drive can be played through your car sound system - this makes more sense to me. Too bad if you car system doesn't include such a connector like my Ford.

Battery

Both the 910 and the 710 have internal, non user replaceable Lithium-ion battery with a stated life of four hours. I used the 710 for over four hours and the low battery indicator was just beginning to flash, so the claimed time seems to be slightly understated. Even if the Battery is completely dead though, the device is still useable when connected to a power source, typically the car charger unit supplied.

Text to Speech - GO910 only

The implementation of TTS on the GO910 is excellent - not quite enough for me to make it a must have - but it is getting close. I suspect that the reason that TTS is only available on the GO910 is because of the sheer size of those files. Just the English Great Britain file for example is 606Mb. The entire folder with all the languages weighs in at just over 4Gb. I used Kate (the EnglishGB voice) and she did a wonderful job. Some street pronunciations were amusing but most were pretty well done. TTS will also read incoming SMS messages, weather information and POI warnings via user selectable checkboxes.

The Audiobook feature on the GO910 also uses  TTS and once again the quality of the voice is excellent - most times it is difficult to tell that it is a computer generated voice.

Using the TomTom - Navigating

Current model TomToms use the Sensis V13 maps and there are mixed reports about whether or not these are a significant improvement over the V12 ones. Within the area I travel in though it is pretty essential to have this version because it includes the M7 which has a dramatic effect on the routing calculations, even if you choose not to use it. This is because of the many road closures and other changes the M7 has introduced. 

Even in this version (V13) of the  maps Sensis still only claim 97% population coverage. So  like Mobile phone coverage large parts of semi remote areas are not included. If you live in or plan to travel to those areas, I suggest you ask your reseller or someone with a TomTom to check some addresses for you, before you buy, to avoid disappointment or problems later on.

New features in TomTom 6

New with these models (and also available as a free update to most older models) is the version 6 navigation software (currently 6.520 at the time of writing)

• TomTom Buddies - text messaging and navigation via the device to friends
• Arrival time - Indicates via a plus or minus (green or red) how many minutes you will be late (or early) to your chosen destination - green being early and red being late.
• Safety Cameras (Red light and Speed Cameras) are now embedded into the application
• Handsfree calling enhancements - up to 5 phones can now be paired
• Safety Lock - disables most buttons and features while you are moving
• Ability to set a password, so that the device is unusable unless the correct password is entered
• Basic Menu - many options are hidden unless Advanced menus is chosen, supposedly making the device even easier to use
• TomTom Home - A PC connection for updates, maps and other downloads and route planning on your PC
• Navigate by latitude and Longitude
• Additional languages
• Speed Alert - Does not work in Australia, which is a pity because the TomTom implementation is quite unobtrusive being an indicator on the status bar only - no repeating voice droning on, especially when the speed limit it thinks is current is incorrect.

Address Entry

Address entry on the new models is somewhat improved over the previous software versions, mainly because the larger screen can accommodate more letters , thereby almost eliminating the truncation of long streets.

Address entry is a very important part of these devices, if it is difficult to use, produces unclear results or does not contain the data, namely the address you want to get to, then, no matter how good the rest of the device performs the unit has failed. TomTom uses a combination of  City/Street/Number, Intersection or City Centre sequence. The addition of a Street/Number/City sequence would make their implementation outstanding. As stands now it is good, but due to differences in the way that Sensis has named suburbs, TomTom occasionally fails to find your destination. This is usually because the street may actually be in an adjoining suburb as defined by the Local Councils. However in a very small number of cases the maps may not contain that data. Knowing the nearest intersection will always get you close if the street is within the database of course and 98% of the time this is the case. At worst, a phone call will probably get that information for you.

If you have some idea of the area, and this happens to you, selecting an adjoining suburb usually resolves that problem.  If, you have some local knowledge! If you don't then you are left with digging out a street directory or finding some other means of pinpointing the address. The addition of a Street/Number/City  sequence will not completely eliminate that problem, because after all you need to have a little local knowledge for that to be useful, but it does help in some circumstances. If you really get stuck, and cannot pinpoint the actual address completely because you don't have a street directory or cannot check adjoining suburbs (because you don't know them) and you cannot find out what the nearest crossroad (intersection) is, you can always travel to the City Centre and perhaps get local instructions from there. This problem is not limited to TomTom by the way, every program/device I have seen has this problem to varying degrees. 

One thing that the software does not do is Route Optimisation's. i.e. the ability to sort a multistop route, so that the minimum distance is traversed. Bear this in mind if you are thinking of using the unit for planning deliveries or sales calls.

Routing

As with previous models the new TomToms produce well balanced routes which are quite efficient. The preview options and the expanded choices for route types whilst not major advances are an incremental improvement and further enhance TomToms reputation as a leading manufacturer of All In One Personal Navigation devices. Depending upon how in depth you want to go you can examine almost any aspect of the route offered and ask TomTom to recalculate an alternative that might better suit your requirements using the Find Alternative button. Most people I suspect just use the default route as calculated and don't have any issues. If you have time you can even play your journey via the Demo mode complete with verbal alerts and see exactly what is in store for you. Bear in mind the play occurs at a maximum speed (no verbal prompts though) of 5 times normal. This means a 5 hour trip takes 1 hour to play. 4 times normal if you want the verbal prompts.

One feature that I really like is the ability to avoid tolls on a per route basis. In other words if TomTom determines that a toll road is included in the route it selects, you are presented with the option to accept or reject using that route. This is great where I live, because almost any route East from my home tends to want to use the M7 Tollway, something I don't always want to do. Other programs allow you to avoid tolls but not on a per route basis the way TomTom does. They do it globally, i.e. they always  avoid them or not depending on how you have set your preference.

Points Of Interest

TomTom include many POIs. ATMs are in the Cash Dispenser category and does of course include some (but not all) banks. I think the way Tomtom implement their POI system is amongst the best I have seen. Very intuitive and simple to use yet allowing for some quite powerful options to be presented. In my opinion the way that POI notifications work are the best in the business.

Safety Cameras are now separate to the POI database. TomTom claim this reduces the number of  POI entries the database has to cope with. I found this has positive and negative aspects. The positive is the new way safety cameras are presented, namely showing the actual speed that the camera is checking for or if the camera is a redlight type, a camera icon. I like the way this is done. The negative is that you now longer get to change the notification distance or the alert sound.  For me these are acceptable, the distance and the alert work well. New in this version is the ability to report new Safety Cameras and download new files via GPRS, although this can be done via your PC and is a much cheaper option. These features are found via the TomTom PLUS services button/Main Menu 3 of 3.

Just as a point of interest, the 910 review unit contained school zones which the 710 did not. As far as I could see the listing was very thorough and contained every school that I passed during my review period.

Conclusion

The GO710 and the GO910 are definitely an improvement over the GO x00 series. I like the larger screen and I especially like the new version of the Software,it adds some features that were regularly requested such as navigation to a point defined by Latitude and Longitude. But there is a slight increase in complexity in normal use. I don't like the fact that the Speed Alert system doesn't work in Australia, it's a neat unobtrusive feature that I was looking forward to. TomTom should remove all references of this from the packaging, brochures and website for Australian users. Yet another "feature" that the Sensis maps either do not support or that Sensis has not enabled.

I wish TomTom would give users the ability to change the Menu order a little. For example to clear a route takes 3 screen taps, that is provided you have turned on "Show all Menu Options". If you haven't you'll be tapping the screen quite a few times before you realise that it is not  there and start looking for other options.

The new mount has proved to be problematic for TomTom although I think it is an improvement over the previous bulky unit. The fact that TomTom have a time limited replacement program is good thing and shows that they are responsive to their Customers. 

The GO910 retails for $1179, that's $210 (or over 20%) more than the GO710. If you are planning on traveling in Eastern Europe or the USA, those maps would need to be purchased separately, but at least they will all fit onto the Hard drive so swapping SD cards will not be required. Whether or not  the additional features such as MP3's, AudioBooks, TTS and remote controller are worth it, only you can say -  I suspect to many people the answer is yes.

In use the units are still reliable and efficient, and as mentioned removing and reinserting the unit onto the mount became easier the more I did it. The software remains intuitive and easy to use, yet still contains advanced functions. The Voice prompts are terrific and the units are a pleasure to use.

In my opening introduction I mentioned one annoying omission - The units turn on when the ignition key starts the car, just like my previous TomTom GO300, but, when the car is turned off the units remain powered! Come on TomTom what is that? This means the unit uses up it's entire battery supply if left docked in the car. Coming from the GO300 it took quite a while to even realise that this was happening. Why TomTom? Why?

In summary, the TomToms are great at doing their job, they are easy to use and provide efficient routes with excellent voice prompts. The graphics are good (better in 2D mode) and the build quality feels substantial and solid. The wider screen which I originally thought might just be a marketing gimmick is quite useful and allows even more space for nice big finger friendly buttons. If you are in the market for a All in One Personal Navigation device the TomToms are a must look at.

The TomTom 910 and 710 get a highly recommended  7.5/10

Discuss it HERE

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