The market is literally flooded with different types of portable navigation systems. However, a majority of them look alike and offer the same kind of functions such as voice and text guided directions, important milestones, etc. They differ only on one front- the price tag. Some innovation is urgently required, not only to grab the attention of the customers, but also to keep up with the ever advancing GPS technology. TomTom GO 720 is one portable navigation system that dares to be different from its counterparts.

The Design of TomTom GO 720

Unlike GO 910, which is quite bulky, TomTom GO 720 is sleek, compact and ultra-light. It is 3.2 inches tall, 4.6 inches wide and 0.9 inch deep. It weighs only 7.7 ounces. Thus, this GPS device can be easily carried in a handbag or transported from one car to another. With black, silver and charcoal gray color scheme, it looks beautiful inside the car.

The entire front side of TomTom GO 720 is covered by 4.3 inch touch screen. With (480 X 272 pixels) WQVGA resolution, this antiglare screen is capable of displaying brightly colored and sharp-looking maps. The map colors and screen brightness can be changed with the aid of Preference menu. The virtual keyboard is large enough for the user to enter addresses with ease. However, it doesn’t have QWERTY format, which makes typing a bit difficult.

The power button is present at the top of the unit. All the slots and ports as TomTom connector port, SD/MMC expansion slot, reset hole, mini USB/power connector and 3.5 mm headphone jack, find a place at the bottom of TomTom GO 720. On the back side of the unit, the speakers and a jack to connect the external antenna are present. The external volume control is absent. The audio level has to be adjusted via menu, which is quite complicated and unsafe too.

Packaged with TomTom GO 720 are car charger, vehicle mount, desktop cradle and CD-ROM carrying reference material and TomTom home software. The car mount is easy to install and holds the unit safely. An extra locking mechanism is also available for additional safety of the portable navigation system.

The Features of TomTom GO 720

The functionality of TomTom GO 720 depends upon 20 channel SiRF StarIII GPS receiver, maps of USA and Canada and interesting landmarks, which are preloaded in the 2GB internal hard drive of the device. As the buildings keep on coming up and businesses change their location, it’s essential to keep the maps up-to-date. The Map Share utility of TomTom GO 720 allows the user to make adjustments in the maps and then share the information with other drivers.

Any destination can be searched on TomTom GO 720 by address, pin code, city or intersection. The GPS device can calculate the direction on the basis of a number of criteria like the shortest route, quickest arrival time, etc. The maps can be viewed in 3D and 2D modes. The status bar at the bottom displays useful information as the distance left, next instruction, estimated arrival time, etc. The icons at the upper left and right corner of the screen allow the user to zoom the maps in and out.

The Help Me function of TomTom GO 720 provides helpful information as the location of the nearest police station, car service center or hospital. The ‘Where am I” option of the Help Me function not only gives the name of the street where the driver is, but also allows him to convey this information to his family member or to the tow service center.

A Bluetooth is integrated into TomTom GO 720. The driver using a Bluetooth compatible cellphone can pair the two devices together to make hands-free calls. The calls can be accepted or rejected via the touch screen. The Phone Preference menu can be used to turn on the Auto-Answer mode. Once done, GO 720 will automatically pick up the call after a few minutes. The Bluetooth can also be used to access Plus services of TomTom GO 720. The Plus services include weather information, location of safety cameras and real traffic information.

GO 720 has an interesting feature called Buddies, which allows the driver to locate his family members or friends who are using the same TomTom unit. Lots of multimedia capabilities are embedded in TomTom GO 720 like document reader, music player, image viewer, etc. Moreover, the device is iPod compatible and supports JPEG and BMP file formats, MP3s and audible audiobooks

With a price tag bearing the price $499.95 and countless astounding features, TomTom GO 720 is simply the best portable navigation system.