GO 720: TomTom's new 'do-it-all'?

This year, TomTom decided to not introduce it's new models at the CeBIT fair in Hanover as it has done every year previously; instead they waited until June to release some news. This had one big advantage: by making the announcement of their new products at their own Press Conference in the French city of Cannes they could count on much wider and more exclusive press coverage.

Downside

However, there was also a downside in leaving their announcement this late. By now the holiday season is well under way, and many European families had already left for their vacations abroad by the date of the launch. All of these potential customers were not able to purchase a GO 520 or 720 before they left, and even now the first deliveries of these new units will only be available in limited quantities in the shops. TomTom has thus missed an important part of the Summer retailing peak and it has yet to be seen how successful the sales of the new devices will be.

Anyway, on a better note, we at yourNAV.com have had a GO 720T review unit (with the included RDS/TMC antenna) for perusal for some time now, and so we are able to provide an insight of what you can expect when you get hold of one of the new units. We present to you: our review of the new TomTom GO 720T series!

In the box

The GO 720T is currently the top-of-the-line model of the new GO x20 series. It ships with the detailed map of Western Europe included, and sells for an approx. price of € 550. Inside the box, there is the device itself, the windscreen mount, a 12/24 volts car charger and a docking station and USB cable. Also included standard with this T-unit is a new and improved RDS/TMC receiver, which is used for downloading (free) traffic information to the unit. This receiver is missing from the box of the 'normal' GO 720, which sells for about € 50 less at the usual (online) shops.

We'll provide more detail on the different parts later on; first we'll have a look at the device itself.

It doesn't take an expert to notice that TomTom has thrown the conventional design of the previous GO ranges range out of the window with the new x20 series. Gone is the 'round belly' of the TomTom GO and what remains is a very compact device, measuring 118 x 83 x 24 millimetres, and weighing in at 220 grams. These are very comfortable dimensions, which for the first time offer the possibility of simply sliding the unit into your jacket pocket, despite it's fairly large 4.3 inch touch-screen. This allows for easy portability, and is a remarkable improvement. It will probably be a big selling point for many new customers.


On the front of the 720T, there are two small holes, containing a microphone (number 1 on the illustration) and a light sensor (2). Below, to the right, there is a small green LED (3), which lights when the GO is connected to an external power source. The on/off button (4) is located on top of the device.

On the back are the connector (5) for an optional external antenna, and a silvery part (6), to which the windscreen mount attaches. Below the grid (7) there's the built-in speaker.

There are also a lot of connections on the bottom of the device. Unlike the x10 range, but similar to the 'One' models, TomTom has chosen to provide only a passive mount (completely free of built-in electronics and/or connections) with this new x20 series, and to mount all the necessary connections on the bottom of the device itself. There is a connection for headphones or line out (8), and for the TMC receiver (9), a reset hole (10) and a mini USB connector (11), which serves both for connection to a computer and to charge the GO. Finally, despite the fact that all new GO's are shipped with internal flash memory (2 GB in the case of the 720), there is still a SD card slot (12), which can be used when you need extra storage space for maps, photos or MP3 files.

Software and maps

As already stated, the GO 720T ships with 2 GB of internal flash memory. More than 1.5 GB of that memory is used for the supplied Western European map (version 705.1480). This map version is based on the 2007-4 release of map supplier Tele Atlas, which was released in April. It provides seamless coverage for Andorra, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Finland, France, The United Kingdom, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, The Netherlands, Norway, Austria, Portugal, San Marino, Spain, Vatican City, Sweden and Switzerland. A separate map of the Canary Islands is also provided.

Also installed into the flash memory, is the latest version of TomTom's navigational software: NavCore 7. The first shipments will come with version 7.000 build 8286 installed, but you can expect several small updates to appear in the following months, which should solve small imperfections. New GO x20 owners are therefore advised to check for updates on a regular basis, through the provided HOME desktop application software.

NavCore 7 is literally filled to the brim with new features. Even though many are intended to make the life of the TomTom user easier, one of these new options really shines: MapShare, the map improvement technology with which a user can not only make his own adjustments to the digital maps of his unit, but also to share those corrections with all users of the new software.

In this review we'll especially concentrate on the hardware of the new GO 720T. It is expected though that NavCore 7, including MapShare, will become available for ALL TomTom devices after the summer. We will pay a lot more attention to this new software in the coming months, but for a first impression, we would refer you to our specials: First meet with TomTom NavCore 7 and TomTom Map Share: how & what?

Components

Interestingly, TomTom has returned to using the well known SiRF Star III chipset, for these models, after their switch to the Hammerhead chipset used in the ONE XL (** do we know why?**). The SiRF Star III is renowned for its high performance, especially if used in conjunction with the downloadable QuickGPSfix utility. A fix is usually obtained within a few seconds, and remains very stable, even under variable conditions.

A 400 Mhz CPU provides the processing power of the 720, which, in combination with the 64 MB of built-in RAM and the 2 GB flash memory, is very well up to it's route-calculating task. We use the 1,670 kilometres of driving distance between Oegstgeest in southern Holland and the Piazza di San Marco in Rome as our usual test route, and this model calculated it in less than 30 seconds, which is really very fast. For comparison: the GO 910 equipped with the same Western European map needs almost a minute for the same calculation and the ONE XL is even slower, taking 1 minute and 8 seconds. This is a nice plus for the x20's.

We do have our reservations as well though. We've noticed while driving that the maps cannot always keep up with the real-life situation and the cursor that indicates the vehicles current position sometimes 'jumps ahead', to make up for the 'gap' that has occurred. If the unit's processing power or its GPS connection is at fault here, we don't know. Still, it's an issue that needs some attention (although on a lighter note it's nice to see you can now customise the cursor to be whatever you like, even your own car!)

Mount

Onto the connection in the car. Until recently I always used a GO 910. I had attached the active mount of this device onto a fixed spot of my dashboard, and neatly tucked away all the cables for power, TMC, audio out and external microphone. All I ever needed to do was click the GO onto its mount, and off I went.

No more so with the new mount. As already mentioned, TomTom has chosen a passive mount this time. No electronics are built into the mount, and hence no cables or extras can be directly connected to the mount any more. Every time you want to use your x20, you will always have to connect the TMC receiver (if needed), and the power cable to the device. Although I can understand TomTom's reasons for this new approach (after the x10 mount fiasco), I still think it's a step backwards. Here is an opportunity for third-party mount suppliers to step into the gap, it appears that Brodit, for one, are already designing an active mount version.

The mounting of the device itself is, after a bit of getting used to, very simple. The square block on the mount simply needs to be slid into the silvery part on the back of GO. The round element on the back of the device with the TomTom hands, applies a bit of pressure with the help of a small spring, and keeps everything well in place. Removal is also not a problem, and, after a bit of practice, can even be done one-handed. The suction cup, of the same type we've come to know from the ONE and ONE XL, performs excellently. After moistening it a bit first, and then firmly pressing it against the windscreen, it's not going anywhere. A ball-joint mechanism with good friction enables the user to optimise the position of the device after it has been attached to the mount.

Docking

Like with the GO x10 series, TomTom also ships a docking station with the x20 series, which we believe is a very cool accessory. Not only is it used to charge the device, but also to connect the device to a computer with for uploading software and map updates (Map Share) via TomTom's 'Home' utility software.

The new docking does have the limitation that the charging is also done via the USB port. If connected to a computer, this doesn't go very smoothly. The amount of milliampÚres a USB port can provide is a lot smaller than a regular mains power supply can provide. If the unit is to be powered up while connected to the PC, there may be little spare capacity to charge the battery at the same time. There will also be an optional docking station for 220/240 volts, but that one won''t allow a simultaneous connection to your PC.

Voices and sound

Both units in the new range feature text-to-speech voices rather than restricting them to the top of the range model, a very smart move by TomTom, we reckon. TTS is a very useful addition to the navigational experience, and we've been using these voices for more than a year now.

Unfortunately, we have to say that the sound quality of the new GO is not as good as that of the x10 series. This will be due to the flat shape of the GO 720. TomTom cannot change the laws of physics: for a rich, warm sound, a large speaker and a resonant box is needed. Since the new x20 lost its back-bulge, this has had an effect on the sound quality. But that is not the only reason:

To save space, TomTom has used heavier data compression on the TTS files. The total file size of a TTS voice has been reduced from 572 MB on the GO 910 to a mere 44 MB on the new GO's! A magnificent achievement, but of course, heavier compression has consequences for the sound quality. As a result, all the TTS voices now sound much more 'tinny' and even crackle a bit at times. But rest assured: the sound is still very acceptable, and we can surely live with it. Besides, we wouldn't want to be without TTS any more!

The new GO also features the option of using your own navigational instructions and for this 57 speech fragments need to be recorded. Granted this takes a fair bit of time, but the end result is definitely worth it. Although it is not going to be the feature which causes a sell-out, it's still very nice to be guided around with the voice of your own children for example. You could even add a few 'pleasantries' to the voices here and there!

FM transmitter

Continuing the topic of sound: the GO 720T also features an FM transmitter. A similar transmitter was already available for the x10 range, in the form of an optional car mount, but one is now fitted as standard into the device. The thought behind this functionality is of course very good: just set your GO to a free FM frequency, preset your car stereo to the same frequency, and voila: instant instructions through the car stereo. But as with so many things, it looks better on paper than in practice.

During our tests, it became apparent that the sound level of the transmitter output is too low. This meant we needed to crank up the volume of our car stereo a lot before the music and instructions were loud enough to hear and understand. But imagine what happens if you switch back again to a normal FM radio station, without remembering to lower the volume again. We can assure you: the first time this happens to you, you will want it to be the last! So our conclusion about the FM transmitter is: a nice thought, but badly implemented, and because of that an unusable feature.

Speech recognition

Completely new for TomTom is the ability to enter your destination address into the device by simply speaking it out loud. For this, choose the menu option 'navigate to spoken address', and the software will then ask you to pronounce the city name (see pic on top to the side). After this you will be presented with a list of possible selections sorted by probability (bottom pic) and you select the place you wanted by saying the number next to the correct place name. The street and house number are selected in the same way and after all this, simply saying the 'OK' command will make it start the route calculation.

We have to admit we had our reservations at the thought of this feature. Would this work? We can already assure you: YES! It works beautifully! We held a short test, in which we at random chose 10 completely different place names. The GO 720T scored a perfect 100%, by which we mean that all the places were displayed on position 1 in the list. The same happened for the street names and numbers. Subtle differences in names, like 'church road' and 'long church road' for example are detected without a problem. Unfortunately, with this version of software, they have not extended the feature to allow Postcode destinations to be entered by this method.

Our test with speech recognition was done in a quiet spot and admittedly in an environment with more ambient noise, things become a bit more difficult, we are still very much impressed with the functionality of this feature, and we can't wait until TomTom will extend it's possibilities so the complete GO will be controllable via voice.

Handsfree phoning

Since the GO 700, it has been possible to use your PND as a handsfree set in your car, although many have had issues with the quality. TomTom claims this functionality has improved a lot, thanks to the implementation of a new sound system. Our tests confirm this claim. In general the technology and the quality of the built-in microphone are more than adequate for having a well-understandable conversation. But for some reason TomTom have not provided any option for an external microphone to the x20 series. No matter how good the quality of the built-in microphone may be, a microphone closer to your mouth will always be better. A bad move, we think.

No TMC in UK?

Of course we can't finish this review without mentioning the TMC system for retrieval of traffic information on the T-versions of the GO x20's. This feature has been a problem child for TomTom since day one. Up to now, TomTom has not been able to smoothly implement this feature.

There was only one problem: for reviewing purposes, we received a GO 720T, as said, this is the unit with the TMC antenna included. However, several sources have mentioned to us that the T-version of the unit will NOT be available in the UK. We can only imagine this is because of the large amount of problems the previous TMC antenna has caused for TomTom.

We asked TomTom for a reaction. This is how they responded:
"We indeed do not ship the GO 720T in the UK at this time. It is hoped that in the future we will be able to, when we have RDS/TMC hardware that functions in that specific region, and lives up to our quality expectations. We do not have a timeline for this, and therefore cannot say when this will happen. We are sorry to be so vague about this, but at this moment it's still uncertain whether we will ever ship a GO 720T in the UK."

So there you have it: no TMC with the new x20 series in the UK. Of course, we DO have such a 720T at our disposal now. Should we test it or not? Of course we should!

We went forward with the testing, and it didn't take long before we found out that TomTom's fear of releasing this piece of hardware with the unit was not unfounded.

Because the TMC antenna that shipped with the unit is a new and improved version, we had high hopes. But unfortunately, all in vain. As it turned out, the main problem is still getting a connection with a radio station which broadcasts the TMC signal. A lot of times this fails. We've made many test drives during which no TMC information could be retrieved after many minutes of searching. A lot of times it failed to make a connection completely.

Once you get a 'lock', everything does work as advertised. But a lot of times we had almost reached our destination before this lock was established. Or, even worse, we were already stuck in traffic by then. We don't believe this could be the intention of a € 50 accessory.

So as it turns out, TomTom probably made the right choice by excluding the RDS/TMC antenna from the 720's package, and thus not selling a 720T in the UK. But on the other hand, why sell it in other countries. All of our testing was done in Holland, and we can't really claim TMC did work over there.

We're sure this isn't the last we'll ever hear of TMC, and we're equally sure it'll continue to cause more headaches for the TomTom developers in the process. Of course we'll follow this issue closely, and report any new breakthroughs…