Friday, October 17, 2008

Car Navigation Review: TomTom GO 930, GO 720, XL (30 series), Mio Moov 370

We were in search for a good GPS car navigation unit for use in Australia. Our three choices were: TomTom GO 930, TomTom GO 720, TomTom XL, and Mio Moov 370. Below is a review of what we liked and did not like about them.



Read on to know which model this is.
Photo taken 2008-10-17


TomTom GO 930:
+ I love the black rubber finish. Feels less fragile compared to other TomTom models.
+ Has the superset of features for TomTom units: TMC, Bluetooth, FM, other common features.
- Very expensive

Conclusion:
Simply put, if money was not a consideration, I would have gone for this model. I have yet to see any real negative reviews about it other than its price. Plus while holding it with my own hands, it really did feel very solid.

More reviews here:
TomTom GO 930 Review 1
TomTom GO 930 Review 2


TomTom GO 720:
+ Features: FM, Bluetooth
- Weak FM & Buggy bluetooth (So they claim)
- Pricey
- Forums report signal problems in Sydney CBD.

Conclusion:
The weak reviews and the price tag really did turn me off about this model. None of the features that distinguish it from XL or One XL seem to be any good. Furthermore, this old model seems to have an old GPS chip that is less sensitive compared to new models. My suggestion is to either go up for the 930, or go down for the XL.

More reviews here:
TomTom GO 720 Review 1
TomTom GO 720 Review 2


TomTom XL (30 Series):
+ Value for money
+ TMC ready if you want to buy bundle
- No FM, No Bluetooth

Conclusion:
This is the model that we eventually decided to go for. We like the feature set. We don't really need FM or Bluetooth. And the price is acceptable. Plus the 4.3" widescreen is just the correct size, I would say.

More reviews here:
TomTom XL Review 1
TomTom XL Review 2


Mio Moov 370
+ Solid Feature Set. Pretty much equivalent to TomTom GO 930.
- Community support base

Summary:
Other than the fact that I haven't actually seen this exact model yet, I was a bit worried about the having community support for the product. I preferred to have a unit that has more user, more people adding corrections, more people creating POI entries, more icons, more sounds, etc. If you're not really concerned about the community support issue, then I think it's a really impressive product.

More reviews here:
Mio Moov 370 Review


That's it for my review! I hope it helps. Now, if only we had our car already. =(