Unlike the competing Garmin nuvi 1690 that provides information ranging from weather to flight times and social network integration, Tom Tom eschew the fancy-pants 3G network in favour of delivering services via satellite that are important to drivers.
So instead of providing the nearest restaurant, the Tom Tom GO950 will get you to your destination with minimum fuss.
The nicely styled, soft-touch matte black unit does have some software frills to show off however. First up, it must be said, the Tom Tom has a very nice screen, one that responds to a hasty 'jab' touch with a level of satisfying speed and accuracy. The screen is also nicely resistant to finger marks and reads well in sunlight.
The main navigation menu provides a good range of pre-configured buttons. But if desired, you can easily add your own; buttons for safety camera reporting, or hands free calling (with a paired Bluetooth phone), Favourite destinations or day/night colour switching buttons amongst other possible selections can all be added to the main screen.
This is important, as fumbling through the otherwise busy selections to find these options is slightly tricky at first, particularly if you venture down an incorrect option path, most will not let you backtrack without returning to the main screen and starting again. Having your favourite options or selections on the main screen will mostly alleviate this frustration.
If spoken commands are more your thing, we found the Tom Tom (like its touch screen) quite responsive to audio commands. Even slightly incorrect audio commands are dealt with logically.
The unit also features a number of "help me" options for travellers in trouble. Drive to the nearest car mechanic, hospital, fire or police station as well as the ever helpful, nearest pharmacy and (oh joy!) dentist are mostly logical, and again, very responsive to requests.
Less helpful are the First Aid and other guides available in the unit's memory. While the information is nice, the presentation is somewhat awkward to navigate or zoom into. It feels clunky and is not likely to be something used by many.
Setting a destination is quick enough, though it would be nice if the read-ahead for address typing showed more than two possibilities as you punch in the information, as this would most likely speed up the process.
Route choices include shortest, quickest and most economical with the quickest option being the most practical and default. The display will show the destination distance, travel time and likely arrival time based on current speed. The unit will also display the distance to the next direction, and makes simple but effective use of lane suggestions on screen, though the associated audio did get a little illogical from time to time, asking us to 'keep left' but 'veer right' as part of an upcoming directional instruction.
Also on the main display is an indication of current speed, and on major roads, an associated legal speed limit - which worked okay. Though it should be noted that during our test, travelling down the Hume, it reported that much of the 110km/h stretch was a 100km/h zone, making us feel bad for breaking the law for hours on end. There is refinement needed here for those that use this helpful feature.
Out of the box the unit includes a rather massive - possibly unnecessary - dock for USB connectivity and software updates. We would have preferred a simple cord rather than a full dock.
At a RRP of AU$649, we are very impressed with this Tom Tom unit, as it provides responsive clear navigation information, with plenty of extras that work rather than bog-down the experience.
Check out TomTom.com for more details.
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