Compatability

It is not made clear that this item is not compatible with the 500 series ie not the 510 only the 500 and presumably the same for the 710

Poor value

Don't even think of buying this. The traffic feature hardly works in the UK. Mine ran out of memory before completing installation of maps.Updated maps are aBOUT £60. The Magellan series blows this away. The online support is dreadful - I spent hours following the instructions which didn't work, then was offerred a return but the return envelope required never arrived. Brilliant Amaxon have promised a full refund.

Third time unlucky

We are just about to take our THIRD Tom Tom 510 back this time for a refund. After moving to a new area and borrowing our friends 510 we decided to invest in one. The first one froze after 3 days leaving us with a white screen. We returned it for a replacement only for the 2nd one to freeze after a week after turning itself off. We took that one back for a refund but after looking around at the other Sat Navs on the market decided that we had perhaps just been unlucky and maybe it was the shop that had a bad batch (yeah right!). We went to a different shop to purchase one and for 8 months now have had no problems...until we could not turn the 510 on one day. After ringing Tom Tom I was asked if I had ever updated using Tom Tom Home (I had not but didn't realise I had to!) so after being assured that this was the answer to all my problems I tried to update. And failed miserably!! Where does it say that you have to update using your PC for the Tom Tom to work? And why hasn't it mended my Tom Tom?! I also tried to reboot it using the little whole at the back but this didn't work either and why should I have to do this??!! Therefore the Tom Tom will be going back (thank goodness for the years warranty!!) and we will be trying another brand. I hasten to add that none of our Sat Navs came from Amazon but I wanted other users to heed my warning!!

Its as if God himself made it.

I recently bought this for a loved one for their birthday.

Not only was the recipient pleased with the gift (to be used for her crosswords) but i haven't seen them without a crossword in weeks!!! I myself havent used it, but as a gift its worked like a christian in church.

Sitting on the fence

To be honest it took me an age to narrow down what I wanted re sat navs. Bit the bullet with the S50 and in all honesty I don't know how I coped without it. It's very good indeed. The only slight niggle is that it takes a while to boot up but then I have been told that this is the norm, so it reflects my impatience perhaps. The menu system takes a little getting used to..almost like going from nokia to sony ericsson phones. Overall though, no regrets.

Highly impressive

My hardy Garmin StreetPilot packed in after a few years, it was bottom range and my introduction to satnav. It worked reasonably well but was sometimes slow picking up a signal and the voice was a bit harsh plus the screen was effective but small - a good very basic model. How things have moved on since I bought the Garmin in the world of satnav.

Moving from the Garmin Streetpilot to the Navman S90i is like changing the portable tv for a LCD HDTV - The change is highly impressive.

I don't like window mounted satnavs so had the old Garmin dashboard disk on the car and thinking this would be no good was looking for a independent dashboard bracket, however tried the Navman S90i on the disk and it holds superbly, far better than the old Garmin ever did, so problem solved.

The screen is awesome to look at night and day and is all touch-screen controlled, this works really well and even with my chubby fingers and driving (tut-tut) I have had no problem getting the right button first time even using the keyboard function. There is so much information on the screen available if you want it at a touch of the screen and setting up the device was kids stuff.

I use the english female voice and it is loud enough but not offensively loud or a voice that would drive you mad, it says the road at roundabouts etc which is excellent.

The satellite pickup is far better than my old Garmin, so much quicker, virtually straight away, even inside the house on the settee near the window, the old Garmin would never pick up there.

With the larger widescreen it makes seeing where you are going far easier and means you can keep your eyes on the road a lot more. Programming addresses is simple but I have to agree that having to scroll down to the country (takes 1/4 second) is irritating but I got used to that with the Garmin anyway.

******
Well just updating as promised regarding the Hands Free Phone function.
It works perfectly, picking up my Sony Erricson K810i immediately. Transferring the phone book was very simple indeed.

Contrary to a previous review!
- YOU DO NOT HAVE TO TRANSFER/MANUALLY RECONNECT YOUR PHONE TO THE NAVMAN EVERY TIME YOU GET IN THE CAR - IT CAN BE SET TO AUTOMATIC -
I am nearly sick of saying it and readers might be sick of hearing it but it really is very simple to make sure your phone will connect itself to the Navman every time you turn it on. Just go into the functions 'HandsFree' and 'Phonebook' and put the settings to do so - SIMPLE.

I have a loud old Previa with a noisy exhaust and even with both front windows open and doing 70mph on a sunny day the HandsFree works very well, I can hear the callers no probs and they can hear me no probs.

Also, I love the way Texts come on to the screen in Handsfree mode and you can quickly read them whilst going along.

All in all I am so very pleased I got this bit of kit.

Probably the best iPaq yet ...

I have now had this device for a couple of weeks. I have previously owned several Pocket PCs, including a few earlier versions of the iPaq. Of the ones I have tried, this is almost certainly the best. Having WiFi, Bluetooth, SDHC support (previous versions didn't support the new higher capacity cards that this one does - I have an 8Gb SD card in mine), a standard USB connection (previous iPaqs I owned use a proprietary USB connector) a relatively fast processor, the latest version of Windows Mobile (including useful new features such as SD card data encryption) all whilst retaining a relatively small form factor is a strong combination. Whilst many will opt for a Pocket PC phone (as my last Windows Mobile device was), having a seperate PDA from your phone has advantages for some e.g. if you are obliged to use a particular mobile phone for work (as I am) then you don't need phone features on your PDA. With this device I can keep all of my personal contacts seperate from the business contacts on my phone and use bluetooth to get my phone (a Blackberry Pearl) to dial any number I select on my iPaq Classic. Add in a high capacity SD card and this device doubles up as a reasonably competent media player. It has a standard headphone socket (no headphones supplied) or you can use the built in speaker. Web browsing over wi-fi works as well as any device I have seen of this size. It also comes with a rather nice slip case. Overall, not a stunning leap forward compared to previous iPaqs but its hard to find fault with it.

Good product, now at a really great price

I don't normally contribute to reviews, but feel it necessary to counter the overly negative comments here, as I have used this bluetooth keyboard satisfactorilty with both an HP iPaq PDA and more recently a Nokia E51 smartphone. Easy to set up, and it works ok !. And, now that the price has come right down, I think they are excellent value. However, by its very nature as an ultra compact folding keyboard, it is quite flimsy, so will need careful handling / looking after if you are to avoid breaking it.

Bigger is Better

I purchased this from Amazon for my wife for Christmas, so cannot say I have actually used it. What I would like to say is that the larger screen, the size of the keys and the layout of the keys, makes this a far superior product to the pocket example, that I do own myself. The size of the product is still a handy size, but even though it is not a great deal larger than the pocket size it is much easier to operate, particulary for those people with larger hands, or perhaps slight difficulties with stiffness in their hands. The information the dictionary provides is as good as anything on the market.

Great gadget, works with my iPhone, shame about customer services

I bought my Tomtom Go 520 and was pretty impressed. Works very well and is simple to use (no need to read the instructions). Managed to connect it to my iPhone to make and receive handsfree calls albeit after a few teething troubles - for some reason the sound on my tomtom was a bit temperamental at first but that seems to have been fixed now and it works fine.
Have linked it up to my iPod and the quality of sound is much better than I expected. Did not manage to get it to play via my FM transmitter but my radio is very old and crackly so the poor sound could be due to my radio and not the tomtom.
Would definitely recommend and think it is good value at that price (considering you get a large screen tomtom, iPod player and handsfree kit).
Customer services are slightly rude and unhelpful. They refused to help me when I couldn't get any sound out of my tomtom because I was trying to connect it to an"incompatible phone". Luckily the problem was resolved without them.

does not work

This product does not work as promised. Placed beside a radio it gives a weak, noisy signal. Cannot use it in my car, there is no signal, not even if I place the Belkin on the carroof beside the antenna !!! Do not use money ons this.

A good piece of kit

I have to say i was quite impressed by this as it was actually able to pick up a GPS signal in the middle of central London! I do have to agree about the heart rate monitor does go a bit crazy every so often! The software provided is an excellent monitoring tool!

Great Unit but no keypad lock

I've had this for a few months now and have just used it for a bit of snowboarding and some cycling. Now the summer has (supposedly) arrived I intend to use it a lot more.

It has everything you could possibly need and the software is quite intuitive. I already have a tomtom unit for road driving but I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by the function on this Garmin for road navigation. It doesn't have voice directions but uses a series of beeps which are actually easy to follow. It's not as good as a tomtom or other device in terms of the routes it chooses etc so if you want this just for road use then think again.

I've used it for measuring speed and distance on my snowboard and bike and it worked admirably. I've bought the GB topo maps for future offroad routes - don't expect OS quality graphics here - it's basic but it works. The unit also comes programmed with every conceivable map datum an can ideally be used in conjunction with any good OS map as well as with the requisite software (maps) for the region being travelled.

The one thing that let's it down however is the lack of a keyboard lock. It's not really a big problem though because the worst that can happen is that it may add an extra waypoint or two whilst stuffed into a pocket or bag. It comes with a fairly good (detachable) beltclip though which I used most of the time and I recommend the bicycle handlebar mount (sold seperately).

Very Good

there was a bit of confusion as i got sent the wrong item, but the correct item was shipped out to me with no hastel. Great price and quality product. Fantastic seller.

Misleading, Very Poor Software, Oh and a Car Crash

I simply must write to advise people to seriously consider purchasing one of these, especially for anyone a) not computer literate, or b) a relatively new driver.

My partner has been driving 6 months now and had mentioned a few times, despite my trying to convince her to learn to map read, that she wanted sat nav, which culminated in her getting upset at getting lost for a couple of hours one night. Anyway, I bought this product on the back of rationalising that she'd not be distracted reading maps while driving and it had hands-free mobile facilities.

First off, the hands-free is a waste of time; it's got such a terrible mic that you end up shouting and being misheard the whole time. Distracting at best.

Secondly, the traffic for life is misleading as its just an RDS aerial, and not the actual TomTom traffic service.

Thirdly, the TomTom HOME software is truly awful. As a software developer with a background from a very well-known software company, it is one of the most unreliable and bug-ridden pieces of work I've seen since the mid-nineties. Search out the forums to see the issues people are having with it.

Finally, the actual device is buggy, too. I've witnessed first hand as an experienced driver the misleading directions and told my partner to keep an eye on the map and not to take the spoken directions verbatim.

Today, just after the device hung as it received a phonecall, my partner mounted the central reservation and had a puncture while trying to"keep right", while the map was pointing to a left turn. Probably something an experienced driver would have dealt with, but the poor girl is, as I type, waiting for a tow-truck. The AA said that she"wouldn't believe the amount of accidents they attend as a result of sat-nav".

If the internet can do anything, it can provide a balanced set of opinions and aid people in making buying decisions, and avoid dissapointment or worse.

Therefore, I implore you to consider how bad life was when you had to look at a map and read good ol' road signs.

What a shame.

works with vista, plus great support

i saw this product amongst alot of similar versions.
i have bought 2 different makes and none worked with vista this one did.
I found this easy to install and it is a nice quality item and a with fair price.
when i asked a question about the product i got a immediate response.

Good Product - but misdescribed by Amazon

This is a great product and has been very useful. Easy to use with most of the menus being quite intuitive. It is great that it just works, out of the box.

Unfortunately Amazon have misdescribed the product. The following lines are taken from the description as of 10th Jan 2008 (which is the same as it was last year):

---------------------------------------
With the latest and most complete maps on SD card,

Additional Services & Smart extras include built-in Bluetooth(tm) technology
- Easy connection process to the mobile phone
- Remembers up to 5 different mobile phones to connect to.
Ready for TomTom PLUS services with real time information on traffic congestions, weather conditions and extra downloads such as detailed city maps, scenic routes, additional voices, Points Of Interest and much more.
(Subscription and mobile phone with Bluetooth® and GPRS needed)
-------------------------------------

It all sounds good - if only it were true. This device does not come with maps on an SD card so it is not possible to upgrade memory size. There is no bluetooth capability in the device.

Despite informing both Amazon and Tom-Tom last year of the misdescription, they haven't changed it on the website.

Superb Navigation unit

I purchased this product, and at first, struggled to make sense of downloading routes onto it for your use - would definitely recommend to get memory-map 1:25,000 scale maps, as these are very detailed (even though they don't seem to come with a manual!)
However, now that I have finally worked it out, it's simply brilliant - as well as downloading routes, it keeps record of your tracks, and allows you to turn these into routes if you choose to do so.
The on-screen menus are very easy to use, even if you've never used a gadget like this before.
When I was deciding to buy this item, I also considered the High-Sensitivity 'HCx' version, but unless you're going underground, I cannot see any benefit to paying the extra money, as this unit is perfectly capable of excellent results, pretty much wherever you are.
NB: Don't forget to change the Datum settings to OS GB if you are in the UK, as it automatically defaults to WGS84, so you will need to do this if you are using OS Maps.
Again, superfast delivery from Amazon, as always - well done!

not so intelliplug

I purchased the computer version.
Very dissapointed as it obstructs start up if you have several items on a powered USB hup running.
The computer does not start up correctly as it must check working peripherals first.
Helpful supplier though who exchanged it as I suspected a faulty plug... also advised starting selected items to isolate problem here.
This is a drag taken the start up time. This thing is meant to make life easier...does not and likely to go in the bin.
Doug