The 720 - conflicting reviews

dougproctor · Posted: Sat Sep 15, 2007 10:20 am Post subject: The 720 - conflicting reviews

You read one review and it says this is the best thing since sliced bread and read another and they say the unit has lots of problems.
What is the general concensus of opinion about this device? I have a Nuvi 360T that I am about to sell to get the 720 but is it worth it yet? I also have the Blackberry Curve which I understans has problems with pairing and bluetooth.
Why can't TomTom get this right?
Doug

Andy_P · Posted: Sat Sep 15, 2007 8:42 pm Post subject:

What do you want us to say? There ISN'T a general consensus, because some people with problems will send the unit straight back and moan, some people are prepared to put up with them because they like the unit generally and others either don't have the problems or haven't noticed them.
The fact that TomTom is still the market leader must mean something, but the fact remains that they seem to release software before it has had all the bugs ironed out . But if you read other manufacturers forums, they often seem just as bad.

All I can offer is a personal opinion, based on onnly ever having owned another TomTom (the Go300).
I like the unit.
I like the simple mount.
I like the size.
I hate the speaker (but the 300 had a far above average speaker).
I like the text to speech, but to me the voices are too loud compared to the warning sound FX and are quite distorted, so have reverted back to my old "real" voice.
The hands free works fine with my daughter's phone but I have no Bluetooth, so haven't tested it extensively. There seems to have been a problem with an early batch.
The Speech recognition is a pointless gimmick.
The Map share is a fantastic new feature, but is limited in its first implementation. It's early days and this can only improve.
Battey life seems fine to me, but I always use the PSU in the car and apart from that I'm usually connected to the PC so charging anyway.

technik · Posted: Sat Sep 15, 2007 11:03 pm Post subject:

If you get one with working handsfree, then you should be happy with the 720.

Mine works fine.
It still has minor bugs, but it is a new product, and these problems should be fixed in future firmware updates.

dougproctor · Posted: Sun Sep 16, 2007 1:03 pm Post subject:

Thanks. I was after opinions. I have had all the TomTom's, both the Go's and PDA versions and also two of the Nuvi's.
Of course opinions are going to be different, stupid I am not, but before I ditch my 360T and go back to TomTom, I was just after opinions.
Doug

Mojo · Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2007 7:53 am Post subject:

my handfree was working on my replacement unit of my 720 but then it stopped working a couple of weeks later. I think it must be software related rather than hardware but once I come back from my hols I will send it back to be fixed. Although I may wait for another firmware update to try first.
_________________
TTG 720
Navcore 8.351
Western and Central Europe 2Gb v845.2645
Home 2.7.3.1894

Vodka_Redbull · Occasional Visitor Joined: May 29, 2007 Posts: 6

My 1st 720 had problems with hands free calling (A common one) I was using a phone on the Tomtom compatible phone list. If I called someone they couldn´t hear me but I could hear them. This problem existed on the original 7.000 firmware and the updated 7.010 so I wasn´t convinced this would be resolved in a firmware update.

I returned it to Handtech and they replaced it for another unit. This arrived with the updated firmware installed by Tomtom. I tested it for the same fault and it worked. Great I thought!!! This new unit had a fault with the built in speaker distorting when using hands free or reading out driving instructions. If I turned doen the volume to about 60% it wasn´t to bad but at speed on the motorway this wasn´t loud enough to use.

I sent it back for a refund.

I must say I like the product and will buy another one as I have read on this forum that people have got fully working units. I would advise you buy one from Argos / a local high street shop that has a good returns policy as in my experience it might involve you trying a couple of units until you are happy. Buying online may save you a few pounds but in my experience I have had to send 2 units back to Handtech at nearly 8 pounds a time in carriage then my refund excluded my original carriage charge I paid when I purchased it. Handtech dont seem bothered to refund me for these costs. (I wont use them again)

I hope you find this some use.

Good luck.

dougproctor · Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2007 7:15 pm Post subject:

Thanks for that. The sort of review I want. I'm still worried about the Blackberry Curve pairing and need someone who have both of these to tell me if they do work together.
Doug

DennisN · Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2007 11:19 pm Post subject:

For information ...
GO720 #3 I bought yesterday in Halfords looks promising. This one came out of the box with App 7.010 (8290/070711) OS:2618 - my previous ones needed updates to get to this.

It picks up satellites like they're sitting on its shoulder - indoors, six feet away from the window, my 710 refuses to get a fix. The 720 does it in about 3 seconds!
The Hands free is great - nice and clear both ends. It is completely compatible with my Nokia 6230i, although I don't let it read texts out loud.
The map is great - I'm not sure how useful it is having a local cemetery's internal roads on the map (compared with not being on W&CE map 675 on my GO710), but "more" is better innit?
I have not tried the MP3 on this one (it worked on the others, once upgraded to 7.010), as it's not my buzz.
I still get interference on MW radio from it - This is from the power supply. With 720 switched off, no interference. With power disconnected from ciggy lighter, unit running on battery, no interference. It may also be affected by transmitter locations, as it doesn't happen in some areas of the country. I can live with that, even though it's a nuisance - the GO710 has never done it.
I have not allowed, and will not allow Home to update itself to 2. Not until you lot all agree it's been put right AND I decide I can tolerate the stupid new touch screen lookalike interface AND it will also handle my GO710, not just the 720!
I do get Mapshare updates via Home 1.6, that'll do me.
I have yet to try transferring spoken instructions to FM speaker - that impressed me with the previous ones.
I have yet to try speech recognition nav instructions (they sort of worked on the previous ones).

Looks like this one is staying. Bouncing

_________________
Dennis

If it tastes good - it's fattening.

Two of them are obesiting!!

Wazza_G · Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2007 3:10 pm Post subject:

Looks like you're more jammy than Hartley's & Robertsons combined! Laughing

dougproctor · Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2007 9:25 pm Post subject: It's good.

Got it today and love it! Pairs with my BB Curve although doesn't read texts out! Cannot get TomTom Home working with Vista though. Have V1.6 as V2 was a beta that has now been withdrawn, I believe while they evaluate the results!! Yeah right! Anyone know what I have to do please? The program installs but the drivers for the 720 fail to install.
Doug

Andy_P · Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2007 4:37 pm Post subject:

A non-beta v2 of Home is available now. If you use Home v1 and you've got a 720 it should download the new version automatically (look for blue progress bar bottom right. THEN it asks if you want to install it! You do have the option of keeping the v1 that you have as well (recommended as the "look and feel" of v2 is very different).
....But if on Vista it doesn't know you've got a 720, who knows?

EDIT - Aaah... just seen you started a new topic and you've got it already Taunt

shaun43uk · Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2007 6:13 pm Post subject:

Ive had my 720 for 2 weeks now and so far every most things seem ok, the only bugs & niggles I have are:

1: link volume to car speed seems to work in reverse the faster you go the quieter it gets.

2: I installed the tts ogg files but these cause the internal speaker to crackle & distort even on low volume when unit is disconnected from in car charger.

3: computer voice was very annoying so I switched to real voice.

4: Im not sure I like the new maps visually or the spoken instructions sometimes they are not very clear especially when driving in london especially when approaching the underpass from Piccadilly to knightsbridge my old tomtom one would have said "keep right" to avoid the roundabout which added 20 mins to my journey.

5: you can only use the audio book feature if you subscribe to audible.com but Ive overcome this by converting audio book files into mp3 files then splitting the files into smaller 4 minute mp3 files so for one audio book I have a folder with around 250 mp3 files so when I go to my playlist the last file played is highlighted so in effect this is like a bookmark.

Im sure these will be sorted out in future software updates

I have to say I love the FM transmitter, handsfree works great, mp3 player, the quick reference menu is a great feature.

So all in all I would recommend the tomtom 720 to anyone

Vodka_Redbull · Occasional Visitor Joined: May 29, 2007 Posts: 6

Well I took my own advice and purchased another one but this time from a local PC World (£279.98 Web price but can order and collect in store). I jumped in the car and tested it in the car park and surprise surprise it has the same hand free calling fault (The person I am calling can only hear interference) I go back to the shop and they have 1 more 720 in stock. I try it in the shop and it works (4th time lucky). It is V 7.000 from new so have updated it and will test it over the next few days. Now the main problem I have is moving my Traffic subscription to the new one! I stupidly tried to move it to my 1st replacement device way back when and now Tomtom need me to contact support to resolve it. In my long ranting email I asked why they don’t admit they have known hardware problems? We will wait and see what the say.

On another subject, Just in case you like me cant see any mention of a specific iPod connect cable for the x20 series I can confirm the one that is listed for the x10 series works fine with it. I found Halfords selling them at half price in store (£10). It is very cool combined with the ability to listen to the music via the FM output from the 720.

If like me you like the 720 but think no fully functional ones exist then persevere. (Yes I realise after saying this I will find another fault and it will be back to the drawing board!!)

c53204 · Occasional Visitor Joined: Sep 20, 2007 Posts: 5

I like the 720 apart form the Handsfree - sound quality of microphone is rubbish with my Nokia E61.

Battery life is not as good as TomTom claim, but may improve after a few charges - currently getting about 3 hours

wildcard · Occasional Visitor Joined: Nov 13, 2004 Posts: 44

I have not had a good experience with the 720 . Both the first and second had the buzzing bluetooth phone problem . On returning the 2nd, Handtec called me to say this was a known problem with the 720 , that Tom Tom were aware of this and would be bringing out a firmware update to fix it . I found this totally unconvincing - especially as they said the 520 didn't suffer from the problem . Everything points to a manufacturing hardware quality control problem but Tom Tom just can't bring themselves to admit it . Add weight to my argument , the voice recognition didn't work unless you shouted from 6 inches - all this indicates the microphone is the problem.
I decided to go for the 520 and the bluetooth handsfree now works . I cannot get the SMS readout to work with the alegedly compatible Nokia 6230i - the Tom Tom site says "reduce the size of the inbox" by deleting saved messages - but this makes no difference. Has anyone actually got a working SMS solution.
I am reasonably happy with the 520 as an upgrade from the original Go but if you have a x10 series I would stick with that. The Text to Speech is of poor quality . The FM transmission is not good enough to substitute for a hard wired MP3 solution and lastly you can't route the phone over your ICE . Handsfree , TTS and FM MP3 replay are main selling points and it falls over on all three .

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