GO 750 goes places
TOMTOM has been late to the portable GPS “party” here, stepping in only last year.
To kick off its foray here, the big league international player introduced three models: the entry-level XL 250, the midrange XXL 550 and the top-of-the-line GO 750.
The GO 750, being the unit under review, makes a good first impression.
It has rounded corners and a curved rear casing. With a smooth brush metal finish and a mesh cover where the speaker is located, it has attractive styling.
The package comes with a GPS set, a USB cable, a car charger and a manual. Also included is a mounting bracket that’s a refreshing design different from those offered by the competition.
It’s one-hand affair to stick the so-called active dock to the windscreen and twist that circular slider to lock it firmly to the screen.
The car charger cord hook into the back of the docking cradle to supply power to the set.
Unlike the other two models, the GO 750 has a micro SD card slot, sports better graphics and can be paired with a mobile phone for Bluetooth hands-free calling and text-to-speech capabilities.
The GO 750 has a 4.3 in touch screen with a resolution of 480 x 272 pixels. The graphics are crisp and bright enough to be viewed clearly, day or night.
Tele Atlas maps for Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand come pre-installed. Tele Atlas is now part of TomTom, having being acquired in 2008.
The maps are updated every three months, and can be are downloaded via the free TomTom Home software within 30 days of first use. Downloads of the latest TomTom maps are free for the first year of use.
The maps can be stored on a micro SD card for the GO 750 if the 1GB internal memory is not enough, say, if you buy and download additional maps.
Users can also make instant changes to the maps and share the changes with other users via its Map Share feature.
Like most GPS sets in town, destinations can be set by street name, POIs (points of interest), postcode or commercial buildings. The NavCore software also allows for spoken street names.
The GO 750 offers the options to find the fastest route or shortest route or avoid toll roads. It includes a Where Am I option, which shows the name of the street – useful for dire situations such as when calling for help during a breakdown.
Besides male and female voices being available in English, Malay and Mandarin, one fun part is the ability to download voices by famous characters such as Homer Simpson, Yoda, Snoop Dog, Daffy Duck from the TomTom website but that will cost around RM50 apiece.
The GO 750’s Advanced Lane Guidance comes in very handy in providing extra clarity when navigating difficult junctions so users won’t have to make a sudden dangerous lane crossing.
Photo-realistic junction views (eg. Jalan Klang Lama-near Jalan Halimaton and 222 Persimpang Sunway – near Bandar Sunway) and computer-generated junction views (eg Persimpangan Sungai Buloh exit on E1/E30 Leburaya Utara Selatan) are available.
Upon approaching complex highway junctions, users get a photo image or computer image on the screen that clearly indicates the lane(s) that need to be taken.
TomTom says it has launched the feature on major road junctions in Malaysia, and will add more with every map release.
All in all, the RM949 GO 750 is focused on what it does best – to provide navigation and it largely does it well.
There are a few flaws in the map content but it’s nothing that judicious updates can’t resolve.
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