Those of you who know me personally know that I am utterly useless with directions.  I’ve lived in Eastbourne for about 16 years but if you ask me to take you somewhere local I’d just sit there staring at you blankly.  So to save myself embarrassment, I’ve bought myself a shiny Satnav.

This is the TomTom Go520 and for its price and size, it has a lot of features packed into it.  Costing you around £160 which I say is a fair price for what you get.  Firstly you get a simple to use device that gets you from A to B in the way you tell it to (e.g. Fastest Route, Shortest Route, Walking Route etc.) though this doesn’t make it unique its the other features that make a TomTom what it is.  One of these is the IQ routing.  This clever feature takes time of day, time of year, speed limits, motorways, back-routes puts it into this magical formula and out comes the fastest routes, so you avoid traffic jams that occur at specific times of day on certain roads.  The other feature is called Advanced Lane Guidance.

Now this feature ends the confusion of what lane you should be in and what exit you should take.

You can set this to pop up a few hundred metres before the junctions and it clearly shows which lane to take!

The Go range of TomToms all come equipped with a Bluetooth transmitter.  This allows you to connect your Bluetooth enabled phone to the device allowing you to make and receive phone calls safely and legally.  Not only can it make calls but it will also read text messages aloud to you using its text-to-speak software.  If you subscribe to TomToms traffic service it will use your phones data connection to get traffic updates allowing you to avoid traffic jams saving you time.  It can use your mobile’s data service to update itself removing the need for you to hook your satnav to your PC every time (note this only updates specific things).  You can also use the Bluetooth to share files kinda like a Zune uses it’s Wi-fi to do that.

As well as Bluetooth, there is also a built in FM transmitter.  This can be used to hook up your satnav to your cars stereo and get directions via your car’s speakers.  Music can also be transmitted as well.  With its built in music player, it can make your journeys more interesting.  The device comes with built in internal storage, but this can be expanded using an SD card.  There is also the option of connecting your iPod (using an iPod cable) to the device so the built in memory of the TomTom can be put to better use such as more maps.

The Go x20 series also come with speech recognition.  This allows you to dictate destinations to your satnav allowing you to keep your eyes on the road.  I must admit, it is surprisingly accurate, though you do sometimes have to shout at it before it gets anything.

What I love about TomTom is the fact they are fully customisable.  You can change almost every aspect from the themes, the boot screen, map colours and voices.  This allows you to personalise your satnav and make it unique!  There is a wide selection of voices to choose from ranging from the standard voices (in a whole range of languages!) to celebrity voices. Should you decide you don’t want any of those, you can also record your own funny, witty or damn right stupid comments.  Currently I have Arnie giving me directions and it makes me smile every time.

The latest range of TomToms is the Go x30 range, while its nice to have the latest toys, Id recommend you the Go x20 range instead.  This is because the devices from both ranges are practically the same and you’d be saving yourself a lot at the same time!

Cooper - Gadgetgeek

I’ve even added every KFC location in the UK on my TomTom…