TomTom GO 700

Price: $629 - $899.95

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Best Auto GPS Availalbe11/25/06

Pros:

Reliable, Accurate, Works Right the First Time!

Cons:

None

My wife and I were in the first week of what turned out to be an eight-month trip to Europe. We had gotten lost so many times already it was painful. Medieval European towns wouldn't know the meaning of "grid" if you hit them with it. They streets go every which way. In fact, in just trying to get from where we picked up our car to the freeway, we took a wrong turn and ended up 20 miles down the wrong highway. So, by the end of the week, I was online researching GPS systems.

I've never regretted our purchase of the TomTom 700, at the time (August 2005) the top of the TomTom line. I guided us virtually flawlessly throughout the trip. On only two occasions did it give us bad directions, and then only because the map database was inaccurate. The maps are supplied by a third party and pretty much the same for all GPS systems. In other words, a Garmin would have done it too. Other than those two instances, it guided us flawlessly for close to 250 days.

Since we've returned to North America, I've added all of Canada and all of the US west of the Mississippi to the hard drive and still have room left over.

The unit cost me about $900. (Remember, it was new on the market and top of the line at the time.) Was it worth it? Absolutely. It works out to less than $4 a day to not have to hassle with maps, my wife's sorry sense of direction, inability to read maps and car sickness if she tries to do so in a moving car (sorry, honey). I could just concentrate on driving safely and enjoy the drive. The fact that we downloaded John Cleese's voice to give us directions and never got tired of his jokes was just a bonus.

I love my Tom Tom. My friends who've bought one on our recommendation love theirs too.

I can't comment on their service or support because in a year and a half, I haven't needed either! It just works every time I start up the car (or carry it in my pocket for walking instructions--or on the bike for bike routing). It just works.