Would Tom Tom Go 500 suit us?

Good day to you all,

Although I love my wife dearly and will defend to the death her claim to be an outstanding wife and mother even I have to admit that, as a navigator, she would make a damned good plumber's mate. So we are thinking of buying some form of assistance for her to use if she needs to drive much further than the end of our road. Allied to her inability to navigate is our mutual inability to understand anything technical above the level of the screwdriver and so I am turning to this forum for some assistance in discovering if a particular Sat Nav system would be right for us.

We want only to drive in this country and occasionally in the USA so would need to be able to install the map of that country; we might want to operate a mobile telephone and would like to be able to use the Sat Nav system as a "hands free" option; we would want to move the device between two cars - a Mercedes A Class and a Freelander - (and a third when we visit the USA); it must be as easy as possible to use bearing in mind that neither of us has yet reached the 21st century.

If anybody can offer an opinion as to the suitability of the Tom Tom GO 500 for us I would be very grateful and would like to assure any ladies who read this that my opening remark is intended in no way as a critisism of my wife so please do not castigate me for it. She herself uses this very phrase to describe her navigational abilities.

I thank all who might respond for their time and interest.

Technophobe

Well, that was a little disappointing, but I thank those who took the time to read my post even though nobody had any sage advice to offer in response to it.

Technophobe

Hi Technophobe,

I havn't tried the TomTom Go units as run TomTom 5 on a Pda, however a lot comes down to personal preference.

The TomTom go looks a good option for what you want but the best thing is to have a browse round somewhere that sells them at the various option before deciding.

Hi there - my own view of the TomTom GO 500 is DON'T BUY IT - unless you want to use maps that are at least 2 years out-of-date! You'll end up going along a road that goes from A to B, but the TomTom might just say that you've reached a dead-end.

colinwheatley`s responses is a bit harsh. The mapping on any Sat-Nav will always be a bit out of date. However, as we all know, new roads are not built very often here in the UK; in fact very rarely!. I have a Go 700, and find it very good. A couple of problems this summer when touring France, but it was an invaluable aid.

I assume the UK maps in the 500 are the same as in my 700, so go for it!. I have not used it for a mobile phone, (or in the USA), so cannot comment about those aspects of it.

My thanks to the three gentlemen who responded to my request for assistance. I appreciate that Sat Nav maps are liable to be a bit out of date, but then you can say that about almost any paper map as well. I am still undecided but think it likely that I shall buy a Tom Tom GO 500 eventually as, from what I can see, it is probably as simple to use as I am likely to get.

Once again, thank you.

Technophobe