Choosing the Best GPS 2011 - TomTom GO 740 LIVE Finding the Best Gas Prices - LIVE Weather Forecast

Remember when driving to a destination meant your trusty dog eared road Atlas, your hand written note or worse your trusty old memory? Today we have the option of printing out Google Maps or Yahoo Maps and printing out your trip. The other option is getting a GPS for your car. How do you choose the Best GPS as there are so many on the market. For mine it is ahrd to go past the TomTom 740 Live GPS. It has been out for a few years now and they have ironed out the creases from previous devices and added to the maps.

For me as I see oil hit $100 and gas $3.50 my must have feature is the LIVE best fuel prices search.

TomTom comes from the Netherlands, anyone tried to find their way around Amsterdam will tell you you need a good mapping advice. Teh pedigree is there with the TomTom 740 Live GPS with it's connected navigation and hands free features. Connectivity is built right into the GO 740 Live. Many cool features with the G0 740 Live GPS such as premium maps of US & Canada with lifetime traffic and map updates. Very useful with all those new housing developments popping up.

You also have compatible voice recognition and the Bluetooth® hands free calling adds to your safety in using the GPS to get around. You also get 3 months included of LIVE services. If you are looking for a GPS that is reliable, easy to use and NOT annoying the TomTom GO 740 Live should suit your needs.

It is a GPS so first thing I want to know is the quality of the voice for directions. All great clarity here with frequent clear with limited voice chops on long street names and the like.

With so many accents and dialects it is no surpise that the Text-to-Speech pronunciations and abbreviations can be a little odd. Strangley though you seem to flit into GPS land and get what they little guy or girl is trying to say! Methinks this will always be the biggest weakness for a GPS device.

Key Specs for TomTom GO 740 LIVE GPS

• Highly sensitive GPS chipset
• Screen size 4.3" (11 cm)
• Screen type16:9 LCD widescreen
• Screen resolution 480 x 272 pixels
• Size 5" x 3.4" x 0.9"
• Battery Life is up to 3 hours autonomous operation
• Has Live services connectivity
• Access to Bluetooth® for hands-free calling
• Internal memory with 2GB internal flash memory
• SlotmicroSD card socket compatible with microSD cards

Oil over $100 and Gasoline over $3.50 are real concerns for Americans in 2011. The LIVE servers also deliver gasoline prices. You can find the cheapest gasoline near where you are driving. You can also find the cheapest along your projected route which is great for planning your travel route.

Given how quickly some service stations change their fuel prices this won't be perfect but be right most of the time. A great feature in 2011 as we stare down another oil price shock. 

TomTom GO 740 LIVE is a great upgrade from previous models.The round features also look less obtrusive on your dash. The “dock” style active mount also helps positioning your GPS on your dashboard.

Fixing the device is straight forward with a suction cup allowing the EasyPort mount to turn and snap into place. You even get a confirmation notch to know when it is secure. Don't you hate it when your GPS or iPod falls off the dash?

If you want to take out the GPS when you ave reached your restaurant or location you simply press a button and it pops out. You want to remove any temptation from thieves. This allows you to do it easily and with no hinderance.

Great features to take the stress off your drive, especially when your are running late. Also saves you time and money with fuel consumption or the odd case of road rage.

LIVE Servicesis the feature I champion the most in these days of shifting populations and high fuel prices. You get real-time information from TomTom LIVE.  saves you time, money and stress. LIVE automatically accesses traffic feeds, updated fuel prices and Local Search powered by Google via a built-in wireless data connection. Real-time services work right out of the box. Three months of services included.

Bluetooth® hands-free calling lets your you keep your eyes on the road and hands upon the wheel to avoid those Roadhouse Blues. Simply pair your compatible Bluetooth mobile phone to your TomTom GPS to make and answer calls hands-free through the GPS.

Premium Maps of US & Canada gives you extensive and up todate maps with TomTom the hihest rated in terms of quality and relaiability over other brands. TomTom maps have show more than 1 million more miles of road than other GPS brands as of January, 2011

Intuitive Voice Recognition is the feature the kids seem to love, those funny accents and all. Simply use voice commands to speak your destination with a number of alternative recognitions.

There is no doubt the world is experiencing more violent weather in 2011. We have record cold and snow in the US, floods in Australia and freezing weather in Europe. A very cool feature if the LIVE Weather reports through LIVE services.

Works via the voice recognition system. Simply ask “What is the weather?”. Ask where youare or where you headed. Great for storm warnings. You also get an on-screen 5 days ahead weather forecast.

Most use hear is for long trips and changing weather conditions.

IQ Routes takes into accountnot only the day of week plus the time of the dayup to 15 minute time blocks. Another great stress reliever and great feature. School times, work traffic are all taken into account.

Active Lane Guidance and Static Intersection Images. The one area I think it lags in. There seem to be intersections available on Garmin and Navigon GPS devices. Though in major cities you probably won't notice.

Speed limit data is shown for nearly every interstate as well as state highways. However it lags behind Garmin still on most local roads.

Nothing worse, or dangerous then getting lost in places unknown. Especially late, you are cold and tired.

The Help Me! emergency menu gives you ready access to local emergency services including police, fire stations and hospitals. Use the “Where Am I?” feature to pinpoint exactly where you are.Simply recite your location to the emergency services.

TomTom locates your first GPS position with QuickGPSfix™  in seconds.

Other goodies that you get with your new GPS device are as follows;

1. LIVE services 3 month free subscription to included.
2. Active Dock for charging your TomTom GO 740
   
3. Car Charger that fits into a 12-24V cigarette lighter holder.
4. Docking station with docking and USB Cable. Connect to your PC or MAC computer in your home.
5. CD ROM that contains the TomTom HOME software and manual
6. Documentation with a Quick Start Guide

In today's chaotic world choosing the best GPS goes a long way to reducing driver stress. It also saves you precious time and money. Prepare with a 5 day weather forecast, find the best gas price and know your exact location for emergencies.

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