TomTom GO 930 gets reviewed

The fine folks at GPS review have gotten their hands on the new TomTom GO 930, a followup to the GO 720 -- TomTom's previous flagship device. As far as looks go, the 930 is pretty much a 720 in shiny black clothing, so the review concentrates on the new features included like Active Lane Guidance, static intersection images and IQ routes. Nothing's going to blow you away if you already have a 720, but the lane guidance should help with that all-important "which lane should I get in?" conundrum, while IQ routes has significantly improved route time estimations. Intersection images were too few and far between to be much help, but overall this is a decent improvement to an already impressively-reviewed device.

[Thanks, Tim]

[yashasvi @ Apr 14th 2008 9:47AM]

woohhooo
im first
this is so cool

[y3k.nik @ Apr 14th 2008 9:57AM]

sure as hell didnt use this GPS to be first!

[y3k.nik @ Apr 14th 2008 10:03AM]

sure as hell didnt use this GPS to be first!

[y3k.nik @ Apr 14th 2008 10:03AM]

sure as hell didnt use this GPS to be first!

[y3k.nik @ Apr 14th 2008 10:04AM]

Note to self, do not hit refresh on browser ever while commenting..

Let the downranking begin....

[TubeTop100.com @ Apr 15th 2008 7:36PM]

y3k.nik, I felt sorry for you, so I voted all your comments as high-ranked.

[y3k.nik @ Apr 14th 2008 10:16AM]

@TubeTop

I dont think my comments were duplicated when I hit refresh before engadget changed.

And those were my first comment since the change, just have to get used to the new system!

[matthew @ Apr 14th 2008 2:43PM]

i had to downvote you when i saw that you sat there hitting reply in anticipation of people's replies to your witty comment

[y3k.nik @ Apr 15th 2008 7:00AM]

Either that, or I was waiting for other witty comments in the article, since it was a new one..

Never assume stuff Matthew, bad habit indeed

[Curious George @ Apr 14th 2008 9:55AM]

What OS is behind the scenes - anyone ever hack into one of these guys?

[Mike @ Apr 14th 2008 10:44AM]

Tomtom runs Linux, and the Opentom project ( http://www.opentom.org/Main_Page ) is working on documenting the hardware and creating new software from the ground up.

[Mat @ Apr 14th 2008 10:02AM]

Mots people seem to rate the TomTom above the Navman, but the Navman has a much nicer looking case ...er... just in case you were wondering.

[Flashpoint @ Apr 14th 2008 10:17AM]

I'm happy with the factory navigation in my car

[0megapart!cle @ Apr 14th 2008 11:42AM]

Stop lying!! Nobody is happy with the factory navigation in their car. I have Honda's system, and it's fine, but nothing to write home about. Especially considering how much I paid for the option.

[freediverdude @ Apr 14th 2008 12:20PM]

Why are the factory car nav systems so pricey compared to these little Tom Tom and Garmin units which are so much better? I don't get it. That's why I didn't have the dealer search for a car that had it for me when I was buying last year. The factory one was just plain dvd navigation with nothing else, no bluetooth, no lane view, no traffic, not even touchscreen!, for $2000.

[Zadillo @ Apr 14th 2008 10:22AM]

For current TomTom 720 owners, I'm wondering if any of the new features (the IQ or lane guidance) will be available via a software update?

[Tony2X @ Apr 14th 2008 10:37AM]

Ditto for my recently purchased GO 920T. I bought mine and 48 hours later they announced the 930. Typical.

[Zadillo @ Apr 14th 2008 11:43AM]

I found a couple of discussions about this on the gpsreview forums; the general consensus seems to be that although we're probably not going to see updates immediately, they expect that TomTom eventually will push out a software update that might at least incorporate some of these features later in the summer (which apparently is what has been seen with older TomTom devices eventually getting NavCore 7 updates, MapShare, etc.).

So it sounds like as long as you're willing to wait a bit, we shouldn't be surprised to see updates come down the pipe for the 720 and 920.

[0megapart!cle @ Apr 14th 2008 11:50AM]

I can't imagine that they won't make 930 software features available to 920 users at no cost. 720 users might have to pay a little something though.

[Mike @ Apr 14th 2008 10:45AM]

Nice improvements - I really like what I'm seeing with the IQ routing.

Tomtom hasn't said that previous units will get updates to this software, but the current version (which came on the x20 units) was made available to the previous two or three generations of Tomtom devices. I've got a 720, so I'm crossing my fingers.

[Victor Low @ Apr 14th 2008 10:54AM]

I'm a fan of that fact that the image is of the NY/NJ area. Sounds like a pretty good GPS also.

[L.Rawlins @ Apr 14th 2008 11:36AM]

This is software based. Ergo, my trusty 'TomTom One XL' should be able to benefit from this new functionality too. Just as it did from the 'Mapshare' release.

I bet it won't, atleast not at the same time as this models launch. But it might...

[Taomyn @ Apr 14th 2008 11:39AM]

Shouldn't this say the 930 is a follow up to the 920? I gather there's going to be a 530/730 as well.

They also say most of the functionality will work with the x20 range, once the upgrades are available, as the difference is more in software than hardware. The name change is also down to a slight colour and finish change compared to the 920.

I got my 920T last December and I'm not as peeved as I could have been - plus I prefer the colour of the older model and don't like the idea of a shiny finish.

[Special_K @ Apr 14th 2008 1:37PM]

Man, I wish that's what New Jersey looked like! They really need to add more raw sewage and asbestos along the side of the road; y'know, to make it more realistic.