TomTom has been
on a mission to
keep itself relevant as smartphones
increasingly start to overstep on its territory, and the GO I-90 is another move in its counteroffensive plan. Capable of slotting into the double DIN slot usually reserved for in-car radio / music players, its big selling point is that it integrates into your dashboard yet is still capable of being moved around like a discrete nav unit. You wouldn't be left decrying the loss of your radio either, with the GO I-90 sporting FM (with RDS support) and AM reception, USB support for MP3 players including iPods, and a promised compatibility with an "extensive" list of phones for handsfree calling -- unfortunately, the poorly worded PR makes no mention of Bluetooth so we're not sure how they'll pull that off. Throw in a guarantee to receive the latest maps, TomTom's
Map Share for crowdsourced routes, and a Help-Me! emergency menu, and you get a pretty comprehensive product. Shame about that €599 (about $893) sticker then. Available in Europe in December.
posted Oct 20th 2009 6:04AM
good on ya, TomTom
of course it has bluetooth, what else do you think it connects with? smoke signals?
That is one ugly 2-din unit... What's up with that small screen and ridiculously thick bezel around it... The 2-din factor could easily accomodate 6.2" screens or even 7" (although with 7" they would have to arrange the buttons differently).
True - But it looks as if the device pops out the cradle for stand-alone use - theres a minimum amount of stuff you would have to have around the edge of the portable.
If you read the post, you'll see that the Nav unit can be disconnected for portability.
The convenience of only needing to pop out the GPS when I need it more at eye level (dashmount) is nice, but I don't see how it would be worth the price. Hopefully this sort of thing is built into all vehicles at some point anyway.
"TomTom has been on a mission to keep itself relevant"... $900 for a radio and GPS is far from relevant.
No HD radio?
I agree. Once you have HD, you will NEVER buy another radio without it! Not like it's expensive tech, I have a very nice Pioneer unit with full iPod control and HD and it cost like $250 about 1.5 yrs ago.
If this had HD, I would consider it at about a $500 pricepoint.
Wait... this thing looks pretty small to me. Its about equivalent to a TomTom 130s which is what 150 bucks? How much for a passible radio? 50? So why doesn't this thing cost about 250 bucks instead of NINE HUNDRED??
Okay, so where's the USB port exactly? Seems like the thing should have at least had an AUX jack on the front panel...
Anyway, nice idea, but agree its too expensive.