TomTom Go Comfort 6 Inch GPS Navigation

I liked how easy it was for my dad to use this Tom Tom GPS.

Keep your old Via 1500 series— I’m not sure what the hype is about on these new Tom Toms but as far as I’m concerned they are junk. I’ve had a Tom Tom unit for 12 or 14 years (the via series) and loved them but these new units have much to be desired.

I guess the hype is the Bluetooth ability and the auto update without a computer. I don’t care about the blue tooth, I have a phone and so does everybody else, and we don’t need that. That is just a selling point –not a worthy additional feature that was really needed. The auto update is ok as long as you are in range if not, that feature is useless. Another selling tool not really necessary. If I program my routes at home I certainly wouldn’t mind using my computer to update it. Its not like I need it updated every 10 minutes anyway. Whos kidding who?

First of all I will give the Go Comfort a “B” for quickness and not quite as laggy as some of the older models but for the rest a total fail “F”. They are not an improvement over the old units and not as efficient and certainly not as user friendly.
1. First of all the main menu icons should be all on one page (Like the older units) instead of scrolling thru 3 or 4 pages. That in itself is not user friendly. Keep your old Via 1500 series or other older models that are tried, tested, and proven.

2. The Poi is a joke. With the older models you could go to the Poi icon and click on it and go thru and check the Poi that you wanted and they would be on your maps for any and all trips until you wanted to change them. I don’t see that at all. After finding the list which was a chore in itself of Poi when I check one then the whole list goes away almost as if you could only enter one at a time for each trip or you have to only check one at a time. Very un user friendly. Keep your old Via 1500 series—its far better.

3. You can’t choose various warning sounds as in the older models. Was that really an improvement? Keep your old Via 1500 series.

4. The 3-d screen looks like something a kid would draw—unrealistic.

5. No choice on the start or end screen. Keep your old Via 1500 series.

6. I noticed the buttons seem to get stuck and you have to hit them repeatedly to get them to function. Tom Tom has always had this problem I assume, for even on my old units you have to be very deliberate when pressing the buttons. A bug that needs to be fixed.

7. I tried to use the Go Comfort to go home and it would not communicate with me on the turns etc. My old via takes care of me. It tells me every turn etc. Keep your old Via 1500 series.

8. My Places replaces the My Favorites on the older models. Did that really need changing? But that’s not all. To add a place to the list 1. you have to press add, 2. then search, 3. then enter a city, 4.then select it, 5. then select add, 6. then select add again!!!!! Seriously Keep your old Via 1500 series—its far better.

9. The touch screen is silly. You can’t touch it and get any kind of accuracy. It would have been nice if you could at least touch the main cities that are spelled out on the maps to get you them.

10. The instruction manual is seriously lacking info. How to delete address? Managing POI???? I shouldn’t have to have a computer to get instructions for how to operate my GPS. Keep your old Via 1500 series—its far better and far more user friendly. Easy to learn.

I ran across one website that gave the Old Via 1505 in the top seven or eight gps.

Tom Tom could have a great unit if they would take these problems and solve them and put them in all in one unit. That would be a great unit worth 400 dollars. I would buy one myself and maybe get a back-up.

PS Tom Tom customer service is terrible. You can’t always solve problems via e-mail or forum or computerize messages. Even the videos don’t answer all the problems. There are times you need to talk to a real person. They know that. There should be a customer service Phone number listed with each and every unit. It used to be that way with the older models. How about that? (There is a reason why a phone number is not given.

i bought a Go Comfort just to try it out but i will be returning it. it is not an improvement. Tom Tom you can do better than this.

The real decision is which is better-TomTom or Garmin (I have both). Both are good gps devices and each has some good points that the other does not have. For the way I use a gps, there is no real comparison-TomTom is more suited to my needs. Granted Garmin does a bit better job of lane guidance. However there are far too many pluses for the TomTom. It has much better/more detailed maps. It does a better job of finding the best route. With TomTom itinerary/trip planning is much easier, especially if you want to choose an exact route to follow such as Route 66 or the Lincoln Highway.
The final straw was this morning. I typed in a local address (major street in town) on the Garmin and got the message, no such street. Did the same with the TomTom and it took me exactly where I wanted to go. Also the TomTom uses a regular cable for power and traffic to power in the car….Garmin requires that you use their cable.

This is an update: My wife and I made a road trip from North Carolina and back. We used both the TomTom and Garmin to make a comparison on a long trip. We were on the interstate most of the way out except for last 300 miles. I input the exact route I wanted to go (north of Los Angeles). TomTom took us exactly the way we wanted to go. The Garmin insisted the shortest and fastest route was going through downtown LA. This was neither the shortest nor the fastest route. For some reason it appeared that Garmin insists that using the interstates is both the shortest and fastest. Never could make it go the way we wanted to go.
On the way home, we drove through the Rockies. The route we wanted to take was done for both. TomTom worked flawlessly. Gramin stayed confused, insisting we use the interstate by wanting us to go far out of the way and not the route we wanted to go. At one point the shortest and fastest route was the way we wanted to go (verified by both TomTom and Google maps) while Garmin said another route was faster and shorter….It was 4 hours longer and 200 miles further. Still insisting we travel by interstate.

After this trip there is one thing good I can say about the Garmin-it shows the elevation of our current location. That is sort of neat but not really necessary for travel. Without a doubt, for both local driving and long distance road trips, TomTom is head and shoulders about Garmin. I totally recommend TomTom to those who want a GPS that is easy to use and takes you where you want to go