Going to purchase 720 next week. Do they still shut down?

After reading through some threads about the 720, has the "shutting down in 5, 4, 3,....." issue been resolved? I know people say it's a "function" of TT so it can charge your battery faster, but most people seem to hate this "feature" with a passion. I would think support would change it due to the number of complaints. Does this still occur? I can understand this "feature" if the 720 is plugged into the PC/cradle, that's OK, but NOT ok on any type of external charger!

I see NO reason why the 720 or 920 should ever ask "Would you like to connect to your PC?" if all you are doing is connecting a car charger which SHOULD only have 2 functioning pins/wires (Red wire + Black wire) which are for POWER only. The ONLY time that question should be asked is if the device senses a data connection where all 4 wires of the USB cord are being used. My ONE XL never EVER twitches at ALL when I plug in an external power source (Wall charger, car charger, solar charger, ass charger, WHATEVER) Why should the 720/920 react any differently?

My 720 has NEVER asked whether I want to connect to the PC when, in fact, I'm connected to a car charger.

The consensus for why it is happening to some is that the power coming through the car charger is very low to those units, making them 'think' the unit is really being docked to a pc. So, seems like faulty car chargers ... maybe.

It is only supposed to give the shutdown warning when it is not connected, which is the only time I see it. This si to maintain some residual charge because from some posts, if it goes completely dead, there can be problems recharging it.

Thees problems may all be related to defective car adapters. The USB standard is for 5 volts at 500ma, and this can be as low as 100ma from un-powered hubs, so if the output is too low, it may as dhn said fool the device into thinking it is connected to a Computer (although I would have thought is was from two way communications between the device and the computer that does that).

As for getting a 720 - if you pick it up at Radio Shack for $169.99, I believe you have 30 days to work with it. If it acts up - you can always return it - but I believe these problems ave very isolated.

Going for the 720 no matter what My ONE XL on ebay currently has 12 watchers which is nice. Even if it were not to sell this time around, I'm still ordering the 720 on Monday (which is when my work paycheck gets here)

Voice recognition is still hackable on the 720 right?

I just bought a 720 Refurb from Staples for 169.99 and free shipping. Not sure if you are into refurbished but TomTom said they are brought back to new.

Voice recognition would be nice!!

Regarding VR:

The usual response is if you have a 720 then it'll work with at least firmware 7.221, North_America map 7.10, a text file called support_asr.dat with just a 1 in it placed in the asr folder. This combo will work because the NA (NOT Usa&Canada map) comes with the 720 and already contains the (also) required csspeech.dat files in the NA map folder.

Well.............

What appears to be happening for some users is this:

They have the required minimum and VR works. Then, they buy (or get free) an upgraded map. In its 'wisdom', during the installation process, TT 'sees' that there isn't enough space in the memory location for the map to fit so TT 'picks and chooses' what to install to make it fit and leaves out the csspeech.dat files. And, in doing so, VR is killed. The solution for the user is to go to the location where the dl map is stored on the computer, extract the csspeech files and use Explorer to copy them (or, as many as will fit) into the map folder.

Here is what is happening for a few users:

They find their 720 works out of the box WITHOUT the need to create a support_asr.dat file just as European models of 720's always did. Then, they upgrade the map and again VR is killed. The solution for them is to now create the support_asr.dat file.

I'm just saying this because a user is never sure this far into the life cycle what kind of 720 they might be getting and what level firmware/map versions are when they first get them.

Bottom line: a 720 will have VR is the minimum requirements are met.

What about you? Do you have it enabled? Or never bothered?


Many electronics I buy are refurbished. The ONE XL I have now on ebay is a month old and is refurbished as well. The 169.99 radioshack 720 is also refurbished with free shipping. Gonna check out the staples out right now just in case. Thanks for the tip.

Hmm.. The Staples deal includes a free bean bag friction mount thingy.


Edit : Ohh my..... My exact refurbished ONE XL I bought at CompUSA is now $119.99 from $139.99 that I paid last month. Also, they now sell a refurbished XL-S for LESS than I paid for my XL last month. It's only a few pennies but still less. They sell XL-S's for $139.96. Prices are dropping INSANELY fast!

I feel sad now. My auction ended early because of buy it now for 179.99 which is what I wanted, and have just received payment through paypal. What makes me upset now is to say bye bye to this ONE XL. I've only had it for a month but got so close to it. I just finished packaging it and will ship it out tomorow.

720 HERE I COME!!!!!!!!!

I have VR enabled but, to tell you the truth, don't use it that often ....