Go730: Voice directions going "home"

[rodmcinnis]

Just got my Go730. I am really impressed with the ease of use of the unit itself, totally baffled by the lack of features when connected to my home PC, and confused about navigating "home".

I played around a bit with it when I first got it, selecting a number of "Navigate To" points. Each time the Go730 would start announcing directions.

Yesterday we actually went some place. Then when it was time to go home, we pushed the "HOME" button.

The voice was silent the entire way home. All the turns were being shown, and the text information was proper, just no voice. I made sure that volume was up. I cleared the route and selected HOME again, no change.

When I got home I selected a different destination and the voice started right up.

Does it assume that I know my way home and don't need voice instructions?


As for the computer dock, other than updating maps & software it appeared fairly useless. I was expecting to be able to enter "favorites" and routes using a large screen and keyboard. I was kind of expecting some sort of "Yellow Pages" function on the PC that would allow me to look up a place of business, then transfer the address to the Go730.

Am I missing something, or did I just have too high of expectations?

Rod

 

[dhn]

There definitely SHOULD be a voice associated with the Navigate to --> Home function. Was it a computer voice? Can you select another computer voice? What happens then?

You can use the Emulator (Operate My Go) to set a route. Agree that it's not full screen but better than nothing.

You can also use 3rd party applications to plan itineraries and send them to your unit (docked) via Home. Link to how to use TYRE and a link to getting the program itself is provided in an excellent site by a user here, Birdman:
http://home.comcast.net/~spheasant1/Google_itinerary.html

You also missed an important function of the dock. With your computer on and the unit docked, the battery on the unit is being charged.

 

[Buddharay]

I have the GO 730, and it definitely should be speaking out loud on your route home. I'd try selecting another voice, as dhn recommended. If this doesn't change anything, call TomTom cust. support (866-486-6866) and they will help you identify the problem.

As for the "yellow-pages" feature, there is a way to do that. When your GO 730 is plugged in to the dock, you can search for businesses, restaurants, etc. and use the "send to TomTom" feature.

 

[rodmcinnis]

now it is just plain dead

I guess I should have taken the lack of voice instructions coming home as a warning.

Now the unit is just plain dead.

I bought it on Friday, it worked OK on Saturday, failed to give voice instructions on Sunday, just plain dead on Wednesday.

I go to the TomTom website to find answers and can't find anything that relates to my situation. My unit is telling me it can't find any map. It appears that it wont' do anything at all when it can't find a map. Not even load a new map.

I downloaded the free updated North American map. Took 12 hours but it finally did download. 1,732,857KB. Using TomTom Home I attempt to download it to the Go730. It thinks that it transfers it in less than a second! Pretty good for an old 1.0 USB link, don't you think?

Still no map.

It's dead.

I try to ask for support from TomTom via their website. Follow the steps under "support", select the model, the area of problem, etc. Fill out the lines for operating system, PC platform, etc. Type in a description of the problem, click on CONTINUE.

It says I have to fill out the "subject".

Excuse me? There is no "SUBJECT" box to fill out!

I have had this unit for less than a week, it's going back to the store tomorrow!

Rod

 

[GarCor]

I guess I should have taken the lack of voice instructions coming home as a warning.

Now the unit is just plain dead.

I bought it on Friday, it worked OK on Saturday, failed to give voice instructions on Sunday, just plain dead on Wednesday.

I go to the TomTom website to find answers and can't find anything that relates to my situation. My unit is telling me it can't find any map. It appears that it wont' do anything at all when it can't find a map. Not even load a new map.

I downloaded the free updated North American map. Took 12 hours but it finally did download. 1,732,857KB. Using TomTom Home I attempt to download it to the Go730. It thinks that it transfers it in less than a second! Pretty good for an old 1.0 USB link, don't you think?

Still no map.


It's dead.

I try to ask for support from TomTom via their website. Follow the steps under "support", select the model, the area of problem, etc. Fill out the lines for operating system, PC platform, etc. Type in a description of the problem, click on CONTINUE.

It says I have to fill out the "subject".

Excuse me? There is no "SUBJECT" box to fill out!

I have had this unit for less than a week, it's going back to the store tomorrow!

Rod

Don't give up just yet there is probably a few things that can be done to sort your problems out.

On the TT website after you click on support you can type in the search box and click go to find many answers.

http://us.support.tomtom.com/cgi-bin/tomtom_us.cfg/php/enduser/std_alp.php?Lid=4&locale=en_US
(One thing you should do is on TT.com if you haven't already done is create an account.)


Getting help on the TT website isn't the fastest way to get help. As mentioned before call support at (866-486-6866 )


Also search on this site for many answers as well. There is a lot of information on this site.

Just be patient we were all in the same situation as you are now with our new GPS, it won't mater what GPS you get it will take you a bit to get familiar with it.

 

[dhn]

I'd return the unit. If it's having this many issues in the first week of ownership, who knows what else will crop up.

Get a replacement unit and start over. But do a few things first: once the new unit is out of the box, charge it for at least 4 hours in the docking station before doing anything else.

Then, make a complete backup of the unit's contents using Explorer, not TTHome. Make sure hidden files/folders are showing as are extensions for known file types.

If you do get this replacement unit, I suspect (but am not sure) that you may need to log into TomTom with a new email address for a user id since it's a new unit and your old unit is associated with the email addy you first used.

TT Support may be able to assist regarding this issue.

 

[chopstks]

I guess I should have taken the lack of voice instructions coming home as a warning.

Now the unit is just plain dead.

I bought it on Friday, it worked OK on Saturday, failed to give voice instructions on Sunday, just plain dead on Wednesday.

I go to the TomTom website to find answers and can't find anything that relates to my situation. My unit is telling me it can't find any map. It appears that it wont' do anything at all when it can't find a map. Not even load a new map....Rod

I got my 720 on Nov 1 from a retail store and immediately noticed the screen alignment was off. The keyboard input for letter "p" results in "o". Returned it to the store immediately the next day and got a new one. Updated to App ver 8.010 and North America map ver 8.10 free with help of tech at 1 866 486 6866 on Nov 6(called twice, human voice answered with 15 secs, maybe I was lucky). Don't use TomTom's contact us. Never succeed since trying Nov 1 thru Nov 6. You may have the "latest map guranteed" expired message but call the tech and they will walk you through it. Everything seems fine, no restart/reboot problem, VR, IQ good to go, no drifting while stationed etc. Still testing the Mobile Phone features. Keeping fingers crossed.

 

[dhn]

Good stuff....

My standard response now: Make sure you make an Explorer backup, not Home, of the contents on your unit. Ensure hidden files/folders are showing as are extensions for known file types.

 

[rodmcinnis]

happier now

OK, I am a bit happier now.

Once you find the phone number to call the customer support at TomTom is pretty good! Just don't use the web based method until they fix it.

Map update, firmware update and my unit appears to be working properly again.

One suggestion I would have for them, however: A 2GB map takes a LONG time to download, even on a fast Internet connection. They should make it to that you can download the map file in chunks, operating in the background over days if necessary. The requirement to leave the TomTom connected and turned on while the download dribbles in is just ridiculous.

The attempt on my home DSL took over 12 hours, and apparently the file was bad at the end.

I took the unit to work and downloaded using the T1 line (I am sure IT wouldn't be happy with me if they knew). Still took almost 5 hours.

I have made backups on two different computers.

Rod

 

[Buddharay]

Glad to hear that your map confusion on the GO 730 has been sorted out.

I'm curious about the long download time that you were experiencing - that sounds way too long to me!

I recently dl'd a map for my GO 730 and it took roughly 40 minutes. There might be a solution for you (i.e. something that is limiting your download speeds), and I might be able to help.

Can you go to speedtest.net and test your connection speeds? That will help to find out if it is your connection, or if there is something else slowing it down.

Also, have any of you had quicker map downloads?
Thanks!

 

[dhn]

When I had a 1 meg dl cap, a dl of the map took 4 hours or so. I since upgraded to a 6 meg dl profile and the last 8.10 NA map took under a half hour.

Also, I have read that for large file downloads (like Maps) from tomtom, it is problemetic if your connection is via wireless router. There is sometimes a tendency for the dl file to get corrupted.

 

[Buddharay]

Any word on this yet, OP?

To give you some context, my recent map download (for my GO 730) took about 20 minutes on my cable modem - sounds like a similar download time as dhn posted.