TOMTOM GO 50S

[Destroyer]

Hello there guys,

So I very recently acquired a new TOMTOM Go 50S as a replacement to my 1535 Go Live and I have to say that I'm kind of disappointed, because it feels like a downgrade in some areas since you cannot customize your device nor I have any voice commands.

Anyway, Is there a way that I can get community content into my device to change stuff like the arrow that indicates your postion into a car like I had in my Go Live 1535?

Did you felt the same when you changed to these "new versions" of tomtoms?

 

[canderson]

The only community content you can add (using MyDrive) are custom POI, favorites and routes. Things like custom car icons are not currently possible in any of these newer Nav4 devices.

 

[dhn]

Nope. And a lot of other stuff you had with the Go 1535 isn't available either.

Question: what is wrong with the Go 1535 Live?

 

[Destroyer]

Nope. And a lot of other stuff you had with the Go 1535 isn't available either.

Question: what is wrong with the Go 1535 Live?

Absolutely nothing wrong with it.. It works perfectly, but since I have to pay very year like $60 for the live services to be able to use hd traffic I thought I was a good idea to jump to a new unit that it does not required payments for this service anymore. I got the unit on special for $109 shipping and tax included. I received it yesterday night.

 

[Destroyer]

I just thought it would be a nice idea to upgrade to get some of the new features with MyDrive connect and stuff since my device was an older gen. Do you think I made a mistake?

 

[dhn]

I wouldn't change my Go Live 1535 for any of the newer models, regardless of the necessity to pay for Live Services each year. Just my opinion.

 

[Destroyer]

I wouldn't change my Go Live 1535 for any of the newer models, regardless of the necessity to pay for Live Services each year. Just my opinion.

Thank you for your input and honesty!

 

[Destroyer]

It just never crossed my mind that the new gen will have less than the old one.. Go figured.

 

[Arno]

Even the top of the line of the NAV4 generation cannot touch the usability of the GO Live 1535.
I am 100 % with dhn.

 

[Destroyer]

I'm 100% with you guys..


Why will they make a product that is inferior to their previous one? How can that even make sense to anyone?

 

[canderson]

Only gotcha with the GO 1535 is that we've lost Live service down here south of the parallel. AT&T will have completely shut down what is left of its 2G service by the end of the year. The advantage of your new unit is that if Rogers and others up north decide to do the same thing to free up bandwidth, your cell phone will continue serve as the connection.

$109 was a very decent price, even in $US! Heck of a deal in Canadian.

 

[Destroyer]

Only gotcha with the GO 1535 is that we've lost Live service down here south of the parallel. AT&T will have completely shut down what is left of its 2G service by the end of the year. The advantage of your new unit is that if Rogers and others up north decide to do the same thing to free up bandwidth, your cell phone will continue serve as the connection.

$109 was a very decent price, even in $US! Heck of a deal in Canadian.

That's why exactly I bought it... Last January when I purchased the live services I was warned about the possibility that the carriers will drop the 2g Network that works with it.

I just cannot in good conscience have a good opnion of a product that's inferior to its previous generation. I have had the TomTom One, XXL 540S and the Go Live 1535 through the years and I couldn't have been happier with them.

However, the TomTom Go 50S is just a poorly thought device an here is why:
No voice comands (which in an emergency is crucial to drive to the nearest closer hospital or police station),
No advance interface (very confusing and limited menu),
It's complicated even to cancel the route (no Kidding)
0 Customization, (can't change nothing except the color of the letters). In the previous tomtoms you can change the theme of the entire map, substituted the navigation arrow for cars, add photos that appear when the device starts and stops, etc.
No Help button in case you get in trouble and need some fast directions or some quick guidance,
No tilted screen but instead now you have to change the mount's location.
The driving interface looks sad and cheap in comparison to the Go Love 1535 that even shows you the "sky" on top. No advanced lane guidance like the Go Live 1535 that splits the screen in half to show you where you are supposed to go and where you are going while driving... Oh no, the Go 50S shows you a photo in the entire screen and that's it.

I feel cheated... I know it was my job to do some deep research before my purchase but it never occurred to me that a new product could be so inferior. I have always been a fun of Tomtom for their Device quality, user friendly interface and their unparalleled customer service but this probably may have change my entire opinion of the brand.

Ps. Both devices were updated to their fullest capabilities at the time.

 

[canderson]

A few items.

One, your device should manage voice instructions in both French (Canadian) and English. I'm unclear why you're saying it has "No voice commands"
Buttons to clear route should be menu, current route, clear route.
Customization is indeed minimal. As noted, you get to play with favorites, POI and routes, and that's about it. Long way from the old days.
Agreed that there are some 'safety' features missing that we always knew were there and ready, even if we didn't use them. No idea why they were dropped.
Screen should tilt on the ball on the arm that attaches it to the mount. Can you describe further?
Yes, we've complained about lack of split screen ALG. We got used to that! However, if configured correctly, it will show you the ALG just prior to your exits, and then it will revert back to normal view after you've made the exit.

 

[Arno]

It's complicated even to cancel the route (no Kidding)

For me that is rather easy.
Menu > Current Route > Clear Route.
Now, it may be that I reordered the soft keys from their default.
You know that, when in Menu mode holding one of the options for a bit longer will allow you to resort most of them.
With the default full size buttons on my 600 the first Menu page shows:
Search | Drive Home | Drive to Work | Recent Destination | Current Route

 

[Destroyer]

A few items.

One, your device should manage voice instructions in both French (Canadian) and English. I'm unclear why you're saying it has "No voice commands"
Buttons to clear route should be menu, current route, clear route.
Customization is indeed minimal. As noted, you get to play with favorites, POI and routes, and that's about it. Long way from the old days.
Agreed that there are some 'safety' features missing that we always knew were there and ready, even if we didn't use them. No idea why they were dropped.
Screen should tilt on the ball on the arm that attaches it to the mount. Can you describe further?
Yes, we've complained about lack of split screen ALG. We got used to that! However, if configured correctly, it will show you the ALG just prior to your exits, and then it will revert back to normal view after you've made the exit.

"One, your device should manage voice instructions in both French (Canadian) and English. I'm unclear why you're saying it has "No voice commands"
There are no voice commands period. Apparently just the 500/600S has voice commands, but I could not know that looking at the tomtom website since they don't list this feature anywhere in either of these devices and I read all of them had voice commands somewhere.

"Buttons to clear route should be menu, current route, clear route."

To clear the route in the go live 1535 you can tap anywhere in main screen and then it will bring you to a gigantic colorful well thought menu in which you will find very easily clear route. You cannot say that having to press 3 times into selected areas is ideal to clear your route, specially in hurry.

"Screen should tilt on the ball on the arm that attaches it to the mount. Can you describe further?"

In the Go live 1535 you can turn your device upside down to place in the windshield if you please and the screen will change as well just like a tablet, but in this one you have to change the mount's location because the screen won't change position.

"Yes, we've complained about lack of split screen ALG. We got used to that!"

I could get use to not having air conditioner in summer but that does not make it a good thing. We had a great safety feature that was simply downgraded. Why?

I don't believe the new gen is garbage, but it's simply inferior in key areas to its previous generation.

My intentions is not to complain just for the fun of it but it's hard to understand why will the go backwards in some areas of the software.

 

[Arno]

At least the three of us have been complaining about almost all of those short comings for about four years now.
Let's hope they will introduce a new generation in about a year from now.
I, for one, wonder what they will omit by then.
If you could only imagine how I miss the the function of the BT remote control from my GO 930!

 

[- et -]

Thank you for your input and honesty!

BTW, in case it is not clear, this is not a web site run by TomTom itself. We are users just like you, so there are no company constraints on criticism of what we may perceive as design flaws.

In fact, I have lost track of the number of times that people like Arno, canderson, dhn, and others have made such comments directly to TomTom in fairly strong terms.

- Tom -

 

[Destroyer]

BTW, in case it is not clear, this is not a web site run by TomTom itself. We are users just like you, so there are no company constraints on criticism of what we may perceive as design flaws.

In fact, I have lost track of the number of times that people like Arno, canderson, dhn, and others have made such comments directly to TomTom in fairly strong terms.

- Tom -

That's exactly why I bring matters here. We are all consumers.

 

[canderson]

"Yes, we've complained about lack of split screen ALG. We got used to that!"
I could get use to not having air conditioner in summer but that does not make it a good thing. We had a great safety feature that was simply downgraded. Why?

Poorly stated on my part. We got used to HAVING that feature available (loved it on my own GO 1535 Live) and miss it now... hence the exclamation point. At least we had it here for a while. I don't think the European market ever got it at all. Took a lot of lobbying to get them to include it, and you have to wonder why they don't believe we think it to be just as useful on these newer units as it was before.

I understand your comment about moving the mount, now. I didn't pick up from your original post that you were having to invert it.

What has me more interested is the lack of voice commands on a GO 50S model. I didn't realize that the major difference between a GO 50S and a GO 50 (a version not being sold in North America at present) was the lack of a microphone. They have so many different models out these days around the world that I have to check to be sure I know which model has what features.

It would be nice if TomTom would provide a bit more complete product feature comparison guide.
When I'm wondering about a feature, one of the things I do is look at the associated manual. Often there's a clue there. In this case, it's still hopeless because the manual for the 50 series in general only says that their "Speak and Go" isn't supported on on models, but says nothing about which are and which are not supported.

 

[Destroyer]

Im Just glad I'm not the only one that felt at least a bit let down with the new devices.

Anway, I will be keeping this new unit for the time being since I got it at such a good price. Honestly, in one year alone it will pay itself.. The Go live will also stay for now in my other car since I have a few months of subscription left. Hopefully future software improvements or the next units will be more user friendly and will bring back some of the features that we love.

Thank you all for your helpful comments and patience.