46 of 49 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Pretty Darn Great - Finally a Car GPS for Mac OSX, December 4, 2004
This review is from: TomTom GO 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator (Electronics)
Well, I have to admit really falling in love with this device over the last week. The reason I bought it is actually because of third-party software package provided by a company called Equinux that makes the TomTom Go Mac OSX compatible. This software is not included, but it's easy to find on the web.
It's this software packages, callled Tam Tam, that makes the TomTom Go, to my knowledge, the first, truly MAC OSX compatible car GPS. Which in my humble opinion is a far better solution than jury-rigged coding for extreme hackers who try and force Garmin or Magellan to work with the Mac operating system machinse or the truly sad compromise of using Virtual PC, which, as far as I understand, makes your mac vulnerable to all those nasty virus and techno-terrors aimed at PC/Intel boxes.
In deference to the review guidelines, I won't put the Equinux URL here, but it's easy enough to find them on the web. The main reason I bring Equinux up at all is because if it wasn't for their Tam Tam Mac OSX software, I never would have bought my TomTom Go and, Man, I would have missed out on a wonderful device.
Anyway, the device, TOMTOM GO, is fantastic! The 3D map views are clear and easily read and once you switch to a map section that applies to where you are the TomTom has no problem getting a GPS connection - I'm making this assumption because I live and work in the hills of Tennessee, North Carolina Virginia and if it can get GPS reception here than that's really saying something.
Also, I splurged for the pre-loaded version, and I think I made the right call, just because I didn't want to take too many chances considering the, at the time, compatibility concerns, concerns which have since been fully addressed.
There is one down side, because the US map is sectioned into 6 or 7 maps, even if the maps are all loaded you can't go from a specific address in one section to a specific address in another section. This is a bit of a bummer, but once you get a hang of using the Major US Roads maps, which lack most specific addresses, and see how easy it is to switch maps as you go along, this is soon resolved. It's this flaw and the rather lousy mount that are the only reasons this is a four, and not a five, star review.
On the case of the mount, it too is a problem that is easliy rectified with one of those jell sticky, easy-to-peal off pads you can use on your dash. Better that than the permanted adhessive disc TomTom provides if your planning to attach their mount to your dash instead of your window.
Anyway, aside from the address to address multiple map problem and the dashboard mount problem, this device is great and if, like me, you are a Mac enthusiast who has been waiting for years for a Car GPS complete unit (not just a receiver) that's truly Mac OSX compatible, than it is here... after a fashion.
All in all, the TomTom GO with Equinux Tam Tam software is probably the best investment I made all year!
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