Today I used the GO 930 to get to work. I know, its somewhat over-delivery but its good to measure the accuracy of the nav in an area you know. After driving out of the garage, it had a lock almost instantly. about 3 mins later the TMC-Data was downloaded. It kept receiving the TMC-data on a regular basis <4mins.

My journey to work leads me aroud Zurich over the „Nordring“.  And usually its jammed. Via TMC my Nav was informed that there would be a delay of approx. 15 mins before the Gubrist-Tunnel. WOW. Of course it wanted to keep me away from the jam and re-calculated the route. Through the City. Not so cool. But still i’m surprised how fast and well it worked. Eventually it took me more than usual to get to work, but the trip through the city gave me a interesting sample of the capabilities of the nav. It guided me safely through the city and gave instructions precisely then, when I needed them. When driving through tunnels, it briefly lost connection to the satellites, but re-locked very quickly after exiting the tunnel.

The Telephony-functions really knocked me off my shoes. Usually, linking two devices of different brands via bluetooth is somewhat tricky. If one of the devices then offers a functionality which is not the core-competence of the manufacturer (Handsfree -> TomTom), trouble should be pre-programmed. The Go 930 taught me better. After pairing my phone, which is a SonyEricsson K800i, the nav asked me if I would like to copy the phonebook. After about a minute, over 400 contacts were copied.

While I drove on, I received a Text Message. 10 seconds later, the nav showed an envelope and gave an audible signal. Tapping the envelope showed me the message and gave me the possibility to either reply or call the sender. WOW! Because typing is not advisable while driving, I chose to call the sender. The sound quality coming from the nav was very convincing. Everything loud and clear. Also, my friend heard me loud and clear, almost no background noise. OK, there was not much noise, because I was still standing in the traffic Jam. I’ll test it on the Highway at 120km/h when I get the chance.

When making a phone call, you have the option to either use a Bluetooth headset, the Internal Speaker, the Line-Out connector or the built-in FM-Transmitter to give out the sound. I gather that except with bluetooth, the internal microphone is used. If you discuss confidential stuff on the phone, I would refrain from using the FM-Transmitter. Although you can choose the frequency it transmits on, everyone around you can tune in and listen what the person on the other end says. Its not very probable, but technically possible.

All in all, I am still very happy with the nav. I’ll update on this once I’ve used it for a bit longer.