The TomTom GO 920 is the best portable GPS navigator the company has out right now. It was just released at the end of September so there is a good chance it will be sitting around the top for years to come. Some people might even call this device revolutionary with all the features it packs like a “Help Me” safety button that can help you find a hospital or contact the police(as long as you’re putting the Bluetooth technology to use) and MapShare that lets you add your own map corrections and POI’s to the TomTom community and get other people’s in return with the TomTom HOME software(another cool new feature). I’ve tried to put the best picture of the device together that I could without actually being able to review it. Another review will be coming when it is finally released hopefully in the next few weeks so check back soon or you can preorder yours today. I’ve preordered from Amazon.com, I’m finding they have the lowest prices on most of the GPS equipment I’ve purchased.

The TomTom GO 920 GPS portable navigation device will come with a suction mount, a car charger, a USB cord, and the software CD with a manual also on it. You will be able to order a home charger, a cord to connect your iPod, and some choices of carrying cases separately from the unit. There is also a RDS-TMC Traffic Receiver that you can purchase but it comes standard in the GO 920T which would be cheaper. The home charger is a nice add-on if you are traveling but you should know that the desk dock to connect the unit to your computer will also charge the battery.

The Design of the GO920/920T

The 920 is much slimmer than the old 910 was. It measures only 3.3 inches by 4.6 inches and is 0.9 inches deep. It would easily fit into your pocket or purse and weighing only 7.8 ounces it would probably weigh less than your wallet. It packs in a pretty big 4.3″ widescreen for such a small device and has a Lithium Polymer battery that can last around 5 hours before needing to be charged. It also has 4 GB internal flash memory that stores your maps of Canada, the USA, Guam, and Europe along with the POI’s. It can also be used to hold whatever you want. You can transfer files from your computer via the USB cord or load things like mp3’s or maps from a SD card.

Like the 910 the GO 920 will come with a remote control and like the 720 there will be a microphone for things like recording your voice for directions and a speaker to play your voice directions, mp3’s, and phone calls. Built right into the device is an FM transmitter so if you’d prefer you can play all sounds through your car audio instead of the built-in speaker on the device.

Navigation & Core function of the TomTom 920

While you navigate your route the TomTom GO 920 will be giving you your directions in three ways. It will actually speak the direction and distance to the next turn and then the street name in one of twenty-two available languages in the voice you chose. If you don’t like any of the voice options and can’t find one to download then you can always take some time and record them all yourself. It will also give you written text on the screen telling you pretty much the same thing as the voice, it will give you the distance to the next turn, the direction of it, and the street name. The last way is show you the 2D or 3D map with your car on it and the route highlighted with an arrow pointing around the next turn. While the last two are pretty standard the voice directions are a bit ahead of the pack with the highly customizable voice, the text-to-speech, and having the FM transmitter to play through your car speakers.

While you are driving your map screen showing you where you are going will have a fair amount of information on it. Along with your route being highlighted and the next turn having an arrow around it you will see any POI’s in the area shown by a symbol for the type of point it is. At the top of the screen there are + and – buttons to zoom the map in and out. At the side of the screen there’s a music button if you’re using the mp3 player to access it. The name of your current street and the name of the street you’ll be turning onto are both shown. Information like your estimated time of arrival, current speed, and distance to destination are all displayed.

With the GO 920 you will never again have to worry about losing your satellite fix and having your device rendered completely useless. TomTom has started using a new technology called enhanced positioning. It uses movement and gravity sensors to calculate your position when your signal is lost.

Features

There are tons of really cool features that they have packed into the TomTom GO 920. If you are unhappy with the voice of the person giving you directions you can use the TomTom HOME software (more on that later) to download new ones. There are even celebrity voices to choose from like Dennis Hopper, Curt Schilling, and Gary Busey. If you still can’t find one you like you can record your own voice. Going on a long trip without your wife? It could be like she was right there beside you having her nagging voice tell you where to go. The microphone can also be used to input where you want to go. That’s right, you just say the city, street name, and address number and the device will calculate your route. No more punching it in to the onscreen keyboard.

The text-to-speech not only speaks the names of streets but also the names of POI’s, and traffic alerts, plus SMS messages if you are using the Bluetooth technology. Bluetooth is a way of wirelessly linking devices together. The remote that comes with the GO 920 uses Bluetooth to connect. If your phone has Bluetooth capabilities it will also connect to the device and you can use it to make and accept calls or messages.

One of my favorite new features TomTom has come out with is their Map Share and TomTom HOME software. Map Share is software that will allow you to make corrections to the map and add your own POI’s. This information is shared with all TomTom users so everybody always has the most up-to-date maps. TomTom HOME allows you to automatically update your software and services for free, buy additional maps, download additional voices, preplan your trip itinerary, update your safety camera database, and receiver free traffic alerts and weather reports on your computer.

A very helpful new safety feature of the TomTom GO 920 is a menu option called “Help Me”. Pressing this button from the user interface allows you access to emergency services and roadside assistance. It can do things such as call the police or find the nearest hospital. It even gives you guides for things such as first aid.

Remote Control

The remote control is a nice addition and comes in a pretty comfortable design, with a rubberized back. Small enough to hang out in a center console and big enough to be functional without looking at the unit or the remote. Again, with the unit at arm’s length I thought that his would be unneeded, but again I was surprised to see that the remote actually changed how I interacted with the GPS, and allowed me to be a bit more comfortable in the seat. Certainly a big plus for those with the unit at more than an arm’s length (i.e. RV-ers). The unit comes with a little holder that has an adhesive back; stick it where you need it.

Custom Voices

As I said when I reviewed the TomTom GO 720 the ability to record your own turn commands felt like a total gimmick, but one that I fell for; I’ll admit it. The TomTom GO 920 has text-to-speech capability and will tell you the name of the street that you are turning onto through a computer representation of the street name. The performance is generally good. In order to use the custom voice recordings though, you will need to rely on the 56 set commands that do not say the name of the street.

The process of recording is simple, and involves going into the Change Preferences menu, then Voice Preferences, and Record Voice. The TomTom 920 then recommends that you go somewhere quiet to record the voice tracks. The process can take about 15 minutes, and records voice tracks as *.wav files. The process essentially takes you through a list of commands that are listed on the screen, you tap “Record” and the unit then writes the data to its internal memory and you move onto the next phrase.

Quick Menu

Perhaps one of the more intelligent features on the device is the idea of the Quick Menu. By electing to have certain features (up to 6) on the unit appear on the Quick Menu, you place a small icon right on the map page that gives you quick access to those features. This solves a lot of digging through the menus for often used buttons, and brings them to the top.

To enable and configure the Quick Menu feature, go to Set-up -> Quick Menu Preferences, and then check off the buttons you want on the quick menu. You can choose from TomTom Jukebox, Report Safety Camera, Mark Location of Map Error, Navigate to Spoken Address (Dialog), Navigate to a Zip code, Add position to favorites, FM Transmitter, Call (with Bluetooth Handsfree), Help Me!, Switch 2D/3D view, Switch Day/Night view, Show Weather (TomTom Plus Service), Switch Sound On/off, Show Work-Home traffic. If I could nominate one more to appear there, it would be the button to cancel a route.

Conclusion

The TomTom GO920/920T represents one of the best GPS units on the market, and is clearly a top choice for those who love the TomTom brand. The 920T is a decent step up from the 720 in price, but adds the TMC antenna, remote voice recognition capability, and for the dead reckoning capability. The enhanced capability may just be the thing that people who travel through tunnels a lot need. That qualifies a lot of people who drive around Boston to start. The extra maps of Europe are a big plus for the folks who go back and forth. Pre-loaded is the way to go for people who don’t want to work to get maps loaded, etc. There are always some things that I would like to change on a GPS, and the TomTom GO 920T is no different, but the items are minor, and overall it’s a very solid GPS.