Customer Reviews

Motorola Motonav TN555 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Length:: 7:16 Mins

I really wanted to like this product, but it didn't stand up to side by side comparison with my 2 year old Nuvi 750 (see my review on the nuvi here http://www.amazon.com/review/R3BLFWG7PQZ883/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm )

Here are some my gripes about the Motonav:
-mine arrived used or at least covered with oily fingerprints, but it was via Amazon Vine so I didn't sweat it.
-usb cable is difficult to plug into motonav, as a result the delicate internal pin is already bent in mine
-updating the software took aver two hours and motonav spent quite a bit of those two hours locked in and endless cycle of error messages and powering on and off. I had to manually reset motonav several times just to continue downloading the updates. As an aside, it appears to be using a Windows based operating system.
-can not zoom out to view large map of routes. Full route only viewable via micromap which does not show street names and is not zoomable. Being a highly visual person, this is important to me. I don't care to see the street by street written route. I want to see the map and be able to quickly navigate to parts of the route to zoom in on the details. I drive all over South FLorida and I need to see where the GPS is taking me before I go there (some areas are just not safe).
-motonav has voice command options, but I found them to be mostly ineffective, even when speaking slowly and loudly
-there is only one voice option (snobby female) that works with all functions of the motonav. If you switch to a male voice, you end up with different voices for different features, some male and some female. The nuvi has a few dozen voices to choose from and the voice you choose works with every function.
-route retrieval was sluggish/slower on the new motonav as compared to my two yr old garmin nuvi.
-it is fairly difficult to hold this device without pushing buttons mounted on the sides and top.
-screen is not easy to see when hit with direct sunlight as compared to my garmin nuvi. I was not able to find any settings to increase contrast on the motonav
-only comes with one map update which must be completed within 6 months of activation. Free lifetime maps should be standard by now.

Things I did like about the Motonav!
-fewer screen touches to get to most functions and searches as compared to Nuvi
-more detail in the maps (parking lots mapped out in addition to streets)
-sleek appearance
-syncs with blutooth compatible phone to give you access to your address book (if you want to initiate calls via your gps)AND uses your phone to give you live traffic
-automatically routes around traffic problems if you so choose

For me, the good points don't compensate for the not so good ones. Check out my video to see the Nuvi and Motonav in action side by side.

Let me know if this was helpful, please vote. :-)

The Motorola Motonav TN555 is a very, very nice GPS with few negatives. First, all the standards are here: voice prompting with street names and landmarks, a rich points-of-interest database, easy entry of new navigation points, Bluetooth integration with your cell phone, and a widescreen display. What sets it apart, though, are the extras. For one thing, the Motonav takes advantage of the Bluetooth connection to the your phone, not only to download contacts and act as a microphone, but to download data to the GPS. It doesn't use the phones data plan, however, but a voice call, like an old analog modem.

There are pros and cons to this approach. On the plus side, you don't need an expensive data plan for the GPS nor do you have to have a phone that has one either (although I do have an iPhone with one). On the negative side, it interrupts whatever else your phone may be doing to make the call. Obviously, if you're already on a call, it won't work. And if you're using your iPhone to listen to music or podcasts, for example, as I do when I'm driving, then those will be suspended while the GPS does its thing. As the only time I'm likely to be manipulating the GPS to download information is when I'm stopped and parked, that's not a bad tradeoff for me.

So what can it download? How about addresses from Google Maps. If you look up an address at maps.google.com, you can click on the "Send" button and enter the model and serial number of the GPS. Then when you're in your car, go to the menu, select "Google" in your favorites, have it download through your Bluetooth-connected phone, and, voilà!, there it is. The days of hurriedly writing down the address on a scrap of paper and remembering to bring it with you to the car to punch in at your dash are over.

The phone connection also offers another neat feature. You can set someone as a trusted contact and they can receive updates on your position via text message, either one time or any time they text "motonav" to your phone. It will respond either with your current location or, if you're en route, your location, destination, and ETA. This could be great for your spouse so they don't have to call you while you're driving, but it could be awkward if your boss wants to be a trusted contact too.

There are a number of "Motoextras", which are subscription-based services, including updatable weather, flight tracking, gas prices, and speed cameras. The speed camera shows an icon in the corner of the display while you're driving, showing your current speed. It would be great if it knew the speed limit for your current road too. Real-time traffic is only available on the next higher model in the product line, the TN700.

One of my favorite features is the instant on. Our old Garmin Nüvi takes forever to start up, find the satellites, show the legal disclaimer, and get to where I can actually enter an address. I also like the physical volume and mute keys. On the Garmin, I had to navigate through several menus to adjust the volume on the touch screen, which I have to take my eyes off the road to do.

But how well does it navigate? Very well. It has a few of the same quirks that the Garmin did. Maybe they buy their maps from the same place, but they both show a "phantom" connecting road in my neighborhood that would be very convenient if it existed, but would require a US Army-issue Humvee to traverse today. On the other had, it lacks some of the Garmin's quirks like the Nüvi's insistence that I cannot turn left on my usual route at our closest major intersection. Even when I'm sitting at the light it wants me to go straight, turn right through some neighborhoods and come back on the intersecting road well out of my way. The Motonav just brings me along the logical route.

There's also a setting that allows you to bias the route selection for or against highway driving (i.e. faster versus scenic). In theory this is a nice option, but the highway bias option often wants to turn me onto an interstate for a half-mile to saver mere seconds, while the scenic option sometimes chooses some very convoluted routes. A middleground would be nice.

But the bottom line is that Motorola's GPS give industry-leader Garmin a run for its money. And at $219, that's not a lot of money.

Length:: 1:14 Mins

***UPDATE - July 27, 2011*** After several weeks of Bluetooth errors and endless looping error messages, the TN555 is now no longer operational. It begins to power up and dies in mid-boot up. Not going to replace it with the same model.

============== Original Review ================

***UPDATED - April 6, 2010*** The Motorola Motonav TN555 is a great GPS with a lot of advanced features. The standard GPS functions all work exactly as you would expect for a GPS in this price range, but I was extremely impressed with how well the advance features worked, and more importantly, how easy they were to use. Here are my observations:

Pros -
+ Easy to Use Interface; the touch screen menu is intuitively designed
+ Split Screen Display; map and rout always shows, even when menu, phone, or advance features are being used
+ Good Display; while a little muted (see video), the display can be seen even in bright sunlight
+ High Quality; all of the components are well designed and built (see "Customer Images")
+ Easy To Understand Voice and On Screen Directions; clear Text-to-Speech
+ Accurate Points of Interests (POI); at least for my area
+ Speed Limit Displayed on Major Roads; unit can be set to alarm when posted speed limit is exceeded
+ Advanced Features (that I have tested);
+ Integration with Bluetooth Enabled Phones; allows for use as a speakerphone and access to "Contacts"
+ Voice Recognition; allows for hands free calling and access to search functions using BING (see "Cons", below)
+ Integration with Google Maps; Use your PC to find a location on Google Maps (see Video)
+ Access Local Information; pull current weather, sports, etc
+ Traffic Notification; very useful during rush hour in large cities (I tested in Baltimore, MD)
+ Red Light Camera Warning; accurate and given with plenty of notice, at least for Baltimore

Considerations -
- Advanced features require use of your Bluetooth enabled phone and will use "air time" for updates
- Advanced features might not work if you don't have cell service
- Voice Recognition is very good in a fairly quiet car, but accuracy degrades when there is a lot of "road noise"
- Side Control Buttons assignments can be changed, but I always accidentally press the bottom right one ("MUTE") when connecting the unit to the window mount so there is no sound if I'm not paying attention (easy enough to correct)
- Only one free map update and it must be installed within 60 days of using the GPS

Overall, I am very happy with this unit and can say that Motorola got this one right! After a few weeks of very heavy use, the "Pros" greatly outweigh the "Cons".

Highly Recommended!

CFH

Arrived with no Screen film protection. GPS was not in a plastic bag - just laying in box.
Cord was in a plastic bag but no tie keeping it together.
The section the GPS lays in (GPS box)had torn causing GPS to lay on cord and mount that was positioned under GPS.
Have never bought a new item nor a Refurb. that looks this way. Was advertised as new but this is not new.

If I had rated this product after I had just received it, I'd have given it a grand total of 0 stars.

After using it off-and-on for a few months, I'm actually beginning to tolerate this plucky little device - or "PND" (portable navigation device) as Motorola likes to call it.

So, what doesn't work?
#####################

This device tries to do too much. We're no longer speaking about a GPS, remember? This is a PND! It likes to think of itself as a little computer.

As a result, the screen is the busiest I've ever seen in a GPS - there are tons of little clickable areas all over the screen, that in turn lead to other clickable areas, ad infinitum. The problem is that we're still dealing with a device that users will try to use with one hand, while driving on highways, encased in 2-tons of steel. What works on a computer simply doesn't work as well when stuck into 4.3 inches.

Even worse, street names, interstate numbers, etc. use a font that is exceedingly thin/fine. This makes it rather hard for me to read the maps while I'm driving. This is exacerbated by having street names blink (esp. when it automatically zooms in/out when coming up to a navigational event), and by having the street names overlay roads, making it look like they have been struck-through. I'd very strongly recommend that you check this out for yourself before buying this device.

Attempting to use voice activated commands was also a dismal failure - it consistently failed to recognize my voice commands no matter how clearly I spoke, or how closely I held the PND.
My children had similar results. However, it did give us an hour of quality bonding time, as they burst into gales of laughter each time it misunderstood what was said.

The address entry idiom works much like Google Maps. You type in a street address and the device looks up options. I much prefer my Magellan, which is more traditional and actually assists me with appropriate auto suggestions to reduce keystrokes. This is another instance where an interface that works well on a computer screen, doesn't translate well to a GPS unit ... oops, sorry, to a PND.

A minor nit is that the buttons on the back are very sensitive, and if you are using it in pedestrian mode, pressing any touch screen button invariably triggers one of these. This is not quite as much of a problem when the device is mounted on your dash.

Nit+2: Speed limits are displayed only for freeways - unlike my Nuvi which also displays them for local streets.

Nit+3: It displays distance in yards - which I have to constantly convert to feet in my mind.

What works?
###########

So what do I like about it?

This device has a gorgeous display - with amazing colors and details - easily the best map display that I've seen. I've also begun to get used to the font size and it doesn't seem to bother me as much as it did when I first began to use it. In addition, the vocal navigation instructions are clear enough, reducing my reliance on details in the display.

The amount of information displayed on the maps is simply breathtaking. Nearby points of interest (incl. gas stations, hotels, restaurants, malls, etc.) are displayed with meaningful icons and the display is updated dynamically. As you drive down a street, you'll get a running display of nearby POIs, including their distance and direction! This makes it a snap to get a feel for your current neighborhood

It is also without doubt a dream device for those who like tons of functionality packed into a compact unit. This device shows you so much information and gives you so much control over your trip that it is simply mind boggling.
For example, while my other GPS unit will let me reroute my trip by avoiding the next 1, 2, or 5 miles, this PND lets me reroute my trip for a single navigational event - such as a specific interstate exit. In addition, its' a snap to view your progress to your destination using an "aerial" view of your journey.

MotoExtras is another cool addition - for an extra annual fee you get updated weather, gas prices, flight information, and Google Live search - all delivered using a voice call to retrieve the information. While I think this is a good idea, I don't expect to be interested in paying the subscription fee just yet. Traffic information seems to be available only for devices with a "t" after the model number - so this one doesn't display live traffic updates.

Conclusion:
##########

This device tries so very hard, that like the little engine that could (okay, almost could), you kind of feel a sort of affection for it. While my affection doesn't quite rise to the level of adoration, it is still enough for me to go cautiously up to 2 stars.

While I wouldn't recommend it to family or friends, I have actually begun to consult it more often than I used to.

Happy Navigating!
~Damodar

Motorola Motonav TN555 4.3-inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator

Couple things:

- First, the device is well designed, full of potential, but I feel it comes up short in a few ways I wish it didn't.
- It's great for the primary function it serves (GPS)

Pros:

- I really like the way it mounts to either your windshield or dash. I personally mounted mine to the windshield, and it works great. A suction cup attached to a lever is used to firmly fix the device securely to the windshield. Then, the Motonav slides in and fixes on the battery mount. A swivel joint allows for customizable positioning in whatever angle of view you'd prefer.
- The map views are visually pleasing, and the screen goes into detail regarding even side roads (without names) in some cases.
- I liked being able to access almost all the functions of the entire device with only a few selections. Well-organized, neat layout.
- I was able to synchronize the contacts and recent calls on my phone to the memory bank in the Motonav. This was pretty cool......because it allows the driver to choose numbers to dial normally seen in your phone's contact list.
- Sync's well with your phone using Bluetooth, and it offers a number of different services (using your phone) which come in handy when you're trying to bypass traffic or know when to slow down (due to speed enforcement).

Cons:

- It seems as though they could have put a little more effort to make it perform better. I don't know. It sells for roughly $200 retail, so I suppose it should perform a little better than it does. For instance, the phone allows you to speak (via Bluetooth) through the built in microphone on the device. My wife told me I sounded muffled and distorted even. Her voice sounded the same on my end, so I suppose this option is available---- but not very useful. If they'd installed something a bit clearer, this particular feature would have greatly impressed me.
- For some reason, I could sync the contacts and recent calls from my iPhone, but I couldn't use the text messaging capability. Apparently, you should be able to see a text message come to the Motonav when you receive one on your phone, but this just didn't happen in my case. Maybe this particular feature isn't compatible with the iPhone? That would seem pretty weird, considering the enormous popularity of the iPhone, but maybe Motorola did that on purpose? I don't know. Anyway, thought that was a bit of a letdown.
- It's difficult to move the device around or handle the device without touching the buttons on each side.
- Only comes with one female voice option, as opposed to the option on other GPS devices of comparable price who offer multiple voices (male and female).


I suppose, in my opinion, it deserves a 3 star (average) rating since it didn't "blow me away" or "greatly disappoint." Like I said in the beginning, it's great for it's primary function. (GPS Navigator)

Purchased the TN555 through Amazon 3 months ago. Mounted it in my wife's car and took off. Easy to use. When my wife's car was inspected they had to remove the unit to change the inspection sticker. During reinstall I unplugged the power adapter from the base. When I plugged it back in the female power socket in the base cracked and the unit will no longer charge in the car - making it useless. (It cracked after having the power plug inserted maybe six times.) A new mount kit is $50 - I only paid $98 for the whole package new. After multiple phone calls and a general run-around Motorola advised me their only recourse was to sell me a new mount kit - they don't repair or replace accessories. What a crock!

Also, missed out on my final 'free' map update due to problems with the MotoNav website. The final download repeatedly stalled. Once the problem was rectified I was outside the 'free' window - so sorry!

From only *reading* the specs and features of this piece, I was impressed. But in actually using those features, I was very disappointed. Here are my top major disappointments:

(1) Extremely sluggish tap response: In a device like this, about a second of delay between a tap and it's action is really way too slow. It is super annoying and unnecessary added distraction.
(2) Bluetooth phone: Do not expect to use this reasonably at all on the highway, and expect more than normal effort to use it elsewhere. There is so much road noise interference when driving at high speeds and even it mid-speeds that the speaker and the mic on this thing become completely useless. I've tried different settings, but no matter what my voice isn't heard on the other side clearly at all, nor can I hear the other side clearly.
(3) User interface: Out of all the colors of the rainbow, they only decide to use 2-3 colors in all of their user interface design (I'm not talking about the actual map display, but rather everthing else besides that).
(4) Useless speed limit display: The highway is the least important place where you'd need to know the speed limit, simply because you generally have a solid idea of what the limit there is. However, the highway is the only place this PNS shows the speed limit. It will never show up on the streets.
(5) Nearby POIs: You cannot demand-search for nearby points of interests for a specific address or for your destination. When you read the destination it will show them. But that's terrible for trip planning. I want to be able to search for something around a given address, which this cannot do.

This is one example of where the product ratings are very misleading. It has good reviews, but I'm guessing many people have not used another brand (i.e. Garmin) that excels in all those deficiencies I listed above. Should have just bought a Garmin....

I wanted to give this unit a good LONG test drive before commenting on it.

I've been driving around locally and long distance with this unit for over 3 months now and have been more pleased than not.

Pleased:
~Re-routes directions very quickly once I veer of course.
~Suggests the correct address before I completely enter it.
~Speaker not totally annoying.
~"Knows" when you're in a tunnel or something of that kind and adjusts the screen light.

On the Fence:
~Touch screen NOT user friendly if you're driving, but that's likely a safety matter.
~The trial period for the "3 months free MotoExtras service package" didn't do much for me as I couldn't get the thing to sync with my phone. But oddly, I'd see random ads post like "Red Lobster Lobster Fest going on now"...then I'd look around for a Red Lobster and not see one.

No-Pleased:
~Takes FOREVER to find the address I'm putting in, at times. And a few times, didn't pull up the address AT ALL. An address, mind you, that could pull up on my husband's GPS phone.
~Occasionally doesn't realize the freeway entrance is on the 'right' hand side of the road from the direction I'm approaching.
~Requires you to enter the address in TWO separate boxes: Street and City/Zip. In the day and age of Google maps (and the fact this unit can sync with google) it should be able to take the address in one box. My husband pointed out that Motorola makes products that are capable of this, so there really isn't any reason their GPS units shouldn't be able to do it.
~When I tried to sync my phone so the unit could call and update an address with Google, the unit froze for over an hour of 'processing'...I don't have that many contacts to sync with!

Overall, while I do like this unit, the small handful of glitches I ran into were rather annoying AND made me think about how freaked I'd be to be somewhere unknown and have the unit not pull up the address I needed. I've tossed my Thomas Brother's guides and have stopped printing out directions for local stuff, but I may not be so confident in this unit for more long distant destinations.

Finally, with the rise of Smart Phones, I'm not sure how much longer a stand alone GPS will be warranted. Well, at least until the Smart Phone OS's allow for multitasking so you can follow directions AND make a call at the same time :)

I bought this product one week ago and since am using it for all my trips. I went to two out of town trips in this weekend and I am even using it for going to office just to test the device. I have to say that I am very impressed with it. While I was making the decision to buy it, I was a bit skeptical about Motorola's ability to build a high quality GPS navigator specially because I did not even know they build products in this line. I was considering Garmin and Magellan but found that this product has a lot of features but with a lot less price. It calculates and recalculates the routes very quickly. The split view feature is the first of its kind I have seen in any such device and is much useful in many situations. It continuously shows POI, you don't have to explicitly search for them. It has lane guidance, which works perfectly, camera enforced red light alert, speed limit alert and intersections requiring caution alert. The Bluetooth connectivity and voice commands work fine. I have not tried the Bing Voicesearch and Google search because I do not have data plan. Overall, I am highly satisfied with the product and would say that this is surely a comparable product to the market leader ones made by Garmin and Magellan.