Customer Reviews

TomTom GO 740 Live 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable Live Internet Connected GPS Navigator

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(24)
2 star:		(21)
1 star:		(26)

 

 

I have used multiple generations of the TomTom, and I have been a fan for a while. TomTom has always had the best user interface, but the rubber meets the road on directions and map accuracy, and here the new GO 740 Live shows solid improvement.

I drive in the Washington DC area, and occassionally commute up I-95 to New York and Long Island. In other words, it's traffic, traffic everywhere.

I depend on the TomTom GO 740 Live. The traffic updates are frequent, and almost always match what I am seeing in the real world. And IQ Routes are clearly having a positive impact on route selection. IQ Routes is the feature than anonymously gathers actual driving experiences from all TomTom users and then factors that history into its route computation. I suppose it works best in metro areas where there are many users.

Why this matters: Anyone who drives north out of DC knows that 16th Street is much, much better than Georgia Ave. They both appear as normal city streets, and though Georgia appears more direct, it has more untimed lights and more local traffic. Before IQ Routes, TomTom would suggest Georgia, and I would ignore it. Now, TomTom suggests 16th. With IQ Routes, TomTom is gathering the experience that only local drivers have.

After second-guessing TomTom for a few months, and usually being wrong, I now let it automatically route around traffic. Between the traffic reports and the IQ routes, I am getting the right routes and very accurate estimates of arrival times.

My previous TomTom was the 930, which reached its traffic service through a bluetooth connection to my phone. The connection was flaky (I blame Verizon, not TomTom.) and did not work if I was on a call. The new LIVE series has it's own cell circuitry built in. I stopped paying $15/month to Verizon for "broadband access connect", and I will gladly pay $10/month to TomTom for the LIVE services, which include traffic, fuel prices, speed cameras, Google searches, etc.

Final note: In addition to the LIVE services, I subscribe to TomTom's map update service, and I dock the unit to my PC often to download map corrections. I depend on my GPS, so these update services are a positive feature for me, and my review assumes use of all these services.

TomTom GO 740 4.3-Inch Live Connected GPS Navigator
GPS Experience:
- Smartphone: TomTom Navigator 6 (in-use), Garmin XT, Copilot Live 6, Telenav (in-use)
- Dedicated: Garmin Nuvi 885T (in-use)

I had resisted buying dedicated GPS units while the phone apps (while buggy) generally had better traffic and online search capability for what I wanted to use. So I was quite excited when the TomTom Live units were announced.

Unfortunately the first impression is not that great. After having used TomTom Navigator6 with the traffic subscription for the last year or so, I've found their traffic data to be generally reliable (Telenav and Navigator6 seem to agree quite often on the amount of congestion and how to avoid). Not so the 740 Live. For example, in the San Jose CA area where I live there's a stretch of Hwy85 that *always* backs up one way in the morning and the other way in the afternoon for several miles. You can quite clearly see this on MSN, Google, Sigalert, Navigator6, Telenav, ... but as far as the 740Live is concerned there's no traffic. While there are some traffic incidents in the area reported, I'd say I'm generally missing around 1/2 of the incidents on the surrounding freeways. I've taken simultaneous pictures of my phone and the 740Live and sent these to TomTom for comment.

I completed a 4hr drive and ran both the 740Live and Navigator6 on auto-avoidance. Luckily I was driving in the car pool lane, so I didn't have to take the detours offered, however Navigator6 seemed to have the more reasonable suggestions for when to leave the freeway and take surface streets. Again, this seems to be related to the Navigator6 software generally reporting more traffic from what I could tell.

Also while driving tonight (first trip of more than 15mins), the machine all of a sudden rebooted itself. While potentially somewhat of an annoyance, this was downright dangerous the way it happened as it was dark outside and I was in night driving mode - during reboot the device flashed to full brightness for at least 15secs pretty much blinding me.

Anyway, I still find the TomTom UI the best thought out and the 740Live doesn't disappoint here. I'm sure the problems I'm having are teething issues - however, if you want a rock solid experience and want to rely on the traffic service ... I'd wait.

GPS's owned: Garmin StreetPilot III, Garmin 760, Dash Express, Navigon 7200T, TomTom GO 730, TomTom GO 740.

Summary first: Now if I could only cross-breed my Navigon 7200T with the TomTom GO 740.

My early and as yet incomplete impression is the TomTom GO 740 connected services are about on par with the original connected GPS, the Dash Express, which came out a year ago and withered on the vine 8-months later. TomTom does not offer the ability to integrate 3rd-party applications, which was a fantastic selling point for the Dash. The 3rd-party apps were better than the embedded ones. Anyway, enough about Dash, but I'm not going to be able to get away from the Navigon 7200T.

TomTom's connected search uses Google, and comes out of the box with all the standard TomTom GO series features. I like the way they've implemented the gas price display as it doesn't force you to look through an entire list, but just shows the cheapest along your route. You can still get a list if you want it. It's one of those, "less-is-more" things. It is a tad slow when downloading the data, so if you're in a hurried situation, it might be frustrating.

TomTom's autozoom (it was this way in my TomTom GO 730, too), bugs me to no end. Even at 70mph, it zooms too close to be useful, displaying only about a minute's worth of the road ahead, and little detail (e.g. upcoming roads) while in a route. Disabling autozoom and zooming out just a little completed eliminates all detail: It is blank, except for the road you're traveling. The Navigon displays up to 3 minutes of road ahead at that speed, and provides a reasonable amount of detail without being cluttered.

As of this early writing, I've yet to test the traffic services as I do not live near a major city, even though heavy traffic is not limited to those areas!

Unless you must have a connected GPS, go with the Navigon 7200T. Besides being $150 cheaper at this writing, it has free traffic for life and the autozoom is better. TT's IQ Routing is better than Navigon's routing, but not by much. Lane-assist is better on the Navigon, offering lane advice in complex interstate interchanges even if you're staying on the same interstate; the TomTom offers lane assist only if you're changing interstates.

There were no issues with brightness of the GO 740's display, from cloudless day to moonless night, and the adjustment range should be enough for any driving condition.

I really wish I could just build my own GPS, or that Navigon would come out with a connected GPS built on the 7200T.

Lastly, if you think this word picture doesn't match a 4-star rating, realize that I am leaving out much of what made TomTom a threat to Garmin. TomTom has a lot of things right and I'd only be regurgitating all the positive things you could read on the GO730 and GO720 reviews.

I was initially impressed with this GPS, coming from a Dell Axim w/GPS adapter & software, then a Garmin 680. After almost 6 months of actual usage I've tempered my enthusiasm. The "Voice Command" feature sounded great, but it requires you to press an on-screen icon every time you want to use it. It actually does respond fairly well to my voice without any 'learning' procedure. It has around 130 built-in commands, but there's no way to print them out, so that you can actually learn them. They do give you a printed 'cheat sheet' with a little over 30 commands, but why not a pdf with all commands? You can review all the commands on the GPS, but can't print them. The GPS also interferes with itself when using the voice command feature. If it is giving you an update, it cancels what ever you had down with the voice feature, requiring numerous restarts. Obviously the commands that it is given should be given priority, but it would be nice to be able to continue from where it interrupted you.

Getting updates has been a recent challenge, the last was several weeks ago, which required a complete re-installation of the software, which left some missing icons, requiring visits to the Google to find answers.

When my 'free' Live services subscription feature expired, I signed up for the $9.95 monthly, which I just unfortunately found out doesn't can't be automatically renewed each month, which resulted in my subscription to expire, which went unnoticed until I no longer was getting traffic updates. I'm currently awaiting support to figure out how I can renew, since TomTom Home keeps coming up with an error message when I try to renew the 'Live Services."

Have also had frequent spontaneous 'reboots' while driving, which so far has happened in non critical driving situations.

One highlight is the Itinerary feature, but only if you use a third party software called 'Tyre', which utilizes 'Google Maps' or 'Google Earth' to make up or load various itineraries.

Not thrilled with the maps. There are some major revisions to area Interstates that have not been addressed which have changed exits from one side of the road to the other, which could be a serious problem for those not familiar with the change. You supposedly can provide updates for situations like these, which I have done, but I have yet to see anything positive come from them.

The Menu system is awkward. I believe that there are some 3rd party ways to rearrange some Tomtom menus, but I couldn't find anything specific for the 740.

Of course, I am sure that there are some positive features, but nothing worth the cost of upgrade.

Previously owned GPS': Garmin (nearly all series), Mio 520, TomTom XL, DASH Express, TeleNav ShotGun.

Current GPS: Garmin 880 with lifetime MSN services, Garmin 760

Pros:
- More flexibility and customization than Garmin and DASH.
- Good strong volume (better than any GPS so far)
- Finally, a powered cradle from TomTom!
- Lane Assist is OK
- Google Search produced good results that were up-to-date
- Good routing engine
- Like the Gas prices on Route feature. Garmin 880 doesn't do this.

Cons:
- Were's the "Send to Car" Function???
- The display (like all TomToms) is dim with poor contrast (side by side with Garmin in the sun and the Garmin units blow it away)
- Getting results from Google seemed much slower than I remember from the DASH/Yahoo combination
- Traffic not as good as Garmin MSN. On a couple of occasions in construction zones with stop and go traffic, the TomTom did not issue a traffic delay and the Garmin did. The warnings also appeared sooner on the Garmin than the TomTom.
- Gas prices on Garmin were more accurate and the Garmin units tell you how many days old the data is
- Has a bug were the display goes completely dim for a couple of minutes but then returns to normal
- Couple of times it indicated the connected services were not available in areas were I have had good coverage before. Needed to power cycle the unit to get the services to work
- Garmin MSN and DASH have more connected services
- Garmin has a remote you strap onto your steering wheel to activate or cancel the voice recognition. With TomTom you have to look at the display and touch an icon. What's the point in that? Plus, the TomTom VR is awful and is only correct about 25%. Garmin is at about 75% and has more flexibility.
- I CAN'T believe TomTom STILL DOES NOT tell you what side of the street the destination is. How lame! I was looking for store and the TomTom announced I had arrived at the destination, but there were malls on both sides of the street. Not very helpful.

Verdict: Not enough value yet in the monthly subscription. Also, the operational bugs need to be fixed. Returned for refund.
BTW, the TeleNav ShotGun is garbage - don't bother.

I'm still waiting for a compelling connected GPS solution. Or, perhaps it will be an Apple iPhone

The Go 740 Live could be a very good product except it is produced by a company that does not care about their customers. Mine stopped connecting to the Live service so they had me send it in and then sent me a refurbished replacement which is a very poor practice. Their excuse is the warranty says they can send a refurbished unit as a replacement for a new unit.
They updated the application software which caused the 740 to stop working with the PC online emulator in their Home software. That happened over a month ago and they still do not have it fixed. That application also made the 740 stop importing the phone book from my cell phone. It worked in the previous version of the application.
I was trying to use the mapping software to travel to Des Moines, IA and they don't actually have Des Moines on their map. It always says Des Moines with a name in parenthesis behind it which is an actual town in Iowa, i.e. Des Moines(Batavia#, East Des Moines#Oskaloosa#, West Des Moines#Oskaloosa#. If you try to use one of those destinations in takes you to the town listed in parenthesis not Des Moines. Some are 90 to 100 miles from Des Moines. It makes the mapping software for that destination worthless. I was told by their support that was normal for large cities. Not in any other mapping software I have used is that normal.
The have map share which can be used to change the map to what it should be. I tried to add a street which has been open over 2 years. The change did not appear on map share so I asked why and was told it has to be verified by their mapping company #which they own) and can not be released until a major map release is made. The new street is very apparent on Google Earth as a bright white street. Not to difficult to verify it is there.
I DO NOT recommend this product!

If I were just going to review this GPS, it would receive a 5-star review.

I received this unit approximately 10-days before the date of this review. The features are great. It finds the satellites quickly, calculates routes quickly and, should you go off track, recalcutes the course VERY quickly. The Advanced Lane feature makes complex and confusing road tranfers easy and safe. Thanks to the built-in Google Search feature, there are virtually unlimited Points of Interest (although I would recommend not using that feature while driving).

As an example of how reliable this unit is, I recently had to drive to a location that is approximately 2-hours from my home. This GPS knew that the exit I usually take was closed due to construction. Instead, it detoured me around the closed exit and got me to my destination with only a minimal loss of time.

If I have any quibbles with the unit, it is that the computer generated voice does not always pronounce road or streets names clearly. If you use the Human Voice feature, it is clearer; however you lose some voice features. Also, I found that the Voice Command feature is unreliable.

This unit will serve as a bluetooth with most cell phones. It linked into my Blackberry 8330 easily. I have not extensively used the bluetooth features and cannot comment about them yet.

The unit comes with software to help facilitate the many updates that are available, as well as certain other functions. The software installed on both my Mac and PC without incident. The unit links into the software through the use of a docking station. On both the Mac and PC it linked in and updated without any problems.

That is the Pro.......now the Con

A couple of days after I received the unit, I installed the software and did my first update. Daily updates include map corrections, gas prices, satellite positions, etc. You receive these features, as well as other live features (such as traffic and Google Search) free of charge for the first 3-months. After that, the annual cost is about $160. I knew about this when I bought the unit. However, the maps are completely updated once each quarter.

When I did my first update, it told me that my map was out-of-date. I had a 1st quarter map installed. But the newest map was the 3rd quarter map. it was then that I learned 3-things.

1. You cannot update from 1st quarter to 3rd quarter without first installing 2nd quarter.
2. Even though I had just purchased this unit, I was charged $11.95 for the 2nd quarter.
3. Subsequent map updates would be an additional $60 a year.

While these numbers are not huge, it would have been nice if they had mentioned this up clearly. Also, why nickle-and-dime me on the 2nd quarter update when you are trying to get me to subscibe to now over $200 worth of service?

I paid the $75 for the update and map subscription. However, after doing so, I noticed that the traffic feature just stopped working and was telling me that I did not have a subscription to it.

I called customer service right away and it took me over 1-hour before I got a representative on the phone. To say that this representative was clueless would be an understatement. I work in technology and even write books on the subject. This person's only answer seemed to be that the unit was broken and would have to be returned for repairs. I questioned this considering that it happened after I did their map update. I finally asked for a supervisor. The person I was connected with had to have been one of the nastiest people I have spoken to in a long time, and acted like she was doing me a favor by gracing me with her voice. After a while I hung up.

I called back the next day and got through to a different representative. This person was a bit more technically savvy and tried a number of different fixes. However, he as convinced that it was the unit. I kept asking if there was a way we could rollback the map updates. He kept saying no. But, after nearly 90 minutes, he sounded annoyed with me and suddenly discovered a way we could rollback the map updates. The process took approximately 30 minutes. As soon as I rolled back, to everyone's surprise but me, the traffic feature came alive and worked fine. Bottomline, I spent nearly 3 hours on the phone diagnosing THEIR buggy update.

After they had to admit that the problem was on their side they announced that a bug report would need to be sent to Amsterdam for research. We should have a fix in approximately (ready for this?) - 5-weeks.

So, for the next 5-weeks, despite my paying for the service, I will be without some of it. Of course, they told me that they don't usually give a credit for such a problem. Only if there is a service outage of some sort.

Great unit.....the worst customer service I have seen in a long time.

Update One Month Later:

The traffic feature problem I talked about above was a problem related to their update software. Apparently it was not installing the map software properly. I found this out from a Tomtom user's group, NOT from any technical support from Tomtom. As a matter of fact, after I updated the software, uninstalled the map on the unit, and reinstalled it (and established that all was working properly), I called Tomtom's technical support to let them know. They seemed completely in the dark about this problem. I find this most difficult to believe considering that this user's group had a number of people with exactly the same problem.

Bottom line: It is a good unit and does its job as advertised, but if you have a problem be prepared to get help from user groups and not from Tomtom support.

I know this is a review of the TomTom 740, but I wanted to touch on the live services because in my opinion, you are better off getting a different TomTom without the live services capability. The live services are not all that bad, but I just would not pay anything for them.

After using this for a month, here are some of the problems I have had:
- Traffic - As with most traffic services, the traffic is slightly delayed. It is nice that TomTom tries to route you around traffic, however several times it has routed me around traffic delays that turned out to be non existent and several times it has lead me into areas that claim to have no traffic delays, but were actually much worse than the alternative. As a result, I still listen to the traffic radio and make my decisions accordingly.

- Google search - Some of the POI have names that can be harder to search for, but you can always find them with the Google search feature. The problem is that the locations for the POI that come from Google are not exactly correct. They are maybe only off by a quarter mile, but several times this quarter mile has been critical. Once, it told me to get off the wrong exit and I was stuck doing a U-turn on a busy road because the gas station was actually on the other side of the highway. Several other times, the POI was close to an intersection and TomTom told me the POI was on the wrong street. It is nice to find the POI, but it stinks when it only gets you close and you need to spend 5 minutes searching.

- Gas Prices - Gas prices have been better than expected. Only once did it point me to an outdated price. It is easy to use and great for planning stops along your trips.

- Weather - This is pretty useless. It tellls you forecasted highs, but nothing too valuable. What would be nice would be to have a RADAR shot so that you can see if the rain you are driving into will pass, or if the worst is still to come.

GPS experience: TomTom GO 920 Portable GPS Vehicle Navigator, Magellan RoadMate 1220 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator

BOTTOM LINE: Navigation is typical TT and excellent. The Live Services that set this apart from the other TT models is nice, but not worth the price. Money would be better spent on another TT model (see below for recommendations).

Navigation: 4.5 of 5 stars
Live Services: 3 of 5 stars
Other features/service: 2 of 5 stars
Overall: 3 of 5 stars

OUT OF BOX EXPERIENCE
- The unit does not connect direction to a power source. You either put it in a cradle to connect to the computer or use the mount to connect to the car charger. Not ideal...I tend to charge in the car when not in use and I remove it from the mount and put it in the console, which is difficult to do with the mount.
- Poor documentation. As long as you connect it up to your computer, you will be fine.
-/+ I had to create a new account on TT Home or I would "lose" my 920. I have to keep 2 accounts--one for each unit.
+/- Slow initial connection to satellites--I had to take it outside for 5+ minutes. All subsequent connections have been very fast (couple of seconds)

MAP UPDATES
+ TT's map correction sharing. It is easy to make the corrections on the unit and you can choose to share the update or not. You also can choose not to allow map sharing updates.
-/+ TT guarantees that you can download the latest map once in the first 30 days you have your GPS. When I logged in, my map was up-to-date, but when I clicked on maps, it told me my map was 1 quarter old and I could pay $11.40 to update to the latest one and then buy the update service for $47.80 in addition to the update fee.
-A lifetime map service (one-time fee) like Garmin is not available, but would be nice.

NAVIGATION
+ TT has IQ routing to get you there on the quickest route. If you encounter a slow-down, the TT will calculate alternatives and let you know if you are still on the fastest route--it tells you your new arrival time and "you are still on the fastest route."
+ The arrival time estimate is almost always spot-on. My Magellan is usually off by a few minutes and keeps moving up to the current time when I am still a few blocks away.
+/- To activate voice recognition you have to click the "button" on the screen to activate it. The remote does not work to select this button (remote is an accessory that I already have from the 920). The voice recognition has not had a problem recognizing my commands or addresses in the spoken address option.
+/- Spoken street names are nice, but sometimes they sound odd. San Francisco sounds like san-fran-cees-sca. My low-end Magellan has much better street pronunciation.

LIVE SERVICES
+ (1) The traffic bar is located on the right side of the screen and shows your progress along your route. When you tap the bar, it will give you a menu and allow you to look at the traffic all along your route. It also doesn't account for "normal" traffic, so if a certain road is always slow at a certain time of day, it calculates that time into your route and doesn't tell you there are delays. I've used it a couple of times and it was correct. It gave me the delay and it was correct. I have a short commute (7 miles & only 1 freeway mile on US 101 S in Sunnyvale), so that makes it a bit easier for the calculations.
*Available as a TT Plus service (download through TT Home or through bluetooth/data enable phone--fees from your provider) or you can purchase a TomTom USB RDS-TMC Traffic Receiver for all TomTom GPS Except Go 740 and pay an annual fee of $60 (on other TT models).

+ (2) I don't really use the fuel prices on a regular basis. I always stop at the consistently cheapest station in the area. It would be better served if I traveled longer distances or used it in an unfamiliar area.
*Available for a fee as a TT Plus service (bluetooth/data enabled phone required--fees from your provider + 19.95 annual fee from TT).

+ (3) Google search is great when you are looking for an address for a business you are going to--no need to already have the address.
*Not available as a service outside of Live.

+/- (4) Yahoo weather. I have used it a couple of times and it was not in sync with yahoo weather online. It was off by 3 degrees for the day's high. Ironically, I was looking up Sunnyvale, CA where Yahoo is located (I work down the street).
*Available free as a TT Plus service (bluetooth/data enabled phone required).

+/- (5) TT Buddies seems to be the most pointless to me. You can connect with other TT owners, but I am not sure why you would want to do this unless you are all caravanning together someplace. Maybe good for RVers?
*Available free as a TT Plus service (bluetooth/data enabled phone required).

ISSUES
- The 740 does not connect to an ipod even though it has a menu option for ipod control. When you click on it, it asks for you to connect your ipod, but there is no physical way to do this. I contacted TT customer service about this and received a canned response stating detailed instructions on how to connect the ipod to the 740 were on the website. The link took me to a location with no notation on the 740. I also asked why there was a menu option if it isn't available--no response that question at all. Very disappointed in customer service--the person obviously did not actually read my question. *Update* Service response: "The GO 740 LIVE is able to use the iPod connect cable once you have the mount for this feature. This mount is able to be purchased through Ram-Mounts." I looked at the Ram-Mounts site and could not find one for the 740 Live as of 7/27/09.
- My cell phone could not connect with GPS. I've connected it to the 920 without a problem, but couldn't get it to work--I have a Motorola RAZR v3, which is very common and on the compatibility list, so it should work, but the GPS never found the phone. I tried my husband's phone and it also failed to connect. It was able to connect to my computer and transfer files, so the Bluetooth works, but with some glitches.

OVERALL
TT as a navigation device is top-notch. Easy to follow directions, easy to calculate alternatives (shortest, quickest, avoid roads), quick route recalculation if you miss a turn/road, ability to customize, map sharing, and more.
What sets this version apart from the other TTs is the addition of the integrated Live services. The services are nice, but the $9.95/mo fee is more than I would pay.
I'm sticking with my TT 920 as my favorite. It has all the features I need and more (plays audiobooks from audible, accepts ipod input, plays mp3s on the unit, has an FM transmitter to use the car stereo as a speaker, remote included). The 740 is just lacking a few of the extras I like. The basic navigation is excellent, but...
For the same suggested price (but possibly even cheaper as is currently listen on Amazon) as the 740 Live, the TomTom GO 930 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator (upgrade to 920) has everything and more without the Live services. For an extra $50 you get the traffic transmitter that gives you traffic updates for life without any monthly fees. You can almost imitate the 740 Live with a lot of extras by using the TT Plus services.

RECOMMENDED FOR: Someone who doesn't have a data-enabled cell phone and wants traffic and weather updates

ALTERNATE RECOMMENDATION: TomTom GO 930 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator or TomTom GO 930T 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator with Traffic Receiver

I have a *ton* of consumer electronics, and I really explore the features of what I have, so you can imagine that I've had more than my fair share of interactions with customer service and technical support departments of consumer electronics companies. I have to say that TomTom wins, by a substantial margin, as the least competent, most infuriating customer service I've ever experienced, and to this day I do not have a working GO 740 LIVE.

I'll first note that this is their flagship product, at least within the U.S.

I initially purchased my GO 740 LIVE in June 2009. For several months it was working fairly well, EXCEPT it would quite often spontaneously reboot while navigating. Of course, this is quite annoying in itself, but it's particularly annoying because once the unit reboots it goes to a screen where you have to click a button to agree to certain terms of use. So if you're driving and it spontaneously reboots, you have to reach over a press a button on the screen while driving if you want to continue the navigation. This is unsafe.

I spoke with tech support several times about this issue and they denied ever having heard of such a thing happening with the GO 740 LIVE. They suggested several fixes, none of which worked. Yet a cursory Google search reveals dozens of other people reporting this very problem.

So after several months I decided to send the unit in for warranty service. Big mistake. They do not offer a cross-shipment option! That is, you have to send in your unit and wait for them to fix it before they'll send you a replacement. This is frustrating, but what is really horrendous is that I have done this process FOUR times now and still don't have a working unit!

The replacement I got was a refurb. Right after powering it up I noticed that it wouldn't connect to LIVE services. Note that I'm in a coverage area, and moreover checking the Network settings showed that I had a data connection. Still, I would get an "Unable to connect to server" error whenever I tried to access *any* LIVE service.

So I sent back, and this time was sent a brand new unit to replace it. Same issue! And this process repeated twice more. That is, I have had a total of FOUR warranty replacements, the first a refurb, and the next three brand new units, and they all have the same problem. They simply won't connect to LIVE services.

I'll add that this isn't just a problem in my area (Philadelphia), as I took one of the replacements to Boston at one point and it still didn't work.

TomTom customer service has no explanation. Well, one supervisor I spoke with at one point claimed that there's a widespread problem, but he refused to clarify whether it was hardware related, or a problem on the server-end. In any case, they seem content to keep on sending me warranty replacements that don't work until I die, or give up.

Just for kicks, I went to a BestBuy in Philadelphia today and purchased a brand new 740 LIVE -- sure enough, same problem! It wouldn't connect to LIVE services. So that's FIVE units with the same issue.

Clearly there's a massive problem here.

BUYER BEWARE!