TomTom Go 2405 TM Review

I've been using the TomTom Go 2405 TM for about 2 months and I thought that I would write a mini-review on it.

I've been using TomTom GPS products for a few years now. My first experience with TomTom was as an add-on module/software for my Palm TX PDA. I later purchased a dedicated GPS (TomTom Go 930). While my TomTom Go 930 still works, because the maps on it were old, I felt that upgrading the maps on my old TomTom Go 930 compared to buying a new GPS with lifetime map updates would not be cost effective.

I haven't tested all the features of the TomTom Go 2405 TM but two of the features that differentiate it and my old TomTom Go 930 is the free lifetime map updates and the free lifetime traffic updates. Lifetime refers to the general life of the product or when TomTom no longer makes map updates for the device and is non-transferable between devices.

The first thing that I have to mention is that the traffic updates work only on major highways and don't work on smaller streets or service roads. The traffic updates show up as a bar on the right hand side of the screen indicating whether there are any delays in your route (and an estimated time for the time delay). As such, you are only given traffic updates when you are using the GPS to follow a route. The traffic antenna is located in the proprietary car charging cable. I've found that the traffic updates were quite accurate. Of course, there are times when I noticed that it wasn't correct (like when it tried to get me to go on the highway and I could see that the entrance to the highway was slow/blocked so I opted to manually take the service road) but most of the time, I would say that the traffic update was accurate.

This GPS has built-in bluetooth handsfree so that when driving you can answer the phone or make calls while driving. I tried it but didn't really like how it worked compared to my older TomTom Go 930. When connecting the GPS to a compatible bluetooth phone, the GPS will copy all the contacts from the phone and store it on the GPS. I didn't like this feature and from what I could see, there was no way of turning this feature off. I only wanted to be able to answer calls and not copy my phone's contacts onto the GPS but this wasn't possible without copying the phone's contacts.

One of the things that takes some getting used to is the new windshield mount for this GPS. Unlike with my older TomTom GPS, I found that this new windshield mount locks to the window of the car very well and has never fallen off the windshield while I've been driving (my older TomTom GPS mounts would fall probably once a month). The GPS is secured onto the windshield mount using magnets which takes some time to get used to. I've found removing the GPS from the windshield mount to be difficult sometimes since you can only remove it a certain way because of how the GPS locks to the windshield mount.

My older TomTom Go 930 used a program installed on the PC for all updates/maintenance on the TomTom GPS. This newer TomTom Go 2405 TM requires the installation of a plug-in and uses the web browser to perform all updates on the device. Personally, I preferred how my older TomTom Go 930 handled this because with the newer implementation, it required that the GPS unit be connected to the PC when performing all functions like downloading the map updates.

Speaking of the map updates, it can sometimes take a few hours to download the entire map updates and having the device connected to the PC while this is being done is sometimes inconvenient. Once, the webpage informed me that it would take over 12 hours to update the GPS over my internet connection!

Unlike my older TomTom GPS, there is no SD slot on this GPS and it also doesn't have an FM transmitter (or remote control). The lack of an SD slot on this newer GPS will cause problems eventually because the updated maps are larger and as they get too large, the TomTom Go 2405 TM won't be able to store the map on the unit any longer. I'm not sure if it is possible to only download the maps that you want but I don't believe that it is the case. This means that when the particular map update is too large for the internal memory on the GPS, regardless of whether the GPS still works or not, you will probably have to purchase a new GPS unit with lifetime map updates if you want to continue to get the free map updates.

I do find that the TomTom Go 2405 TM is not as accurate as my older TomTom Go 930. My older TomTom Go 930 is or was considered TomTom's high end GPS unit when it was originally released while the TomTom Go 2405 TM is considered mid-range. As such my TomTom Go 930 has a lot more features and benefits over the TomTom Go 2405 TM. The only benefit that I would say that the newer TomTom Go 2405 TM has over my older TomTom Go 930 is the unlimited free map updates and the unlimited free traffic updates. However, it isn't really fair to compare both products since as mentioned my older TomTom Go 930 is (or was) considered TomTom's high end GPS product and I would say that the TomTom Go 2405 TM is considered their mid-range GPS product.

I feel that because of the way this TomTom GPS uses the browser in order to update the maps, it is not safe/reliable as having a separate program installed on the PC to update the maps. Unlike my older TomTom GPS unit, there is also no way of taking a backup of the device before applying an update so there is no way to roll-back in the event of a problem/errors. Based on some of the reviews that I've read from other users on other sites, once this happens, the GPS becomes little more than an expensive paper-weight and most be sent to TomTom for repair.

I downloaded a PDF version of the manual which describes the functions of this TomTom GPS. You can download a copy of it from *HERE*.

If you have any comments/questions regarding my mini review of the TomTom Go 2405 TM, please don't hesitate to leave a comments in the comment section. Please note that comments are moderated and that any comments that contain a URL link or a hyperlink will automatically be flagged as being spam and will not be posted.