5. Navigating with the TomTom GO 740 Live

Figure 76: TomTom's Map Screen

Whether navigating to a destination, or simply driving around, most of your time with the GO 740 will be spent looking at the Map Screen, shown above.

By default, the following information is displayed on the map:

1. Zoom In
2. Zoom Out
3. Highlighted Route (the path you'll be driving)
4. Traffic Sidebar
5. Navigation instruction for the road ahead (tap this area to repeat the last spoken instruction, and to change the volume)
6. Trip information: trip time, remaining distance, arrival time. The information displayed in this box can be customized, as shown later in this review
7. The name of the next major road, or road sign information, if applicable

The Map Screen is one of the most critical aspects of any GPS. A well designed map screen should convey essential navigation information in an intuitive and visually appealing manner.

Figure 77: Speed Limit Information

TomTom's GO 740 displays speed limit information when driving on most major roads or highways. If your current speed exceeds the posted speed limit for the road you are traveling on, the current speed and legal speed limit are displayed in the lower-right corner of the GPS, as shown above.

In this example, the posted speed limit is 55. I'm traveling 62 MPH, so the area is highlighted in red to indicate I am speeding.

Figure 78: Automatic Map Zooming

When navigating to a destination, the GO 740 automatically adjusts the map's zoom level to suit the situation. For example, when approaching an upcoming turn, the GPS automatically zooms in to a street level view. Once the turn is complete, the map will gradually return to a more zoomed-out view.

Automatic map zooming can be turned on or off via the system preferences menu.

Figure 79: Advanced Lane Guidance

When approaching a highway exit or intersection, the GO 740 displays a visual indicator in the status bar that shows which lane you should be traveling in, and, where available, a photo-realistic view of the turn, as shown above.

During my testing, I found Advanced Lange Guidance coverage had improved since previous TomTom GO models, and was available at many more highway intersections in my area.

Figure 80: Day and Night Mode

The GO 740 can be configured to automatically switch between "Day" and "Night" modes, either based on the time of day or ambient light levels. The default setting relies on the time of day, and switches into "Night" mode at sunset.

Figure 81: Map Screen Clutter

The default map screen configuration feels cluttered, and the text can be hard to read from the driver's seat -- especially within a 1-2 second glance at the GPS.

Figure 82: Route Confirmation Screen

Once a destination has been entered, the GO 740 displays an overview of the planned trip, as shown above. If you're happy with the route, you can begin navigating by tapping Done. If you'd like to see an alternate route, tap Find Alternative. Tapping Details lets you further customize the route, as shown below.

Figure 83: View Route

Tapping Details on the previous screen brings up the View Route screen, shown above. The screen offers the following functions:

• Browse as text - View a turn-by-turn text list of all turns along the route
• Browse as images - View a turn-by-turn series of images for every turn on the route
• Browse map of route - Display the entire route on the map
• Show route Demo - Simulate the route
• Show route summary - Displays key statistics about the proposed route, such as time, distance, how many miles will be spent on a highway, and more
• Show traffic on route - Display current traffic conditions along the planned route

Figure 84: Browse Route as Text

When viewing the planned route as a text list, each maneuver is listed in order, and the time between each turn is listed on the left hand column. You can change the information displayed on this screen by tapping Options.

Figure 85: Information Per Instruction

As with most aspects of the GO 740, you can customize the information displayed to suit your own personal preference. Here, the "Information per instruction" options let you choose between any of the 7 different information settings to display at each turn.

Figure 86: Find Alternative

If you're not satisfied with the route the GO 740 automatically calculated, tap Find Alternative to customize the planned route (shown below).

Figure 87: Find Alternative

The GO 740 provides route customization options:

• Calculate alternative - Have the GO 740 automatically calculate a new, different, route to the destination address
• Avoid roadblock - If you know a street is closed, you can indicate the location on the map and have the GO 740 route around the closed road
• Travel via - Insert a stop along the route
• Recalculate Original - Re-calculate the original proposed route
• Avoid part of route - Browse a list of all turns in the planned route, and choose a specific road (or multiple roads) to avoid
• Minimize delays - Calculate a route that avoids as much traffic as possible

Figure 88: Avoid Part of Route

Tap on the road or highway you want to avoid to exclude a specific section from the planned route.