TomTom Car Sat Nav Start 42, 4.3 Inch with Lifetime WE Maps

I previously had a XL device which worked so well - fast, quick, responsive. TomTom elected not to upgrade the maps anymore so it necessitated an upgrade. I purchased this device in Jan 2018. Immediately the start up sequence took ages to complete. The latency, the time it took to respond to inputs, took ages. I contacted TomTom who took me on a voyage of soft resets, now back up your data and do a hard reset. I tried to use some of their functionality : designated routes. However, when you deviate off that route due to diversions etc, the system goes into a calculation phase. No driver inputs are offered at this point, just "recalculating".TomTom offered no recompense as I had bought it from Amazon and their 28 day window had now gone. Oh TomTom could offer me a 25% discount off a new device if I wanted.What could I say about this device : it is slow to respond and its functionality is poor. TomTom Start 52 5 inch Sat Nav with UK Lifetime Maps

This is utter crapI bought this to replace my `Start 25` which was fine until you find out that `lifetime` updates means the `lifetime` of your product which is actually only five years. Now we all know these are a complete bastard to update anyway so lets skip that one.Well I could swear this is a forgery/rip off item as it is so crap.It can't find places my phone can and the instructions from the voice are ambiguous and usually too late.There is no `lane guidance` which was the best feature on my last one.In Spain it cant tell the difference between a roundabout and a junction and as for the pronunciation well it might as well be ChineseSo do not buy one of these bits of trash.

Having being talked into buying this product instead of Garmin I managed after a couple of hours to load my maps. When however I tried to load updates it completely removed all maps I had previously had on it, rendering it useless.Trying to contact TomTom was no good either as only an email address or phone number to Europe.Thankfully was able to return.

As a driving instructor, I have to use this satnav as this is the one that examiners use on the test. But wow, I wish that wasn't the case. Inputs are extremely slow, device is seldom unresponsive, the UI is clunky and counter-intuitive. If you need to search for somewhere to go, putting in the street name is useless, as most of the time it will only respond to post codes. Saying that, on multiple occasions I have tried entering a street name that it couldn't find so I then entered the post code, but then as I got there the street name that I had entered, spelled exactly the same, appeared on the map.I know other people have had issues with the initial setup, but I don't recall having any major problems. The only thing that is actually a plus is that it has never fallen down and sticks to the windshield well.

Had to give it a rating as it’s computer, ideally would have given it no stars as the first one I received only lasted 3 days before screen going blank and the replacement had exactly the same fault after a couple of weeks. Tried the online Tom Tom instructions to restart it but that never worked

My new TomTom Start 52 is now OK and fully operational. However the instruction book only states the obvious. If you are not familiar with the product there is no help. The customer help line appears not to exist, same for the email address and the My Tom Tom WEB page just takes you round in circles. A simple menu tree in the instruction book or on line would save a lot of frustration. My problem was only resolved by accident. Still don't know the appropriate on/off switch location. Shame because the product is excellent.

Sat nav gets you where you need to be but how annoying to be told 'go round the roundabout and take the first exit' wouldn't it be more sensible to say 'on approaching the roundabout take the first exit'. It doesn't announce road names either which the previous model (25) did. So that's why I haven't given it 5 stars. It is a little disappointing!

I do not find my START52 as good as my GO 750 LIVE which is no longer supported by TOMTOM. I hope that the lifetime maps offer is as good as it sounds but only time will tell. I have only just started using the new TOMTOM (yesterday) but it does not seem as user friendly as my previous model and I do not like the graphics as much. I wish TOMTOM were like Microsoft so I could have a screen display that I am familiar with.