Rating: - I'm Impressed - Top Buy!
I've just read some of these reviews and am surprised at some of the views and problems - I love mine!

Not had it long and decided to treat myself as my old satnav was well past it's sell by date.

I spent a lot of time prior to my purchase researching the various brands and models, I wanted one that would allow me to use my phone handsfree and play mp3s/audiobooks and decided to go for this one.

My mobile phone was easy to set up and works well via bluetooth (Model: Samsung) but I'd suggest anyone thinking of buying this, check on the TomTom website for compatibility as others seem to have problems.

FM receiver - set up was a doddle (once I'd worked out how to get my standard Renault cd/radio to manually search step by step rather than automatically find the next FM station - and believe me that took some doing!) The sound is clear as a bell with no interference which is great as I love playing mp3 audiobooks on long journeys.

Using additional SD card for mp3's did have me foxed for a while - but soon found the answer on google and created a folder called 'mp3' on my SD card and dragged them into there. Individual Albums/Audiobooks are placed in their own folder within this folder.

Voice recognition - works instantly for me every time and must admit I use it all the time.

Satnav itself hasn't taken me wrong yet - map correction worked for the closed off road just round the corner from my house and no longer routes me that way. The 4.3" screen gives a clear view of the road ahead and the lane guidance at motorway merges is really good.

Plenty of warning is given for speedcameras and usefully also indicates the speed limit.

It's not fallen off the windscreen yet - though looking at the other posts, I'll expect that to happen in the future. (Thinking about buying the airvent holder - any views anyone???)

No problems with the TomTom home software - just connected it up to my PC and automatically installed the latest software and updated my maps and speedcameras. Another great feature is the backup facility and that was one of the first things I did - very handy should I mess up.

In summary, I'm absolutely delighted!

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Rating: - Too many gadgets
Despite loads of software failings "Even microsoft have software problems" said one of the tom tom customer care team, I do like the GO520.

The problems I have encountered;
The voice recognition locks out regularly and the only way to clear the problem is to reset the Tom tom. When it actually works it works well.

The battery doesn't last very long so on journeys more than an hour the voices distort because of battery drain. Plug it in I hear you say, the problem is I like my sat nav on the right side because I find it obstructs my view too much in the centre. This means I have to trail the lead from the centre consol over the dash and wheel!

The mp3 is exellent and because the unit transmitts in Fm you can listen over the stereo in very good quality. Get a good sd card and you will fit alot of albums on. One thing though if you use windows media player you will have to convert all your tracks from wma to mp3 format before uploading to tom.

We've had it for 3 months now and don't use the mp3 at all, the voice recognition we don't bother with and given the choice now I would have just bought the basic model to show me where to go, that is after all a sat nav's purpose!.

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Rating: - Poor Design Feature
I brought the 520 because of it's many features. Without a doubt it's a very good navigation system, unfortunately many of it's features proved to be of little use.

For a start the auto display dimming feature did not work properly. This was because the location of the sensor had been poorly designed. They should have mounted it on the rear of the unit so it was facing out towards the light, not on the front facing towards the dark interior of the car. The result being that it always thinks it's getting dark and the display will remain dim even in bright daylight.

The FM transmitter was something else I could not get to work. I don't know about other car radios but mine has auto tuning. You press a button and it searches till it finds a signal. What it will not do is search for a frequency not being used. Which is what you need in order to use the 520 through the car radio. Not being able to use this feature, there seemed little point in trying to use the 520 as an MP3 player.

Although many people advised me that no Tom Tom tells you to turn round when you miss a turning, the 520 does. One of the features I really like.

Once or twice I found the voice instructions to be way out of sync with the map display, telling me to leave the motorway in 800 yards after I had already passed the exit ramp. Pitty because I was hoping I could drive without having to keep looking at the display. But the majority of the time, the instructions came perfectly timed for each turning.

Mounting the unit on the windscreen can be difficult. If you have set unit to navigate you to where you want go, before mounting it on the windscreen, you will need to turn the unit off, because you are sure to touch the screen which will change the display, and like me you could easily find you have accidently changed the settings to take you back home instead.

One of the features I did like a lot was the ability to correct the map whenever you found it to be wrong, and you will. But mapshare? I really can't see any advantage to having this feature. For one year only, you can download corrections made by others, the majority of which would have been made on roads your never likely to travel on.

The multiple menu system can be a litte complicated at first too. For instance, you would think that in Manage Favourite Places, you would be able to both add or delete any of your favourite places. Not so, you need to go elsewhere if you want to add a favourite place.

The over the speed limit warning feature was one of the main features that convinced me to get the 520. Thinking this would make the unit a useful tool for everyday use, rather than just something you only use when going on holiday. I was very disappointed. It does not warn you every time your travelling over the speed limit on all roads. You can only set it up to warn you if you exceed a fixed speed limit that you specify, or you can have it warn you if you exceed the national speed limit of 70 MPH.

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Rating: - TomTom 520
Got this TomTom today without any knowledge previously of Sat Nav. Just amazing piece of electronics. This thing recognises my voice and I just tell it where I want to go. Linked to my phone it brings me Bluetooth handsfree. My phone ( Nokia 6300 ) was not a named phone on the website to link with my Sat Nav ...... but it did !
I deliberately travelled a wrong route .... it simply re routed me!
Apparently it can come through my car speakers, it will play downloaded tunes, There are points of interest which you can add too and share with other TomTom users.
The mobile link shows my caller as they phone and the phonebook shows anyone there I decide to call .... I just tap the name ......... and what about this .........
IF SOMEONE TEXTS ME ... It can be read outloud, as it arrives, by the speaking voice .........
how cools that !!!!!
It has a reset to factory button if you just want to ....strart again ...
( wish you could do that on a PC ) and most of all ..........
it stops my Mrs doing my head in ... shes just hopeless at navigating ..
. has it saved our marriage ....... ?
lol ...... I think I'll take it back .............
very impressed

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Rating: - I love this device!
This is my first ever satnav - and I am really happy with it!.

The main thing is that if you should deviate from the route given, it will very quickly pick up on this, and recalculate the route, getting you back on track. Very useful if you are in an unfamiliar area.

The spoken voice is certainly loud enough to hear out of the speaker on the satnav when on the motorway, although you can tune it in to your stereo and have it come out of your car speakers (or via an audio cable if you have an auxiliary socket in your car).

It bleeps at you if you're driving too fast on a particular road (should you select it to) and warns you of upcoming speed cameras (again, should you select it to).

Every time you connect it to your computer, you can update the information on it, so it is as up to date as you want it to be. If you notice an error on the TomTom map, you can even report and correct this with TomTom - including adding any missing points of interest that you feel should be on there.

It is certainly worth taking the time to get to know this machine before you use it, as it will do an awful lot of stuff (including being used as an MP3 player or allowing you to make and receive calls on your mobile via bluetooth whilst driving).

The battery life isn't so great so you will have to charge it quite soon after using it on a journey of a couple of hours, but it does come with a car charger so no real problems with this.

I am really happy with my TomTom and, despite all the stories I have heard about inaccuracies of directions, it has been spot-on for me so far.