To help us provide you with free impartial advice, we may earn a commission if you buy through links on our site. Learn more

TomTom Go Live Top Gear Edition review

Our Rating :
Price when reviewed : £180
inc VAT

This limited edition will naturally appeal to Top Gear fans, but we'd expect full maps of Europe at this price

If you’re a Top Gear fan and need a new satnav, this limited edition is the ideal choice. It’s limited because the BBC realised that it had breached its own guidelines about product endorsement and decided to cancel the project. Fortunately, this happened too late to stop thousands of the finished products being delivered to Halfords, which has the exclusive rights to sell it. All the BBC’s profits will be donated to Children in Need due to the legal issues.

The device itself is the TomTom Go Live 820, with a 4.3in resistive touch screen, a compact integrated windscreen mount and maps of the UK and Ireland. The Top Gear tie-in is obvious from the moment you turn it on, as a photo of The Stig appears on the loading screen.

Stig welcome screen

Jeremy Clarkson’s voice is set as the default and barks directions in his usual sarcastic style. Needless to say, phrases such as, “Take the third exit and then take the motorway. You can’t miss it. It’s that huge piece of tarmac full of caravans and traffic cones” tend to wear a little thin after you’ve heard them a dozen times, but are amusing nonetheless. Stig’s ‘voice’ is also included in the list, but is only useful if you prefer your satnav to be silent. Sadly, James May and Richard Hammond’s voices aren’t present.

You also get some extra car icons specific to Top Gear. These mostly relate to the special episodes, such as the recent snow plough made from a combine harvester. You’ll also find Top Gear points of interest including racetracks around the UK, plus the Dunsfold Top Gear test track. The latter isn’t much use of course, as it isn’t open to the public.

Shut down screen

Overall, the Top Gear content may not sound like much, but it won’t be available to other TomTom owners for download to other models in the future, so is truly exclusive. It might even mean you could make a profit if you decide to sell the satnav later on.

Pages: 1 2

Details

Price £180
Details www.tomtom.com
Rating ****

Mapping

Navigation software N/A
Map data TeleAtlas
Countries covered UK, Ireland
Traffic information GPRS
Toll road warning yes
Roadblock avoidance yes
Speed camera alerts yes

Hardware

Type standalone satnav
Compatible operating system N/A
Viewable size 4.3in
Native resolution 480×272
Memory card support microSD
Memory card included 2GB internal
GPS receiver SiRFstarIII + InstantFixII
Accessories car charger
CCD effective megapixels N/A
Extras Google Live Search, HD Traffic, voice control
Size 120x85x34mm
Weight 205.0kg

Buying Information

Price £180
Warranty one-year RTB
Supplier http://www.halfords.com
Details www.tomtom.com

Performance

GPS London route calculation test 4s
GPS UK route calculation test 16s

Read more

Reviews