On the verge of 2009 I ran into this review of the Blaupunkt TravelPilot 700 in De Volkskrant (Dutch newspaper). I've translated part of it, because it very clearly illustrates that there can be a tremendous difference between what a product description promises and how that works out in reality. In the first part of the review the author points out all the features that make the Blaupunkt TravelPilot 700 utterly remarkable, and in the second part he burns those features down to the ground, one by one. Especially the last two sentences are deadly. However, Blaupunkt's promising product description did cause a stir on the gadet blogs. Mission accomplished?

A real TomTom-killer. On the drawing board, that is.

Blaupunkt did it: the German electronics manufacturer made a TomTom-killer. The TravelPilot 700 has everything a driver can ever wish for. Built-in TV-tuner, so you can watch high definition television if you are not driving. Wireless internet connection plus built-in mail- and browser-software. It can even read Word and Excel documents. It has Bluetooth, plays DivX-movies, and of course MP3s, and it has a large touch-screen. But the best feature of the TravelPilot 700 is the built-in camera. It can read traffic signs with speed limitations, just like the new BMW 7-series or the Opel Insignia. […] The TravelPilot has one more trick up its sleeve. The built-in camera can show the road, just like the driver sees it. […] Because the device projects the directional arrows over it, the driver sees much clearer what exit to take. […]

A wonderful device. On the drawing board, that is. Because in practice there are quite a few things wrong with the TravelPilot700. For instance, during a 250 kilometer trip the built-in camera missed nearly all speed limitations at roadwork. In other cases it missed the end of a speed limit. The number of mistakes was so big that you can’t trust it blindly. Which makes the whole feature essentially useless. […]

There’s more. The driver is addressed by a Dutch and a Flemish girl, who regularly utter parts of sentences simultaneously, like the nephews of Donald Duck. […] Sloppy and potentially annoying. And then there’s some nickel and dime stuff: the holder with the suction cup that is used to attach the device to the window is hard to set properly. The arrows are only projected properly on-screen if the camera is aimed just the right way: you have to do that over and over again because of that clumsy suction cup. In addition the screen can’t be directed towards the driver, because the camera is then pointed at the roadside.

We did not succeed at setting up a WIFI connection, not even on an unsecured router. The TV-tuner did not receive any signal in the Amsterdam region. You can’t see whether the battery is charged if the device is switched off and charging. Charging via the USB cable is not possible.

The list of shortcomings is endless. And with that the 600 Euro that the device costs suddenly becomes a whole lot of money. It’s probably best to wait for the TravelPilot 700.1. Or you buy a TomTom.

Author: Bard van de Weijer - De Volkskrant, December 18 2008