My family loves to spend time outdoors so when we go on a vacation we usually travel by car and bond over activities like camping, fishing and swimming in our province. Saskatchewan may seem like an uninteresting place, but having lived here my entire life I know that some of the most beautiful lakes and campgrounds in Canada can be found in my home province. Getting to them, however, can sometimes be a challenge.

Or at least, it used to be a challenge before I got the chance to review the phenomenal TomTom GO 2505 TM car navigation device. I had always thought of GPS navigators as both intriguing and intimidating, but the TomTom GO series of car navigation devices promised a completely user-friendly experience and I was delighted when I was given the chance to review one for myself.

As thrilled as I was, my husband was even more excited. I decided not to tell him about reviewing the TomTom GO 2505 TM and his face as he opened the box was absolutely priceless. “No way!” he exclaimed in joyful disbelief. And in a flash, he was out the door and into our minivan, where he explored the different features of the TomTom GO in perfect contentment.

We had ample opportunity to test out the TomTom GO 2505 TM over the next few weeks and what really impressed me about this amazing car navigation device was how intuitive the operating system was. The touchscreen made programming destinations so simple and the large, easy to identify graphics ensured that my husband could quickly press the icon he needed without taking his attention off the road. Once the destination was set, he just sat back and followed the directions from the Voice Guidance system to reach his destination. With the swipe of a finger, he could scroll to the next page in the various menus to get to the settings he needed. And by drawing two fingers apart or together on a map, the device would zoom in and out on the picture for the perfect view.

I really loved the Favourites customizable menu that let me choose different locations and add them to my Favourites using any one of ten different entry methods. From my sister’s new house two hours away to the grocery store where we do all our shopping, getting to a specific location was never so easy or so much fun! My husband liked to manually enter the addresses of his favourite locations to save them in the Favourites list, but my preferred way of adding a new favourite was to add our current location once we were at the address. I then just entered a name to identify the location and it was saved and waiting for me next time. And when we weren’t sure where we wanted to go, we were able to choose from the more than 7 million points of interest preloaded in the device!

The easy-to-use TomTom GO 2505 TM also boasts a ton of other convenient features. Advanced Lane Guidance not only told us in which direction we should be driving but also in which lane of traffic so that there was no chance of missing an important turn. IQ Routes provided further intelligent route planning by using technology that considered actual travel speed instead of just analyzing a route based on the road’s speed limit to calculate the quickest trip route.

Even more amazing, the Traffic Information feature evaluates multiple routes to the same location based on current traffic and can be set to automatically change your route if another road offers a quicker trip. In our relatively small capital city of Regina, we didn’t have a chance to test this out first-hand, but I can just imagine how handy it would be in Toronto or Montreal!

One of my absolute favourite things about the TomTom GO 2505 TM was the incredible 3D Driving View. The 3D display made following the route so much easier since the route was literally continuing in the same direction as we were driving. The Driving View also contained tons of information about our journey, from our speed limit to the name of the road we were on to our estimated time of arrival. Of course, one of the very first things we did was change our car’s icon to one of a green minivan just like the vehicle we were driving! Once the route was set, we just had to sit back and follow the red arrow on the screen as the Voice Guidance provided further assurance that we were following the correct route.

I always have my smartphone by my side, so I had to test out the Bluetooth and voice recognition capabilities of the TomTom GO. Setting up the Bluetooth was a breeze; I just pressed the Manage Phones icon and chose the Find a Phone option. The TomTom GO immediately searched for Bluetooth-enabled devices in the vicinity and connected with them. When I first set up the connection, the unit even imported my phone book so all my numbers were on my car navigation device!

With Bluetooth activated on the TomTom, I decided it was time to check out the voice recognition as well. The voice recognition is another great example of how user-friendly the TomTom GO series really is. Rather than limiting me to one specific phrase, I was able to use any one of a variety of phrases to input the same information. For example, I could set a route to our house by saying either “Drive to home,” or “Navigate to home.” From adjusting the device volume to making phone calls, there were so many things I found I could do using voice recognition and I really appreciated how much safer controlling the device with my voice was.

The slim and sleek device packed with features was topped off with a great magnetic Click & Lock mounting bracket that used a powerful magnet to hold the TomTom GO 2505 TM securely in place and made it so easy to take the device in and out of the van. The easy mounting system was the perfect finishing touch on a car navigation device that had clearly been designed to be the absolute best.

Everyone in my family loves the TomTom GO 2505 TM car navigation device and even when we are travelling to a destination we know, my oldest son Zackary often requests that we bring “the car game” on our trip. He thinks of the device as a unique video game that tells us where to go and he loves watching the tiny car icon travel down the road as the directions and street names are announced out loud.

With Father’s Day just around the corner, the TomTom GO 2505 TM is a sure-to-please gift for any Dad. And best of all, everyone can finally say goodbye to wrong turns, dead ends and argument over the proper directions! If you love to travel by car, the TomTom GO series is a must for the ultimate summer adventures. Check out the TomTom Go 2505 TM car navigation device for yourself and see how fun and easy driving can be!

Buy It: To purchase any of the great car navigation devices from TomTom, check the official website for a retailer near you or shop online now

Win It: One incredibly lucky reader is going to win their own TomTom GO 2505 TM car navigation device, a $320 value, from TomTom

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Giveaway ends 11:59 pm CST on June 30, 2011. Open to Canada Only

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