TomTom ONE 3rd Edition 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Vehicle Navigator Review
September 24th, 2009
TomTom ONE 3rd Edition 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Vehicle Navigator Review from Wael Khansa. Very good navigation with some caveats, I have been using this one for only 2 days, but having used previous GPS (Garmin Nuvi 350, Mio C310x and Magellan 4050), I can say my navigation experience has been very good so far.
I agree with other reviewers that even without text-to-speech, the voice directions in combination with looking at the map will work just fine. My first trip today went smoothly with the following caveats:
1-When you make a wrong turn (which I did intentionally to test the device) , it tries very quickly (within 5 seconds) to re-direct you in the correct direction. However, unlike the other devices I have tried, it does not notify you that it is “re-calculating” . I personally don’t believe it is a big deal as long as it does a good job at putting you back on track.
UPDATE 11/27/07: Even though you do not get a “re-calculating” voice
indication, it does put a message on the screen (2 seconds long) to that
effect. I personally think this is fine since I used to hate having
to hear the “re-calculating” over and over again on some of the other devices I have tried.
2-When driving through side streets, the unit does not display the name of the next street to turn to on the top right corner. It will display the names of major highways and routes only. For example, if I am supposed to turn right to Memorial road in 100 yards, it will not display that street name, but just verbally tell you to tun right. I find this to be a major nuisance, since, in the absence of text-to-speech, I want to READ which street i am supposed to turn to next. I have not seen any other reviewer complain about this. So I hope this is not just my own device. I have been having some technical issue with the TomTom Home 2 software when attempting to download the latest maps, which I will explain below, but I believe this to be unrelated to the side street names issue. I am planning on calling customer service to inquire about this. Having said that, even with the missing side street names, I am still able to follow the screen (the trajectory is clearly marked) as well as the voice guidance without missing a turn.
UPDATE 11/27/07: I called customer service and they confirmed that the device does not show the next street to turn to if it is not a major highway. I just could not believe this device would not show you the next street: any other GPS in the market does so. So I decided to play some more with the features, and discovered that this option DOES exist. All you have to do is go to navigation options under preferences and select the option to display the next street to turn to . It worked. I can’t believe it was that easy, yet customer service did not even know this was possible?!
TomTom Home 2 issues:
When I try to use the TomTom Home 2 software to download the latest maps, I consistently get an “internal server error” which prevents me from moving forward with the download. I will call customer service to inquire about this, so I am hoping that there is a quick fix for this. I don’t have any issues when downloading other items like POI, voices, and safety cameras….
UPDATE 11/27/07: This is a TomTom web server issue due to high download demand after black Friday. I was able to download the maps successfuly after talking to customer service.
Map Share :
Map share is a great idea, I have tried it , and it is very useful. But Tomtom literature that came with the device indicates that free Map sharing with/from others is only good for one year. So Map Share is not free after all?! Is this an indirect way of getting you to buy updated maps?
UPDATE 11/27/07. Customer service mentioned that there is no one year limit to using Map Share. So I hope they are not bluffing….
Final thoughts:
My 4 star rating is based on the assumption that the couple of issues mentioned above will get fixed . Even with those issues, the device itself is a very solid GPS navigator. It does not give you the frills of a Nuvi 350, but the price difference between those two is in favor of the TomTom. It is so far a keeper.
UPDATE 11/27/07. Based on my 11/27/07 updates, I am happy I made the purchase! I am also growing fonder of the device as I learn about its features (zip code search, intersection search, longitute/latitude search, powerful POI search options, ….). Plus, the TOMTOM Home 2 software allows you to get the latest maps for free (first 30 days). That in itself is extremely helpful. One of my friends bought the Magellan 4050 with Voice recognition only to return it because his own house was not on the map (plus Magellan does not advertise free map updates). The Map Share feature is also very valuable as it is equivalent to a freeware map update software.
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