TomTom ONE 3rd Edition 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Vehicle Navigator by TomTom
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Digital camera reviews of TomTom ONE 3rd Edition 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Vehicle Navigator
Digital camera Review: A Real Bargain
Summary: 3 Stars
The only real problem I have with the TomTom is its compass. Any real cartographer knows that top of the map is NORTH. The 2D representation is what I use, not the 3D which rotates in the direction you are going (very confusing to me). In the 2D presentation the compass does not point in the direction you are going, it confuses East and West. I also have the DeLorme GPS receiver on my laptop and it does this job correctly. A complaint to TomTom brought back an explanation which does not make sense to me. So I just turned off the compass.Digital camera Review: A Waste of Money
Summary: 1 Stars
The Tom Tom is easy to use. That's the only good thing about it. The maps will get you close to where you want to go, maybe, but don't count on it. They are the absolute worst maps and are unable to locate very well known places. Even after down-loading Best Western Hotels, and Denny's restaurants, it can't find the ones you want and know are there. My advice, don't waste your money!!Digital camera Review: A basic GPS navigator for most of us
Summary: 4 Stars
This is the second unit I've bought and the fourth I've played with.
There are at least 4 versions of TomTom One: version 1, 2, 2 "new edition" and 3. They are very similar electronically but quality control and software issues plague versions 1 & 2. Some Version 3 models malfunction within days of purchase, stuck on its infamous 'white screen' that persists until machines are reset, but reoccurs. Its likely a production batch with serial numbers containing 46,47,48; e.g. Y12448Cxx. Tomtom Home v1.x has caused some machines to completely lose data, but no reports of issues once users upgrade to Home V2.x.
"New Edition" US version is noted as having the US/Canada maps preloaded, few to no bug reports and ready to run, out of box. The recent model in this series is Version 3; it has no SD card slot but has built in capability to make some corrections to its maps. The US/Canada version ships in a hard plastic 'skin pack' that is difficult to open and can cut your fingers from sharp plastic. Beware. Prior versions shipped in a cardboard box, with an easy to open, plastic shrink wrap.
I strongly suggest users leave their units on for 2-3 days connected to computer USB port to 'burn in' their units, and allow for premature failure, while under warranty.
Not documented by TomTom, the One series will charge via any computer USB port.
Navigation Test
I did a "Turing Test" by comparing my favorite known driving routes against the TT1 recommendations.
My often used routes are optimal for time and distance. In planning mode, TT1 gave many identical recommendations, from 0.5 - 500mi away.
On test trips, I purposely pulled over to a side road that I knew reconnected to the planned route some distance ahead. After the 'turn around if possible' warning it automatically re-routed my trip to take me back on track. On other tests, it simply rerouted me directly back to my plan, without other warnings.
I hit the 'road block' option that suggests I'm stuck in traffic for 'X' miles. TT1 would tell me get off the next exit, turn around, make a turn here or there and follow a new route to bypass this X miles jam. I did this numerous times to check how it would reroute me in local driving & highway driving. Expectedly, it gave 'reroute not possible' when my destination was within the minimum distance required to reroute, about 0.5 mi.
After preliminary testing in local roads, the TT1 went on a road trip of over 2500 mi.
I entered GPS coordinates for addresses I had not been to but expect to visit. If faulty coordinates were given that terminated without roads, the TT1 quickly reported a route could not be plotted to that destination: you can navigate to the nearest turn off road if the coordinates are known. I arrived at all the plotted destinations flawlessly, following TT1 directions instead of what I would be told.
In a notorious area in Washington DC, traffic jams that cause over 1 hour trip delays were very common ... TT1 routed me around DC easily, so my arrival time changed by under 5 minutes. In prior trips, I had no choice but to stick it out on the traffic jam. On the return trip, part of the bypass route also had traffic, I hit the 'road block' feature and again, TT1 navigated me around the block through local roads and to the highway with ne'er a change in the arrival time. Anyone who has driven through the confusing DC inner roads will know how difficult such navigation is without detailed knowledge or maps of downtown Washington. The TT1 easily saved me 1 hour wasted in DC traffic that I had done many times for years prior.
As I sped down south, I simulated jams on the highway, and the TT1 would quickly route off the next exit into local roads, some of which I saw easily paralleled the main highway. Some bypass routes were complicated. I did this off and on, through 2000 mi of highway travel, passing through 8 states.
At my rural destination a few roads were non-existent, often dead ends or into housing development. You could plot a GPS location to a main road before a turn off. The locals had preferred routes, but the TT1 would route me through existing known roads, dirt or otherwise, that still got me to my destination regardless of what other route a local recommended. Rarely, the road names on the TT1 was different than that posted on the road signs. I spent about 500 mi traveling through these country roads.
The supplied TT1 POI database is practically useless. Except in exceptional cases of carelessness, gas or rest stops marked were far from a preferred road stop: I knew some of those stops had poor food, rest room or gas prices, while the better stops were like a mini WalMart with gas prices often lower by as much as 25c/gal. TT1 allows the user to make their own POI database, and this I did. On the return trip, TT1 tools easily allowed me to optimize my stops. In the end, I reduced my travel time by 2 hours, each way!
After over 2500mi driving the TT1 recommendations, I can say the TT1 has been accurate and invaluable. Lastly, the TT1 is actually a Linux PDA type computer, and it can be 'hacked' to add or repair it in ways it was not designed to be! More info can be found on the 'net.
Digital camera Review: A good GPS
Summary: 4 Stars
I bought this GPS last month. I used it for several times and it works fine. I can find my destination with the help of this GPS.
One disadvantage might be that you can not input the name of the place directly into the GPS. For example, you can not input xxx University. You must know the street and number.
In all, this is an affordable GPS with all basic function of other GPS.
Digital camera Review: A good companion!
Summary: 5 Stars
Having the Tom Tom...and Bonnie's voice, to help navigate my way, has been very reliable and a real pleasurable companion.
David