TomTom ONE 3rd Edition 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Vehicle Navigator
by TomTom
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List Price: Our Price: $59.99 You Save: $190.00 (76%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: GPS or Navigation System See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of TomTom ONE 3rd Edition 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Vehicle Navigator
Customer Review: one of the BEST things I've ever bought!
Summary: 5 Stars
No, this is not a PERFECT device, but considering how little I paid for it (seventy bucks after rebate, refurbed model) I am extremely pleased. It has paid for itself countless times in just the two months that I've owned it. I have used it for medium road trips of 800 miles, and cross-country trips of 1800 miles, and for city trips of less than 30 miles. I think I'm addicted to it...couldn't imagine ever going without a GPS unit ever again, esp. for those long road trips.
No, it's not accurate 100% of the time. More like 90-95%. And when it comes to pinpointing an exact street address on that street, accuracy is closer to 50/50, by my estimation. POIs are not that numerous unless you pay extra for them, and a lot of the free stuff that you can download from the TomTom website like locations of gas stations, are pretty much useless.
The best use for this device is when moving to or temporarily staying in a new town. It's also great for long trips to keep you aware of where you are on your journey distance and time-wise (seems to make the trip seem shorter to me), when trying to find a specific address, when wanting to experiment with different routes or shortcuts (the One re-maps your route automatically), and when forced to take detours due to construction or accidents or traffic jams. I just LOVE never having to squint at a paper map ever again!
I also figure that anything which will lessen my chances of getting lost thereby saving me time and gas and money, or my chances of getting into an accident (when lost one tends to be nervous and straining to see signs and landmarks rather than being attentive of other cars, pedestrians etc.)---is worth every penny!
Some tips:
1. Activate the onboard compass. It's very reassuring to know that you're headed in the right direction, esp. when you've totally lost your sense of direction.
2. Set the speed alert to a specified speed rather than by local speed limits, since the TomTom's records of local speed limits is accurate only about 60% of the time, and outside of major interstates, half of the time unavailable.
3. The 4 display gauges I found to be most useful and chose were time until destination, distance until destination, arrival time at destination, and speed. (Above 50mph, I found that the TT's mph reading was consistently 3-5mph above my car's speedometer reading, but nevertheless it's nice to see it in the center of my field of vision instead of looking over or through my steering wheel.
Customer Review: A wonderful little device
Summary: 5 Stars
Got this just after the holidays. It was $149 from a local office supply store. What is ironic, is that a store, three stores over, had the same unit for $249! Shop around I had to make several calls until I found one in stock.
The unit is elegant, simple to use, and works right out of the box. It comes with a suction mount, Cigar lighter cable, some documentation on how to get started, and a USB cable. But really, you can just plug it in and go.
I did not know the unit was more or less a self contained little flash drive. You can get free updates, and change a few things online. Whats neat is that the unit can run on a PC (using the PC as the interface). The unit will self-install on most PCs and the interface is easy to use. Documentation (advanced features) are online. Its 2008 don't expect a full "book" on how to use it. Frankly, you don't need it.
Getting around is simple, clear, and understandable. I did not want the bluetooth, extra cards, FM transmitter, and other bells and whistles, I just wanted a simple to use GPS in my car - this gets the job done with ease.
The display is clear, the buttons are easy to press, and the map routing is simple.
I tried a few other units in the store before getting this one. This is the 3rd edition, and it shows. It seems some of the much cheaper units are still in a beta phase and were clunky and slow.
The pre installed voices are clear and easy to hear in the car. I was able to find a LOT of cool FREE voices online. They just add fun to the unit.
Right now there is a lot of road construction in parts of southern New Jersey. The maps are fairly up to date (within two months), and I was talking to a friend with a Garmin unit (6 months old) and our maps are about the same. A lot of people seem to be freaking out about map quality, but if you read deeper - EVERYONE has something bad to say about all the GPS units on the market.
I am very happy!
Just a side note, I was using the TomTom tonight, in bad weather, in an area of NJ I was not familiar with. I was so glad that I could more or less just listen to directions, and keep my eyes on a road, VS trying to read a paper map - at night - in the rain...
My wife joked "We'd be dead-dead without TomTom.." she's right. As far as I am concerned this item just payed for itself with piece of mind.
Customer Review: A little confusing
Summary: 3 Stars
This is my first GPS. I had used a Garmin in a rental car and went back and forth between purchasing the TomTom or a Garmin. I settled on the TomTom because it had much better reviews. I used it for the first time this week for a trip from Western Massachusetts to Baltimore, MD and used it to navigate through Washington, DC also. Here is my review now that I have used it:
On the highway/interstate:
You might want to get the one that says exit names. Unless you are really good at yards, this GPS gets a little confusing. When on the highway, it will tell you to turn right in 400 yards. While the yards count down on the screen to help you, it seems to be delayed in updating. I missed my exit about 6 times total. Not too bad for a 6 hour trip, at an average of about 1 wrong exit per hour. However, when you take the wrong exit, this GPS is very good about recalculating rather quickly and getting you back on course. I found that if I read the bottom of the screen that did help, as it told me where I should be turning. But sometimes even that was rather confusing.
City roads/off the highway: I actually found that this is easier to use when you are traveling slower. I had little trouble in DC, which can be a very confusing city to navigate. If I didn't understand when to turn, the street names on the screen were very accurate and I found myself only turning off the wrong road once, not bad for DC.
Something to be aware of: please be aware that the GPS is not a miracle and will not redirect you around unsafe areas. If you make a wrong turn, it does not have a "take me through a safe area" setting, so you might find yourself in places that you might rather have avoided. It might be worth investigating the city you will be navigating ahead of time in case there are any areas you would rather not drive through. This is something I never would have thought of before my travels. Not a flaw of the GPS but something to think about as a driver in an unfamiliar area.
All in all, this GPS is a good bargain for it's money. I am counting on it to get me across the country this summer. If I didn't think it could do it, I would definitely tell you so in this review. Although I am sure it is not the best one out there, with a little patience and some getting used to, it will get you where you need to go, no matter how many wrong turns you take :-)
Customer Review: I doubt the others are much better, at least the price is reasonable
Summary: 3 Stars
This product didn't meet my high expectations though I don't think the brand or model is to blame but I suspect all GPS systems have the same limitations. My complaints:
It doesn't say "Turn right on Elm St" rather it says "in 400 yards, turn right". (The screen does provide the name of the street though, you just don't get it verbally.)
It's like a cell phone....you're not always guaranteed you'll have reception. Doesn't do me a whole heck of a lot of good if all it states is "Lost signal 3 minutes ago". I sure wouldn't rely 100% on it...you better also have a hard-copy map in your car for the areas that have no reception.
If you approach an intersection where you will go straight, it says nothing. It only speaks when you need to make a turn. When I'm on a long, straight trip, I ride in silence for a long time and then when I finally need to make a turn, the voice actually startles me since I wasn't expecting it and hadn't heard it at every intersection.
It's got an unusual definition of 'quickest route'. I think mapquest maps out better paths than the TomTom. It seems to take me the long way around quite a bit.
Some positives (sorta):
It's sure better than nothing. I am completely geographically impaired and can't find my way through my own backyard! It gives me much more confidence in taking road trips alone and I'm not as stressed out trying to read my mapquest print-outs and reset my odometer to know when to turn. It's great to know that I'll be notified when it's time to turn and I need not worry about what my next step is. (For as long as I have a GPS signal, that is).
It's got some cool fun features, such as a warning if you are speeding and you have numerous bells/sounds/sirens to choose from as your warning sound if you choose to turn this option on. However, I don't know how many yards/miles you have to travel before it can recognize you're going to fast and I'm not sure how many mph over the limit you have to go. The only times I've gotten it to warn of speed is going 72 in a 65 mph zone, yet it never warned when going 55 in a 45....
So, I would not say that I regret buying it but I was hoping it would be better than it is. I'm sure glad I didn't buy a $400 model or something!
Customer Review: Good value for money
Summary: 4 Stars
I bought TomTom One Third Edition in online deal on Black Friday sale from one of the websites for just $105 (after getting $20 gift card). For that value I am extremely satisfied with the product. It's been couple of days since I got it but so far I am very happy.
Screen: It's a 3.5 inch color screen, which is standard for basic GPS. Map looks pretty sharp and clear on TFT LCD touchscreen (320x240 pixels, 64,000 colors.
Ease of Use: Extremely easy to use. All you do is connect this device in your car (if first time, using car charger) and just go thru the basic demo if you have never used GPS before. Set up your home location and that's it. You are ready to roll! All instructions are spoken loud enough without beig irritating. Unit is very portable and got a very good form factor.
Map: Map is pretty accurate with tons of POI locations. It has about 5 million Point of Interest database, which is good. It located pharmacy stores such as CVS, Walgreens and gas stations around my home accurately.
Help Me! Menu: Help Me! menu is indeed a nice to have for emergency use if you get lost!
Map Share: With Map Share software you can update and share maps with others as well.
Map Updates: FREE. This is very important feature. Many other companies charge extra to update latest map data. On this unit you get it for free! Just install the software (when you connect tomtom to your PC/Laptop, it will install the software), connect your devide using USB cable and select what all info you want to update.
WHAT I DONT LIKE:
1. If I want to search any greek or asian restaurant in the city, I CAN'T do that. If I know name of the restaurant and it is in its POI database, it will show it but it won't give me list based on my criteria. This was a significant downer for me.
2. Browse Map functionality is not that user friendly. When map opens in "browse map" mode, zoom in and zoom out is very cumbersome.
3. It doesn't like taking u-turns. So you get that turn right-turn left-turn left thing - which is annoying.
But overall, excellent device. I would not pay 250 bucks - the price it was selling not long before. But for anything less than 150 I would happily suggest anyone to buy this.