12 out of 12 people found this review helpful.
TOMTOM ONE 3rd EDN - GOOD BASIC GPS
Date of Review: Oct 17, 2008
The Bottom Line: I would buy it if you have limited technical savvy - it will get you to point A to point B. Is a good starting point for occasional use.
I purchased my TOMTOM ONE 3rd Edn online from a "big box" store. The selling point was that included a case. The CASEwas a huge disappoint as the case only holds the GPS system itself and not any accessories (USB cord/suction cup holder). So you will need to obtain another carrying case for those items.
SETUP: Was ready to use out of box. Though I did not realize that a computer was required for updates, etc. A person can truly remove it from the box and use it to navigate.
WEBSITE and SUPPORT: I do not think their website is easy to follow. I am fairly competent in using computers and I their website was frustrating to follow and not easy to understand what updates are free and which had a fee. One I found the page to download new voices was not easy to find the second time I went to the site. I did try to ask a question online and never did receive and answer and finally figured it out myself.
CONNECTIVITY TO SATELLITE: Is very slow on initial turning on before trip. This can be frustrating when you are sitting in a parking lot waiting for the device to find your location. If you are in a building you need to find a window as it cannot find a signal if inside - and you must find a window to aim it outside. Once the signal is found it will keep the signal well - it has never lost a signal once found.
ROUTE PLANNING: Easy to enter address to plan the route to. If no address is known, the "Point of Interest" menu gives the majority hotels, restaurants, arenas, hospitals (just a small example of available point of interests) in a city. We use the Point of Interest to find things in cities --- but have found those not updated often times and do use that with a breath of caution.
NAVIGATION: Very easy to follow. The device announces to you well in advance if you will be taking a turn, which direction of the ramp to take, or to "just keep going straight" I have 100% trust when driving in large cities that it will tell me which lane to be in and when my exit ramp is nearing and repeatedly tells me to take the turn. This I find TOMTOM's strong point. I do not even need to look at the screen and can concentrate on the road I am traveling.
BATTERY LIFE: Box says 2 hours but I have not found that to be true - more like 1.5 hours. Can be an issue if you only have one power outlet in your vehicle and kids with you who want to plug in dvd players, etc. We have to take turns on who is plugged in for a period of time on long trips.
DISPLAY: Easy to look out to understand which way your immediately road you are on is heading. There is a "day" screen and a "night" screen which is very nice and easy on your eyes during dark hours. I do wish the TOMTOM would announce what city is approaching. You may also switch from the physical map to a typed detailed map - which I also wish would include a list of cities on the route - instead of only road numbers.
EASE OF USE:Very good if setup before your trip. If you are traveling alone you must stop to look at any screen other than the immediately road map. If you decide to take a road that TOMTOM was choosing, the device will reroute the map immediately to accommodate the new road you have chosen.
ERRORS ON MAP:There is an option to correct a mistake on the map that you have found. I have tried many times to "fix" a mistake, and have yet to figure that one out. I have found that on specific addresses that occasionally it is one or two houses off - which has been frustrating to try to "get it right". A few times I have notice that TOMTOM thinks we are driving in a middle of a field or driving into the water when we are on a bridge and the TOM TOM is busy trying "to find a road".
