GPS Review - TomTom One
By Richard Mead.
This review appeared in Electrical Gems Issue 80, August—September 2007
The test unit is one of the latest generation of affordable, slim, ultra compact, portable GPS units that can slip in and out of its windscreen mounted cradle just as easily as it can slip in and out of your pocket. Measuring just 25mm from back to front, 95mm wide and 82mm high, this is one of the slimmest, most compact and stylish GPS units you will find, and if my experience is typical, one of the best.
Getting started with TomTom One.
TomTom One comes with software and maps pre-installed, ready to go. The cradle mounts readily to the windscreen with a suction cup and the unit slots securely into the cradle, with ample adjustment to angle the touch screen to your satisfaction. The TomTom One has an internal lithium-ion battery, which allows you to operate the TomTom One without a power connection for up to two hours. The power cord supplied plugs into the cigarette lighter socket and the other end plugs in underneath the unit. I found it much easier to plug in the cable before mounting the unit in the cradle because once in the cradle, it is a fiddly task to locate the socket beneath the units base. The unit can also be charged via a USB cable when connected to your computer.
Another thing I found easier to do while TomTom One was out of its cradle was to program my destination. There are no buttons on the face of the TomTom One. All commands are programmed via the touch-sensitive screen, which has an anti-glare coating - so necessary under the strong Australian sun. The menu system is both intuitive and easy to use, especially with familiarity. My test unit was delivered minus instructions, which did not make it any easier to learn the units basic functions. But with a little practice comes familiarity, and I found it was easy to program the unit via its helpful on-screen display. If I can use this unit, straight out of the box with no instructions, almost anyone can do it, believe me!
The menu offers you multiple choices such as shortest route, alternative route, browse map, preview route, even plan itinerary. Traffic and/or weather reports are available (via TomTom HOME software - downloaded from your PC or Mac). Using TomTom HOME you can also download fixed speed camera positions, school zone positions, update your maps and/or buy new maps.
Driving with TomTom One.
After years of wrestling (in various states of confusion) with street maps, I found it an amazing experience to sit back and let the sat-nav unit guide me to my destination. By simply following the on-screen prompts I found programming the destination was very easy to do, and once the unit had taken a fix on its position, would calculate the route to destination (shortest or otherwise depending on how you program it) within about 30 seconds.
If it was navigating me through familiar territory (familiar to me) TomTom One would often take me via a route that I would not have chosen. This is because, quite simply, GPS units are not mind readers. If this is a problem, TomTom One can be programmed to navigate you via your preferred route.
But I must confess that on occasions when I knew some of the route, I drove to the locality of the destination by my preferred route then, at the point at which I needed directions (usually the point at which you might [without GPS] grope beneath the back seat for the street directory) I stopped, programmed the destination into the GPS and let it take me the rest of the way, right to the door. Too easy.
Once under way, TomTom One gives clear, concise voice commands and a 3-D route map can be selected on-screen. With clear distances to turns and intersections plus time and speed readouts, the TomTom One directed me to my destination time and again without confusion and with remarkable accuracy and reliability.
If I deviated (either deliberately or by mistake) from the calculated route, the TomTom One would invariably direct me to MAKE A U-TURN (even if there was nowhere to turn). This was not the fault of TomTom - it was just doing its job, directing me to go back to the point of deviation. It was also a reminder to me that I had strayed off the programmed route. I found however that if I continued on my merry way, the unit would re-calculate the route and would soon begin to give instructions to my destination again, from my new position.
Another thing I learned pretty quickly was that the TomTom One, like any computer, must be accurately programmed. Just like a web browser, that insists that web addresses are typed accurately to the letter, TomTom demands that addresses are correct. Misspell a street name or mistake any other component of your address details and you could find yourself being navigated to somewhere other than the destination you intended. Again, not TomToms fault, and its a good reminder that TomTom One is controlled by a microcomputer, and not a human brain. As such, it is generally more methodical and reliable than the human kind (and a whole lot more even-tempered).