TomTom One

By Matt Overington on 25 July 2006

If you spent a lot of time driving around unfamiliar areas, the TomTom One could save enormous amounts of time and frustration. Granted, the design does have a couple of minor issues, and the lack of a printed manual is a little irksome, but the navigation can't be faulted.

Editor's rating:8.0 User rating:8.5
  • Good: Easy-to-use • Outstanding navigation
  • Bad: No printed manual • Tricky to reset mid-route
  • Specs: GPS navigation device • Bluetooth • See more specifications
  • RRP: AU$699.00

In-car GPS navigation systems are a boon for anybody that spends a lot of time driving from A to B. TomTom's One is designed to deliver directions en route and allow the driver to concentrate on the road.

Design
The colour screen offers a 320 x 240 pixel resolution, and the machine can be set to navigate via voice commands. The device includes a wide range of recorded languages and you are even able to set the gender and accent of the navigating voice so it appears more familiar. An SD card slot on the base of the machine handles the maps, which are available for most major countries.

Features
The packaging includes all you need to get up and running, including a cigarette lighter power adaptor, and a suction cup so you can mount the device to a windscreen. The unit includes a battery, which provides enough charge for two hours' use, and there's even an option to alter the speaker volume with the engine speed, so it gets louder as you travel faster.

What's more, TomTom bundles in capable PC software so can download your route and review your trip. Unfortunately, the packaging doesn't include a printed, bound manual, and while there is a software version on CD-ROM, users can't be expected to print out relevant pages to pack in the car.

Performance
Operation is straightforward: simply enter the street address of where you would like to navigate to and the device will automatically pick an effective route. The TomTom device does a great job of picking the course, and it's possible to override a default selection if there are any shortcuts you'd like to incorporate.

The directions are repeated as you are navigating, and they are constantly updated based upon your position and speed. For example, if you are cruising along an expressway, and you have to take the next off-ramp, the device will say, "turn right in 500m", and then again as you get closer: "turn right in 100m". It makes it relatively difficult to miss a turn and gives you plenty of warning to change lanes.

Unfortunately, if you do happen to ignore the directions given, the GPS unit will not automatically recalculate your route to get you back on course. Instead it will tell you to perform a U-turn at the next available intersection, and then navigate you back to the turn that you initially missed. It's not ideal, particularly if you are in a hurry to get to your destination, as it means that the device doesn't always pick the most effective route. You do however have the ability to recalculate a route while you are driving along, so you can reset your trip instead of backtracking, but it's not easy to do on-the-fly while cruising in traffic.

If you spend a lot of time driving around unfamiliar areas, the TomTom One could save enormous amounts of time and frustration. Granted, the design does have a couple of minor issues, and the lack of a printed manual is a little irksome, but the navigation can't be faulted.

Topics: australia, tomtom, car, driving, gps, maps, navigation, roads, route, navigate

Comments (15)

  • Barry 1 gave a review on 03/08/2009 23:07 Report abuse

    Review 1/10

    Good, ?

    Bad, Customer service Sydney. I tried to explain that I'd just down loaded the latest update and that the information was less than satisfactory. Speed limits within Perth Metro were less that 60% accurate with most of the roads listed as 50 zones including Albany Hwy including 110Km zones south of Armadale & parts of both the Kwinana & Mitchell Freeways. Roads in the South West which have been around for over 30 years not listed. The customer service reaction I'm wrong and they are not interested in my feedback. I suggested a visit to the local Ombudsman. Their reaction go ahead. What a great way to treat constructive feedback.

  • wassim gave 9/10 on 28/07/2008 22:41 Report abuse

    very straight forward

  • dgg9879@hotmail.com gave 9/10 on 17/08/2007 20:30 Report abuse

    • Good: It is fun to drive with this. I love the bright map and arrow showing when to turn. The instructions are very clear and seem to be timed correctly. It seems to select a good route. The Navman 620 I used did not seem to time the instructiona as well (but it was unit I borrowed temporarily and seemed to be faulty). It is easy to use and set up.
    • Bad: I find it hard to mount it on the screen at the right angle since it does not swivel. I used a navman 620 before and it had this swivel feature. It fell off a couple of times when driving. Perhaps I should try wetting the suction cap. But then sometimes it can be difficult to remove the suction cap and sliding the unit on and off all the time would also be a hassle and if the suction cap is still there you are still advertising to thieves that you have one so a bit of hassle involved in trying to stop it getting stolen but still well worth having one if you are hopeless navigator like me.

    I have only used it once so far but really impressed.

  • cwoodrow gave 8/10 on 10/03/2007 17:24 Report abuse

    • Good: Price has come way down (check Ebay). Easy to run with few commands. Clear display and audio. Very accurate. It does auto correct your route when you change your mind.
    • Bad: Windshield holder is not reliable. I would like to see a zoom level that you can set it for and lock it in place instead of temporarily show it. Documentation needs a list of shortcuts to switch screens.

    Great unit for the price. I like it because it is fast and is easy to plan a route from your current position without having to type your current position in.

  • smee gave 8/10 on 04/01/2007 18:43 Report abuse

    • Good: Excellent GPS receiver. The unit was surprisingly more configurable than I had imagined. Red-light and speed camera POIs can be downloaded for free (Just do an .au Google)
    • Bad: The biggest issue I have is the unit freezing after being unplugged from the computer, it just won't switch on and I have to reset it. It has done this a few times now and is starting to become irritating.

      The software ALWAYS calculates a route from my home that wants me to turn right onto a main road that is divided by a medium strip (ie you can't turn right) but this is an issue with Sensis v.13 not Tomtom.

    Unit purchased January 07

    Very good unit, i'm more than happy with it. Contrary to some reviews, I found my unit does automatically recalculate the route if you go past a turn off. Perhaps it was earlier versions that didn't do this? Maybe it's because nobody has told my unit that it can't do this :-)

    A few minor annoyances but nothing major.

  • john gave 9/10 on 17/11/2006 11:47 Report abuse

    • Good: portable
    • Bad: battery life

    easy to use

  • Jack gave 5/10 on 13/10/2006 22:37 Report abuse

    • Good: Easy to use as long used just to guide known address or straight on the map
    • Bad: Clock stops every time when unit is turned off. This serious fault has been ignored by manufacture, so if you need to use more advanced features, don't trust it.

    Good navcom,but clock doesnt work

  • Anonymous gave 8/10 on 12/10/2006 13:52 Report abuse

    • Good: Simply and reassuring. Adjusts the the turn warning distance to the cars speed
    • Bad: Hard to slide unit onto car mount

    All you need

  • Parse2 gave 8/10 on 04/10/2006 22:18 Report abuse

    • Good: easy to use, touchscreen using finger very conveinent; no stylus; good online updating program; good UK maps; good price/performance
    • Bad: limited maps (eg no greece); can not instruct to use only major roads (in UK); did not always display current road name (mostly next road); POI not easy to easy to search

    Great SatNav unit

    bought in London, was great for travelling around UK; pity no Greece maps; will buy Australian maps when I get home to Sydney;
    In UK, shortest route often used very small laneways, could not indicate staying on major roads. Some reviews indicated TTOne does not recalcualte when you vary the route, mine did brilliantly.

  • Stuart Rowley gave 10/10 on 25/09/2006 09:04 Report abuse

    • Good: so easy to use, touch screen, good size, can use whilst walking around cities and even my wife can use it (sorry ladies) can change alternatives easily and ability to subscribe to traffic updates.
    • Bad: absolutely none

    fantastic way to negotiate london

    after spending about five hours trying to read maps and find our way around london, we both decided our marriage would be a lot happier if we could have our own taxi driver to show us around and how to navigate the road systems. Taxis being so expensive, we decided to research navigation systems, the car rental company wanted to charge me 12 pounds a day for the privilege, and bought the new Tomtom one GB, which has a larger screen, is slimmer and very easy to use. It never lets you down, has the best navigation and satellite connectivity of all systems. I am going to convince all of my friends to use it whenever they come overseas. When i get back to oz, i am going to buy the australian map and use it around melbourne and sydney as well. Fantastic investment.

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