14 out of 15 people found this review helpful.
Glad I shopped around
Date of Review: Feb 28, 2007
The Bottom Line: I recommend this item for its ease of use, size, and great features all at a budget price.
I bought the latest generation of TomTom One just after Christmas. At that time TomTom had a sale called "GIVE GIVE" this was there marketing ploy to make people think that they were getting a great deal. The Product itself is a great bargain compared to others on the market. The problem I have is that companies always do this, Whether it be Kohl's and there constant sales. If you ask me you are an idiot to buy anything from there at the regular price. Anyways, companies always do this. They create a sense of urgency to buy something before it goes off sale. Brilliant, and it is our fault for buying into the tactic. TomTom offered it's panic inducing sale just prior to a full on price reduction in their product line. At the time I bought my "One" they were selling for $499 with a $100 dollar mail in rebate, making it a final cost of $399. Some stores had them for sale with the rebate already deducted for $399. I found a site on the web BUYDIG.com that had them for $399 with an additional $100 mail in rebate. I was nervous about this because TomTom had some exclusions in stores that the rebate was valid and I have had rebates declined do to certain loopholes that the companies added to the small print. After calling the support at BUYDIG, I was guaranteed that they were not one of these exclusions. I just received my rebate last week. Anyways, now you can buy the TomTom at a price of $299, which is equivalent to the price that I paid with a little research. Sorry to all those that paid $100 more 2 weeks prior to the price drop.
To the product itself. TomTom has made a great product here. It is easy to use with rather clear instructions. the touch screen is large for the size of the unit, about that of a wallet. The Screen is very sensitive and requires light touch. I use a stylus, since I don't have tiny fingers and pressing this such as the keypad and other tasks can get frustrating. I have only noticed small glitches in the mapping, but those are few and far between. Besides, there are millions of roads and many that didn't exist yesterday. I can forgive the minor misguidance. This has only happened where I can easily look up and see the actual road or lack there of, in front of me. It also doesn't have all of the shortcuts that we come to find from our everyday travels, but then again getting there not lost is a shortcut to the other option of driving around lost, or having to follow a gas station attendants unsure guidance. Even if you don't follow the One's directions it will give you updated alternates automatically.
The One, has many features out of the box. First off it has maps of US and Canada. Register the unit and you are ready to drive away. Many different choices of routes, fastest, shortest, tollways, highways, and more. There are millions of points of interest. These are things like restaurants, gas stations, atms, and just about everything else you can think of. If the ones they have are not enough you can download more to the SD card memory, for a charge. They also have other pay services such as traffic cams, and weather and traffic updates. Some of these services are accessible through the blue tooth connection to a data enabled cell phone.
The One, features great display options. Many colors and content. You can see estimated time you will arrive, for proper departure time. I use this feature alot. You can see your speed, works great in my truck with larger tires that throw off my trucks factory speedometer. Time and distance to next turn is also visible. All this with voice guidance as well. You can choose one of the many installed voices or you can download more for, you guessed it, a charge.
I highly recommend the TomTom One for anyone that is interested in a low cost unit with a lot of frills included. I imagine they keep the cost down by giving you the option to add the things you really don't need in a GPS unit for a charge. It already has everything you do need and alot of fun options you will enjoy. I guarantee you will be using it in areas that you already know, just for the fun factor of seeing the roads pop up before you get to them.
TomTom is definitely in it to win it with there technology and great products. I love my TomTom One.