TomTom XL 325 4.3-inch Portable GPS Navigator

by TomTom

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 4.7 x 0.9 x 3.2 inches ; 6.6 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B002XDRWZS
• Item model number: 1EG0.017.05
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (49 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #21,792 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

The TomTom XL 325 is an easy to use widescreen navigator. TomTom’s award-winning software means effortless navigation from A to B. Switch your XL 325 on and go right out of the box. Just enter the address on the touchscreen and start driving anywhere in the US. TomTom guides you door-to-door with turn-by-turn spoken instructions. 3D graphics help guide you to your destination. An extra-wide touchscreen helps you find your way, worry-free. The XL 325 is preloaded with millions of points of interest to enhance your traveling experience – easily find your favorite gas stations, hotels, restaurants, and more.

TomTom has the most accurate maps and with TomTom Map Share technology you can instantly modify street names, street direction, points of interest, and more on your own device. And with the “Help Me!” menu, there are added safety features so you can easily access local emergency providers such as police, fire stations and hospitals.

The award-winning Fold & Go EasyPort mount folds flat against the device, making it easy to take it with you from car to car.

Go confidently.

XL 325 Features

Maps of US with TomTom Map Share
Fold & Go EasyPort Mount
Spoken Instructions
4.3-inch touchscreen

All TomToms Feature

Preloaded Points of Interest--Easily find millions of gas stations, restaurants, hotels, and more on your route.
30-Day Latest Map Guarantee--Up to date, off the shelf.
Help Me! Emergency Menu--Easily access local emergency providers, such as police, fire stations, and hospitals.
TomTom HOME--Always up to date.
Traffic Ready--Optional RDS-TMC traffic receiver accessory keeps you up-to-date on traffic events to minimize potential delays.
Fuel Price Service (optional)--Know more, pay less.

Product Description

The TomTom XL 325 is an easy to use widescreen navigator. TomTom's award-winning software means effortless navigation from A to B. Switch your XL 325 on and go right out of the box. Just enter the address on the touchscreen and start driving anywhere in the US. TomTom guides you door-to-door with turn-by-turn spoken instructions. 3D graphics help guide you to your destination. An extra-wide touchscreen helps you find your way, worry-free. The XL 325 is preloaded with millions of points of interest to enhance your traveling experience â?" easily find your favorite gas stations, hotels, restaurants, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

55 of 59 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Easy-to-use straight out of the box, great satellite, inexpensive GPS!!, December 8, 2009

By 

randomartco "period film aficionado" (Greater Washington D.C. area) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: TomTom XL 325 4.3-inch Portable GPS Navigator (Electronics)

(What's this?)

This is my first ever GPS navigator (I've used them before, but this is the first one I've owned): I've been meaning to get one for awhile now, and this is exactly the sort of one I would have picked out!!

It's relatively inexpensive, comes pre-charged and is supremely easy to use, STRAIGHT OUT of the box, (which is impressive!): you just follow the simple on-screen instructions to set up the device for the first time, as well as to find local points of interest (restaurants, gas stations) or plug in directions of where you are going, and off you go! I particularly found it awesome that in the initial setup, you can choose not only the language, but also what language/voice to have it speak to you in: (I also believe you can download additional celebrity voices for a fee I think)...I set mine to the British woman, as I love British accents, and I find it hilarious & awesome: love it!!

My only and biggest complaint about this GPS device is that the spoken directions ONLY say things like 'turn left in 700 feet', 'turn left'...and I would like it to tell me 'turn left on main street'...while it speaks 'turn left' across the bottom of the screen is the street you are supposed to turn onto, but for the sake of safety in driving, I don't think it's smart to look away too much while driving, so I would MUCH prefer it would speak that out loud!

Other than my comment above, I absolutely love this GPS device! It is easy-to-use, easy to carry with (and not leave in the car), the satellite seems to work well everywhere I go (finding my location quickly): with full spoken aloud directions it would receive 5 stars, without it, only 4 stars, but I must say, I really love it!!

39 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Just about perfect unless you need streets and freeways spoken, December 8, 2009

By 

Strategos "The Guardian of Time" (In Space above Planet Earth) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: TomTom XL 325 4.3-inch Portable GPS Navigator (Electronics)

(What's this?)

GPS Systems have been around for a while now, but in the past I've never really been a fan. Most of the systems that I saw were either somewhat awkward (harsh sounding voices, ugly coloring, annoying chime sounds) or fiendishly expensive (observed in someone's Lexus I happened to be riding in back when I lived in Orange Country CA). My father got himself a relatively higher-end independent GPS (Magellan purchased in 2007) and has used it for some time, but I've never taken him up on his offer of borrowing it for my use. Since receiving this device, I have decided that this is the time when I make the switch to using a GPS from now on.

First of all, this device is on the inexpensive side (around $130.00) so it's naturally going to lack some features in my dad's Magellan that he paid closer to $400.00 for, but on the other hand enormous strides have been made in ease of use in the past two years. At least that's the way it appears.

For my test purposes I activated both his Magellan and my TomTom and compared them side-by-side while he drove. The Magellan picked up a satellite signal immediately, while it took about one minute for the TomTom to pick up a signal. This was less of a problem than you would think as te device still gave directions from it's previous map the last time it was turned on. In general, both devices gave identical directions, but my father's device said the street name, while my device simply said "Turn right." As twilight descended, both devices switched to night colors at exactly the same moment. The Magellan made a chime sound every time you took a turn. The TomTom did not. One thing I particularly liked is the more plain-English directions of the TomTom. For instance when the Magellan said turn left and then the street name, the TomTom said "At the end of the road, turn left." Personally I found this a little easier to understand and make use of after dark.

My father's GPS has a nasty green color scheme that I personally cannot stand, and it talks in a snobby sharp female voice that I find unnatural. My TomTom on the other hand has EIGHT color schemes and EIGHT voices to select from, all of them more soothing than the voice on his Magellan. I selected the U.S. coloring for daytime and Africa for nighttime, and absolutely love both (the daytime looks like a modern map you might by from Rand McNally and the nighttime looks like the computer read-out from Ghost in the Shell). The TomTom also seems slightly more 3D to me, but your preference may vary. The female Irish voice I selected is incredibly soothing and never grating. I look forward to downloading more voices to try out (celebs anyone?).

The directions of both of the GPSs are accurate as I mentioned, but the Magellan has some features the TomTom does not. The Magellan allows you to choose a route based on shortest time, or most use of freeways. The Magellan, on the other hand does not allow you to choose multiple routing options (other than alternate route) for your primary trip, but does allow you to set a time you would like to arrive at the destination (and if the device sees that you repeatedly say no to the option it helpfully offers to stop dispalying the message asking and make your default no). One feature that my father liked in the TomTom was the option to navigate to a new destination by way of a previous one (which he either can't, or can't figure out how to do on his GPS). On the other hand, he liked how his good old Magellan would say street and freeway names.

When it comes to selecting a point of interest the two devices may be about equal, but I prefer the TomTom. I had a terrible time trying to find a resteraunt in our area on the Magellan because unlike the TomTom, it didn't suggest the correct city name for me when it mis-spelled it. It took about 5 or six steps to find a restaurant in the TomTom vs. 10 in the Magellan (in both I could not find it from close resteraunts and had to search by city). Also the Magellan listed GPS tables and other more technical information, but I saw no practical use for it. The TomTom had more features that actually seemed useful, such as changing the display of compass direction, safety features, horizontal or vertical display of information, ect. Of course if you can afford subscriptions to services such as traffic checking, ect. it can do even more, but most people will probably just use the out-of-box features.

All things considered, I would not have purchased the device my father did, but I find the TomTom well worth the money. While it doesn't give names of streets and freeways in spoken direction, I find this made up for by a friendlier interface that makes the right assumptions and is easy on the eyes and ears. Some people will probably also appreciate how it has a dial you turn to make its suction cup release from a windshield (so you can transfer it from car to car). The deal-breaker for some will be the lack of speaking location names in my opinion. Otherwise it's a stellar unit that is very well designed (it even has a cute little picture of you putting it away and an X over a picture of someone making off with the device like Santa Claus when you turn it off. I'm liking this device more all the time. Now to connect to the device website and download Dennis Hopper's voice direction..

114 of 132 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars I have mixed feelings about this GPS, November 26, 2009

By 

Kathleen San Martino (New Jersey) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: TomTom XL 325 4.3-inch Portable GPS Navigator (Electronics)

(What's this?)

If you have never had a GPS, you won't have to relearn different menu options so from this perspective, this TOMTOM is certainly very functional and navigates as expected. Setup is easy. You just plug it in and follow the on-screen instructions. Select the language you use during setup (many are available). You also have the option to go through some on-screen tutorials and you'll be set to go almost immediately; just select navigate and plot your route. If you connect the GPS to the computer, you can go to the TOMTOM site and download one map update as long as it's within 30 days of purchase.

However, the TOMTOM website is not very intuitive and it was difficult to find the information I needed. My recommendation is to create an account FIRST, then once you find where to download the appropriate TOMTOM software, connect your GPS and LINK the GPS to your account to continue. Also, make sure you press the button on the lower right corner of the software before you disconnect the GPS so you don't get an error message to your screen. I set this up on a MAC system; I suspect you will encounter a similar but harmless error with a Windows system.

This TOMTOM has many more features than I'm use to but has the same basic functionality as pretty much any other GPS. The difference is in where you find that information. The reason I have mixed feelings is because this TOMTOM is so different from the 11-month old Magellan GPS I have. Also, there are a few features that just annoy me. For instance, with my Magellan I can press one button to find the route in text format. With the TOMTOM you have to make three selections to see the same thing - press once on the street name, then press once on the details button, then press the "browse as text option," and now you see the route in text format. Then when you want to get back to the map, you press done twice. To me this is very frustrating because when I'm navigating, I like to bounce back and forth between the map and the written route. However, I did not rate this GPS lower because of this since it's only my personal preference.

From a feature and option perspective, this GPS has a lot to offer. There are many points of interests (POIs), although the POIs are set up much differently than on my Magellan. There are HELP instructions on what to do if your car breaks down and what the rules of the road are for different states. In addition to the these features, you can edit your own maps, you can zoom in on them, you find the gas stations with the cheapest fuel prices (providing you subscribe to the TOMTOM daily fuel price updates), etc., etc. The reason I rated this TOMTOM three stars is because it offers too many selections making the system more complex than necessary, the screen is not as crisp as other GPS's I've seen, and some of the basic menu options are not as intuitive or as easy to get to as they are on the Magellan.

Update as of 12/05/09: I had my boyfriend try the GPS and he quickly became frustrated with the menu items and felt it was too complex. Although he was originally going to rate this TOMTOM 2 stars; he now agrees with my rating of 3 after he was shown some features. However, I had his 20-year old daughter try it and she loves the GPS and all the features it offers. For instance, she liked the ability to change the arrow into a car as you follow the GPS map and all the data that is displayed on the screen. She rates the GPS 4 stars only because the menus are sometimes a bit difficult to navigate. So it seems the younger generation might like this more than the older generation who usually don't prefer all the bells and whistles.