Customer Reviews

TomTom ONE-S 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I did a lot of looking around for a GPS unit and finally decided on the TomTom One S. There were a few things that the TomTom did that I really wanted.

1. Text to Speech. It tells you the name of the street you are about to turn on. I like that feature a lot. Only down side is that it only works with "Tom" the computer voice. The other voices do not offer the text to speech capability.

2. Sending Mapquest directions straight to the TomTom. I love Mapquest and I use it all of the time whenever I am planning a trip out of town. So sending destinations straight to the TomTom is a big plus for me.

3. One free upgrade after purchasing. One thing I didn't want to worry about was buying a GPS unit and then turning right around and having to pay more money for updated maps. I bought this unit, plugged it into my computer, downloaded the TomTom Home software and a few clicks later, it informed me that my TomTom already had the latest map updates installed. Wonderful!!!

4. Mapsharing. I am a geek, so I like to tweek and piddle and customize my gadgets. Having the ability to change/edit streets and locations on the TomTom was a plus. But then to hear that I can get those types of updates from other geeks like me is a big plus!!!

Now I read a ton of reviews on different models of the TomTom and the majority of the problems people were having were:

1. Speaker not loud enough.
2. Problems updating the unit.
3. Street names not being spoken aloud.
4. Having to manually turn the unit from "daytime" background to "nighttime" background. (other units do this automatically).
5. Not enough Points of Interest.

I drive a full size SUV that is older. So, lots of road noise, lots of in-cabin noise. I adjusted the speaker volume all the way up and I can still hear the TomTom well enough. Now if I have my radio on, I can't understand what TomTom is trying to tell me but if I am trying to pay attention to directions, why would I have my radio on in the first place?

I have had no problems updating the unit so far. (knock on wood).

When I first started using the TomTom, it did not say the street names. So, I checked the instructions and it mentioned that only the computer voice allows spoken street names. So I went into preferences, voices and scrolled through the list of voices until I got to a voice that specifically said "computer". Once that was selected, I began to hear all the street names I wanted to.

Having to manually turn it from day to night mode. Sure I can understand people that have had other units in the past that took care of that for you and are used to it. So having to do it yourself takes a couple of clicks, big deal. Is that no different than changing the station on the radio? Or making a call on your cell phone? Or putting make up on? I think sometimes people complain simply because they can.

Not enough points of interest. I have heard that other units are known for thier millions of points of interest. Can't argue with them, the TomTom doesn't have million's. But it does have the ability to add them, which I think is helpful. Just cruising through the list of points of interest to add was interesting. I added Fith Thrid Bank ATM's and BBQ places in AL to my list. I like to eat good BBQ and I am going to have to stop at an ATM to get money to pay for it so I am all set there. :D

All in all, for this being my first GPS, I like it. I probably won't even utilize all that this unit has to offer so I would for around $130, I am getting my money's worth.

Now maybe down the road after using this unit for a couple years, I may find that a more expensive unit with more options may be the route I take but for now, I am happy with this unit.

Before I purchased the One-S, I borrowed a Magellan Roadmate 1412, and a Garmin 260. I tried each one for a week to compare features and functions. After using the TomTom I concluded that the One-S was as good, and better in some cases, to the more expensive GPS units. The 3.5" screen was smaller than the 4.5" on the other units, but I found that it was not a negitve feature. In fact, the keypad when entering locations was more suited to entry with a finger. On the Magellan I kept hitting 2 letters at once and having to redo the entry. I also found that the One-S found satelites quicker, found more satelites, and in my location, the signals were stronger. One feature that I wanted was "text to speech", where the road names were spoken as well as the directions....ie: turn left in 1 mile on Jones Road. As far as I know, the One-S is the only model in the One series that will do this. I also like the TomTom Home feature where you log onto the website for free map updates from users, and to download recent satelite locations. If you are looking for a well functioning GPS with all of the basic features you need, you can't beat the One-S at less than $100.

When we were searching for a home, it found the easiest routes to each one. Looked at 15/20 a day. If your moving to a new place its invaluable!

This is a real good one. I had been looking through reviews for GPS systems and this one realy suits my needs. The spoken street names is awesome and you can confidently steer. Good for the first time buyers as I am one of them :-). The product was shipped fast and my unit had the latest map updates as well. So out of the box and ready to go.

I don't use my TomTom very often but I got it for traveling outside my normal comfort zones and it has been a godsend. It has a few of the usual bugs (told me turn the wrong way down a one way street in downtown Seattle), but besides that I have no complaints and find it quite easy to use, and I am definitely not a techie

It's the most economic model out there. Basic features with text-2-speech function were all that I was looking for, and all that I was willing to pay for. This one was it. It's small, easy to use, and has more than enough tools that an old-fashion driver (map user) would need. Come on, how often do you get lost? How often do you need to go somewhere that you don't already know the way to? I spent time on research to make sure that I could get the best deal and model that covers all my need. I am very happy with my Tomtom One S. I would recommend it.

I read almost all the reviews and got worried about TOMTOM's products. A lot of people seem to have problems. However, I never had problems with it saying the street names or locating my position on the map. It takes only maybe 3 to 4 seconds to know you missed a turn or did something wrong and reroutes immediately. It is definitely loud enough even with music and I play my music pretty loud. I really like the fact that the volume goes up or down depending on your driving speed. One review I read said all of a sudden TOMTOM stopped saying anything, and that actually happened to me once. It scared the heck out of me but after I reset it as mute and unmute and start driving, the voice came back. Hopefully that will never happen again...because text-to-speech is a must! Another thing I like is that it gives an estimate arrival time.

I was also worried about the mount not sticking well, but no problem there either. For me, I just take off TOMTOM after each use but leave the mount on the windshield. It did fall off once (thank goodness it wasn't during a drive), but it's ok ever since.

Oh, the only problem is the charger. It's hard to plug the charger into TomTom while it is on the mount, it's almost impossible. TOMTOM also tends to go to main streets (not always the fastest route) and avoids u-turns even when they are perfectly legal. TOMTOM rather have you make a left turn, and then 3 more right turns around a block. But it beats trying to read printed instructions and gets you to the destination. Unless your destination is very close to another "house number" it calls them, it should be very accurate when it says "You have reached your destination." At least you'll be so close to the actual destination that if you just pay attention to your surroundings, you should find your way fine.

Very much recommended to anybody that needs a simple GPS to get them to new places local or far away (my average long trip is 80 miles from home). TOMTOM may not find ALL the POI you want but its another resource you have on your hands, which I LOVE for finding food!

[...] I'm really picky when I buy stuff and this TOMTOM definitely was a good buy, no regrets, very satisfied.

This was our first GPS purchase. I travel the old fashioned way, but after my wife got frustrated by our most recent fight on a trip, she demanded we invest in this. Amazon had it cheap, so we both won. It was easy to set up and has been accurate on every trip. Travel has somewhat lost its flare, for we do not fight as much (we still do, because there are still decisions to make). This makes the kids happy, but it reduces the opportunities to make up. That is disappointing, but the GPS is not. We love it and I wonder why I held out so long.

We have never really felt the craving for a car gps being fairly good at map reading and generally just knowing how to get places in the "N-S, E-W" midwest. However when a Hertz rental car with it's free/included Neverlost GPS system got used all the time in a 3 week winter trip to TX this past February, we decided having one is not just to figure out where you are but how long you have to drive and to locate places to eat etc along the way. So we used a summer birthday as an opportunity to buy this low cost unit. With diminishing middle age reading vision limiting even how much is visible on a 4.3 inch until, the "speaks street names" speech to text function was critical. We'd been big Garmin fans with the little blue hiking/boating unit frequently used but gave our daughter a basic Tom Tom 130 for her January birthday ($99 sale after Christmas, $30 less than the Garmin 205) and liked the option for users to update road changes the Tom Tom people were not aware of. So when Amazon offered a $76 after rebate for a Tom Tom One S with speech to text it was hard to pass up - and little electonic toys are fun too! Thoughts so far:

- This is an older designed unit, apparently Tom Tom did it as a special for Walmart a few years ago and did not sell out. It does have new maps (at least there were no updates when I went online). You can still update to the latest Points Of Interest hotels, restaurants etc too and of course the user updates work for a year free, just like any newer Garmin or Tom Tom. A bummer for just us that made me question the accuracy of the entire Tom Tom map base was it thinks we live on a non paved road, but when we built our house in 1992 it was paved! It's an extra screen you need to mess with asking if you want to avoid non paved roads however there is no other way out for us. I am probably going to just call Tom Tom and see if they will update their maps, but it does not leave me with 100% confidence if they are 17+ years wrong. We have not noticed other problems in the past 2 months other than the Favorites problem mentioned below, no other misdirects in our limited testing.

- If you use the unit every 2 weeks it will keep track of where the satellites were and where it is when you last turned it off, that allows for a rapid power on and calibration. For reasons I don't understand (battery?) if you leave it off 2-3 weeks it needs to be plugged into 12vdc power. This is strange since most other NiMH units like digital cameras keep a charge much longer, but not a big deal as long as you have the car charger with you.

- We cannot use window mounts, illegal in MN and a quick way for passing cop to stop you - friends found that out - so I rigged a velcro clip to console mount it. Note I do NOT want to be looking at this thing while driving anyway (is that any better than phone texting?); sure I have played with it at stop lights etc and the Speaks Street Names works great so why do I need to SEE the screen? Realize you must be limited to Tom the Tom Tom man if you want that speaking street names to work, you cannot load the female or other famous voices (my daughter used Darth Vader for hers, I don't need to go there) or it reverts to simpler turn only instructions. Speaker audio is LOUD, no problems even at 50% audio with the rear speaker against the console and the stereo going to hear Tom talk, he is one loud dude.

- Rerouting can take a while, seems to be worse than the Hertz Neverlost. Ex: after a detour in NE Wisconsin, it took about 2 miles for it to figure out we are NOT going to turn around and go where we could not go, that got real irritating. Something else quirky is going on with some of our Favorites, places we go to and want to save. Some stay in memory, others vanish, two have vanished twice even using different stored names to the same place in Minneapolis! Again, we know how to get there, it's just a convenience to know how many more miles we have to go. Oh yes, the "time of arrival" is typically way off, eg it will say 30 m (it uses m for miles, not meters) and 50 minutes but you get there in 35 minutes. At least you usually get there earlier, won't be late.

- While we still don't have our $20 rebate from Amazon despite getting a confirmation email weeks ago, assuming it really does cost us $76 this still is a pretty good unit for the money. Hopefully electronic quality is good and we have no problems in our infamous -10F degree winter. Garmin speech to text units cost closer to $200 and have more expensive map upgrades than Tom Tom when we do decide to do that (I figure every 2-3 years, You can find specials on Tom Tom maps for $50). We have never been misdirected by the unit and once in Minneapolis to avoid I35 construction we took street routes showing us a neat no stop lights back way that even though we knew our way around were not aware off. I would have given it 4 stars had it known our road was paved like it should have and not lost a few of our Favorites for reasons unknown - those are minor items.

I especially like that TomTom keeps up with me if I miss a turn and recomputes quickly. I waited to buy a GPS device until I could afford the text-to-speech feature and I'm happy I did as it makes it much easier to follow the instructions.