 Just about perfect unless you need streets and freeways spoken |
| Review Date: December 8, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Strategos, In Space above Planet Earth |
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..
|
I LOVE it!
|
| Review Date: December 1, 2009 |
| Reviewer: S. Levi, Chicago, IL |
This is my first GPS navigator experience and I only just got it today but I LOVE this thing!! It's so easy to use and even arrived charged and ready to go. You don't need any extra software or a service subscription. Just pull it out of the box and it's ready to use immediately. There's not much of a manual but you really don't need one. There's plenty of "tours" the TomTom offers to help you learn the ropes, and I would recommend taking the tours it offers but even if you don't, you will still be able to figure it out easily enough. (I love the touch screen though I think I may start using the stylus from my Nintendo DS; it's hard being super-accurate with the pad of my finger and didn't always push hard enough on the first try.) I also like how easy it is to get off the windshield so I can drop it in my purse and take it inside with me so it doesn't get stolen or freeze/melt in the car.
The driving experience was surprisingly smooth. I liked that I was able to choose the voice - there are several different male and female voices to choose from as well as different accents (American, British, Irish, and others available with a download)! The voice would let me know that I needed to turn after a 1/4 mile more of driving, and then at just the right time it would remind me again to turn.
The on screen display offers so much information without being too obtrusive or distracting. During my drive, I noticed that it was keeping track of my speed compared to the speed limit, how many miles I'd driven, how many more to the destination, etc. It even shows your exact latitude and longitude and how many satellites the GPS is getting info from (I was between 5 and 6).
Just for kicks, I asked it for directions on my way to the grocery store and it got them right. Then I asked for directions to a craft shop that I'd been to recently that's an hour away and it got those correct, too. What it did NOT get correct, however, was my home address. Our house was built nearly 4 years ago so not even all the online map sites know we exist yet so it wasn't exactly a surprise but it would have been nice to not have to go by the intersection instead.
I like adding "Favorite" destinations to make map requests quicker. I can't wait till I get it all filled up with destinations and setting all my preferences. This thing is going to be SO helpful! |
My first GPS - handy device that does say street names
|
| Review Date: December 9, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Andrew E, Westchester, NY USA |
This is my first GPS and I really didn't appreciate how nice it was to have one of these until I started using it. I first need to state that I have the Tom Tom XL325S version but I think the only difference is the set of maps preloaded on the device (US and Puerto Rico versus a unit with maps for US and Canada or Mexico).
At the time of this writing there are 8 other reviews here and I found them all helpful and accurate but I believe all have misstated one vital piece of information that is not made clear in the manual that comes with the unit:
--> *** the device actually does speak the street names *** <--- along with direction and turn distance.
The catch is that you have to have it set to a computer voice (under Change Preferences - Change Voice) that is labeled (under English US voices) as 'female computer (Samantha)' or 'male computer (Tom)'. While neither of these voices sound as nice as some of the other more soothing and natural sounding selections these are the only two voices (that I know of) that will verbalize the street names. There may be other that work in different accents of languages but I have not downloaded any to try. The other voices will verbalize turn direction and distance but not street names. I find that slightly unfortunate because I really like the sound of some of the other voices more but I also found that hearing the name of the street that I am supposed to turn on to increased my confidence that I was following the directions correctly. The computer voices are almost as nice as the other voices and I had been thinking of downloading a British voice since I like the accent but I'd rather hear the street names so I'll leave it on computer voice.
Some other nice trip planning features not mentioned in the other reviews is the ability to set your destination and then:
1. Browse the trip as text
2. Browse the trip as maps of the turns
3. Browse the entire route on one map (overview)
4. Browse the trip in demo mode - which will show you a preview of exactly what you would see and hear if you were really driving in your car at that very moment in real time or, more conveniently, accelerated time (up to 385% faster than real time).
While I personally found the screen selection setup to be fairly easy like any device with lots of features you do have to play with it a little to get past the small learning curve. For example: On the main screen that appears after turning the unit on...
1. Touching any part of the displayed map takes you to the main directional menu where you can enter a new destination, change preferences, add a favorite destination or get Help Info
2. Touching the lower left corner of the main screen brings up a volume slider control for the voice volume
3. Touching the lower right corner brings you to a map overview of your trip, the battery meter/charging status and the number of accessible satellites
Also when entering the destination address be sure to enter the city/town first, then the street name (without the number) and then the address number. And you don't have to type the entire name of the street because suggestions appear as you type and when you see the whole street name just touch that - it saves a few screen touches.
This GPS does offer the ability to add an accessory that would report traffic and gas station prices (both at additional cost) but I don't travel enough to justify the expense. I wish those services were free for the few times a year that I take a longer than 1 hour trip.
I have never owned any other GPS device so I can't compare/contrast the functions or ease of use to other devices on the market but I can say that I really like this GPS, it functions well, was a great value for the price (bought it on Black Friday 2009) and I think it's a good value even at a more normal price. |
|
