Tom Tom One

[Demonic Angel]

After relying on the stars and my general sense of (some might say lack of ) direction for the last 24 years - and getting lost too many times to mention, I've decided to invest in a Sat Nav system for the Yaris.... but there are so many different types about!

I just want something simple, so Tomtom One stood out for me, its plug in and play, not exactly cheap (well not for a penny pincher like me ), but cheerful and compact, but I'm just wondering if its better than some of the cheaper products on the market?

For example, the NavMan ICN330 is £66 cheaper than the Tomtom, but I've never heard of NavMan, so I don't know if its any good or not! Then theres the Sony NVU50 which is a whole £6 cheaper, its a name I trust, but again, I dont know if their Sat Nav systems are any good!

After comparing the Tomtoms, I dont need any of the new fangled stuff most of the more expensive systems come with, although there seems to be little to no difference between the Tomtom One and the Tomtom Go 300, but the Go 300 is rather more expensive.... anyone know why?

[Jamesb4uk]

To be honest DA - the best way for you to get a feel for the units is to pop down to your local halfords/curry's & ask for a demo.

I've tested quite a few software based GPS's - Destinator, MS Autoroute 2006, TomTom to name a few - i always revert to TomTom for in car use

Actual hardware i've only really used TomTom - (on my PDA & a 300) and i'd be lost without it now.

NavMan have a good background in Marine navigation - i haven't seen one of their units in use though.

Tbh they all use the same satillites so its only really the software thats different.

J

[Kev Mc]

I saw a show on Sat Nav towards the end of last year & the Tom Tom One came out as winner. 1 of my brothers is a private cab driver though & has a Navman system & absolutely raves about it so don't be put off just because you haven't heard of them, they're pretty well known.

The Tom Tom One is smaller, quicker-loading & cheaper than the Go 300 but came out after it so my guess is they brought it out to tempt people who hadn't bought the Go 300 into parting with their hard-earned. I'm probably going to get some Sat Nav after my birthday & I'm either going for the Tom Tom One or maybe the Go 500 because of the bluetooth.

Oh yeah, 1 more thing the show said was to be careful about the cheaper Sat Navs because you'd probably regret not spending that bit more & getting something a lot better for it

[XT2]

Tom Tom is the most popular Sat Nav software available in the market. But (with a capital B) that does not necessarily mean that it is the best.

Tom Tom is certainly is the easiest, but then again, when you get used to something, it naturally becomes easy no matter how difficult it is.

Last year, I bought myself a PDA with a built in GPS receiver... I hated to see my friends' cars jam packed with wires crawling all over the place. This one that I bought needs only one cable - in-car charge.

I got the Destinator PN Sat Nav software with the PDA. I just bought myself a bigger SD Card and loaded both the Destinator PN as well as Tom Tom 5 softwares.

I also use the PDA for numerous other traditional PDA stuff.

It's almost a year since I've been using both Sat Nav software packages. To be quite honest, they are both equally as good. As long as I get to my destination without any hiccups, it's fine with me. I'd hate to diss either of them, they're both cool, both accept POIs & speed cameras, traffic light cameras, etc.

The only REAL difference is the price. If I had a hole in my pocket, I'd go for the Destinator PN, and if I was going for 'anything goes', I'd still go for the Destinator PN.

It's your choice... and like James said, "pop down to your local halfords/curry's & ask for a demo."

[Demonic Angel]

Good thinking Batmen.... :D

I'm familiar with TomTom on the PDA, Rich used to have it a couple of years back and it was really easy to use, I guess thats why I'm edging towards the TomTom but we have a Halfords down the way in Hinckley, I'll pop down and see what they have....

I dont want to get the cheapest unit, I figure quality=price for stuff like this, but I can't afford to Shell out £500 for Sat Nav, I've seen the TomTom One for £235 and thats about right I reckon....

[GT4 BOOSTER]

have a look at them em @ www.ebuyer.co.uk . some customer opinions on there aswell. navman reportedly isnt all that bad either. a shade under 160 quid.

http://www.ebuyer.co.uk/UK/store/16/cat/Sat-Nav

[DaveSR]

A Navman Owner here :D !

My sister has just brought a tomtom and ...... I couldn't get to grips of the software. However I feel that it's just like 'Windows' and 'Macs'. Which ever one you are brought up on you prefer the style/methods. So software side no difference, although there are ALOT more hacks/free stuff for the tomtom than the navman

The main points/differences I can tell you are:

The Navman 520 is alot slimmer/bigger screen and lighter than the tomtom and will easily fit in your pocket when you leave the car, it also looks alot better to IMHO. With my Navman the only problem I have is when it gets sunny, as the screen is quite hard to view, but this could also be a problem with the tomtom?

The only thing that I could say was better with the tomtom was the speaker, as it was alot clearer and louder than my navman (kind of put it to shame really) but I guess the speaker is better because it is heavier and alot deeper unit.

If looks are your thing and you want it to fit in your pocket than go for the navman (It's nice to be different from the crowd)

But personally I tend to lean towards the tomtom due to the hacks/map updates

An honest review!

[Flat Pack]

I've got a PDA with built in GPS too, I ended up with TomTom3 when I first bought it as at the time it was the only PDA based system I could find that could do full postcode based lookups (with the help of an external app). So I could enter a postcode (and house number if I liked) and it'd take me to the address. Fantastic :)

I upgraded to version 5 (same software as in the dedicated TomTom units) and that has built in full postcode lookup. If anything else you look at doesn't have that, I'd leave it well alone. Its by far the most useful feature and saves endless fiddling about trying to enter addresses :) I'd expect most modern systems to have this now, but I don't really know for sure.

[Hou]

I have tomotm mobile on my nokia 6670 (which will be up for sale in a week or so) and all you need is a bluetooth GPS reciever (30 quid off ebay) and your away. My whole package (phone, reciever an 512mb card) cost me about 120 quid and it works as a phone too WOW!

[Jamesb4uk]

I have tomotm mobile on my nokia 6670 (which will be up for sale in a week or so) and all you need is a bluetooth GPS reciever (30 quid off ebay) and your away. My whole package (phone, reciever an 512mb card) cost me about 120 quid and it works as a phone too WOW!

good sales pitch

J

[Chyownster]

New Tom Toms are imminent for release in June, hold fire till then i recon :)

[sotal]

You can't go wrong with TomTom,

I've had TomTom Mobile on my Orange SPV C500 and I've never seen a neater add on system. I've hardwired the GPS receiver into the car so it can't be seen. I then put my phone in its holder (mounted on the air vent) if I want sat nav I press and hold number 2 and it appears. It then gives full speed camera warnings etc and if the phone rings you just answer and it goes on hands free without needing any extra kit.

Then when you park up in a dodgy place - you just stick the phone in your pocket and walk off, not like the bulky TomTom go products which you either have to leave in the car or carry about everywhere.

[chatman]

I have a PDA and TomTom 5 bluetooth. Only one wire for the cradle charger. Good software and other bits are easy to get add on's. Post code feture is a must!!!!!

Give the following web site a look in Pocket GPS they offer all advice and also have good POI (points of interest) links to add to GPS systems...

I'ts worth getting one you can add the Speed Camers Database to as this is usefull if travelling to unfamilar places....

[SMW]

Em

I've got a Tom Tom One at home and use the 300 at work so I can compare pretty well.

The 300 has a much better sound but I believe this is due to the fact that it has a larger deeper case, this of course makes it heavier and more bulky. The One is easy to carry but the 300 is a bit more awkward.

The One seems to have a faster processor - it certainly fires up quicker. The 300 has a few extra features such as a choice of what you display on the screen in info - count down time, remaining miles etc. Some of these options are on the One but not all.

The 2 big things I would mention are

1. The fixing latch on the 300 the unit sort of clicks onto a round base and it seems quite fragile, with heavy use I would think this area might break on the One however the unit slides onto mounting prongs so the fixing is much better

2. Which ever one you go for get an indoor mains charging lead - saves all that messy wire hanging down into the cigarette lighter 12v socket, I just keep the 12v lead in the car in case Battery runs flat but mainly keep it charged in house.

At the time I got mine PC World were the cheapest and they were giving a free mains charger with each one so might be worth checking them out.

[Demonic Angel]

Cheers Steve!

I'm pretty sure the TomTom One is for me, but I do want to have a bit of a play with as many as possible...

I'll never get lost leading a TOC convoy again.....

Although, on Shanes advice, I might wait a while to see what new TomToms come out in June....

[clarky]

Charlie and I both have the Garmin Quest - nice bit of kit and its not tied to the car either. Its also splashproof and designed to be used handheld also ...

[vmail]

I have to disagreed, Scott Scott is extremly poor compaired to the one I made. I like the way Doug Doug only shows you what you can see from the drivers seat. Tom Tom seems to use straight line trajectory(SP) and is snap to the road(sometimes the wrong road), this is really bad and it gets lost on high speed bends (+50MHP) and fast roundabouts (+30MPH). While it is lost you have no idea where the speed cameras are from the POI. It also gets lost on new built roads/bridges. And I hate it when it tell you to keep right("dont take this junction"), instead it should tell you where to get off.

[dicey2k]

Vmail - Are you for real?? Surely the whole point of the sat nav is to take you places you have never been to before? Why would anyone in their right mind be leathering it round roundabouts in places they didn't know, especially when they are not sure of which route to take???! And if you do know the place you don't need the sat nav anyway, correct?

Anyway... I have a TomTom Go 300 and its been spot on, ok i have to admit there was one time when i was driving down a little dirt lane and it didn't have a clue where i was after directing me down there but it got its bearings again after about a minute and it was fine!

My friend has a TomTom One and his actually picks up a turn which is a bit dodgy before mine does, mine still picks it up but not as quick as the One did!!

I subscribe to the safety camera updates for it and its been absolutely fab since i bought it last year!! I'd recommend one to anyone!!

[vmail]

That was an example where Doug Doug fails, maybe its a Tom Tom Mobile issue. I know how to get to Southampton, but I need a bit more help getting to Dock 10, berth 206. Having a A-Z of Southampton will solve the issue, but sometimes I dont get time to plan the route, If you are not on a road it should still plot your position