TomTom One 3rd Edition GPS Review
First Impressions
The first thing I noticed when removing
the packaging was that the TomTom was slightly thicker than I had
expected. Not that it really makes any difference, but I was expecting
it to be more along the lines of a PDA in thickness, when instead at
its thickest part it's probably double the thickness of a PDA. To be
fair, unlike something like an XMRadio device, the TomTom's antenna is
internal, plus there's built-in speakers and electronics to drive the
touch screen. Overall the TomTom is a pretty sexy-looking device that
won't look out of place in your vehicle.
Initial Setup
I'm inclined to believe that
if there was no manual included with the TomTom, just about anyone who
has used a VCR could figure out the interface and be on their route
within a few minutes. There's no calling-in to register the device for
a subscription or calibration, you just turn it on and it's ready-to-go
(though you might want to install the TomTom ToGo Software to download
the most recent firmware version & map updates). I barely read
anything in the manual, that's how easy this device is to operate. Just
enter the destination address, TomTom calculates the fastest route
& you're off. When you're ready to customize the device more to
your liking, then you can get into the advanced options -- but if you
never configured anything else on the device and just entered
destinations, you would do just fine!
Vehicle Installation
I usually find the trickiest part of buying a new gadget for my vehicle
is figuring out the "sweet spot" of places to mount it in the vehicle
-- picture Jim Carrey in The Cable Guy, searching for the most optimal
place to install the cable the wall. Well okay, maybe I'm not that
extreme.. but I want it to any addition to my vehicle to look nice and
not get in my way. TomTom provides a suction cup mount for your
windshield. If you don't want to mount it on your windshield, there's
an adhesive disk that can convert the windshield mount into a dash
mount (always nice to have options). Now maybe it's just me, but I've
never really liked suction cup mounts. First of all, I don't really
trust them for hanging heavier (not to mention expensive) electronic
devices and have had bad luck with the suction giving out when you
least expect it. In addition to this, depending upon where you mount it
on your windshield you may be obscuring your field of view or make a
mess with wires. I was hoping my experience with the TomTom would be
different..
My first true road test for the TomTom was a 2 hour trip
to my Grandparents over Thanksgiving. I used the suction cup mount and
mounted it low on the windshield, figuring if it fell at least it
wouldn't fall too far. It was pretty cold outside and the suction cup
didn't seem to be holding too well, so I ran it under some water quick
to get a good seal. It held for about an hour before giving-way and it
was re-mounted several times but always ended with the same result. I
had to ride with the TomTom sitting on my leg the remainder of the trip
-- making it difficult to read the GPS while driving.
Using the dash mount didn't go much better. With the dash
mount, you're actually still using the suction cup, but instead of
suctioning to the windshield you suction to this smooth circular
surface that has adhesive on the reverse side. Because of the
temperature, the adhesive didn't want to stick to the dash -- but even
if it did, the windshield-converted mount is really just useful for the
windshield. It doesn't let you pivot the TomTom, so if you have a dash
that is angled slightly, you can't adjust the angle of the screen. All
in all, I had exhausted my out-of-the-box options to mount the TomTom
in the cold weather. I finally got some Hoop-and-Lock Superlock™
fasteners from RadioShack, and after realizing my car needed to be
warmed up for it to stick correctly, I was all set. I'm wondering if I
would have had the same luck with the suction cup mount if I had
installed it in the summertime instead of the winter. Either way,
installation was a success.
Comments:
TomTom One 3rd Edition internal memory flaw.. |
Posted 11/20/09 1:54PM by Anonymous Techdoser |
I had my TomTom One 3rd Edition for about 18 months before the internal memory went bad. Now it won't do anything. I thought a neat mod project would be to replace the memory with a SD or microSD slot to upgrade to removeable memory with more capacity.. Interested? |