TomTom ONE XL-S 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator
TomTom ONE XL-S 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator
TomTom ONE XL-S 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator Reviews
I have this and used side by side with a Garmin 200 W for several weeks before returning the Garmin. Overall this is a good product but a few annoying bugs keep it from being great…here are the pros and cons
Pros
It finds the satellites quickly and keeps the signal. The garmin took 2-3 minutes almost every time from a power up start (this was the deal killer)
The user interface is nicer and has a lot more options than the garmin.
The POI database (such as the POI categories it actually has – it is missing several major US retail chains – see below) is more up to date than the Garmin I bought at same time.
Allows you to set the keyboard to QWERTY mode which the Garmin did not.
cons
The graphics are a bit grainy compared to the garmin
The bluetooth is useless, works only for data transmission/reception and that too with very limited number of phones. No, you cannot use it as a handsfree.
If you take a wrong turn or pass by your destination or do anything to pass by your destination on a 2 lane road, it will not tell you to turn around – it will navigate you through the next set of intersections. In rural areas this can mean a 20 mile trip instead of going back 200 yards.
The text to speech works very unpredictably – it pronounces some name very nicely but mangles others horribly such that you can’t recogonize it.
Also it announces street names about a quarter mile before and then simply says turn left or right when you are actually at an intersection and want the street name to turn into. This is annoying. Very annoying.
There is an SD card slot. However the unit works either exclusively with the SD card slot or with the internal memory. Which means that you have to reload everything in internal memory onto the SD card which takes about an hour because of the incredibly s-l-o-w data transfer rates.
Also the internal memory is pretty much full so forget about any upgrades unless you spring for at least a 2 GB or more SD card
Strangely, TomTom doesn’t know about major US retail chains like Toys R Us, Payless Shoes etc. This even after I updated the unit with the US Retail POI database file
The color schemes available on the unit and online are completely weird. Seems to have been done by people with zero taste and sensiblity.
The internal battery is useless in cold weather (i.e. if you leave the unit in the car in winter). This after a few weeks. It either dies in a few minutes or doesn’t fire up at all. Will have to see how it performs in the summer.
The brightness and contrast are so-so in daylight compared to the garmin 200 w
We have used our TomTom XL-S on several trips but recently used it on a trip to Chicago. We decided on that day alone, it had paid for itself. It got us safely and accurately to our hotel. The next day and many, many turns later we arrived safely at a specific parking garage we were looking for and from there to the building we needed to walk to. It lets you know how long it will be until your next turn and in which direction you will need to go, so that you can get in the appropriate lane. It announces the name of the street in advance so you know what to look for. If you’ve ever traveled the highly congested streets of Chicago, you will appreciate the comfort in knowing you can never really get lost! So what if only the “Susan or Bob” option will announce the street names. As long as I get to where I need to be, I’ll gladly only listen to Susan or Bob. I can’t tell you how satisfying it is to travel in a big city and not have to worry about missing a turn because you didn’t see it or because the traffic was too heavy to get into that lane. This product takes all the stress out of traveling in unfamiliar territory.
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