Gps Plus Information Guide

Reviewed by Borisovich “BL”—On October 5, 2007
Good design - looks nice in your car, not too bulky. The menus sometimes are not as user-friendly - for example, after making a selection, it typically kicks you out of settings instead of going up to a previous level (us, windows users expect to see the previous menu after making a selection and clicking ok). I think this is done so speed up changing menu items (for example when you need to mute audio quickly). I got a few celebrity voices on the thing - and while they seems cool at the beginning, I quickly realized that a) the impersonations are pretty poor and b) overall quality of directions seems to be worse - i.e. voice clarity, volume, etc. Maybe if you have kids, you can have them entertained with Homer Simpson giving you directions if you don’t have a DVD player in your car… The Tom Tom HOME software is very useful - easy to load updates, and the new version even allows “using” the unit while it’s plugged into the PC - so you can set preferences and even pre-plan your trips without having to use the touch-screen keyboard.

Reviewed by E. Osworth “Author and Consultant”—On October 25, 2007
I replaced a Magellan 4040 with this. The Magellan had text to speech - wide screen - blue tooth and AAA guides. Cost much more.

In my opinion the inexpensive Tom Tom beats the Magellan hands down, even without text to speech.

Text to speech is a great concept but seems to strain the processor to the point that it would sometimes forget to give you street names OR directions. Very bad. I had 2 Magellan’s ( I thought first was defective and returned it ) and both would do this. I would much rather hear “turn right in 500 feet” than no instructions at all. Many times I was blocks past my turn before Magellan would announce it. Not good.

Both Magellan’s got flaky on me as well. One would need an occasional reboot for a frozen screen, the other would occasionally tell me I had reached my destination when it was still miles away.

Tom Tom has been rock solid.

Tom Tom NEVER misses a turn voice command. They are quite detailed as well unlike Magellan. Magellan says “turn right at Blair Street” where Tom Tom says “turn right in 200 feet than make third left”.

POI in Tom Tom is way better in my area than Magellan. It had an espresso stands that only opened 4 months ago near me! Of course results may vary depending upon where you live.

Voice is loud and clear, map colors are changeable, interface is very customizable.

Also Tom Tom guarantees a free download of the latest map for your unit at purchase. Garman and Magellan have very vague policies on that and may charge you for the latest map.

I have owned both Garman C220 and Magellan 4040. I will be most likely be purchasing Tom Tom from now on….

Read More about TomTom ONE 3rd Edition Portable GPS