Regular readers of this space know I have borrowed several global positioning systems over the years for reviews but never ponied up the cash to buy one myself.
That is, until now.
A good portion of my computer repair business is picking up and delivering computers to residences, and finally I found myself lost in the boonies one too many times. So I went shopping for devices to keep me from getting lost. After all, in my business, time really is money.
I had previously done long-term testing of Magellan and Garmin units, but I also read reviews for weeks before I selected a TomTom One, the latest GPS unit from TomTom.
Who?
TomTom is the leading GPS manufacturer in Europe and its roots show. So far I have found the product to be delightful and even a bit cheeky (what other product would let you change your directional voice to that of John Cleese?).
TomTom reminds me a bit of Apple in presentation. The package in which the unit was packaged was artful and crafty. The people clearly took care in how it was presented. It worked right out of the box with no need to even crack open the manual.
Some parts of it clearly are aimed at Europe for now (TomTom will warn you if you are approaching areas monitored by European traffic cameras, for example, and upon product registration I was offered a free year of traffic alerting for the Netherlands). But, all in all, I have found the unit to be first rate.
Unlike the Magellan Roadmate 3000T, which I tested a couple months ago, there are no moving buttons on the unit itself (aside from the on/off switch); everything is handled via touch-screen buttons.
The TomTom found my house within five yards ("You have arrived at your destination") and so far it has made all of my other trips with aplomb.
Included in the box is the device, which features a bright, 3.5-inch, 65,536-color, 320 by 240 display, a 1 GB memory card that contains the complete map of the United States and Guam, a windshield mount, a USB connector, a software CD and a car charger.
The unit will run two hours on a charge, so you don't need to have it plugged in all the time. It's too bad there's no home charger included so one could charge it inside overnight, but you can connect it to your PC overnight for a charge. (A home charger is a $20 option, as is a $20 case.)
The TomTom One is small enough to fit in a shirt pocket (smaller than any unit I have seen), and that is a nice way to prevent theft. And it is loud enough to be heard in any car that I can imagine (the voice can be set to get louder as your speed increases).
There are several other nice touches. You can set it to tell you if you're speeding. If you have a Bluetooth phone, it can serve as a speakerphone, give you traffic warnings and even track where your other TomTom friends are.
At $499 list it's a steal and highly recommended. You can get the details at www.tomtom.com.
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James Derk is co-owner of CyberDads, a computer repair company, and a computer columnist for Scripps Howard News Service. His e-mail address is jim@cyberdads.com.