TomTom One 3rd Edition

Just before the holiday I obtained a TomTom One 3rd Edition. It's my first of the recent portable GPS systems. So, while I can't really compare against current devices, I have owned several of the PC/Laptop and PDA based solutions.

First off, I had the "white screen of death issue", described here: http://www.tomtomforums.com/showthread.php?t=5291. Tech-support was prompt and efficient in handling my issue. Luckily I called it in just before the Christmas holiday and I had a return unit delivered just before New Year's.

With that out of the way, let me say, this is a great unit for a great price. First off, the screen is great. It's bright enough to be seen, even in bright daylight. The speaker is loud enough to be heard, even in louder cars like a Jeep. The battery lasts for several hours, although the lack of power switchover sensing was pointed out to me. What does this mean? Well, some GPS units, when plugged into the car's power outlets, will know when the car has been turned off so that the GPS unit will automatically shut off and not run out of battery power. I don't really care, nor did I even notice until it was pointed out to me. This IS a portable unit after all. By the way, it's TINY! Portability is really paramount here. The design is great, so it stands without mounting almost anywhere in my cars. Oh, and they do a great job with maximizing the screen real estate. I haven't taken it on long trips, but the navigation is great where I've taken it so far. I did notice that the auto-zoom feature is great when you don't care about getting a really zoomed out view. I like the big picture zoom when taking long drives. However, this unit auto-zooms back to about a 1/4 mile level after a few seconds. Lastly, the GPS unit is FAST. It calculates (and re-calculates) routes quickly, finds the satellite signals quickly, and is one of the few that receives good satellite signal for me indoors as well as in the car when not placed directly under the windshield.

TomTom is known for being user friendly, and it is. Everything was easy to read, easy to find and very intuitive. Practically no help or manual is necessary. Maps and POIs for North America and Guam are built in (for when I drive to Guam) and the TomTom comes with software for Mac and PC (but you'll never really need it). There are no fancy extras like MP3 or video playback, but lets leave that for the devices that should be doing that. I give the TomTom One 3rd Edition a 4 out of 5!