- 4.3-Inch Touchscreen
- Lifetime Traffic and Map Updates - Outsmart traffic and road changes
- Fuel Prices - Find the lowest gas by location and price
- TomTom Roadside Assistance - Reliable roadside assistance you can trust 24/7
- Advanced Lane Guidance - highlights the correct lane
I am very familiar with GPS units, though most of my experience with them is with hand-held sport units. I gave my wife a Garmin Nuvi for Christmas and it has been a great navigator so I was excited to work with the TomTom and compare it to the Nuvi. So far, while I cannot say one is better than the other, they are both different in the features they provide and they both navigate well. I do prefer the TomTom though that is a matter of personal preference at this stage.
The TomTom Start is a very solid unit and feels very well made. I am very pleased with the construction of the TomTom. It is built to handle a little jostling and a few bumps though I would make very effort not to drop it regardless. One thing I do not like, though, is the mounting cup. Yes, it does hold the TomTom in place very well and it is unlikely that it will "let go", but it is a little awkward to attach to the glass and the swivel is very stiff. Also, while trying to adjust the angle the mounting cup popped right off the TomTom and I had to reattach it.
Though I am no fan of the mounting cup, it does remove easily and this particular TomTom is no too big to fit in a third-party window mount. I have such a mount so I can work with that and be happy.
On power-on the TomTom comes up very quickly and is ready to go, a lot faster than I expected as the Nuvi is a little slower at acquiring satellites before it's ready.
The menu system on the TomTom is very simple and easy to use. The large, colorful touch buttons on the screen make finding the desired function straightforward. The first screen offered (after the welcome screen) gives just two choices: Plan Route and Browse Map. I especially like the Browse Map feature when in an unfamiliar area it quickly shows proximity to gas stations, restaurants and other point of interest (which is very configurable). However, the points of interest list is not necessarily complete there are at least two chain restaurants within a mile of the house that do not show at all on the browse map.
When not actually navigating, most of the time a user will spend is with the Plan Route function. There are a lot of options here. There is a selection for navigating Home, regardless of where you are, and since entering your home location is part of the start-up process this feature is at the ready almost immediately. Entering an address is likely going to be the normal method of selecting an endpoint, though there are other choices such as navigating to points of interest, a point on the map or even a latitude/longitude location. There is even the functionality to save a location in a Favorites list.
There are six choices for voices, though only three speak the street names and of those, only one is in English (one of the others is Canadian French and the other is Latin-American Spanish). If you don't care about street names and you speak English you have choices. If you do care but do not like the built-in voices then you can go online and get more though there are associated fees.
I ran into some difficulty when I attached my TomTom to my computer, a Windows 7-based laptop. After messing with it I finally connected it to a 32-bit Vista machine and had no issues at all. I am not sure why it fought me on the Windows 7 machine but I am relatively sure that it has to do with my configuration, not the TomTom itself. (UPDATE: It was definitely on the Windows 7 side as I have had similar issues with other devices.)
Getting updates is easy. Once connected, TomTom Home (the application that interfaces to the TomTom) goes out and finds the updates, then with a minimum of interaction takes care of making said updates. Updating the map takes a while, which should be a given.
So, all this is great, but how does it navigate?
Voice aside, the navigation is good. The TomTom does a fine job of getting you from point A to point B using the conditions you stipulate: fastest route, shortest route, no highways, etc. The screen is acceptable in size to allow clear viewing of the map and the voice augments the visuals. I have not yet used it in the car to go to work; I am eager to see if it selects a better route for me than the one I have been using for the last 2-3 years.
The Tom Tom Start is my first exposure to TomTom's line of navigators and so far I am pleased with it. It's a little different than my wife's Garmin Nuvi, in ways I like. It's perfectly fine for navigation and finding points of interest, and the map updates on this model make this a device I will use for a long, long time.
UPDATE 03/20/2013: I recently had a good reason to use my TomTom in North Carolina a family gathering in a neighboring town that was 10-12 miles away from the starting point. I was not at all familiar with the area so this would be a good test. All had printed directions, but we chose to allow the TomTom to take us there instead. The result was that we arrived sooner than others that left before us; we were guided on a very straightforward path that seemed more logical than the printed route (which came with a map). Going home that night, we again configured the TomTom to take us on the fastest route and it did so without a hitch we knew that route very well already and the directions we were given were spot on.
And, I did use it to track to work to see if I could improve my route. With the exception of the first couple of miles (my commute is roughly 65 miles one-way), the route lined up almost exactly with the route I have been taking for years.
My opinion of the TomTom remains unchanged. It's a good navigator at a good price point and it has served me very well. My experience with TomTom has been very positive and I would not hesitate to recommend one.
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This is a pretty good GPS unit, there are some things to be aware of.
First, the positives:
The unit feels sturdy which I like. It's also quite simple to use and the interface is easy to understand and it has a large easy to read screen (larger than smartphones). It also comes with free lifetime traffic alerts and map updates as well as user-generated map updates.
It tells you the speed limit as well as recommended lane to be in in many circumstances.
There are TONS of voices you can download via the TomTom app on your computer however many of them cost $12.95. There are many free user-submitted ones however not many of them are good. Also, only the built-in computer voice can speak street names (although your next turn does display on the screen with the name of the street). The downloaded character voices (which include characters such as Homer or Marge Simpson, Yoda, Darth Vader, etc) will not speak the street names and only tell you things like "prepare to turn right in 200 yards". This makes sense if you think about it because it would not be possible for TomTom to synthesize each voice actors voice such that it could pronounce all the street names. They are only able to record a limited number of directions.
The built-in suction cup mount works quite well and is a nice design that seems to stick to the windshield quite well though I'm not sure how long it will hold up over time.
Now the negatives:
-If you are on a Mac, the TomTom software that comes preloaded on this unit does not work under OSX Lion (the current OS). Further, it took me a very long time to locate where on the TomTom website I could download the latest sync application. I finally found it, but using their website to locate it was almost like pulling teeth! I ended up doing a search on their homepage for the word 'Home' and was able to get the download link there.
-The gas station fuel prices service is only free for one year, then it turns into a paid service. But I could not for the life of me figure out how to get this feature to work. Even after downloading and installing it I could not find it on the unit whatsoever.
-There is only one included voice that can read the street names. TomTom should include several different voices that can read the street names so we can have more options.
-The downloaded voices seem much quieter in volume than the built-in voices.
-It comes with no case nor even a cloth bag! How am I supposed to store this when I'm not using it? The answer is you have to buy a separate case/bag for it or just store it loose, as is. It really should come with a case or at the very least, a cloth bag.
-The roadside assistance costs anywhere from $30. and up each time you use it. It may be okay for emergencies but if you already have an AAA card or equivalent that you pay annually for, you would be better off using that since that does not charge you per incident. This is not made clear in the product description nor on the TomTom website.
In all this is a good unit in this price range but if you have an iPhone you could purchase a software GPS app instead which maybe likely be fairly equivalent. You could even use a free GPS app such as Waze.
The competition with smartphone GPS apps is increasing and dedicated GPS units are going to have to be a lot more competitive in terms of included features and usability to remain relevant.
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Latest Update:
Finally got my RMA and replacement after 5 weeks
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Update:
Audio completely died after two weeks. Spent twenty minutes on the phone with a Tom Tom CS and determined that it was hardware failure. I received an email that they are processing it. after three weeks, despite sending follow up emails to Tom Tom, the issue is still hanging..
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This is my fourth GPS unit, the other three are Garmins which are still working except two have outdated maps. Only one of my old GPS has a lifetime maps updates. This is my first Tom Tom and one of the first things I needed to do is get used to the interface. I still miss the physical volume knob control on my two oldest Garmins. This unit and my newer Garmin require you to go through the touch screen to adjust the volume, not very convenient when you are on the wheel.
My first task is to make sure it has an updated map. I plugged the USB (by the way it came with a USB cable, car adapter and dash/windshield mount) to the back of my iMac with Lion OS. It seemed to start the process but stalled. I then went to Tom Tom website and downloaded their software for Mac. This time it worked. Just make sure to set your computer not to sleep or it will result into an error. You will need to register first with your email and create a password. At first it looks like you would need to pay for the update, but click the PromoCode button and enter the code number from one of the insert papers that came with the unit. It was an hour download.
The quickest way to download the software is to type "Home" in their search button. The Top 5 questions and Answers will show no. 1 as "How to install HOME", click that and you will be given choices for Windows XP, Windows Vista and Mac. For Lion you would need TomTom HOME 2.8.2
I bought one celebrity voice as I like a little fun when on long drives. One thing I noticed is that it cost more than my Garmin when I bought Dora and SpongeBob (that was three years ago though, price may have changed). I chose Homer for $12.95 and installation is quite easy. One caveat, Homer is stupid and doesn't know the names of the streets, he just tells you to, "Turn right ahead!" But it is not Homer alone, most celebrity voices are like that. If you want the name of the streets to be announced, there are three built-in voices that do that, but only one in the English language. The other two are Soledad (Spanish) and Charlotte (French-Canadian). You also have the choice between male and female voices.
Pros:
+ Fast satellite connection on boot
+ You can select to put the current time on the screen so you can have comparison with the arrival time. The difference (time left before arrival) is also displayed.
+ It tells you the speed limit on the road where you are. The part of the screen that tells you the speed turns RED to warn you if you are over the speed limit. It happens when you reached 5 miles over the limit. Just watch out for roads under construction where the speed limit is lower than the regular speed limit.
+ When you are about to turn, it will show you the number of lanes at the bottom-middle of the screen. Some are grayed out and one (or a few) in white. It tells you to take the lanes that are shown in white.
+ Lifetime maps and traffic
+ The price is right.
Cons:
No physical volume control
The gas feature is only free for the first year
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I have had a Garmin for nearly 6 years. I decided to try this Tom-Tom because it was available on the Vine and I was looking for a lifetime map and traffic GPS device. After a couple of weeks, I can say that it is quite underwhelming.
The first trip was to a State Park and we ended up on some dirt road miles from the Park roads. I then switched to the Garmin and it immediately redirected me from my current dirt road position to the front entrance of the park.
The second trip was from the South suburbs of Pittsburgh to my home in the East Surburbs. On this trip it never got settled and was forever directing me to turn into the Monongahela River. This was taking an Interstate highway the whole way. I'm not sure what screwed it up, but it never got on track.
The third trip was from the Eastern hinterlands to the near the airport. The timing immediately told me that I would arrive at 11:37am. I looked at the route and didn't like it, so I drove my own route. After 10 minutes of driving with the GPS constantly trying to re-route me to the original route, we got to a point where the device said I was going to arrive at 11:50am. Then suddenly we arrived at the PA Turnpike entrance and the route changed to my own route and the time of arrival changed to 11:27am. This was after driving 10 minutes in the "supposedly" wrong direction.
The fourth trip was from a park to my house. I programmed the Garmin and the Tom Tom and both gave the exact same routes, but the Tom Tom said that it would take an additional 8 minutes than the Garmin. The Tom Tom then kept changing slowly until it finally matched the Garmin's time of arrival. The original time of the Garmin was correct.
The fifth trip was of short distance into a crowded area of shopping centers. It was good until the near the end of the trip and then it sent me in the wrong direction and even after the building that I wanted was on my left, the GPS was still giving me directions to another road that would take me around in a circle and back to where I currently was.
So my analysis is this: Tom Tom has bugs in their routing formulae. Its time calculations are also not consistent. The voice is excellent and the directions are stated in a very clear and organized manner. The driver is warned well in advance of the upcoming turns. However, it seems to get lost easily without warning.
I'm somewhat torn as some of this might be corrected with a software upgrade or map upgrade. I'll re-post in a couple of months with an update on this device. Right now, I'll take the 6 year old Garmin without upgraded maps over this Tom Tom. I rated it a 2.5 and graded up because I like some of the way it was designed.
UPDATE: After continued use, I now only use this device for grins. It hasn't selected the correct (fastest) route around Pittsburgh in another 5 outings. It is outrageous how poor the mapping software is in this product.
If you buy this, when you TRY and download TOMTOM Home, which is needed to update your device and use all of those FREE lifetime maps you just bought, you may get an error 1152 when trying to download their file. If you do, your done. TOMTOM has no clue what to do and nothing I found on the internet helped. There are plenty of questions about it but NO useful answers. Believe me, I tried them all.
Also, I have a TOMTOM that is about 6 years old. When using that device, my HOME is perfect on the device. Now I program HOME and it tells me I have to drive another 1/4 mile up the street to be home. Good thing I know where I live. Garmin, was no better. I guess I'll try a Magellen.
I haven't jumped a battery with these, but I inspected the connections and the insulation and I'm impressed. The cables themselves are more than adequate for jumping a car battery.
