Need help choosing a GPS!

Wail

Wail

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Wail
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Finally the day has come and have decided to get one of these gadgets. The problem is that I know nothing about them other than they give directions, and some of them have funny voices!

Basically, I want it to get me from A to B, of course a voice telling me where to turn is great too. Any additional features would be great too.

I’ve narrowed down my options to: -

1. TomTom ONE v4 Great Britain, at 140
2. TomTom ONE v3 Great Britain, at £91
3. TomTom ONE XL V1 Great Britain, at £140

I really don’t fancy going over £100, but I like the larger screen on the XL model.

Of these which would should I go for, and what are the benefits of one over the other?

Any help / feedback is greatly appreciated.
 
As they are all TomTom couldn't you get that info from their website?
 
I have the old TOM TOM 300
I changed it a while ago for the top of the range all singing all dancing model
(cant remember model number but whatever is top one)
I hated the new one and didnt find it anywhere as good.
I ended up selling it and going back to old faithful.
You can get a 300 on ebay very cheap
Maybe thats an option ?
 
well no offense, but I wouldn't reccommend tom tom, I had a look at a million reviews online and Garmin always came on top, so I went on to the get the absolute basic model of Garmin and I've travelled literally the breath of the country, London - Belfast - Bundoran - Holyhead - Liverpool - etc and it's never got me lost once even though the maps are now well old, i think its great, simple and does the job
 
Don't worry too much about screen size, make sure it has a good speaker in it. You won't be looking at the screen while you're driving (at least not if you want to stay healthy) but you will want to be able to hear the instructions.
 
Tomtom One XL. I have one and its been perfectly reliable in the year or so I've had it. If you want to pay more money it comes down to whether you want the facility to play mp3 files, handsfree mobile phone via bluetooth and other extras. The speed camera warnings are a great reminder too!
 
My TomTom has gone everywhere on holiday (where driving is part of it of course) with me. Wouldn't be without it now. I have a normal screen version - think it's a One V2. Can't see the need for widescreen. Voice instructions combined with distance countdown and the map auto zooming in make junctions pretty easy.

In France the other week it did try to send me down some tiny cart track roads when exploring Dordogne back roads but you just drive past any turning you don't like the look of and it instantly re routes you.
 
Xplosion said:
well no offense, but I wouldn't reccommend tom tom, I had a look at a million reviews online and Garmin always came on top, so I went on to the get the absolute basic model of Garmin and I've travelled literally the breath of the country, London - Belfast - Bundoran - Holyhead - Liverpool - etc and it's never got me lost once even though the maps are now well old, i think its great, simple and does the job
Click to expand...

Garmin for me, and the lady has a nice voice and never gets stroppy:)
 
We just use the cheap £65 units at work (Think they are Hyundai). Full postcode search, 3.5" screen and work a treat.

As technology improves and the speed of these things increases, we just replace them. They are getting cheap enough to be classed as throw-away technology.
 
Thanks all for the replies ... basically all I want is to save myself the hassle of looking up directions on a map, especially while enroot.
 
hepburn said:
As they are all TomTom couldn't you get that info from their website?
Click to expand...

Yes, I’ve checked the web site and done a semi-extensive study into this. The thing is, I don’t care much for a lot of the added technical features (MP3 play back, speed camera location, etc); plus, it is the feedback from users that makes the best feedback / input and where better to ask than those whom I enjoy reading their input on photography too?

That said, there may be some issues with one model over the other that only users from real-life experience can give feedback on. Reading the website data is like going over a resume, when was the last time you read someone highlighting his / her weakness in a resume? As for magazine review, well I am not a big fan of that as much as I love reading the magazines I always take what they conclude with a HUGE grain of salt.

So, I simply wanted +ve / -ve input from users here :shrug:, not a technical analysis of the three.
 
starman said:
I have the old TOM TOM 300
I changed it a while ago for the top of the range all singing all dancing model
(cant remember model number but whatever is top one)
I hated the new one and didnt find it anywhere as good.
I ended up selling it and going back to old faithful.
You can get a 300 on ebay very cheap
Maybe thats an option ?
Click to expand...

Thanks for the input, but I am not too keen on spending anything over £100 on this. I am willing to go slightly over if there is a huge added bonus, like more detailed maps – something in line with Ordinance Survey maps :shrug:
 
Xplosion said:
well no offense, but I wouldn't reccommend tom tom, I had a look at a million reviews online and Garmin always came on top, so I went on to the get the absolute basic model of Garmin and I've travelled literally the breath of the country, London - Belfast - Bundoran - Holyhead - Liverpool - etc and it's never got me lost once even though the maps are now well old, i think its great, simple and does the job
Click to expand...

No offence taken, at all; and thank you for the input but I have to say that you’ve just added to my confusion now :shrug: Not that this is a bad thing, this is the exact reason why I ask about these TomToms.

As for Garmin, I had ruled them out since I didn’t like the name as much as TomTom (very scientific approach to my purchase plan, as you can see). So, which of the Gramin would you recommed, and would it fit within the price range I’m looking at?
 
CT said:
Tomtom One XL. I have one and its been perfectly reliable in the year or so I've had it. If you want to pay more money it comes down to whether you want the facility to play mp3 files, handsfree mobile phone via bluetooth and other extras. The speed camera warnings are a great reminder too!
Click to expand...

Thank you for the input. I liked the XL for the larger screen.

Actually, as I've posted earlier, all I want is a simple (reliable) navigation to get me from A to B. Nothing more fancy than that. Of course, if it comes with a bigger screen then all the better, though I see now that this isn’t as useful and it makes sense.

If I was to list all the features that I don’t care for, but would like to have, I’d say a sexy female voice is on top of that list, along with Darth Vader voice, speed camera warning, traffic re-rooting, Ordinance Survey map accuracy, weather proof, and ability to add additional maps for other countries.

But, I am not too keen to spend any money for these features and I just want something practical and a workhorse.
 
RobertP said:
My TomTom has gone everywhere on holiday (where driving is part of it of course) with me. Wouldn't be without it now. I have a normal screen version - think it's a One V2. Can't see the need for widescreen. Voice instructions combined with distance countdown and the map auto zooming in make junctions pretty easy.

In France the other week it did try to send me down some tiny cart track roads when exploring Dordogne back roads but you just drive past any turning you don't like the look of and it instantly re routes you.
Click to expand...


Thanks, this is great to hear :thumbs:
 
Galaxy66 said:
Garmin for me, and the lady has a nice voice and never gets stroppy:)
Click to expand...

Could you please tell me which one? Does it fall in the same price bracket I'm looking at, and why you like this over TomTom (or any other brands for that matter)?

Thanks for the input.
 
A basic XL will do you fine I reckon, and the speed camera database can be downloaded and added to any Tomtom. I've gone for the non Tomtom version which costs 2 quid to download, and I just do a fresh download every few months. The Tomtom lady has a nice sexy voice and you can get all sorts of daft free voices off the web - Darth Vader, Ozzy Osbourne, Basil Fawlty etc etc.
 
CT said:
A basic XL will do you fine I reckon, and the speed camera database can be downloaded and added to any Tomtom. I've gone for the non Tomtom version which costs 2 quid to download, and I just do a fresh download every few months. The Tomtom lady has a nice sexy voice and you can get all sorts of daft free voices off the web - Darth Vader, Ozzy Osbourne, Basil Fawlty etc etc.
Click to expand...

:lol: Great, thank you so much .. it's the sexy voice that makes it for me! Call me shallow!
 
Wail said:
Thank you so much for the link ... how good is this model / brand?
Click to expand...

We have 10 vehicles out all day every day using them, and the engineers we emply have little mechanical sympathy, they just see them as tools.

They just keep working. they come with 12 months warranty, so in 12 months time when technology has improved and the base models have bigger screens, spen andother £60 and upgrade. Its what we do as a company. Works out at £5 per month.
 
Chillimonster,

Thanks for the input, will sure take this into account when making my final choice.

:thumbs:
 
Well, thank you all for the suggestions here :thumbs:, it has been very informative.

Of course, I ended-up ordering the TomTom XL for the obvious shallow reason, nothing to do with practicality :cuckoo:

Should be here by tomorrow 1:00pm, can't wait to play with it. Oh yes, it' supposed to be my birthday gift which I am getting a bit early .. of course I much wanted the 200-400VR but there was a - sort of - bank issue on that! So, me looking forward to hearing a lot of sexy voices :p
 
Hey ... don't rub it in too much! I know my shortfalls :)
 
A friend has one of these, he really rates it and compared to my more expensive Tom Tom there is no difference ;)

Darren
 
Thanks Darren, but I've just ordered the TomTom XL a few hours ago!
 
Dont think you wil regret it Wail, i have had TomTom's for about 4 years now, and only been taken astray a handful of times, benefits far outweigh the negatives, on the other hand i used a Garmin Nuvi 200 in Iceland recently and found it flippin awful to use, annoying "recalculating....recalculating....recalculating" every time you ignore an instruction, painful interface etc etc. Am sure they are great if you have used nothing esle, but find TomTom far friendlier to use.
 
Thanks Ian, I can't wait for tomorrow to come to play with this :) .. I know once I am comfortable with this model I will be asking for more and more features .. I just hope it's stable and accurate enough for my needs.
 
i travel the length and breadth of the country and rely on mine 100% for that last few miles once i have reached the town im heading for, 99.9% of the time it takes me right to the door, only time it gets confused is new roads where it looks like you are driving in a field :) or if you are surrounded by massive high rises, bu then most GPS devices will be affected by that.
 
Update ....

Amazon just messed-up my delivery and I will not be getting it today! Anyone knows where I can get TomTom XL V2 at competitive prices?

Thanks
 
Got my TomTom XL today. Had one picked up from Argos (Amazon couldn't deliver it in time, though it wasn't really their fault).

This is a really smart GPS, I have to say. Well worth getting, if you ask me.

I just wanted to thank all who've suggested one brand, or another.
 
Thanks CT, but I think my XL comes with this feature as it has warned me whenever we approached a speed camera!
 
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