New toy!

I finally made the jump and got myself a portable GPS Navigation system

As stated in the topic description, it's a TomTom ONE.

So far so good. The voice is loud and clear at 3/4 volume. The routes are fairly intuitive. I've been testing it out all day on familiar routes to test the software (and I suppose map too) and it wasn't perfect but fairly good. Satellite lock is good but battery life is a bit short (manual says 2 hours).

There's a long list of POIs and I can add download more (such as Baskin Robins, Starbucks, KFC, Home Depot, etc etc). The downside is that the restaurant POI category doesn't divide into the cuisine type.

Hmm, that's all I can think of

Any questions?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(silentak1 @ Nov 26 2006, 08:15 AM) [snapback]354178[/snapback]</div>

Whoa! That's a really good deal. BB only had it on sale for $449 ($50 off).

Yeah, the slimness is the main reason. I took it to dinner last night and it fit in the suit pocket perfectly without any protrusion or any hint that it was in the pocket.

 

the last two trips, I ran it on battery alone (city trips). I don't like the wire to the 12V outlet. I keep it on the left side of me. If I had to run it off the car's battery, then it'll have to be moved closer to the rear view mirror since our windshield is angled steeply.

 

Hmm... interesting. I won't have time because exams are coming up. Thanks for the link!

A couple of other things that this unit has (and other people can chip in with their experiences with their GPS units) that the Toyota unit doesn't offer.

1. Yes, you can turn the safety lock on or off from the Preferences menu

2. You can change the splash screen. I'm currently using the same screen as the Prius MFD splash screen

Edit: The windshield mount is definitely a windshield-only mount. I tried flipping it around and mounting it on the vent above the shifter and it would even fall off (and turn on my wipers). So I'm either stuck with it somewhere below the rear view mirror or I gotta do the mod that Darell did if I want the unit close to a power source.

So far, TeleAtlas mapping is holding up. There are a few errors (like telling me to cross a main st. via a side street then up a one-way street) and a few sources are out-of-date. There were also a few surprises such as new roads that actually showed up on the map.

I compared it with the nav that my friend uses. His is running on Navteq maps and is running off his Dell PDA.

Notable differences:
- his unit gives directions more frequently (e.g. after 650 metres, after 200 metres whereas mine would just mention once at around 300 metres)
- Navteq recognised a small side "street" in my campus that wasn't on my TeleAtlas unit. Depends how they define street I suppose. It's more like an alley to me
- At one point, we tested a destination that wasn't too far away. Even though we both put "quickest route", the two units used to different roads to get there. The distance was minimal, however - 1.6km vs 1.5km and the shorter road is 30km/h and the longer route had a 40km/h limit.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(aaf709 @ Nov 26 2006, 07:25 PM) [snapback]354344[/snapback]</div>

Update.

I've used the in-car charger. It doesn't seem that much of a hassle. I just route it under the steering wheel rather than across the top of the dashboard (the unit is mounted on the left side of the windshield)