TomTom ONE
(Watch a video of the tomTom ONE.)
The TomTom ONE, originally available only in Europe has finally made it across the pond to the USA, and we are very excited about that. On the surface, the TomTom ONE is a basic, entry level GPS navigation device. However once you dig down into the advanced routing features you really start to see where this GPS shines. We’ve taken the ONE through about one-thousand miles of testing, and here is what we think.
Physical
The TomTom ONE is what I could characterize as a slim and pocketable GPS. It comes with a standard 3.5 inch display which can show 64,000 colors. The display itself is quite nice; the colors do not shift much until you look at it from extremely wide viewing angles and it is plenty bright so that it will not wash out too much in direct sunlight. While the display does not automatically switch from day to night node, you can manually set night mode in three clicks. The night and day modes also have their own brightness controls so you can set it very bright during the day and very dark at night. There are also ten different color schemes to select from if you don’t like the default colors.
I was skeptical of the mount at first. It is a really simple design with only one moving part, the ball and socket joint. This joint type allows you to tilt or rotate the display to any angle while suctioned to your windshield. Typically, I prefer these ball and socket type connections since they are easier and faster to adjust. However the TomTom ONE mount was just a little bit too tight and a couple of times I pulled the suction off the windshield trying to adjust the angle of the display. Others have criticized the mount for being too short. The face of the ONE will be about 3-3.5 inches from the windshield. This worked just fine for me, and in comparison the Nuvi mount puts the Nuvi about 3.75 inches from the windshield so there is only about a .5 inch difference between them.
Along the top of the ONE is the power button, and a charger indicator light. Good move to put the charge light on top where it will not interfere with the display at night. The speaker is on the back and there is an SD card slot on the bottom. (The maps come loaded on the SD card.) Unfortunately, the USB/power connector is on the bottom of the device. This is one of the few faults I have with the TomTom ONE. Putting the power connector at the bottom limits how low on the dash the screen can be. To accommodate for the power connector I need to mount the GPS an inch or two higher than I would otherwise. Having the GPS rest on the dash in addition to being mounted via the suction cup also makes the GPS more sturdy, but unfortunately you can’t take advantage of that trick.
At 3.8 inches in width, one inch thick, and weighing about 5.6 ounces the TomTom ONE is highly portable. There is also functionality to create pedestrian routes so if you need to navigate by foot, the ONE will fit nicely in your hand or shirt pocket. Just watch out for the battery life which is a little short at about 2 hours.
Speed
Inside, the TomTom ONE is powered by a SiRFstarIII chipset. This now legendary chipset is known for fast signal acquisition as well as keeping a fix in locations that can be challenging for other devices. In Europe, some are now shipping with a Global Locate chip, but these chips haven’t yet appeared in the USA devices, probably due to the current legal feud between SiRF and GlobalLocate.
The ONE is powered by 32 MB of RAM and a 266mhz processor. This brings up our second issue with this device. Often when searching through long lists, especially city names, there is a long delay between typing in a letter and getting feedback from the device. There are other parts of the interface that were sluggish too. For example other devices in this class can calculate a route from the Atlantic ocean to the Pacific Ocean in about 20 seconds while the TomTom ONE took exactly one minute! three times longer. On routes of more typical lengths the calculation happens plenty fast enough, but overall the system could use a little more speed.
Routing to an Address
Routing is pretty simple. You go to the ‘Menu’ and select ‘Navigate to’, ‘Address’, ‘Street and House Number’. You can also navigate to a City Center, a zip code, or an intersection. The first think you are asked for is not a state like many other devices, but rather a city. This has its positives and negatives. The positives are that it can save time entering in addresses, especially if the city name is obscure.
After selecting the City, you enter in the street using the same search function. Here is where the TomTom search functionality really shines. Let’s say you are looking for what you think is called “Alard St”. However the correct spelling is “Allard St”. Unlike most other GPS devices, if you type in Alard you will still find Allard. Bad spellers, rejoice! The TomTom ONE doesn’t force you to be a good speller! The same flexibility applies to city names.
Finally you are asked to enter in the street number. I wish the device prompted you with the range of available street numbers. However this GPS does give you a hand. If you enter a street number that is out of range of acceptable values, the closest acceptable value is entered in which you can then select.
Routing options presented are for the Fastest Route, shortest route, avoiding freeways, a walking route, a bicycle route, or a limited speed route. This should satisfy most every type of routing you might want on the road.
You can also specify if you need to arrive at a particular time. The ONE will then show you how far ahead or behind of schedule you currently are.
Routing to a POI
Navigating to a POI gives you several options. You can route to a POI near your current location, near another city, near your home, closest to your current route, or closest to your destination. This flexibility is really handy, especially since you can add these points as via points to your route. You select how far away you want to search, and then select a category. Unfortunately, the categories are not setup in any hierarchy! only alphabetically. So while you can select ‘Restaurant’, you cannot select ‘Japanese Restaurant’. Phone numbers for POIs are also not displayed, possibly to save space on the 1GB card with the maps/POIs.
Status Display, Voice
While navigating, an arrow indicating the next turn or intersection type is displayed. Also included are fields for the distance to the next turn, the distance remaining in the trip, and the estimated time left in the trip. So yes, while the Nuvi can’t answer “how long until we get there” without doing the math yourself, you will know the answer from the TomTom ONE. It will also display the GPS signal strength and the estimated time of arrival. You can also customize the display to show other fields such as your speed.
Like most other devices, the map can be displayed in 2D or 3D modes. In 3D mode, as you approach an intersection the TomTom ONE will zoom in on the intersection and highlight the desired path. While it is difficult to measure “how well” one device might zoom in versus another device, The TomTom ONE always seems to display the maps at an appropriate zoom level, taking into account your current speed and distance to the next turn.
The volume is acceptably loud, and the voices are extremely clear. While there is no text-to-speech on the ONE, I didn’t really feel like I needed it since the prompts were clear, timely, and the display allowed you to get the information you needed at a quick glance. One thing that really impressed me about the TomTom ONE was how it will often give you not only the current instruction, but also the following instruction if it will happen soon after the first turn.
For example several times I would hear an instruction like “At the end of the road, turn right. Then turn left”. These types of instructions can be very valuable in tight areas. There were even times when it would say “turn right, then get in the left lane” in anticipation of the next turn being to the left and knowing you were on a multi-lane road. These types of instructions can be extremely helpful when you really don’t know where you are going.
Avoiding Roadblocks, Streets, Towns
This is another area where the TomTom ONE (and all TomTom devices) really excel. There are many types of “avoidances” you can set. If you are taking a “Sunday drive” you can “calculate alternative” which will take you to your destination in an entirely different way than originally calculated. Often when going on a short family trip I will navigate to a POI, then on the return calculate a route home and then “calculate alternative” to take me home an entirely different way than I came.
You can also “Avoid Roadblock”. Very sensible lengths of blocks are displayed for you to choose from; 100 yards, 1/4 mile, 1 mile, and 3 miles. You can also “travel via” to add a via point to your route. You can select from your favorites, an address, a recent destination, a POI, a point on the map, a set of coordinates or several other types of locations.
You can also avoid a specific part of the route. This feature has come in handy for me several times. You can select a specific street to avoid, and the GPS will calculate another way around. Something that I use even more often however is to avoid a specific town. If for example you are driving from Hartford, CT to Washington, DC you will likely get a route directly through NYC!. probably not what you want to do. You could use this to select a certain city to avoid and the TomTom ONE will route you around that city.
Multiple Destination Routing
Once again, as far as advanced navigation functions go, the TomTom ONE has this functionality nailed. We won’t get into a ton of details about this functionality here since we have an article dedicated to TomTom Itineraries, but here are the highlights.
If you need to visit several destinations in one day and combine them into one route, you can do this through the Itinerary Planning system. Here you can create a list of individual waypoints or destinations to be added to your route, building everything up into one big route. Here are a couple of tips.
First, don’t forget to add ‘Home’ as your last location if appropriate. Second, when setting up the route I like to add each via point as a waypoint (versus a destination) and then add ‘Home’ (or my hotel) as the final destination. In this manner I can look at the summary of the route and know how long it will take to drive the entire route. Therefore I can tell if I might be able to squeeze in one more location or if my route is too ambitious. Then, when I’m ready to set out I convert each location to a destination so that I get an accurate status and estimated arrival times to that next location.
Planning in Advance
This is another feature I wish more GPS devices would incorporate. If you are using your GPS to plan a trip, you most often want to find out how long it will take to get somewhere before you are packed and sitting in the car. Sure, you could use an online service like Google Maps or MapQuest for that, but you might not always have Internet access where you are planning your trip. You own a GPS so shouldn’t you be able to look at a trip ahead of time?
Enter TomTom’s Advanced Planning feature. This is really simple, it is basically just like creating a route to an address or a waypoint except you also specify your starting location. I use this frequently with airport travel. Let’s say last week I flew from Boston to Orlando. Before leaving Boston I want to know how long it will take me to get from the Orlando airport to my hotel. I use the Advanced planning function, set my ‘Depart from’ by looking up the Orlando Airport in the POIs, then set my destination by looking up the Hotel in the POIs. I can then look at the route summary and see how far the trip is, about how long it should take, and a map of the route. Simple, and extremely handy.
Purchasing Guidance
There are a few features you might want that the TomTom ONE doesn’t have such as a music player, text-to-speech, and Bluetooth hands free calling. Many people, however can do without those devices. If you want those features you may wish to consider the TomTom 510 or 910 which are more advanced, but are not nearly as small and portable as the TomTom ONE. (Compare the ONE, 510, and 910.)
If you want an extremely simple device with no advanced routing functionality, you might want to compare the TomTom ONE vs the Garmin Nuvi 350 which lacks many of the advanced functionality, but because it doesn’t have it some people find the Nuvi simpler to operate since there are not as many functions.
But it is really hard to go wrong with the TomTom ONE. It is a very portable device with a great screen, and all the advanced routing functions you might need.
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At that price, I may be ready to jump into the pnd game. I was leaning toward the nuvi 360 (similar size and all) but almost twice the price of Tom Tom One.
Thanks for the comments, John. Yes, the 360 is almost twice the price, however it does have lots more features. Still, as you mentioned those features are not important to everyone and I agree the price for this device is great.
[...] Today TomTom announced details surrounding the North American version of the TomTom ONE. There is already a “ONE” in Europe, so what sets this ONE apart? That has been our most frequent question today, so let’s get right down to it and compare the two. [...]
[...] CNET has reviewed the TomTom ONE (North American edition) and has given it a “Very good” rating of 7.7 out of ten. The ONE got points for the new design, easy to use interface, as well as accurate directions and price. They were not so warm to the lack of text-to-speech nor the POI database which they felt was a little outdated. (They cited a listing for an ice cream shop that had been out of business for a year.) The One does navigation, and that’s it. It’s perfect for first-time buyers or drivers who just need a simple solution for getting from point A to point B. [...]
[...] An article about the TomTom ONE has appeared in the NY Times today. The brief words about the ONE mention the small overall size, same 3.5 inch display, as well as the map coverage. They seemed to enjoy the price point and lack of unnecessary features. Unlike most G.P.S. receivers that have been released recently, the TomTom One doesn’t also play videos or MP3’s. It does just one thing: help you find your way. But its list price, at $500, is lower than the discounted prices of most comparable receivers. [...]
[...] BusinessWeek has written a nice article profiling TomTom, their roots, putting a dent in Garmin, and possible future competition from other companies. The article makes mention of the TomTom ONE and its low price point. The most recent attempt by TomTom to upset the balance came in August, with the TomTom One, a compact $499 device that does everything most drivers need from a navigation device, but at a price point not seen before. [...]
[...] TomTom has released a video highlighting some of the features of the new TomTom ONE. The video is more of an advertisement of the features than a demonstration, however it does provide a good feature overview as well as highlighting the small size of the device. Perhaps slightly on purpose, the video does tend to remind me of iPod videos… upbeat music over animated backgrounds. Can’t wait to get my hands one ONE. Here is the video (WMV format, about 11.6 MB). [...]
A friend bought a TomTom 910 and just love it and he lend it to me to use for a weekend trip and it worked great. I wanted to get one too but could see spending $800 on the 910 and I decided that I don’t really need all those fancy features on the 910 especially the map of Europe. I finally pre-ordered a TomTom One from autonavdirect.com and it showed up today. Wow! Am I happy I got this ONE instead. It looks great and it also works great. Just in time for our long road trip this weekend. I’m already thinking of buying another ONE for someone special for Xmas.
I noticed there are two type of pictures on this site for the TomTom One. The larger picture matches the one I received yesterday and the other seems a little thicker and rounder. Are there two different models of One or was there a design change?
Joseph, the TomTom ONE was originally released in Europe last year. That one was thicker and rounder. The “one” released just in the past couple of weeks is thinner. Many sites (and ads) are still displaying the old ONE photo that was sold in Europe. Europe also has the new design now as well. So the rounder, thicker picture is from the older European ONE.
I hope this finally kicks Garmin in the rear to put some functions in the nuvi like multiple vias, saving routes and detour function that actually works.
[...] Yet another very positive review of the TomTom ONE, this time by PCmagazine. The ONE was given a four out of five “Very Good rating. The reviewer liked the overall value of the device, small size, GPS sensitivity, and user selectable fields. There were a few things they didn’t like such as[...]
I’ve heard great things about the ONE– especially that it gets great satellite fixes and that the quick response interface is very useful. From all the reviews I’ve read, there hasn’t been one bad thing out there–the price is very reasonable as well.
[...] James Derk has written a short review of the TomTom ONE. Like many other GPS users in the USA, James had previously only used Magellan and Garmin GPS devices but decided to give the ONE a try and ended up buying it as his first GPS. [...]
GPSreview,
I have noticed on another website that there are two different versions of the TomTom 510. A pug and play version and a portable version. Is there a difference? Also if I buy the TomTom One for Morth America can I download the maps for Europe to a card and use it in Germany?
Thanks,
Scott
Hi Scott – I’ve only ever seen one version of the 510. Can you contact me with where you saw two versions listed?
The European maps are not yet available as an accessory for the TomTom ONE, however I’ve been told by TomTom that they should become available in October.
Looking at the Tom Tom ONE, the North american version. But I do alot of european travel.
Can I buy the Western European Map on the SD card and plug in the NA TomTom?
Alan, I asked that question directly to TomTom today. They told me that yes, that will work. I questioned them since the website says that those maps are only compatible with the Go 300, 700 and they said that all of their maps are interchangeable. You may wish to confirm this with TomTom yourself, but their answer to me today was yes.
Hi, GPSReview. What does “Text-To-Speech” do? Does that mean without this feature, the GPS device will not remind you via voice when you need to make a turn? This is my first time shopping for gps. It is kind of confused.
Text-to-speech means it will say “turn right on main street” speaking the name of the street rather than just saying “in 100 yards turn right” which uses generic recordings.
Does anyone know how many POI come with the TomTom One? I am trying to decide between it and either the Garmin c330 or Garmin c530? Any info or advice you could give would be great? Thanks.
Is the sd card that comes with the “one” big enough for extra maps and upgrads?
There is only about 50 MB left on the SD card (1 GB) that comes with the ONE.
I just received my TomTom1 in mail. Staples had sold out in store. I was surprised it was so small (the screen) it list in the paper as 3×5 mine is 3 x 3-3/4. Are there different sizes?
The screen is 3.5 inches, measured diagonally. There is only one size.
I bought this for my husband for his birthday because he is always traveling and tends to get lost. This GPS is very accurate. He enjoys using it to find gas stations and restaurants on his road trips. The Tom Tom one also can locate many different points of interest as well. It is a great buy.
I’m trying to get my first GPS device for my car. I’m down to two choices. Tomtom One and the Garmin C330. I live in Northern Virginia. Any advice?
I have both GPS and this would be a toss-up!
TomTom One is small and pocketable, it comes with a newer/better GPS receiver and a brighter screen.
Garmin StreetPilot c330 on the other hand is an old work horse, it has 6 million POIs, a very easy to use User Interface so a new user will never get confused with the UI. c330 uses the Map and POI database from NavTeq so it tend to be better as far as finding locations in North America. c330 will also provide addresses and phone numbers of POI like restaurants.
TomTom One which come with TeleAtlas map/POI database does not display the street names and phone numbers of POIs.
I think these are two great beginners’ gps units and with prices dropped below $300 for either one, you really could not go wrong with either one.
Joseph
The TomTom ONE is about half of the size and weight of the c330. It also includes a more complete set of navigation options such as multiple destinations, selectable distances of detours, etc.
Check out our study of Tele Atlas vs NAVTEQ maps. You might be surprised how well the newer set of maps perform from Tele Atlas.
The TomTom ONE also has a more sensitive GPS receiver.
The c330 wins on battery life, and simplicity of the user interface. Part of what makes the user interface so simple is that it doesn’t have some of the more advanced routing options.
Any idea when you’ll get the TomTom ONE XL to review? I’m in the market for my first GPS, and I’m really interested in the hands-free Bluetooth calling capability (and is the traffic information going to be free or subscription based?)
Anyway, can’t wait for your review of the new device. I could do away with the widescreen though, it seems like it will just suck more battery juice.
Hello,
I would be wary of purchasing a TomTom regardless of the model. I have a TomTom XL One and have had it for less than 18 months when it developed some kind of short. After contacting TomTom’s customer support and being treated very rudely I discovered that this company WILL NOT service or repair any of their products that are more than 1 yr old. Basically I was told that my TomTom is scrap and that the only thing they would do would be to offer me a $35.00 rebate to purchase a new one. Be VERY careful and do your research on their customer support and repair (or rather lack of) for their own products. If I had done my research in terms of known problems I would have found thousands of dissatisfied customers like myself and would NEVER HAVE PURCHASED A TOMTOM!!
It isn’t economical (for you or them) to offer repairs on our of warranty devices. Garmin for example does offer repair services, however from what most people have told me they charge about $175 and up for repairs. The TomTom ONE XL is for sale today for $79 – $99, so spending any more than that to repair just doesn’t make sense. Even spending $69 to repair a device you can now purchase new for $79 doesn’t make much sense.
I hope to have the ONE XL one very soon, but no word yet on an exact date. Note that the ONE and ONE XL have Bluetooth for data, but not for hands free calling. The traffic information will be subscription based. If you don’t think you would need the widescreen, than this model, the ONE, might do the trick for you.
I purchased a TomTom One last Saturday. I’m returning it today (Thursday). It’s a great little unit but the fact that the screen defaults to a view of about .6 miles and even if you zoom in or out it very quickly returns to the default view. This proved to be very inconvenient and proved very dangerous on my first trip using the unit. It will not display and hold a different view of your route other than about .6 mile. Their tech support tells me that this design is intentional. Too bad because otherwise I love it.
I’m curious how you find the zoom feature to be dangerous? Most devices employ a similar zoom feature based on speed and/or proximity to a turn.
The zoom feature itself I don’t see as dangerous.It’s the fact that the user can’t control when the unit zooms is the issue. I have a zoom feature on the factory installed system that is in my personal car. The fact that you cannot control the zoom feature that makes it dangerous when driving in unfamiliar territory on busy highways. The unit only lets you see .6 miles ahead, at 70 MPH that’s not very far on a highway with 8-10 lanes and multiple intersections. Especially since you can’t tell which lane you need to be in to get to where you’re going. Otherwise I love the unit, it’s great. The option to turn this feature on an off when conditions warrant would be a great improvement. However this one design flaw makes it unusable for me.
Thanks for sharing your comments, Merg. That is the first time I’ve heard that point of view so it is good to hear. FWIW the device does change zoom levels based on your speed and proximity to an intersection just to make sure nobody else doesn’t misinterpret what we are talking about.
There is a setting (Menu->Change Preferences->Safety Preferences->Done to get to the map display preferences) which will turn off the moving map above a certain speed. Instead, a preview of the upcoming intersection will be displayed with an arrow showing your path through the intersection. You could specify that you want that turned on at a speed you choose… say anything above 55mph. That feature may or may not be what you are looking for, but I thought I’d point it out since it is perhaps one of the most overlooked features of the device.
Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Tim I’ll try that and leave some feedback tomorrow.
Tim I tried your suggestion on the way to work today. I’m a little confused as to what the purpose of that feature is, it basically turns the unit into a very expensive compass. I have also done a little research and found that I am not the only person that has issues with the unit deciding what information I needed to see and when opposed to me making those decisions. I even found users that claim to have written hacks to turn off the auto zoom feature. Not a good idea messing with the op system. It seems to be something that is inherent in all TomTom units. If TomTom ever addresses this issue I’ll try another one because this really is a perfect unit otherwise. Thanks for you comments and good luck to you and TomTom.
I bought the ONE today from Costco but it doesn’t come with SD card. It said the map is preloaded.
1. Does it mean I have to buy a SD card and download an updated map from online?
2. Is there an updated map available?
3. How frequent is the update?
Yes, the newest ONE models come with the maps stored internally, no SD card is needed. You also probably have the latest map updates, you need to enter your serial number/product code into the TomTom website to find out what might be available for your device.
I had read a review on how poor the TeleAtlas maps performed in comparison to the Navteq. You mentioned in one of the posts that the new TeleAtlas maps were improved. The link in Post 29 is broken but I found the comparison article here :
http://www.gpsreview.net/navteq-vs-tele-atlas/
Do you have any other comments as of May 2007?
Hi ,
I am about to purchase a Tom Tom One now that the price has come down. I understand that it comes with preset US and Canada maps, which is great (I live in Canada) But I am confused as to how I should go about getting a map for Europe? Is there anywhere that I can download a map of western Europe (Italy in particular). I’ve seen SD cards for sale with Europe maps, but at a cost of almost half the Tom Tom itself. Any insight would be helpful, thanks.
You can download and purchase just Italy for EUR 59.95, probably about $87 CAN. There might not be enough free space on your ONE for the additional maps so you might need to purchase an SD card to put them on if you don’t have enough space.
Does NA TomTom have the same languages as the EU, here I think of Danish. I am going on vacation in US and plan to buy a TomTom there and bring it back home and buy a EU card. Will that work?
I don’t recall exactly which devices come pre-installed. Obviously USA voices are there. I also remember UK, and Australia voices being installed by default. But I think you can also download more of the free, standard voices from the TomTom HOME application.
I’m looking at an entry level GPS for use on the road. I wondered if you have any opinions on the Magellan RoadMate 3000T vs TomTom One vs Cobra 2100?
On the TomTom Home page, additional maps are available for purchase. My One came with USA and Canada on an SD card, but there are “detailed” maps of the southern US (where I live). Are these maps more detailed than the one supplied? If so, I would love to purchase.
They are the same maps as installed on your ONE. There might be a difference in the number of POIs, but I think they are otherwise identical, although perhaps slightly more recent depending on when you purchased your ONE.
Thanks Tim for all the works you’ve done in reviewing many GPS. It took me a while to read your review and your responses in the forum to finally get some good ideas of what I’d like to buy for my daughter. You did a good job, really a good job.
Can this unit be used for hiking or camping applications ?
How does it compare to the Garmin Nuvi 350 ?
Lanny – thanks for the comments!
Michael – Depends on what you want it to do. It will tell you your lat/long. It isn’t waterproof nor water-resistant so you would need to protect it well. It doesn’t provide any geography besides roads and major bodies of water. You can compare it to the Nuvi 350 here.
I am confused as to which GPS to buy: My son recommends Garmin Nuvi series and since we live in Europe we are getting recommendations for TomTom One. I would like to use it in Europe mainly, and secondly in North America. I would also like to use it for hiking and biking. Which one would answer my needs?
Isabel, both are good devices, however neither (like nearly all auto GPS devices) will work well for hiking and biking.
Is is possible to use the device as a bluetooth GPS unit for PDA’s or laptops? I’d like to feed the location data to a portable device for analysis, as well as use it for navigation.
Edgar, no, it is not.
Can I use the ‘one’ on a lake or body of water?
Depends how you want to use it…
I have this GPSr and absolutely love it. I use it for geocaching and the only complaint is the snap to feature. This keeps you snapped to a road even when you leave it for about 75 yards. Once you get far enough, it will leave the road and is great for geocaching. I know this can be turned off because this French dude http://www.webazar.org/tomtom/offroad.php?lang=uk has written a program that allows you to do it. I can’t get his program to work well and just wish you could turn off this feature.
I need only a good, basic GPS, but really prefer the street name announcement feature.What would you recommend the TomTom one or Garmin?Thank you in advance.
Le, I’m not sure I can give a recommendation from that little information. You might want to check out our discussion forums for more insight.
I have just picked up a new Tomtom ONE and have a feature on my ONE listed on TomTom Home software. I have a file titled Satellite Imagery USA at 6.8MB on my ONE… but have no clue what it is… or what i can do with it.
Any assistance?
If you go to the Map view (not the 3D map view) and zoom almost all of the way out the earth will be shown in true colors based on satellite images.
impressive…. and i’m not talking about the tomtom… i’m talking about you, Tim.
Sir, you know your stuff. I spent a bundle of my boss’ time this week trying to research GPS. (i hit Cnet and the usual sites)… but it wasn’t until i found this one that i got real answers.
Nice job.
Glad to help!
I’m interested in buying a TomTom One. I found the add-on software TripMaster while searching for additional features. Does anyone know if you need the TomTom SDK and/or a special cable to install TripMaster? Is the SDK still available? Is it free? I read somewhere that TomTom was no longer make, supporting, or selling the SDK or cables.
TIA
You don’t need the SDK nor special cable for it that I recall.
TripMaster? Can someone go into this a bit further? What is it? Where is it? What’s it give me?
THanks!
The TomTom One for North America looks almost perfect. I have to think about the lack of text-to-speech but I am more concerned about POI updates and additional maps. I have been living with a 4 year old non-updateable MapSend DirectRoute v1.00a which has now finally died because it won’t run on Vista. Thank goodness!
1. Does TomTom Home software really work on MS Vista
2. If I go to Australia do I replace the North America map or does the Australia map go on an SD card? Does it show up automatically on the screen when the GPS gets there or do you “activate” it ?
3. POI’s, especially for restaurants and roadside chain hotels age very quickly. Is it easy to update POI’s?
Werner – (1) I haven’t heard of any issues. (2) You could put the Aussie maps on SD card if you want, they do need to be “activated” with the device. (3) POI updates happen in conjunction with map updates.
I notice you did not review the TomTomHOME software; an essential for backup, PLUS services and for loading the weekly gpsautofix plugin. TomTomONE (new version) and TomTomHOME are not really friends (yet?) and neither the manual or TomTom’s online support pages clear up the confusion (the User Guide tells users to buy a home charger and to charge-up the ONE before connecting to a PC, the Support Pages say it will recharge this way, but slowly (4 hours). Surely after so many years they can get this sort of thing right?
A word of warning; TomTomONE+TomTomHOME+Mac OSX does not work well and causes software crashing. Best avoided in my opinion.
Hi Jules, We didn’t review TomTom HOME on this page because it is the same application for all TomTom devices and it would be a little redundant to put it on all of the TomTom product pages. I’ve used HOME on Mac OS X with the ONE (2nd edition), ONE XL, 510, 910, Eclipse, and 720 and haven’t had major issues. I did have some early crashes, but an updated version of HOME has fixed those crashes for me. I’m sorry to hear you are not having similar results.
I’m moving to a new city soon and was interested in the TomTom One; however, I just read that it doesn’t have text to speech which you explained as the ability to read street signs.
Can you recommend another GPS for newbie that has the text to speech capability?
You can use the ‘Find Auto GPS’ box near the top left of our homepage to find devices that have TTS, as well as a link to an article describing exactly what TTS offers vs voice prompts.
Here is your chance to WIN a TomTom One from Club TomTom by submitting a one minute video of why you deserve to win. Contest lasts until August 31. http://www.clubtomtom.com/category/products/tomtom-one/
Can the TomTom One maps & POIs be updated??? And if so how??? Just used Garmin Streetpilot c330 (borrowed) and was impressed..
I have enough priority club points to get the TomTom One … But I am disappointed to read that POIs dining not broken into catagories and that there are no telephone numbers … last night we found available lodging with the streetpilot by calling the furnishing motel phone numbers.
Stephen, map updates (including POI updates) are offered by TomTom. POIs are broken down into categories, but restaurants are not further divided into subcategories. I’ve found that searching by name and including the food type (italian, japanese, etc) will typically yield good results. The POIs DO have phone numbers on the TomTom ONE.
I just bought tomtom One and still can’t find info regarding cost of updates. Let’s say new streets are added by tele atlas, how do we get those? Do we have to pay for those? If so, are there any GPS units where the updates are free?
Anybody knows if there is routeplanner covering US where you can make your own waypoints on the map and download them as a gps file?
This can be done in europe using the NAF ruteplanlegger.naf.no/veibok/ and then use this program turplanlegger.no/Default.aspx to convert the gps-file to an itn-file to TomTom.
Sorry for the norvegian laungage.
You can download those through TomTom HOME. They do cost money. TomTom ran a promotion for awhile where some devices could upgrade to the latest maps for free, but otherwise GPS companies generally charge for map updates.
Steffen, I think you can do that with Google Earth and then a program called tripmaster. I haven’t worked with it much so I can’t tell you much about it.
I am considering a GPS for North American travel only, so it is down to between the C330 or the TomTom One both priced under 300 bucks US. What would be the main advantages of one over the other. I am new to GPS but like text to speech etc
Scott, you can compare those two at this link. Neither of those models come with text-to-speech, but here is a list of devices that do.
I just bought a Tomtom One. Generally I am satisfied. But I really don’t feel it is a good idea that they don’t include grocery stores as POIs….No, I can not find Walmart.
I used the tomtom one for the first time today. One disappointment I had..that you have to turn it on and turn it off. I used my friend’s Garmin c330 which turned on when the car started and turned off when the car is turned off. Is there any way to make that automatic for tomtom?
Meow, if you connect with TomTom HOME and download the USA Retail Store locations POI set you will get Walmart locations.
Sunny, there isn’t a way to make that automatic…. yet. NavCore 7, the next version of the TomTom software which should be available for the ONE in the fall does include that feature. I’m not certain that feature will become enabled on the ONE, but it is a good possibility.
Thanks Tim, I succesfully downloaded the USA Retail file. Now I can find Walmart, although I have to type in “Wal-mart”, with the dash.
I bought this GPS because I am going to move, so I checked some stores that I will visit after the move. After install the US Retail, I still can not find Ikea and Home Depot, where I will buy my furnitures and home improvement stuff. I am pretty sure I can find Ikea in a cheap Garmin device that I rent with a car last time. (But that one was very insensitive to GPS signals so when I need to buy one now, I tried Tomtom instead.) Do you feel Tomtom does not maintain their POI list as good as Garmin?
It isn’t a matter of TomTom or Garmin maintaining better POI databases. (They don’t maintain the databases anyway, the purchase them from other companies.) But it is important to remember that unlike the road database where they strive for 100% coverage, the POI database is only a small sample of the known POIs. There are about 15-20 million POIs in the USA, but most devices only include about 1 to 6 million of them. So going with the worst case scenario, a GPS might not include 95 out of 100 known POIs.
Thanks for the answers Tim. Stupid question: Since maps are not updated for free and I started using my tomtom One out of the box, what is use of updates through USB cable. Like what kind of updates are provided for free?
Also, I noticed there was a bluetooth connection on tomtom, and it recognized my treo but then asked to connect to the web using treo data connection. I have unlimited internet on my phone, could this be beneficial to me when I use tomtom? Thanks
Hi Tim, got another question for you.
I’ve looked at screen shots of the tomtom one, and i noticed a european spelling of ‘favourite’ instead of the american ‘favorite’.
Since tomtom is newly stateside now, should I assume the ones that have ‘favourite’ are the older version?
Sunny, the USB cable is for map updates, installing custom POI databases, installing different voices, charging, making backups of your data, installing QuickFix data, etc. The Bluetooth connection can be used to get weather forecasts, traffic information, etc.
Tai – Where do you see those screenshots? If on TomTom’s website then make sure you have the correct region selected in the top right corner of their site. It is spelled the american way on the devices sold in the USA.
I’ve been looking at GPS units and, although I wasn’t thrilled with the Nextar x3-02, I loked the fact that you could drag the map around with your finger, kind of like what you can do with the cursor on Google maps. I’m new to GPS and wondering if the Tom Tom or similar unit can do the same.
Thanks.
A couple days ago, I was browsing the tomtom website and found where you can find map version to see if its the latest but today I spent over an hour trying to find that link and I can’t find it anymore. Do you know it?
Also, if I have internet on my phone, will I be able to access real time traffic/weather updates for free?
As a Fire Captain in a small mountain town (Georgetown), I need to find address/street locations fast during an emergency. How well does tomtom work in the forested mountains? Is there a test drive program? Also, can map data from the county government taxroll be downloaded into the GPS?
Todd, yes you can drag the map around with your finger in the ‘browse map’ view.
Sunny, try the right column of this page. The PLUS services do cost money and compatibility depends on your phone/carrier.
Will, it performs well in tree cover. You can’t add your own maps, but I’m not sure what you mean by “data”. Depends on the type of data you are trying to add.
I’ve really enjoyed reading this review and comments. I bought the TT One just yesterday for a really great price but without a lot of information. It’s a great GPS device to say the least. But one criticism is I wished that the POIs would appear with addresses and at least phone numbers when searched. I also own a Garmin i5 and though it’s not as fully featured as the TomTom One, the i5 would have such potentially important information available.
I purchased the Western Europe SD for my TomTom ONE. When I insert it, the screen has a repeating image to remove it (with a red ‘X’) on the card. Do I have to be IN europe first for it to acquire their satellites?, am I not installing it right, or may it be a bum SD card? I’m leaving for Italy and The Netherlands in a few days. Thanks in advance. Also, are there any MAC users experiencing problems with updates. I get a “ITO.DAT” file exists that shouldn’t and it fails to install the newer GPS fix update.
Erik, there are a couple of different versions of the ONE. Some have the app in internal memory and some have it on the SD card. You might need to use HOME to install the app for your device onto the SD card. You don’t need to be there for the card to work. Otherwise, give a call to support.
I am on the verge of buying a Tom Tom One and understand that the US/Canada maps may be preloaded on the device itself OR on a 1 GB SD card. Is one version better than the other? If not, why does the manufacturer do this in two different ways?
I’d personally prefer the maps in an internal memory leaving the SD slot open for expansion (additional maps, etc) and so that the SD card isn’t just one more thing that might get lost. Most are shipping that way now. I think this was just a change TomTom wanted to make for the better while the device was still in production and all future models will likely have maps in the internal memory.
Does the Tom Tom One or XL give clearance heights and commercial vehicle routes? Does it show if diesel fuel available at POI service stations? I drive an RV and would like a GPS that gives me that information for trip planning.
No, the ONE doesn’t do that.
Thanks for all the replies Tim. My friend just got his tomtom One today and I got mine about 10 days ago. I thought it would be exactly the same but it is quite different. I have a SD card slot (SD card didn’t come with mine) and his doesn’t. His doesn’t have bluetooth but mine does. The biggest thing I noticed about his was a couple streets that don’t show up on mine, showed up on his. On the bottom his says 3rd edition (4N01.002) and mine says 4N00.005. There’s no edition listed on mine.
You mentioned bluetooth is for plus services but he also has traffic (no weather though)without bluetooth. How will that work?
I have unlimited data on my phone so if use the bluetooth feature would the PLUS services be free?
If even with bluetooth, PLUS services will cost money, then I may take mine back and get the one with updated maps. What do you suggest?
Additionally, do you know major changes between the two that we don’t know about? Thanks
Sunny, I haven’t seen, nor ever heard of, a ONE that doesn’t have an SD card slot. Did you happen to look at the device? Some don’t come with an SD card, but I’ve never heard of any that don’t come with a slot.
The same goes for Bluetooth. I’ve never seen a ONE that didn’t have Bluetooth. None of them allow hands free calling, but Bluetooth should be there for the PLUS services. Without Bluetooth, I see no way for him to get traffic on the ONE. (The ONE XL however has a port that looks like it will be for the external traffic receiver.)
The PLUS services do cost extra.
I haven’t seen any data on TomTom’s website to suggest a new version of the ONE, without Bluetooth and without an SD card slot. I’ll keep an eye out for any changes, but I haven’t heard of any from my usual sources.
Update — I did just see one marketed for Europe, that doesn’t have Bluetooth. It didn’t mention if it had an SD card slot or not, and it isn’t available there yet. (And they usually get new devices a couple of weeks ahead of time.) One thing I noticed is that the color is a little different. My ONE has a black frame around the screen with the TomTom name in the lower left in silver letters. The ONE I just saw has a silver frame with the name TomTom centered on the bottom in black letters. Did the one your friend has look like that?
Tim, thanks for your prompt reply to question #97. I agree that maps preloaded in internal memory is the way to go since it frees up the SD card slot for other things, so I called Tom Tom customer support and learned that the Second Edition (internal preload) has a serial number on the outside of the box beginning with C_NOZ. I just bought my One at [snip] and am having fun getting started. The First Edition serial number begins with a Z, by the way.
Best wishes, Herman.
Hi Tomtom users State Side
I brought a Tomtom One GB this week here in the UK, it is a “3rd Edition†with 512mb memory BUILT IN!. There is definitely no SD card slot, although http://www.tomtom.com is still detailing one in the spec. They do not even include a software CD with this model. I will live with mine until the warranty runs out, then I’m betting if I take the back off there is still an SD card in there. I guess it’s a cheap option for Tomtom to fit a new solid casing with no card slot and keep the same components inside. This way the poor old consumer has to fork out more cash for a “plus†model with more memory.
Does the ONE show “next exit” information?
Yes.
I just got the Tom Tom ONE, The HOME software is nice but I wished it had a print itinary feature. And they could have made the screen size bigger on the computer screen.
Tim, I just received my TT One (4N00.004.2, s/n begins with C_NO:E22xxxxxxxxx). Is this considered a “Version 1, 2 or 3? I am trying to buy this handlebar mount ( http://www.buybits. com/product/sku_hr-tt1-v1-bike-mount.aspx ) from Germany, and they have 3 versions. I don;’ know which one to order.
I don’t know how to tell them apart by serial number/product code.
I just vacationed in Myrtle Beach S.C. and the neighborhood I stayed in was about 5 years old but it does not show up on my Tomtom One. How do I download a newer map for the area? My Tomtom is only 1 year old, the map must be outdated
That isn’t terribly uncommon to find, Mark. It is more likely that the area wasn’t in the current map when you received the map, versus receiving an old map on the device. You can check MapInsight to see if it is on the current map, and report it if it is not.
Tim,
I just purchased the TomTom ONE and called customer service to see which editon I have. The rep told me that if the serial number after the C_NO: starts with an E…it is 1st Edition, a Z is 2nd edition and a Y is 3rd edition. Hope this helps the guy in Germany that did not know the difference in models. Also, the 3rd Edition has the TomTom logo in the center bottom of the frame. I am at a loss why the 3rd edition has mapshare, the newest maps and a leather case with strap for $50 less than the other editions. Mine was the 2nd Edition . Also, Consumer Reports currently rates the Tomtom One a best buy. I would be curious to know which edition they tested. Oh, by the way. Tim, thanks for all your help on this site.
Hi Dave, yes we wrote about the TomTom ONE third Edition yesterday and talked about how to physically identify them. Thanks for the serial number info. In Germany there are even more versions with some that have full Euro maps and others that have regional maps. Consumer Reports tested the second edition.
I haven’t seen the third edition shipping in the USA yet so I’m not yet certain what retailers might offer it at. Don’t forget too that the 3rd edition doesn’t have Bluetooth, and the currently shipping 2nd edition devices should have fairly current maps.
Tim,
Sorry, did not realize you had just covered the 3rd edition yesterday. I was on this site and it just covered the One we are talking about. I also asked the Rep at TomTom how I could tell on 2nd Edition if I had the current version of maps without breaking the seal and opening up the box and checking. He did not know short of opening and powering up and checking for version. My serial number is Z15157Hxxxxx. Can you decipher from that serial numbers if my maps are current?
Hi Dave, no, I don’t know how to decipher the map version from the serial number, sorry.
Tim,
Thanks for your great work on this site. I had considered buying a portable GPS for sometime and last night made the decision and bought both the TomTom One 2nd Edition and the Magellan Maestro 3100 from the same local retailer at an unheard of price including anywhere I could find it on the internet. Both are new and not refurbished. I paid the same price for both of them. I both both because I had read good and bad on both of them on other review sites. Now, I am doing research trying to figure out which one to keep. Bottom line is I want the best of the two for the money. Any suggestions?
At the same price, The TomTom ONE offers maps of all 50 states plus Canada (the 3100 only has the “lower 48″). It also offers Bluetooth data services such as traffic (but not hands free calling) more POIs, and is smaller and lighter with the same screen size. The only advantage the 3100 has is battery life. But that is looking at the black and white specs of the devices. Since the devices are fairly similar in specs some of the more subjective qualities may end up being a bigger part of your decision.
Tim,
You make valid points that I need to consider. You will see the TomTom One tomorrow morning in a local office supply store newspaper flyer. I got it for that price minus 20% earlier than the Sunday flyer that I had access by showing it to another local retailer last night competing for the business. I know I can not say the name or the price, but just wanted to throw that out there for other shoppers. Thanks again for your tremendous knowledge of this product. I learned more from you in your forum than I did in all the others put together. Keep up the good work.
Is there a way to download a route with multiple stopping points into the tomtom one that has been created in Microsoft Streets & Trips 2006?
Thanks
Chris, I don’t personally know of a way but there might be third party programs (something called tripmaster comes to mind) that allow you do do what you are talking about with Google Earth. I’m not sure about s&t.
Just got TT one, but I found the user manual is useless. It is not clear about what to do for the first time user.
Strongly considering an One, but sometimes drive in a noisy environment. What are the options to hearing the voice instructions via an earpiece of some sort rather than the built-in speaker?
Also, what the code for in the product card, like “QD*** ***** *****”?
Does it need to activate the product?
I am lost.
Just bought a Tomtom one. Would like to download extra voices from website but keep getting a message that URL is not connecting and to try later. Have tried for two weeks and still getting this message when I am trying to get to the payment screen. Is this my computer problem or a problem at the site?
Mark – There is no audio export feature on the ONE.
Steve – You only need that if you need to reinstall maps or sometimes to upgrade maps.
Dana – I don’t know, you should give TomTom support a call.
I bought a tom tom one new edition only to find that even my home address in scarborough is not updated on the map.
I could not find any way to get updated maps for this device. The website is also very unfriendly. I have registered my device but whenever I go to the support page, it again asks me to choose my device.
Is there a way to get an updated map without paying another 60.00 USD for the maps?
I just came back from a 900 mile trip Chicago – St. Paul – Chicago. I rode west and then took road 35 along Mississippi river. Although my TomTom One did a good job with the route I programmed in advance, it failed miserably 3 times I needed to find a specific address in St. Paul, Winona, and Madison. All three times I ended up calling the place to get some directions. I checked Goggle Maps when I came back, and Google found all three places. I’m thinking now about replacing TomTom with Garmin Zumo.
Following are the versions on the device:
App: 6.560
GPS: V1.21 Boot: 5.05
Map: US and Canada — V665.1293
Are these the latest versions for Tom Tom One Advanced edition?
Interestingly, it gives a tip “Please visit http://www.tomtom.com for free updates and new maps”
It is very helpful here. Thanks Tim.
Is there a way to give a name for the address I input, like Tim’s home address?
I checked the Map insight and the adress is updated on that site. It seems that the Tom Tom device does not have updated maps.
Can tomtom lets uers to add and share POI data? Is there a way to add my own POI?
If it has this function, I am sure tomtom will win GPS market dramatickly. Give me some credits if tomtom takes my idea.
Yes, you can add and share POI data on your own.
Got some poi files. Some has ov2 file, but no bmp file. How to get the corresponded bmp file?
Thanks.
Got it. Made the bmp file myself.
Hi Tim,
I found myself could not log in today. I just ran ad-aware to remove some tracking cookies before tomtom Home. Does this cause the problem? Any suggestions to fix this problem?
Thanks.
Steve, I’ve been having occasional trouble as well. I suspect there could be a few issues on their end.
Tim, you are my hero. I have researched half a dozen areas about which GPS to buy. You have the only area that gives accurate and substantial information to make an accurate buying decision.I bought the Tom Tom today, and it was so much fun, I thought about calling in sick for the afternoon just to ride around. I love it. Great unit for the price.
I am brand new to a GPS. I bought a Mio and returned it and now have a TomTom one. I am satisfied so far. I bought the refurbished model. My question is how can I tell if I have the most updated maps for Canada and the US. Also how do I find my version? My product code starts with ZZF
Rodney – thanks for the comments!
Burke – TomTom doesn’t make it all that easy to find anymore. Your best bet (that I can see today) is to call TomTom and ask them.
thanks Tim will give it a try
The drawback of TT one is that you cannot give a name of an address you input. How can I remember who’s address is one month later? Let me remember the name in TTone and TT one links to the address.
Could TTone IT guy gives a fix to our toy?
Thanks.
Steve, you can give a name to an address you enter as a favorite. After putting in the city/state/address it will default to a name based on that, however you can just start typing on the on-screen keyboard to name the favorite whatever you would like.
Thank you Tim.
I learned a lot here.
Based on feedback on this site, I recently purchased a TomTom One with the built in memory. So far I like it, but do you know if there is a way to show the elevation? I have a little Etrex that show this and the calculated accuracy, and so far I haven’t been able to find these in the unit.
Thanks,
I forgot to mention in my first post, that my unit does not appear to have the advance route planning icon that the manual talks about. It appears I can create an internary and save it to do the same function, but thought that was worth noting.
There is no way to show altitude. You might need to set ’show more options’ in the preferences page to get advanced planning to show up. Then you will find it under menu page 2, top left labeled either as “Advanced Planning” or “Prepare Route” based on the software version.
Hi Tim, Great site!
Does anyone know if the TT one maps include Vieques island (part of Puerto Rico)?
TIA
Steve H – Yes, you can even create a route that goes from the main island across the Fajardo-Vieques ferry.
I wished they would have put altitude on there someplace. I installed Tripmaster (plug-in) and it will show it, so I know it’s there.
Hi. I just recently bought a TOMTOM One and think it is a great unit. I have one problem though. THe device thinks there is a road next to my house that doesn’t exist. So it is always trying to route me down that road. Every time I plot a route either to or from my house I have to use the ‘Choose Alternate Route’ and then exclude that street specifically. Unfortunately I have to do this each and every time I use the unit. Is there any way I can avoid having to do this? I know the Garmin and other brands (I guess the ones that use Navteq) don’t have this problem. I got a screaming good deal on the ONE (199.00CDN) and don’t want to return it, but it is very annoying to have to correct the unit every time.
Any advice would be appreciated.
cheers
You have three options.
1) Try to ignore the issue, and when you don’t drive where it wants you to it will automatically recalculate.
2) Ignore the issue, plus report the issue to Tele Atlas so that hopefully they will fix it.
3) Upgrade your software to NavCore 7 (it might not yet be available for your serial number but should be soon) and then if you have recent enough maps to participate in MapShare you can report the error and block the street so it won’t be routeable.
I am looking at the Tom Tom One and noticed today that they now have the “version” with the maps not installed on a card. Does this open up any possibilities of getting phone numbers for the POI’s on the device? I know they didn’t put the numbers on the SD card because of lack of size but now that the maps aren’t on the card can anything be done? I’d really like to have a phone book option on my gps (but I really like the one).
Todd, the ONE does include phone numbers for most POIs. (Regardless of which version of the ONE or if the maps come on SD card or in internal memory.) In software version 6 it is a little difficult to find them, you need to click on the POI in browse map mode, but in version 7 they are right on the POI information screen when you click on it in the search results.
I recently bought refurbshed TomTom One and there is no charger from AC.
I already have my motorola razr v3 charger and found it does fit to my tomtome.
But I have not tried it. Can someone suggest me if I can use motorola charger to charge tom tom when I am at home without my pc.
I was pissed off by TTone today, and had to call someone for the direction tonight. The street where the address located is not continued, i.e. separated by some buildings and a couple of streets. TTone led me to the wrong side of the street and told me this was my destination, though the number I input was corrent. I updated TTone before I went. Google map is correct, but not TTone. How can I do with this damn error?
Sagar – Technically doing so would probably void your warranty. You would want to check to make sure the electrical output of both chargers was the same. Even the “first” quality ONE doesn’t come with an AC charger, however you can purchase them as an accessory.
Steve – I’m not sure what you mean by “how can I do with this”. If you have upgraded to version 7 you can make the change in MapShare. If not you can report the error to Tele Atlas.
Sagar – You may find it more affordable to purchase a AC to “cigarette lighter” adapter that will let you use your car charger at home. Works well for me. (Originally bought it for a portable CD player that came with a car charger only).
I bought a usb charger adapter at Wal Mart for about $14. It has two usb ports and plugs into your regular AC. It will charge two usb device at once. Razar phones don’t use the standard usb pinouts. That is why you have to buy their charge.
READ THE DIRECTIONS!!! If you cant find your address, you can always add it. Also, call the location your trying to get to make sure you have the correct address. If your TT dont have it, ask for the closest building near them. I have had to delete POIs several times because they just werent there. Ive also added several. I try to be a little smarter, when I get to my destination, I add it into my ONE XL so next time I need to get there…I know where im going.
Can you attach the ONE via USB to a laptop and obtain tracking information to use with a program like RouteBuddy on the Mac ? I see you already said this wasn’t a Bluetooth option.
Gavin, I don’t believe they support the standard communication protocols that would allow that. There might be third party programs that somehow manage to get it to work, but they won’t typically be recognized as a USB GPS like GPS devices that are built to function as USB connected models. I notice RouteBuddy does list the RIDER and GO lines from TomTom as being somewhat compatible, though I’ve never been able to get that combination to work.
Tim … Thanks for the fast response. I guess if they send ANY positional data out the USB port it could be decoded, but I’m disinclined to put on my programmer hat. I’ll ask the RouteBuddy people and see what they say — I bet I don’t get an answer as fast as I got yours! By the way, I have used the little TomTom Bluetooth “brick” GSP with Macs and it does just fine presenting on a map (though not with RB) … Gavin
Of course the designed purpose of the TomTom Bluetooth GPS is to send the position over some sort of serial (USB/Bluetooth) connection to another device, whereas the PND devices don’t.
I played around with RB a little bit after your question today and I couldn’t get it to get a position from any of my TomTom devices, although it did recognize and identify them. Perhaps there is a way, but it wasn’t obvious to me.
I just purchased a TT One [snip] really like it and am very impressed with the clarity of the maps and the digital voice.
My question concerens the charging times.
Do you know how long it takes to fully charge if connected to the PC via USB? & How long to fully charge from the provided car adapter?
It takes about 2 hours with the car adapter and about 4 hours via USB.
Thanks Tim, One more thing, in order to charge the unit, does it have to be turned on? (when connected to either car or PC).
- Darren
Tim, you said it takes about 2 hours with the car adapter and about 4 hours via USB to charge the unit. How long does it take to charge with the TomTom USB Home Charger that plugs into an AC jack and comes with adapters for other countries? Also, do you know if it ruins the battery if you leave it plugged in all the time while using it in your vehicle?
It doesn’t need to be turned on to charge. You should see the green light on, when the device is off but charging. I suspect it will take 2 hours with the home charger, but I haven’t tried. The battery should hold up if you leave it plugged in. They won’t last forever, but that shouldn’t impact the battery life much.
I just bought a Nuvi660 and my wife tried to find the Panamanian Counsol in downtown Washington, DC. The thing had her lost for 2 hours, wouldn’t give directions and was useless. Did well going back home, though. (Northern Virginia) How good is the Tom Tom One in city driving? I need a reliable GPS for my wife for safety reasons. Any suggestions? Price: around $300-400 @ discount. Thanks.
Hal, the Nuvi 660 is one of the most popular GPS devices sold, and consistently gets very high praise from customers and reviewers. I don’t mean to offend, but what you describe is most likely only caused by a defective device, or the device not being operated or understood properly.
Hmmm, good point. Well, back to the ol’ drawing…I mean owners manual. I guess I need to make the same trip and see what it does. She previously traveled to Lancaster, PA and it did well. One more question: how are locations deleted from the memory? Thanks
Are there any recomendations on where to buy western european maps for my tt1 2nd edition. I saw some european sites that appear to be much cheaper than US tt site. Any compatibility issues that I should be aware of. Can the set of disks bought from TomTom US be used on more than one machine? Thanks.
I have a TomTom One and would like to know IF this feature can be used to map me out directions to get to so and so latitude/longitude from so and so different latitude/longitude? EXAMPLE:from my home in Indiana to a grave site in Fort Gibson Oklahoma, both starting and ending up at latitude/longitude given.
Thank you,
Fred, you can enter in that info, however depending on how far away from an existing road the coordinates are the device might refuse to route you there with a “no route to destination” type error. If the points are close to a street you should be okay.
Tim,
Thanks for the speedy response.Do you think if I were to drive to a place that shows I am pretty close, I could walk it the rest of the way, or wouldn’t the gps pick up my physical position? Also, since a gps is new to me, under what catagory would I put in the lat/longitude?
Tim, will I have to pay to upgrade the maps if I purchase a 2nd edition unit (to get the same version of maps included on a 3rd edition unit)? Or can I download them for free?
Using an auto GPs for geocaching is tough. But you could use it in the manner you describe, using lat/long as the type of place you want to navigate to. If you add the cache as a favorite you could use the Browse map mode to see your position relative to the cache.
Jon, I don’t have the answer to that. It depends on the device you get. They continually update the maps on the devices during manufacturing, so it often just comes down to the shelf life.
Purchased tt1 for more than 1 month now, but never get map updated though I run TomTom HOME (version 2.0.0.370) regularly. (Only get some fix for fast calculation). Any reason for this? Don’t they work on map correction this past period time?
Thanks.
Steve, the official map update packages are not free. Only the MapShare updates are if upgraded to NavCore 7.
I think I know the answers, but I’ll ask anyhow. I purchased a TomTom One V2 a couple of months ago, but after updating the Home program, it tells me my maps are not new enough to use the Mapshare. My questions are, is the NavCore 7 the firmware of the unit or is it related to the Home program and do I have any chance at getting a map upgrade without paying the full price?
It’s is frustrating to buy something and realize it was out of date when you bought it.
Travis, Navcore 7 refers to the installed software running the device. Technically it might not be “firmware” but rather the “application”. It isn’t related to HOME in that manner. The best you can do is call TomTom and ask, but more than likely you would need to pay for the map update like the rest of us.
Do you have any recommendation for the mounts for Tom Tom one , The windshield mount that comes with gps unit is not very good , it keeps dropping and does not have a good hold.
I am looking for bean bag mount for my Tom Tom one like the ones available for Garmin but I was not able to found bean bag mount for Tom Tom one.
Try these GPS mount tips if you haven’t already. I’ve seen generic bean bag mounts at Best Buy for about $40.
Two questions Why is the Peace Bridge between Fort Erie Ontario and Buffalo N.Y. Not listed in border crossings it is the second most used crossing in Ontario and why no Wal-Mart listings. I bought my TomTom to use in our R/V and so far I think it’s great.
Unlike the road database, not all POIs are included in GPS devices.
Also you should be able to get the WalMart locations by downloading the US Retail POI database from TomTom HOME.
Tim,
I received today the One 2nd ed that I bought at Radio Shack last Sunday. The version I received has the SD port, but it has no card as all maps are in the memory, what is good. I was able to update the maps and the software to the most current versions. MapShare was enabled, but strangely there are no updates (did I miss anything?). I am amazed with the number of options and features of this GPS! I am very thankful to you for providing high quality informaiton that enabled me to choose this one instead of the 3rd edition.
A few questions:
1- Does it have the reverse itinerary feature?
2- For some reason, at some parts of the itinerary, it speaks in yards, while at others, in feet or miles. Why does it use yards, instead of just feet and miles?
3- I set the clock to my local time and it shows correctly when not connected to the PC. However, when connected to the PC, the Universal Time is being shown instead of the local time. Why?
4- Is there any way to see the current altitude?
5- The lenght of the standard mount is very short. I noticed that there is an optional “Alternative Mounting Kit” for about $30. Do you know the lenght of its arm and where I could get it for less?
Thank you!
1) I don’t know any TT devices that have that.
2) That has always been something that has bothered some people. Many people can better relate distances like “100 yards” to something like a football field and can picture that in their minds, while other people prefer feet.
3) Where do you see that? In the “control my device” feature?
4) Not without third party software.
5) I haven’t used one of those.
Tim,
Thank you for your reply. Answering to your question: On most screens the time is displayed on the upper right hand corner. When not connected to the PC, the time shown is my current time. When I connect TT to the PC and use TTHome to control it (”Operate My One” option), the same screens show the time. However, instead of the local time, it is showing UTC. Interesting enough, on the PC I can operate the TT normally, but the Set Clock option under Preferences is grayed out.
Not a big deal, just interesting.
Regarding yards vs feet, it is an odd choice to sometimes use one, sometimes use another. I would prefer a more consistent approach.
Marco,
Did you have to pay for the MapShare maps and software? If not, how did you do it?
(Just to confirm, what version of maps did you download — 675?)
Steve,
I did not pay. Here is what happened: The GPS came with version 6 something, and the PC software (TT Home) on the CD was version 1 something. I installed it on my PC and when I executed it, it said there was an update. I accepted it, and Home was updated to 2.0. Then, I looked for updates to the GPS software and maps, and it found some (including GPSFix, phone connection, etc). I then asked it to download and install them. Everything seemed to work but every time I was going back to TT Home, the update to the GPS software was still showing as if it hasn’t been done. When I tried to operate TT through TT Home, it said it was missing one file, prompted to download, and then said the file was unavailable. Also, when I tried to select the MapShare option on the TT Home, it said it was not available for my device. The maps were showing as version 675 so either they updated correctly, or I already had the right ones. I then called the support, and initially the guy said I could not use MapShare unless I bought new maps that were the same version of mine, but had some additional files that would make MapShare work. I questioned that, and he put me on hold to do some additional research. Meanwhile, I powered TT off and on, and then everything started working correctly: I was able to activate MapShare, and the software was showing version 7.131. When the guy came back, he offered to give me free upgrade to the current maps if I faxed him my purchase receipt showing that I had just bought the device, but that ended up not being needed. It seems that after the update you need to cycle the power to make things work correctly.
So, if you bought a TT that has been on the shelf too long, you may want to call the support and see if they add the current maps to your account for free.
I just got off the phone with TomTom and they said Mapshare would not work with the One v2 yet, but they are working on updates to enable it. They also said the map version 6.75 was the same as my V6**, just sold in a different area??
As a side note, they did say a new map version was coming out in the January time frame that I could purchase and the Mapshare should be functional by then.
Tim Tim
I bought a new TomTom One V2 for each of my autos. Both have what I believe to be the most current software versions loaded. My question is this…. When new maps come out, is it possible for me to buy one software update and be able to load on each of my GPS’s without having to buy 2 complete update map disks? Thanks in advance for your help.
Nope, you need two software licenses, one for each device.
I’ll add my congrats to others’. Better information here than from TT itself. I’ve got V 2 with the SD slot, but no information on how large a capacity or speed it can recognize. I wonder what I’d use the slot for since the US map I want is on the internal memory.
Richard, you could use the SD card slot to add new maps for areas not covered, but the vast majority of people will probably never use it.
Tim,
Thanks for your prompt response and for the work you’re doing here.
Greetings,
I am looking at TomTom One and i had a specific function in mind. I am looking for a GPS system that will allow me to input a large number of addresses from the computer (where its easier to type them up) and organize them so i can go from one to the other in the shortest way. Can tomtom or any other GPS system do this yet? any information is welcomed and many thanks in advance.
Thank you.
John, not as well as you might hope. The TomTom devices can be operated from a computer so you can use your keyboard and mouse to enter addresses. Or if you want to take some time and do it frequently you can even load them in as POIs from files. What it won’t do is automatically find the best order to visit them all. You could make some educated guesses about what will likely be the best route and then try a few combinations out and preview the total time, but if you have lots of entries that could be time consuming. The new Nuvi 700 series such as the 760 (review here) can “optimize” the route.
Tim, Thank you very much for your prompt reply. Not as good as i had hoped, but still better than nothing. Thank you again for your help.
I understand the battery life is about 2 hrs after a full charge…..
While plugged into the car charger, the unit will continue to operate continuously as long as it sees 12 V , correct ???
Juan, yes, correct.
On the TT1 xl can you use the screen while you are driving to just track your position on the map and move the screen down the road a piece to see upcoming roads and exits without having a route designated? How about with having a route designated? Thank You.
Thanks, Tim. Very helpful forum. After reading your comments, I got TT v2 last week. Updated everything. However, it constantly calculated bizzarr routes. I live in Vancouver. What do you say about TT for Canadian users?…
Larry – Yes.
Eric – I haven’t used those maps in Canada.
I have a Tom Tom One, ver 2, and it’s been a pretty good unit, a few quirks aside. I have the TomTom Home on the desktop PC, and all is well with that. So here’s the rub: I just bought a TT 720 for the RV, and when I tried using the Home, it wouldn’t recognize the 720. It needed me to uninstall the original Home, and install the new one that came with the 720.
How can I use one copy of home for both my TT1, and 720, as and maybe even a second TT1 (wife’s)? Can I have a copy of Home which will recognize all 3 units?
Will, the copy of TomTom HOME that came on the CD for your 720 should work fine for both of your devices. I do that all of the time with multiple TomTom devices. You do need a different TomTom account for each device, but you only need one copy of the software.
Tim,
My Tom Tom One is Version2 and I bought it refurbished. The installed map (US and CAN) doesn’t even show the street I’ve lived on for four years. I thought it was not up to date, but when I run the Home program and ask it to check my map, it tells me it’s the most up to date available. Are the maps really that old?
Thanks
Richard, that is fairly common for any GPS. They just (unfortunately) haven’t remapped your area. I can find streets 20 years old on any GPS that are not yet mapped. It is unfortunate, but not all that uncommon.
I have a tomtom one. how do i know what version i have? i was told to look at the first letter of the serial number. What Letter is each version?
Thank you for any help you can give,
T.J.
TJ – If your ONE has a black trim around the screen with the TomTom name in silver in the lower left then it is the 2nd Edition. If it has a silver trim around the screen with the TomTom name in black in the lower center then it is the 3rd Edition.
TJ
The rep told me that if the serial number after the C_NO: starts with an E…it is 1st Edition, a Z is 2nd edition and a Y is 3rd edition.
Hi, I am probably going to buy a TT1 this week, in order to use it on a long drive across country. My question is about powering the unit. The cigarette lighter socket in my vehicle is only powered when the ignition is on. What happens to the TomTom and my current trip data when I shut the van off? My other question is about the mount. Will it mount OK to a van windshield, which is really sloped? Thanks ~K
Kay, nothing will happen when you turn your vehicle off. The ONE will continue to run on battery power until you turn it off or it runs out of battery power. You shouldn’t have an issue with the mount. It rotates to about 90°.
I just purchased a TT LE LImited Edition on Ebay and can find virtually no info on it. The word is that it was made for Best Buy, but their online store makes no mention. Does anyone have anything specific?
Ron, correct it is only a short production made just for Best Buy. You can follow some discussion about the ONE Limited Edition in the forums.
Tim, thank you for the comment. If this is as good as the rest of the TTs, I got a hell of a buy at $[snip] + shipping, new in a box. I’ll write more after I get it and use it.
I have owned the TomTom ONE Version 2 for a few months now and the best thing I can say is that it REPLACED my laptop sitting on the driver side of my vehicle using a GPS program to guide me from Point A to B and does it with much greater accuracy…
My Only complaint with the unit is the HOME 2 Interface that you run on your computer that is suppose to give you access to the functions of the TomTom One. I use a 19 inch monitor on my computer and the Home 2 interface gives you a “Cute” 4 inch screen with no ability to make it any larger, to work with… I would have liked something a little Bigger when planning LONG trips using this interface.
The TomTom performs extreemly well and am considering getting more of them to give away as Christmas Presents this year. The price drop on the Version 2 since I purchased mine has made that an even more attractive GIFT IDEA..!
Tim:
Just got a TT One LE at Best Buy. Previously had a TT One 3rd Ed but returned it. Here is the scoop on the LE (4N00.005): Appears to be a 2nd Ed with NavCore 7 full. Mine had version 7.130 out of the box and upgraded to 7.131 through TT Home. The LE also has SD slot but no plug in for the traffic antenna. The LE has Bluetooth for traffic from cell phones.
I ran both units simultaneously before returning the 3rd Ed and they ran identical. The LE with full NavCore 7 does have the itinerary planning, custom POI features, and Map Share I was looking for. To me, the 3rd edition with NavCore 7 Lite is a bit of a rip off (both units were the same price).
One last thing you might like (after reading your reviews) is that the LE has a “Turn Screen Upside Down” setting on page 6 of Preferences. Now you can get the unit real low on the dash!
Thanks for the detailed comments Tony and the update on the LE. You know, you are not the first person to remind me about the “turn screen upside down” feature. I’d probably be one of the few people to use that feature with one small problem… it makes it really hard to access the power button!
But yes, so long as I turn it on before putting it in the mount the upside down feature is great!
I think TomTom is trying to confuse us as to what the LE really is. Mind you, I know nothing about GPS and brands. I only bought the LE after I drove a GPS fitted loaner while mine was in for service. The box for the LE lists GPS unit as the “TomTom One device” with less extras than the standard TomTom One. That seems to be the difference – a regular TomTom One minus things like the A/C connector and dock and SD card. I still have mine unopened and am trying to sell it because I can’t even use the Bluetooth with my Verizon Razr V3m. If and when I sell, I’m going for the 510 or maybe the XL. I’d like to hear more comments on this. Ron
Ron, the regular TomTom ONE doesn’t come with an AC adapter, dock, or SD card either.
Tim, I’ve been doing most of my shopping on Ebay and I guess a lot of the sellers are putting their own packages together that include the extras. It’s getting too confusing. Since you now own the LE, can you tell me the difference (in non-tech English) between the LE and plain old ONE? Also, has there been any upgrade to allow connectivity to Verizon cells?
Ron, I don’t own a ONE LE. The original/plain ONE was never sold in North America– I don’t recall the specs on it.
To Tim & Tony H. I should have addressed the prevous message to Tony, who bought the LE. Brain lapse, sorry. So Tony, can you enlighten me and give me an answer to question 224. Thanks. Ron
I travel a lot. If I buy a TT ONE LE, can I use it in other countries if I download the maps? How would I get the maps for the other countries?
Thanks
John you can use the included TomTom HOME program to copy/backup the existing maps to your computer. You can then through the same program purchase extra maps and download them to your computer and then to your device.
Ron: If I understand you correctly, what you refer to as a “plain old ONE” is actually the TT ONE 2nd Edition which Tim has reviewed above. The ONE LE is the same unit with the following upgrades:
1) NavCore 7 Full with MapShare
2) USA & Canada Map stored in INTERNAL memory (1GB). There is an SD card slot but no SD card. I presume the slot is for SD cards with other optional maps. This way you would not have to uninstall the US map if you wanted to run the Europe Map, I presume. (Tim?)
Finally, do not confuse either the ONE with the ONE LE or with the ONE 3rd edition (which Tim has also revired seperately). Good Luck
And to further confuse the issue…
The ONE 2nd Edition can easily be upgraded to include NavCore 7 and if the maps are version 6.75 or later you would also get MapShare.
AND!… There were two versions of the ONE 2nd Edition! The earlier models came with the application and maps on SD card while the latter models (sometimes referred to as the “new edition” just to really mess with everyone even though it was still a “2nd Edition” model) came with maps in internal memory with an open SD slot.
Tim,
Thanks for clarifying what is a confusing set of labels. Just how can a 2nd edition be upgraded to NavCore 7?
As to Map version 6.75, my One has version 6.65 and when I go on TT’s web site it always says I have the latest verion of maps installed. I just bought my One last month and thought it should come with the latest map version.
Richard, you should be able to upgrade the application from TomTom HOME. As to the map upgrade, you can try arguing your case with TomTom Support.
Typically their website doesn’t say you have “the latest” map version but “one of the latest”.
Richard, I have a TT One 2nd. Edition that I bought about one month ago. I was able to update its maps to v675.1409 and to Nav 7.131 using TomTom Home (which also updated itself to 2.1.2.121).
Tim, after reading all the characteristics of the LE posted here, I fail to see the difference between the LE and the 2nd. Edition. Could it be that TT still had a significant inventory of the 2nd Ed. when they launched the 3rd. Ed. and then they just repackaged the 2nd. Ed calling it LE, and made a deal with BestBuy?
One more question: I was in Boston yesterday, and used my TT there. I noticed that in places like downtown, with many buildings around and short blocks, TT got confused, recalculating routes constantly for no reason (even when I was not moving), and sometimes reported the wrong location. The strange thing is that it was showing 7 or 8 satellites but the bars were not full. Could it be that it found the satellites but it was having difficulties locking into the signal? This happening both while walking and while driving. Is this common in big cities?
Marco, the only real difference is that the LE has version 7 with MapShare pre-installed. With the second edition you need to upgrade to version 7 yourself and purchase a map update to get MapShare if you don’t have map version 6.75 or greater.
GPS does have more challenges around big buildings, but your experience sounds a little worse than typical. However if you moved your GPS a distance since it was previously turned on and well connected that could also account for the weak signal. When moving a GPS to a new area it can sometimes take about 30 minutes of good clear sky signal before it will hold on tight to the signal.
I’m currently trying to decide between a TT One LE, 3rd ed, 2nd ed and a Garmin c330. Can you tell me in non-tech speak which of these is the best for my money and why? This will be my first GPS purchase. I am looking for something that is easy to use, gives the most POIs and has the best capacity for future uploads when they become available. Thanks.
I am going to buy today tt1, 3rd edition [see comment policy]. how does it fair against the competition? and as compared to tt1 1st and 2nd edition?
[snip, see comment policy] Seems like you panned the TTO 3rd Ed but don’t really recommend Maestro even at these prices. Is that right? Thanks.
Iam looking to buy either a tomtom one 3rd edition or a garmin street pilot c33o. which one should i buy.
Shawn, see comment #29.
regarding comparison of TOM TOM ONE and other entry levels like Maestro 3300, in comment 29, please clarify if this applies also to 3rd edition. Thanks for all this info.
Hello Tim, Could you please tell which you feel is the better TOM TOM ONE, 2nd Edition or 3rd Edition. Please list pros and cons to each model.
Also, What exactly is Mapshare and how easy or costly is it to obtain for a very recently purchased 2nd Edition
TTOne v. TT One LE. The definitive answer to the difference between the two units arrived this AM in my email from TT.
“The only difference is that the ONE LE comes with version 7 of the application preloaded, other than that it is the same as a ONE New Edition. However if you bought a ONE New Edition you would have to update the unit yourself using TomTom HOME.”
The following is my horror story about the refurbished TT GO 510 I got on Tuesday. My street is in the wrong place. My community in Sumter, SC has 2 streets. The GPS has a third street that it placed where my street should have been, when in fact it is north of the community. The map also shows 2 more very short streets. I can’t find them. Next – I live 9 miles from the unnamed SuperStore in Sumter. The shortest and fastest road home runs parallel to this store. The GPS insisted that I take another route that puts 2+ extra miles on the trip. At every intersection, I was told to turn left towards US 15. Four tenths of a mile to my home (3 homes to the right,) the stupid GPS still told me to go left and take US 15 to a street past my home and then home, an extra 5 miles at this point. I called TT. They said my map was outdated, but wouldn’t update me because I bought on Ebay.
Marcia – Yes.
Westy – The 2nd Edition includes planning routes from a location other than your current one (advanced planning) as well as creating an Itinerary of several destinations in one route. The 3rd Edition doesn’t have that but it does have the capability to connect to a traffic receiver for live traffic updates. The 3rd Edition also comes with the new application version (NavCore 7) and MapShare, however you can upgrade a 2nd Edition to NavCore 7 for free and get MapShare if your map version is 6.75 or later.
I just bought a tomtom One 3rd edition. I am having some trouble getting it to work on Windows Vista. I downloaded the home software from the tomtom website. When I plug the tomtom into my computer, and click the button on the screen to connect to the computer, I get a pop-up on my computer asking me to insert the cd with the driver, or otherwise locate the driver. The unit does not show up in my list of devices on the “computer” icon, so I can’t select the driver from there. The computer is recognizing the unit, because I do get the “Safely Remove Hardware” button, which shows the unit as being connected, and also shows that there is nodriver installed. I trid to find a driver online, and also called tech support and they have no clue as to what the issue is. Does anyone know where I can get a driver, or otherwise what teh issue might be? I don’t think it’s really a problem with the unit as the computer does recognize it…I just can’t get a driver, and the “Home” program does not recognize the unit. I really want to be able to download the newest map, etc.
Just purchased the Tom Tom One 3rd Edition and had a question that i hope someone brighter than me can figure out. When i turn on my gps, it automatically navigates to my home. When i turn it on, i just want it to show my position and not to navigate to some destination. Is there any way to delete the destination that it is navigating at the moment? It is kind of annoying. Someone please help.
boon – When you arrive at your destination you need to “clear the route”. You should find a setting in the preferences to “show all menu options”. That will enable the button that allows you to clear the route.
I finally got it working. It took over an hour of repeatedly searching C: for Vista to find a driver, and now all is working fine. I have been a big defender of Vista, despite it generally taking a while to set up any USB devices, but after spending the majority of yesterday trying to get the tomtom working, I think I may be going back to XP.
Tim,
I read your comments in #243 “The 2nd Edition includes planning routes from a location other than your current one (advanced planning) as well as creating an Itinerary of several destinations in one route. The 3rd Edition doesn’t have that but it does have the capability to connect to a traffic receiver for live traffic updates.”
Isn’t “Prepare Route” the same as “Advanced Planning”? This feature is found on my TT One 3rd.
Mike – Yes, that is correct. I didn’t think it was included on the 3rd Edition, thanks for the report.
Tim, I just purchased a TomTom 3rd Edition. Is there a way to delete a POI?
A built in POI or a custom POI? Do you just not want to see it or does it no longer exist?
It’s a restaurant that was listed in the POI when I purchased the unit. The business is now closed and I would like to delete it.
You can delete it through MapShare on the ONE 3rd Edition. Menu -> Map Corrections -> Correct a map error -> Edit POI -> (find the POI) -> Select -> Delete the POI -> Done.
Thanks, Tim. It worked perfectly. Great having help the manual doesn’t cover.
I’ve got both a TT One, and a 720, and I am not successful in saving a POI at a GPS position. I select the GPS position (TT has a fix and is showing me my position on the map), it asks for a POI name, so I enter a unique name, and the Done. It tells me it has saved the POI.
When I select that POI (from another location), it tells me “No Route Found”. What am I doing wrong, or are the TT’s not capable of saving a GPS position, in spite of the fact that the option is presented? I really need this feature to work.
“No route found” means that the location of the destination is too far from the nearest mapped road to generate driving directions to that point. You would need to pick a location closer to the nearest road.
Tim, thanks for the quick reply, but that’s definitely not the problem. In every case, I was sitting in front of a store or mall parking lot when I tried saving the POI. I went to Best Buys, Sams and Costco today, all in different locations on well-mapped (Tom Tom) roads in Brandon, Florida. At each location, I tried saving the POI as a GPS location, and although it told me it was done, I get the error message if I try to navigate to any of them.
Same thing happened to me several days ago in Gaffney, S.C., and I was at the Freightliner Corp HQ, sitting right on the side of the highway.
I have never been able to make this feature work in either the TT1 or the 720. My maps and updates are the latest available.
Okay will. Then I suggest you call support. It works fine for me on my ONE and 720.
OK Tim, at least it is encouraging that it works for you. Don’t know why not on my 2; makes me think it’s something I’m doing/not doing, but there isn’t a lot to the procedure, so ???
I’ll call support when they open on Monday; will report back.
Will, I’ve seen that error message lots of times myself and from other users. While yours could be a unique case, all of the other times I’ve seen and heard from others getting that message it means one of two things.
1) You are currently on a road which somehow has no outlet… both ends of the road closest to your current location either have no connecting roads, are blocked through MapShare, or that have turn restrictions which somehow cause your GPS to think that there is “no way out” of the current street. This is somewhat rare.
2) As mentioned above, the coordinates taken are not close enough to a road to generate a route to that location. If you were in a shopping parking lot (like in Brandon where you mentioned) that could be far enough from the road so that it couldn’t create a route there. What I would try is to go back to one of those locations, and mark the POI not using the GPS coordinates, but by picking a point on the map closest to the nearest road… then see if you can generate a route to that location.
As a final test, you could send me the exact coordinates of a place you are not able to generate a map to, and I can try to replicate your results here on my devices.
The same happened to me with my TT 2nd Edition a couple of times. If you are in a parking lot, or in an internal mall street, for example, even if mapped on the TT or next to a street of road, it may not be able to route. Try going to the actual road or regular street, record you POI there, and see if it fixes the problem. It worked for me.
Tim & Marco,
I will try those suggestions tomorrow, and see what it does. I was in fact in shopping center parking lots in Brandon, but while in Gaffney last week, I was actually on the side of a road. The road, now that I think of it, was a new one, near to the old one. I remember that the lady in Freightliner said the new one was not on her GPS.
I want to a place without address but Latitude and longitude such as
Hoodoo Ski Area @44.408002,-121.871939
How can I input this (N, S for Latitude and E and W for Longitude, but how about minus number)?
Thanks.
You don’t need the minus sign since you know it is West. You would just enter “N 44.408002″ for the latitude and “W 121.871939″ for the longitude.
I have a TT one 3rd edition that is fully updated and am considering purchasing detailed maps for new england. Are the detailed maps significantly better than the default maps (i.e., worth $60)?
Thanks
The regional maps are no different than the country/continent maps, the detail is exactly the same.
When I turn on an etrex or garmin, the lat/long of my location appears. It is not obvious to me how to make my TomTom One present me with that information, even though I know it will accept lat/long input. From reviewing all the comments and responses above, I conclude that this feature is not available, is not important to most people or I am a blithering idiot.
Tom – Click on the satellite reception icon near the lower right if the map display. You can then view the lat/lon from the button at the upper right showing the number of connected satellites.
Tim,
Thanks for the information on lat/long. I found that page on the TomTom earlier when I carried my unit in my shirt pocket, but couldn’t figure out how to get back to it. I also found the other way to lat/long via the review map icon. Have people found those plastic screen protectors useful – like the ones for pda’s?
Thanks again.
I have a question about powering the TomTom One (2nd ed.) in the car. The long cigarette lighter power cord that came with my TomTom is a little sloppy. I have a cigarette lighter power cord that goes with my smartphone and also has the USB end on it – so it will physically fit the USB socket on the TomTom. My question is, will it send the right voltage/amperage to the unit? I.e., are all cigarette lighter auto USB cords the same?
David – The power amount for your other charger should be listed in the charger itself. For example one of my TomTom chargers shows input 12/24V and output 5V2A. They won’t all be the same, but the rating should be included on the charger.
I have an older Finedrive 400 and thought I would upgrade to the TOMTOM One. As I travel for a living, I cant recommend the Tomtom over my old FineDrive. I had to visit a customer in Ok. City and when I typed in the address, it could not find it. Turns out the customer was just outside of OK. City, and therefore it couldn’t find the address. The Finedrive has a feature where I can put the street address in first, and it will search all cities in that state with that address. In summary the Tomtom let me down on 2 separate occasions in two days, while my old Finedrive took me right to the front door.
Tim,
I’m pretty technologically illiterate and I’ve been reading different reviews, unable to balance the pros and cons of the TomTom One 3rd edition and Garmin Streetpilot C530. I’ve found good deals for both and want to get a GPS device for my husband’s birthday. Which would you recommend?
They offer similar features. If you are going to use it outside of the vehicle away from power the StreetPilot has a longer battery life. Otherwise the smaller size (but same screen size) of the ONE 3rd Edition is probably more appealing.
I own a Tom Tom One LE and i have a question about how the unit gives directions. I wanted to go from a point in Maine to a point in Rhode Island. I have the unit set for fastest time yet the directions had me take I-93 South into downtown Boston when i could have just gone straight on I-95 South which would’ve been easier and faster. What is the deal with this? Does the unit take into account the traffic of downtown Boston or not? Do i just have to deal with the way the Tom Tom gives directions or can i change it to really make the fastest route? thanks for help
boonthai – If you are not connected to a live traffic service then the GPS will assume you will be traveling at close to the speed limit and will not take into account traffic.
Except at rush hour, the route through Boston on 93 probably is the fastest if you are going to the Providence area. Rte 95 doesn’t go as straight; it circles west a considerable amount, resulting in a 20 mile longer trip. Either path could be very slow from 7 am to 10 am and 3 pm to 6:30 or so.
I have a tomtom one 3rd edition and am going to italy this summer. does anyone know the best place to find a map of italy to put on it before i leave?
Through the TomTom HOME software is the best place.
How does the TT ONE compare to the Magellan Maestro 3225 – both at costco same price right now… or what Magellan should be similar to the 3225 so i can read on it?
Thank you.
I see that I can still purchase a TT ONE at Office Depot online. Is it still wise to purchase a gps that is no longer manufactured?
Hi, I bought a 2nd Edition some time back in June 07. Somehow the preloaded USA & Can maps got ‘zapped’ and it did not come with a SD backup. How should I go about getting TomTom to assist me on this?
Sheryl – The TomTom ONE that I see on Office Depot’s site isn’t the ONE 2nd Edition as talked about on this page, rather it is the ONE 3rd Edition.
Ben – Contact their support department, they should be able to assist you with that.
Thanks, Tim – it was confusing because Office Depot doesn’t specify 2nd or 3rd edition. The link they give to TomTom seems to be for the 2nd edition. I’ll find out today when I pick it up!
Sheryl – April 12th, 2008
2nd edition need SD card to work.
3rd edition has the map internal, and an extra sd slot to load additional map.
this is a fast way to tell 2nd or 3rd edition.
hope this helps you.
Actually, that isn’t quite correct. Depending on the time it was manufactured the 2nd Edition sometimes requires an SD card and sometimes does not. See comment #212 for the way to tell the difference between the 2nd and 3rd Editions.
I bought a TOMTOM ONE last year. My wife and I are going to be driving through western europe this summer, and I have no idea how to install the map. I hate to spend the money for something i’ll only use this one time. Can someone else’s sd card be used in mine?
some how i got my tom tom one into a mode that while driving down a hiway, city street or even a country road, all of a sudden i will get 3 bongs. They seem to repeat 4-5 times within an 8 mile period depending on where i am located. i have gone to main menu and hit change preferences,manage POI, warn when near…this brings uo the POI Catagory from airports to zoos. when i hit a POI location (ZOO),a screen comes up that say’s Warn When Closer Than 300 Yd’s, the same happens no matter what POI i hit. if i change the 300 yd’s to zero yd’s then hit”OK”, then the screen changes back to 300 yd’s. i hit the “OK” a 2nd time and a screen “SELECT A WARNING SOUND”, i hit “CANCEL” and i am back to the 100 yd screen. What am i doing wrong, or out of sequence??? Thanks for the help,
Go to menu -> change preferences -> warn when near poi. For each item in the list that has a speaker icon to the left, tap on the icon, and then select ‘Yes’ when it asks ‘remove warning?’.
Tim, thats where i believe i have a problem…there are NO icons to the left of any of the items.???
Perhaps that doesn’t show on some of the older models, I’m not certain. You might need to factory reset.
Tim,
if i were to do the “reset” thing, is it like starting over as when it was new? That would be ok with me, i just have a couple address’s saved.
Yes
My wife and I are finally getting to go on a trip to Europe in about a month, and would like to use our tom tom. This will be the only time we will get to go overseas, and I would hate to have to purchase the western european map because of the price. We have been saving for a very long time, and money is tight. Is there some way I can rent the map. Help!
I don’t know of any places that offer map rentals.
Michael again. We live in Corpus Christi, Texas. If there is anyone in my area that we could make some kind of deal with, that we be great.
We have a TomTom One XL Europe which doesn’t charge from the in-car charger, but does chagre VERY slowly from the PC USB charger (in 3 hours it has charged about 20%). Is this normal, and how long should it take to re-charge from the car and PC? Many thanks.
I would like to turn off the speed limit signal (whenever you exceed the allowed speed) without turning off the navigation voice and without turning off the safety cameras warnings on the Tomtom One 3rd edition. How can I proceed please?
Hello, I’m looking at the TT one and the XL. I will be using this on a motorcycle and wondered if the XL by being bigger would be easier to operate with gloves on or is that part of the screen the same? Thanks, a lot of info on here.
Emily, it should charge in the car in about two hours, via USB in about four hours.
John – The XL does have some buttons that are a little bigger, so you are correct there. However keep in mind these devices are neither waterproof nor water resistant, dust resistant, or vibration resistant like GPS devices designed for motorcycle use.
Tim, per questions #289,90,91…..
Just in case someone else comes up with this problem, I got hold of TT and you go to “change preferences” and clic “safety preferences”, then clic or remove the check marks. I somehow must have entered a check mark in the “warn if driving over 50 mph”. There are several other options also.
Thanks, fred
Okay, I love this site…thank you!
I am confused and looking for a gps for my husband…please help me find significant differences between 1) TomTom 130 2) TomTom 130S 3) Garmin Nuvi 200 4) Navigon 2100 GPS
These are in my price-range (low).
Thank you!! Shannon
Shannon – the biggest differences are that the Nuvi 200 is the most basic, the TomTom 130 adds Canada maps, the TomTom 130s adds Text To Speech. The Navigon 2100 is often thought of as a ’second tier’ GPS that if it performs a specific function you need can be a good buy, but otherwise isn’t considered ‘top tier’.
Hi
This is my first time buying GPS…I found a good deal on buy.com for TomTom One preloaded map of US/Canada on SD card. Once i click on buy icon, i found out that it is refurbish. Can you tell me if this will be still a good buy for $99.49 after rebate eventhough it is refurbish. Have anyone used before refurbishone?
Thanks!
Vandana – See our article on Refurbished GPS Devices.
I would not buy the TomTom One 3rd edition. I purchased one in December and it always fails to provide the fastest route possible. On a recent trip to upstate NY from NJ it had me go from the NJ parkway to the Turnpike only to go back on the parkway again. Mapquest and AAA both had the same directions that were much eaier and cut off about 20 minutes of the trip. Customer service said to downaload a new map, which I did for $59.oo, and it still provided the same directions. Go with another product.
Sometimes my TomTom doesn’t respond, tho it’s been plugged in all the time. Does it have a problem with heat?
When I touch the screen, the ‘cursor’ shows I touched somewhere else and nothing happens. Kind of frustrating. Other than that, love this thing.
Thoughts?
Will Heat Damage my GPS?
Have you turned it off, hit the reset switch on the bottom, and booted it back up again? I’d see if that helps.
mountain bike mount for TomTom One 3rd Edition & Headphone capability?
Hi,
1/ does anyone know of anyone who makes a mountainbike mount for the 3rd edition. I ordered a mount but its a bit too small for the grooves in the back of the 3rd edition???
2/ are there headphones available for the 3rd edition TT one? and is there a bluetooth transmitter one can plug into TT one?
thanks in advance
db
Daniel, FYI our ONE 3rd Edition page is over here.
1) I’d check out this mount that might work for your bike.
2) I don’t think the ONE 3rd Edition has a headphone jack. I’m not aware of any Bluetooth transmitter either.
many thanks Tim
1/ this would work, however its just a little too bulky for my mtb (i am currently carrying it in my rucksack with volume at HIGH – however, when it gets tapped a bit the touch sensitive screeen can reset – is there a way to HOLD/FREEZE the touch sensitive screen?)
2/ this is a shame
No, there isn’t a hold/freeze setting.
is the product code the same as the serial number? My tomtom has been stolen and I want to give the serial number to the police in the unlikely event it is recovered. I no longer have the box but do have the product code.
No, the product code is not the same as the serial number. If you have used TomTom HOME there might be a way to retrieve your serial number from the software.
I purchased a TOM TOM ONE Europe in France less than a year ago. I needed to buy maps of Eastern Europe and I had to add a 2 GB SD card to get all the maps there. I subsequently downloaded the US and Canada maps and now find that I have to delete POIs, Voices, Images etc. to fit in all the maps. I bought a 4 GB SD card and am now told that my device wont support it. THIS JUST SUCKS. I cant be expected to have multiple SD cards and store maps on different devices. But that is what the support people advise. Also, the maps are never the latest and I find a lot of discrepancies especially in Europe and also in IL where I live, and I am told that I have to buy new maps everytime I need an update. Surely, there should be some way to get the latest version at least upto 1 year from the date of purchase. Is this how all GPSs fleece us?
Having never owned a GPS of any type, I hope this is a simple question. I am considering a TomTom One (3rd). I do as much hiking as I do driving and would like to see where I am when in the woods. (I do not need comprehensive off road maps.) Will the device locate me on a simple map or will I only get LAT/LONG coordinates?
It will draw you on a simple map.
Is Tom tom 3rd edition a good choice for a realtor showing a string of properties? Say, 5 or 6 houses in succession.
The ONE 3rd Edition doesn’t offer Multi Destination Routing – Muliple Vias, so as long as you don’t mind navigating to them one at a time (rather than building one big route with all stops) it would work.
I bought TomTom one 3rd edition about 6 mos ago and just found out this week that the map on my unit is at least seven (7) years behind. I called TomTom support and they said I’d have to pay for an updated map because it’s been more than 30 days since my purchase of the unit. I can’t see paying for an update that should’ve been updated seven (7) years ago. Comments, anyone?
Just because you can find a location that changed 7 years ago that isn’t reflected in the map doesn’t make the map “at least 7 years old”. That would imply that at the time time map was made that it was 100% correct with every change that happened up to that point. The map will never be that accurate.
The world isn’t nearly as well mapped as many people think, and mapping takes a very, very long time. After a road is changed a mapping company will typically physically go to the location to map the area. This is after an amount of time where they find out about the change and schedule people to go verify those changes. Then those changes are entered into a database. Then the database changes are checked. Then three months later the map becomes available to other companies for purchase. Most companies that purchase maps may only get a release once per year instead of four. Then they need to take that data and compile in into their own proprietary format for their devices. Then they need to test the new map to make sure it is working properly. Then they need to distribute those maps to customers who install it on their devices. That process can take years to happen.
So in short– you will find errors, and some people will find lots of errors. If you have a ONE 3rd Edition, you have one of the most recent maps available, built within the last 12 months or so, but you will still find errors.
I just purchased a TOM TOM one 3rd edition. I have scoured the device but can’t find the SD slot. I don’t think it has one. I bought a TOM TOM specifically so I could get the maps of Europe. Unfortunately this doesn’t seem possible. What level of TOM TOM do I have to step up to get an external SD reader.
Thanks,
Jeff
Jeff, you could still use HOME to copy the USA & Canada maps to your computer, purchase and download the countries of Europe you need, then move the USA & Canada maps back.
Otherwise you might want to jump up to something like the 720, or even the 920 which comes with North America and Europe maps out of the box.
But you are correct, no SD slot on the ONE 3rd Edition.
Does the TomTom One have the feature in which if you go to an area that is not on the map or not know, you can creat and name a position (i.e. “Work”) and add it to a library?
Yes, Frank.
I have my GPS location from TomTom, but I am in the woods so road maps are not useful. I took a picture and would like to tag it with my lat/long from my TomTom. How can I do that using, for example, the Windows picture viewer? I realize this is a little off topic, but I thought there might be someone here that would know.
You can’t do it from Windows pic viewer, you need “geotagging” software.
I have an interesting problem with a TomTom One, 2nd Edition (s/n begins with E22; maps are located on SD card).
I downloaded a bunch of POI’s, and also did a minor system update on TT Home, even though it didn’t recognize this unit as the correct one. (I have another TT One, and a Go 720). I proceeded to do the downloads anyway.
I don’t know it that is related to the problem, but when I enter Solomon, Md as a destination (or Dowell, Md), and then pick any POI or cross street from the drop-down list, it begins to calculate the route, then gives the error message “error during planning”.
I can enter some other nearby cities (Annapolis for examply), and it calculated just fine. Any idea what’s going on with this unit?
Will, which application version and map version are you running?
Tim, Thank you for your response. The unit now cannot even be turned on. When I do, it plays the drum, shows the TT screen, then prompts me to insert the card. When I do that, it looks like it might be reading the card, then turns off.
To further complicate the problem, when I use TT Home to connect, it tells me the unit is not activated, and to visit TT’s website to activate. I do, and it gives me an activation code (correctly says it’s been activated once already).
When the TT screen prompts me for the activate code, I enter it, and get a message that the code is invalid. I tried the code both with spaces between groups, and without. TomTom No Go.
Sounds like you should contact TomTom support.
Tim, I can now answer your questions. After many hours of trying various things, I managed to get the unit back to where I started, with the “ERROR DURING PLANNING” message popping up on some destinations.
App 7.162 (8492/071121) OS:2327
29MB Ram (free: 5.5 MB)
GPS v1.21, Boot 5.0500
Map: USA_and_Canada, v665.1293
Tim,
I just purchased a second TomTom One 3rd Edition to go with (4N00.005) for my wife. I tried adding it to my TomTom account and it seems to only let me have one device per account. Would you know if this is the case or have I made a mistake?
That is the case– one device per account.
I have had my TT ONE for a couple of years and in the past year encouraged two friends to purchase the TT ONE based on my experience with it. THE PROBLEM: I live in a western suburb of Chicago and frequently use the new Veteran’s Highway (Route 355). That highway is still not on the TomTom and it’s been open more than a year. I just checked updates and no luck. Any suggestions, or information.
When did you last purchase a map update? What map version number do you have? The 355 is in my TomTom devices.
Maria/Tim,
The 355 is on the maps.. But what is not is the new extension south of Bolingbrook and 55 which has been completed recently. I puchased the map in July 2008 and it was not there when I went that side over the 4th of july weekend.
Thanks Tim and Subash
Silly me! I thought it the 355 extension would come up at an automatic update without purchasing more maps. Now that I know it wasn’t even available with the July update, I am waiting a while more…really frustrating.
You need a serious update on these reviews. TomTom ONE? There are MANY versions; some have SD slots, some don’t. And don’t say this extra memory space isn’t needed because they have internal memory. TomTom ONE 3rd edition has no SD slot, neither does the 130. I’d like the option of an additional 2GB of memory. Also, over 300 posts and comments on the posts? Time to incorporate this stuff into the review?
Tom, we have a description above talking about some of the differences. We also have a tool where you can compare the differences in the ONE series. This article is about a specific device… known simply as the “TomTom ONE”. It is distinctly different from the ONE LE, ONE 3rd Edition, etc, and we have separate articles for the various models as well as comparison charts showing the major differences.. all with similar numbers of comments as this one.
It is unnecessary to go back and rewrite what people have written into the comments back into the review… The same information is on the same page. New software updates are offered by the GPS manufacturers very frequently, it would be unrealistic to update each and every review every time a new update came out.
Can you tell me if it is possible to delete a name and address out of favorites?
Menu -> Change Preferences -> Manage Favorites.
What’s the difference among the TomTom ONE 130AF and all the others listed?
I’ve never heard of a 130AF.
I have the Tom Tom One 3rd edition….Can I use coordinates as a destination & if so, how. I can’t seem to find any info on this feature in all my reading…..TKS for any help anyone can give me….Ron
Menu -> Navigate to -> Latitude Longitude.
I had a Tomtom One XL for about 8 months, it went faulty and couldn’t be repaired so I received a new replacement. I was quite happy until I tried out maps of New Zealand purchase in February this year when I got “Problem with Map, You cannot use this map on this device: New Zealand” Do I have to purchase new maps or is there a fix? thanx
Peter, I would contact TomTom support on something like that.
OK, thanks for your help Tim.
I think the mounting device on the TOMTOM ONE 130
sucks. The GPS keeps falling off my window and then I mounted it on the dash, same thing. TOMTOM should dump the mounting device and come up with an alternative. Buy another brand is my advice!
Jim, for the sake of not confusing the people here, the 130 uses an entirely different mounting system than the ONE 2nd Edition this page is about.
How can make TT1 speak out the streat name where I need to make a turn?
It sucks without this function.
Steve, the ONE 2nd Edition doesn’t offer that function.
I am trying to update a TomTom one (old version) and the update note on the web site at TomTom home says it cannot be updated. Is this for real? How or can I ever get this done? or do I have to upgrade to a newer GPS?
THX
I have a TOM_TOM one I bouhgt 3 years ago/
how do I get a updated map.W/O buying a new card.
whenever a new road is built or changed it dosn’t show up on my device.
Ray, you don’t need to purchase a new card, but you would need to purchase a new map.
I have had my Tomtom for only about a week,however,I’m 76 years old and it was real easy for me to figure out,very user friendly,love the unit and takes me where ever I want to go with no problems,plenty of Volume and the voices are real clear.
DO NOT BUY A TOM-TOM.
Here’s why. If your TOMTOM is stolen, regardless of your use of a password, the device can be cracked and all of your travel and personal information is available to the criminals who stole it. This happened to us. Unfortunately in combination with the theft of a blackberry. With these two devices stolen, everyone in both devices is at risk over the holiday period. I asked if they could track, disable or do anything. No. My advice. Lock it down, if you have managed to find the instructions. Or choose a more secure and reliable solution.
ummm…. that would apply to virtually every GPS on the market.
I have found a really good price on a TomTom ON 125, but a friend told me that this is because it is an older, out-of-production model. Is this so, and would the warranty still be good? Also, will it be as accurate as a newer one?
Rick, the ONE 2nd Edition that this page is discussing is old and discontinued. However the TomTom ONE 125 you mention is one of the newest TomTom devices around.
Hi, I have a friend who has just aquired a tom tom One, third edition, and wondering if anyone can tell me, may sound a silly questions, reasons might SEEM obvious, but its not that simple!! I want him at Christmas, without TELLING where I am, as part of a treasure hunt I am doing,( hosting) to use the TomTom to find a specific point, by giving him Ordnance survey grid referances. I am in the UK. Would this work to the degree, minute and second, as traditional mapping works, for longitudanal, and latitude moments? Hope someone at least knows where I am going with this? many thanks.
We purchased 2 of the ONE 125’s and can’t get either of the Easyport mounts to stick to anything including the supplied adhesive discs. I understand the cleanliness requirements and the roto-lock mechanism – they just won’t pull suction and hold.
I am new to GPS and bought the Tomtom One 3 rd Edition based on a friend recommendation. I was amazed how easy it was to set up and use. What really impressed me was just a few hour after my purchase I relied on the One to get me to an address in an area of the city that I have never been before. In addition this address was on a private road with only three houses on it. The one took me right to the house.
Going on 2 years owning the TT ONE. Wife bought thru one of the TV shopping shows, un-beknownst to me. Best investment. Used it while in Canada and B.C. Retired and went to work as a part time courier. I’m a good map reader, but this improves my search and routing during the course of the work day.I have become reasonalbly adept with “toggling” between the browse text/map and main screens to note right down to the yard where my next turn is or if I am in fact my my destination am not seeing the address{easily]. I have probably still have not realized the full potential of this unit yet. Any suggestion on a forum would be appreciated.
Questions, what is the SD slot, on my ONE, for?Is the battery user replaceable and can a user access replacement without damage to the unit?
Note: My TT ONE had black and white horizontal lines appear totally obliterating the screen and the unit would not do anything including NOT turn off. I guessed that it needed to “reset”(but there is no such buttonor switch) and I guessed as an alternative, if the battery was removed that might solve the problem, but I had no tool to access that back of the unit. The battery ran down, the screen went dark and on a lark, I plugged in the power supply and bingo back in business. That was two months ago and it is still running at 6 hour/day, with no recurrance of that event.
A Happy TOM TOM ONE User
The SD card slot on that device would primarily be used to add additional map coverage you didn’t already get. The battery cannot be replaced without voiding the warranty, however with the proper tools it could be done.
I bought my husband the TomTom One 125 for Christmas and I don’t find any card slot anywhere on it. I am having a hard time figuring out it works too….but I am hoping he will enjoy this
The 125 does not have a card slot.
Auto-Zoom kills usability.
I bought a Tom Tom 3rd edition, great unit. Fast, precise tracking, mostly no mistakes. Very convinient to use, lots of settings, you can set what information you want to see on the screen, speed limits, time, etc.
Unfortunately auto zoom makes device practically unusable. You cannot see anything except your nose. You want to take a look at the big map? Great, press zoom out 6 times, now take a look back where you driving…. look again to TomTom screen, ha-ha too late auto-zoom already returned to .6 miles map.
If you can live with autozoom, you will like it, but I cannot. Unit returned to store, good luck to your business TomTom.
ive just purchase the tom tom one assist for uk and ireland. i cant get tom tom home on it , i think its because i have windows vista , in my device manager it comes up tom tom v8 , and when i plug it into the laptop it say removable data device locked, can anybody help me ?? huge thanks
Mine performed well for about 3 years then failed. All reset attempts recommended by Tom Tom failed. Tom Tom makes a very nice and inexpensive unit but there is no factory support for repairs once out of warranty. A call to Customer Service at 866-486-6866 on 1/28/09 confirms this. Like most electronics today, they are a throw away device.
The trouble with most of these devices is that by the time they are out of warranty you can purchase a new device for less than the cost of repair. For example manufacturers that do offer out of warranty repairs typically charge $100 – $150 just to evaluate the device, yet you can purchase a TomTom ONE 125 for under $100 in some places.
Tim is right but not sure for how long. I was in Best Buy yesterday to ask the Geek Squad and they offer no repair service either. The GPS section did have Tom Tom 125’s at $99.95 but they were a Holiday special and he did not think they were going to restock. They had two left. You can buy a 2 year warranty for $14.95. If they did not have replacement 125 they would simply credit you $99.95 toward a new unit.
K, I see that the tomtom one works in us n Canada, and I know Hawaii is part of us, but a lot of these do not work here. Will this one work in Hawaii with out my having to upload more maps?
Yes, the ONE 2nd Edition discussed on this page includes Hawaii.
Yesterday, my Tom Tom failed me. I had it plugged in and the lights were on but it will not come on. It will do nothing. This happened about a month ago and all of a sudden it started working. Now, it will do nothing. When plugged in to the lighter the lights are on put will not turn on. Help! can this be fixed or am I doomed?
Have you tried the reset switch?
Tim, I have had my Tom Tom One 3rd editon for 2 years and the battery is no longer any good. It won’t stay up only for a day when it’s turned off. I took it apart to find out what battery is in it, but I can’t seem to find one, even on the internet! Any help in finding a new battery would sure help… Also, can the battery be over charged when left plugged in?? Thanks
Hi
I have bought a tomtom one version 2. I am trying to charge is using a USB cable connected to my PC. When connecting the device to the pc, the green light on top goes on but nothing appears on the screen. Is this because there is no battery power? Or do I have to wait a few hours before the screen will switch on?
Sybrand
If the green light is on, the device is charging. Nothing will appear on the screen if the device is not turned on.
The power button must be held down until the unit powers up. Don’t just press the button. If that does not do it perform a reset by pressing the reset on the bottom. (Toothpick). Make sure the SD card is in and locked. The unit will power up even if the battery is dead and it is either on the auto power cord or your PC.
I have bought my TOMTOM ONE 2 years ago at RADIO SHACK and I had TWICE problems with the battery and power supply. The device just shows suddenly a blinking battery sign on the screen (as it would be disconnected from the power supply), though it is connected all the time and the power supply shows a green light.
I’ve sent the first time my device to the warranty repair center CYBER TEST and got it back “repaired”, but 1 year later I got the same problem again. The second time they “repaired” it again, but sent it to the wrong address …. thus my GPS device got lost. Now I’m still waiting for a replacement. I’m now in my 3rd month WITHOUT GPS. It’s completely not acceptable this situation. Both Radio Shack and Cyber Test say there’s no fault on their side. A typical responsibility ball exchanging game.
CYBER TEST has a very bad service !!!
I wouldn’t buy from Radion Sheck again.
I could not get a signal. I drove 300 miles and it kelp on saying: WAITING FOR A VALID GPS SIGNAL. i WAS 300 MILES AWAY AND IT SHOWED MY HOME STREET ON IT AND WOULD NOT CHANGE. WHAT SHOULD I DO TO GET IT BACK……………..
I HAVE A TOMTOM1..Got it only a month and a half ago.. I could not get a signal. I drove 300 miles and it kelp on saying: WAITING FOR A VALID GPS SIGNAL. i WAS 300 MILES AWAY AND IT SHOWED MY HOME STREET ON IT AND WOULD NOT CHANGE. WHAT SHOULD I DO TO GET IT BACK……………..
Stop moving. The GPS will take longer to get a signal (if it gets one at all) if it is moving before getting a signal. See our Acquiring Satellites article for more information and tips to get it back.
I have programed my Tom Tom One To a destination of about 160 miles from my starting point. I wanted to watch a demo of the directions, but when I click “Demo” I will beable to follow the directions turn for turn about 100 miles and then the screen reverts back to my home destination. Would this mean that I do not have enuf free space in my Tom Tom, or could it be that the demo will not play the total destination?
Thank you
That is the way it was designed to operate. The “demo” was more of an in-store thing where it would loop over and over rather than being used to preview a trip. To preview a trip you can use the Route Overview screen as well as the turn by turn text directions and pull up the individual intersection images.
Tim, sounds good I will try that. Thanks for the sudden service
This machine has one really lousy feature that cannot be turned off — “AUTOZOOM” I have gotten so frustrated with autozoom I have given up on the machine. I rarely use it anymore and if I had known about BUG before I bought the unit, I never would have purchased it.
I have never been directionally challenged, so gps is only there to give me a heads up view of my trip and a few stats.
If I can get enough money for it, I will be dumping it.
Is my TomTom One capable of using the real time feature that tells you when there is an accident or read closure ahead so that you can avoid them? If so, where could I order the accessories?
Thanks
Mike, If you happen to have a compatible Bluetooth phone with a compatible data plan, you can get traffic info on the ONE 2nd Edition this page is about. If not– no, you cannot, and there are no accessories to make it compatible.
Thanks Tim!
Tom Tom One worked great for about 15 months then started acting weird. Reset button and holding on button until the cows came home helped for a while but the unit finally died at around 20 months. Great user interface and very user friendly machine built to the cheapest possible physical standards. Will buy a different unit next time.
I bought a tomtom 1 3rd edition 6 months ago, and really love it,I drive a big truck and am tring to find someplace that i can upgrade it for commerical use,such as low bridges
It seems when I’m lost and am trying to find something, I can never find it on the Tom Tom.
I always get no POI found.
Today I was looking for a funeral home. I knew the name and the town. It was called, Rendina Funeral Home. located in Gary Indiana. I did not know the address. It has been there for 30 + years.
I did a Navigate to>POI>Indiana>Gary>Find>Rendina+ No POI found.
I was 3 miles away, so I tried POI near me. Same infor entered= No POI found.
I tried entering funeral home no POI found
Funeral = No poi found.
I finally pulled out my cell with internet and googled the address and then entered it and entered it manually into tom tom and found it.
What am I doing wrong? I know this is one case and possibly the POI was not in the software. But this was an old place that’s never changed it’s name.
To be fair, tom tom has recognized places before. A lot were where I more or less knew where I was going. It just seems when I’m clueless, it lets me down.
There’s been times I’ve entered a store, but did not really know how to classify it. Is it shopping, business, company etc.
I was in Portage Indiana and knew a place was by Lowe’s Home Improvement. I typed in Lowes, and of course, No POI found. My old GPS was not as difficult to search. I could just hit Find and start typing and with each letter, it would show results and narrow down the search.
I did not have to enter a catagory either. It would just be a broad search. Car dealers, Schools, Parks, etc.
Any tips would be appreciated….
I’ve had it 1 1/2 years and it’s always been a pain. I really want to love this thing…….
Oh yeah, When I try to search and I don’t know the exact city I get NO poi found too.
Once I find the city it is in,sometimes it magically knows where it is.
I would like to say this only happens on occasion, but it happens a lot. Some of these POI’s are popular places.
Vince, the POIs are not like the maps– they don’t try to fit 100% of all known POIs on the GPS. The ONE model you have probably only includes about 5-10% of all known POIs.
Can I add additional points of interest? My unit? Mine has the slot for the card, but does not use the card.
I heard of people using SD cards and transferring over the info to the card and making more room applications.
Vince, yes, you can add additional POIs through the TomTom HOME application.
Is there an easier way to add them? There are like 500 poi’s and every time you add one, it exits you to the main menu. you then have to find the page you left off at and then restart. Also, there are a lot of repetitive one’s there, as well as a lot I would never use. Why didn’t they allow you to check the ones you want and then update all at once?
Well, the idea is that you add additional POIs for the categories you would use, rather than just using them all. For example there are POIs there for Arby’s locations and Subaru dealerships. If you don’t like Arby’s and don’t drive a Subaru, those particular POIs probably are not useful to you so you wouldn’t add them. But if there are multiple categories you want, there isn’t a way I know of to check multiples and add them all at once.
I have a one xl..i would like to point out a few items, that had i known before buying, would have affected my purchase..i hate the main screen and its movements..you cant expand it and see way ahead as you drive..it expands but then returns to a distance predetermined for you..you come up on a road before you know it, unless you go to browse map and see ahead there..yes i know if you have a route in it will tell u turn is coming up, but i dont always have a route in..about the route..worse part of this gps..you have to preplan route in its entirety while your stopped and before you leave or go the route they choose for you..u have some options, but going through or around cities arent your choice..even worse, you cant plan your route the nitght before..there is no way to save a route..you shut down you lose it!! i have a garmin map 76 that is 8 years old that has this technology..hardly anyone solely wants to travel the shortest or fastest way..there is just very little flexibity..of course this is just my opinions..i travel often and geocache..i own five different gps’s..this one has so many fine traits and i cant believe they didnt include such readily available technology for this type of item…has its strong points but i personally wouldnt purchase it again..i guess i feel cheated..you read about the item and they have two pages of how routing works and even route planning software, they never say once(that i found)that routes or tracks cant be saved..jmo if routhing is a primary concern for you, look somewhere else..if not, this is a fantastic and well priced item.
I will NEVER buy a TOMTOM product. My street in California is 10 Years old and TOMTOM has still not updated their maps, although all others like GARMIN, MAGELLAN, AND NAVIGON show my street. And that’s not the only streets missing after several new map releases by TOMTOM. Stick with USA PND companies and don’t bother with foreign TOMTOM and their lousy maps and petty company policies that I have discovered about them.
John, which map version did you check on? Actually, Garmin is based in the Cayman Islands, Magellan is owned by a Taiwan company and Navigon is a German company.
Actually Garmin is a US company with world headquarters in Kansas.
Magellan is a private company started and based out of Santa Clara, CA along with Trimble Navigation. Both make advanced GPS equipment for the US military.
Navigon has always been a German company. As a side note, Navigon is pulling out of the US. They announced it about a month ago but nobody seems to be reporting it.
TomTom was started in Australia and now is owned by a European conglomerate.
John, that simply isn’t correct. Take a look at Garmin’s most recent press release or their annual report. From their press release within the past two weeks:
Magellan’s offices are in California, but the company is owned my MiTAC Digital Corp out of Taiwan.
We’ve had extensive discussions here about Navigon pulling out of the North America market. Every GPS related site I know talked about it.
TomTom isn’t owned by any “conglomerate”. They were founded in 1991 in Amsterdam according to their website and own themselves.
I can’t find a business that has been opened for a year. It’s in a new mall and TomTom does not have the address yet. Who and when does it get updated.
cj
CJ – one year is (unfortunately) very recent in terms of mapping. But the bigger issue is that unlike the road database, GPS companies don’t try to fit every known POI in their devices. In fact, the TomTom ONE model only includes about 10% or so of all of the known POIs in the map coverage area. So 90% of businesses won’t be included.
TomTom does provide map updates every quarter for purchase, so you could purchase an update and see if the business gets added, but the chances are not extremely high.
Thanks Tim,
After searching I found the malls name, an address near the location, and a address the business obviously uses for mail…plus their actually GPS satelitte co-ordinates (that’s what did it) and I now can get to …the wine party. ;0
My husband bought me a Tom Tom for my birthday, it work great when it works. Sometimes when I turn it on the screen wont fill up the whole thing. It goes into the right and down from the top about an inch. Have other people had this problem? what will fix it?
Caity, I haven’t heard of that before– sounds like you might need to talk to TomTom support.
Greetings one and all. My daughter gave a TomTom One to me for fathers day and I’m attempting to figure out what version it is. I’ve read the responses that say the serial number is the key but my S/N doesn’t fit into what I’ve found so far. My S/N PB4358F0xxxx
I’m also seeking assistance in figuring out how to change my position marker from an arrow to a car.
I want to be able to save the current location (not home location) without entering an address. Is that possible with a TomTom One? My lady friend’s Garmin has a feature that allows you to save the current location and name it.
Any help appreciated.
My Tomtom One dead.
I bought TTO (2nd Edition)in Sept 2007. One day (in May 2009) I put it in trunk for 24 hr (65F outside, but the trunk may be up to 80 to 90F). When I wanted to use it, I cannot turn it on. After press reset button, it came to alive, but often showed freezing screen or suddenly death. Or cannot turn it on untill a couple of hours later.
Last week, I made it alive finally and start to use it. But during driving, it suddently refuse to give me direction. I was so mad that I threw it really hard to a big rock.
Other experience about this TTO
1)all the favorite addresses I saved lost one day. Don’t know the reason.
2)No text to speech function for the street, often time I am not sure I need to make a turn at this steet or next
3)not sure where I am if I lost in a strange city
next GPS? definitely not TTO
Wish I would have found this site before I bought a TomTom. About 50% of the addresses I try to find, the TomTom does not have. Took 30 minutes to find the satellite on a trip on I-20.
Worst of all, I got an email from TomTom yesterday about their big map sale. The website kept moving me to the United Kingdom, I’m in Mississippi! Finally got on today and still could not get past the shopping cart. Called customer service, was informed the sale never worked and so it was cancelled. Is this company just a rip-off?
Hi my Tom Tom is great but after sometime the voice is to soft to hear… how do I make it loud again.. also is there a battery I have to change or is it charging when it is plugged into my car? Thank you..shirley
My Tom Tom Home started to download a update and it didn’t download right and it won’t take it. It says something is wrong with it and I can’t get rid of it to download it again. How do I get rid of the old down load that is not right so I can do it again?? Thanks
Got Tomtom One LE(2nd edition) for gift in January 2009. Bought and downloaded map service without any problem until this past weekend. After getting new maps and turning off and on, screen color has faded and resolution is grainy. Called Tech support. They admitted that they had server problems. Had me delete and reload applications…no luck. Bumped me up to next level, had me download cache cleaner(?)…no luck. Sorry, screen is broken, something is wrong with it. It can’t possibly be the downloads that caused it, they said. Since it was gift, no receipt and therefore no fixing and no replacement since they cannot prove when I received it, even though I registered it immediately after I received it. They can sell me another one, and waive the no receipt rule to give me a customer loyalty small discount. Anyone else have these issues or had the same problem with their screen.