TomTom ONE 130 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator (Box Version)

Reviews

1. Honest

   by Anderson J. Andrade

   Good relation price/benefit, I just didn’t like the size of the screen, because the keypad is small and you touch more than one key at a time. If you have US$20,00 more, buy a 4,3″ screen.

2. Worked Good….for awhile

   by Diane M. Vergowven

   When I first got this GPS, it was great! The routing was accurate 99% of the time. After about 6 months it starting taking me on really strange routes. It would take me off a freeway, to my parking lot at work, back to the freeway…what?!?! Yesterday, I was driving on the Ohio turnpike. It took me off the turnpike, make a couple of turns, then it showed for me to turn down this side street, turn around and go back the same way I came from towards the turnpike. Pass the turnpike then south. I was supposed to be heading east. I checked the route in details. It was actually adding on about an hour to my trip. Needless to say, I turned it off and called for directions. What good is a GPS if it just frustrates you and gets you more lost than you would be without it?? The reason I gave it 2 stars instead of 1 is, because it worked pretty good for awhile. In case you’re wondering, I did update it on a regular basis. I’m thinking that maybe one of the updates had bad software. This was my second Tom Tom and I used to recommend it to everyone. Not anymore.

   P.S. My mother has the same Tom Tom I have, and was going to the same place as me. Hers tried to take her off the turnpike too, but she was smart and ignored it.

3. tom tom

   by Visa

   i love this GPS it is very easy to work. i have not had any problems with it. this is my second one i have had it for 2 yrs, my son lost the first one (lol) i would recommend this to everyone.TomTom ONE 130-S 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator (Box Version)

4. Very easy to use

   by C-note

   Very easy to use. Smart mounting system. You get one free map update when you buy it. (warning-it takes a long time to update but is worth it.

5. Good for the price

   by VA Yankee

   Good size product with enough functionality to use without a lot of training. Seems to often lose the signal every time it is turned on and the destination is entered – which is annoying. Overall – happy with the unit and got what I expected.

6. Mediocre at Best

   by K. Simms

   I was given a TomTom for my birthday. This was my second attempt at a TomTom GPS from QVC (I returned the first because it could not hold a charge). I wish that I could return this one also. I recommend that you buy a different brand, I plan to. I do just as well guessing or using a paper map and I want to caution you that if you plan to drive in the country these maps are not acceptable.

   About Road and Satellite Coverage: The TomTom Spokesman is on QVC tonight (05/15/2010) with the Today’s Special and he told a woman who called in that they have the best maps and include back roads. I used my TomTom on a trip to Kentucky to see my relatives for the first time, by the time I got within 20 miles of my destination the GPS began to lead me on a strange route. We were guided up into the mountains along a one lane road where we had to pull into the grass if another car was coming. This was no problem since we were in an SUV, but the path began to look deserted, narrow, and too close to the cliff. The GPS still indicated that we were on a valid road and could not give us an alternate route. Eventually it had no satellite coverage at all. At that point we were basically terrified of continuing along the path and had to make a Uturn on this cliff. When we got to the right city hours later, we had to get directions from the local sheriff because the GPS lost satellite coverage again.

   Also this GPS will not automatically calculate a new route for you if there is a detour (a direct answer to this question was dodged by the spokesman). I believe you can subscribe to a service which will track things like roadwork and traffic, or redirect yourself using the alternate route function. Often the GPS will tell me to turn right vocally but guide me left visually.

7. TomTom ONE 130 review

   by A. Eckert

   Works fine, easy to install, more than sufficient to navigate, no thrills and unnecessary functions. Recommended

8. Going back to Garmin

   by Marc D. Behr

   I have had 3 Garmins over the years, and thought I would try a TomTom this time (for my daughter). When I tried to update the system to the latest firmware and maps, it took me many hours and 2 calls to tech support to get things straightened out. The system appears to have had a flaky storage unit so when the updates tried to get installed, it would fail after 90-120 minutes. After several attempts, I contacted TomTom and was told to try running chkdsk against the unit. Errors and bad sectors were found and corrected. Attempted to install updates again, and after 100 minutes, the updates failed again. Called TechSupport back, was give more things to try (deleting files manually, etc) and after running chkdsk 2 more times, I was finally able to get the data to load.

   My daughter tried using it for a few days, and said she would rather have her Garmin C330 back, because she did not like the way that the TomTom worked and the screen was too small, so I sent it back to Amazon and ordered a Garmin nuvi 260w for around the same price.

9. You Get What You Pay For; It’s Okay.

   by A. KENYON-SMITH

   We all know you can buy SatNav’s (aka GPS Navigators) these days, costing anything from $70 to over $3,000. It says a lot about overpriced mapping, given that I actually live in the UK, and it worked out considerably cheaper to buy a new TomTom ONE 130 (complete with mapping for the whole of North America/Canada) than to just buy an SD card with North America/Canada maps for the Navman SatNat I’ve owned for a few years to guide me around Europe. On the face of it, that’s just crazy.

   The TomTom ONE 130 is about as basic as SatNav’s get, and not even in the same league as my Navman. However, it’s worth noting that my Navman cost me more than FIVE times what this TomTom ONE 130 cost me.

   I believe TomTom are the current market leaders as far as these type of machines go worldwide, and although the 130 is far from the best in TomTom’s line up, I can see why TomTom maintain their market share. For $80 including North America/Canada maps and in-car charger, the ease of installation of the TomTom ONE 130 is a breeze. In fact much easier than my Navman, which with EU maps cost me £300/US$450.

   The TomTom ONE 130 does exactly what it says on the box. It’s so straightforward even my mother was able to get to grips with it’s ease of operation within five minutes. And if you knew my mother (a technophobe if ever there was one), that means it’s ridiculously easy to use!

   If I was being hyper-critical, yes, a larger display would be great of course, and a widescreen display instead of the ‘old fashioned’ 4:3 ratio. But the TomTom ONE 130 has accurate and fairly detailed mapping, it’s light to carry (don’t forget you can use these systems on foot too!) and it has just about as many features as you need to get by.

   It’s not got any unique or particularly spell-binding features. It’s a low cost SatNav system which guides you from A to B accurately, without stress, and without having to go via C, D, E and F. Relatively speaking, I’d say you get slightly more than what you pay for. Let’s be real, how could anyone justify complaining? It was just under US$80 for the unit, a 12v in-car charger, and full mapping for the whole of North America and Canada from Amazon.com. What more could anyone ask for at that price?

10. Get one that voices the street names – not this one

    by mouse

    I just purchased this GPS for a trip to Boston after my old GPS was stolen. I was looking at price and this one was on sale. My old GPS was purchased for a similar price but it voiced the street names. In my opinion not telling you the name of the street to turn onto makes this GPS hard to use.

    When I connected online to update the maps I was not offered a free update, but was offered 50% off to bring the two year old maps up to date. This service cost me an additional $40. Maybe I was scammed into paying for something that should have been free with the “30-day” map update guarantee…

    The GPS itself is cool. I never had a problem getting a signal and the personalizing options are nice. I like the screen view, except that the street names are too small to read while driving and are not voiced. It did give accurate directions. However, it’s frustrating to have two exits close together coming up and all the GPS says is “Turn right here” – Is it exit 13A or 13B? On more than one occasion I took the wrong right and had to be redirected by the GPS.

    At least the GPS did not continually tell me, “turn around at your next opportunity.” Instead it would calmly redirect me around the block. Overall, I like the TomTom. However, I did make a mistake in purchasing a GPS that does not voice street names. I would not buy this model again and recommend that you put high importance on voiced street names.

11. Best pall during my trip

    by Saeed Dargahi

    I’m very satisfied with this GPS Navigator. The only thing that you need to have access to before using it for the first time is internet to update the maps.

    East to install, easy to use and very accurate.

12. Excellent

    by J. Prisco

    The product works very well, and ordering through amazon is wonderful because how fast you will receive the item on just standard shipping because they do not delay in processing.

13. We love our TomTom One.

    by John O

    We love our TomTom One. This is our 3rd one. We purchased one for each of our teenage girls so they don’t get lost while driving. This particular model has a great windshield mounting bracket unlike the earlier models. This bracket folds back into the device when not in use. Cool. Great value.

14. Tom Tom 130

    by James P. Anthony

    Replacement for one that broke (fell off windshield face first onto gear shift) – had to replace, can’t imagine driving without it!

15. consider 130-S with spoken street names for a few more bucks

    by anonymous

    A very good solid GPS unit – and at a very good price here on amazon. Such a good price that it is less expensive to purchase a dedicated new one for the USA/Canada than to purchase the maps from [...] for my European unit. (Ridiculous!)
    
    If you are considering the 130 think about spending a few more dollars to get the text to speech for street names in the 130-S TomTom ONE 130-S 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator. Even though the street names are pronounced in a weird way it is one more way of keeping your eyes safely on the road.
    
    I find the menu structure very intuitive. It is very easy to input a desired address quickly and just get there. As mentioned in other reviews if you make a mistake or decide to take a different route it doesn’t get angry at you but just recalculates a new route on the fly. The easyport mounting system is super and compact. You snap the suction cup onto the windshield and then turn the dial to increase the suction. It has never dropped off the windshield for me even going from high to low altitudes, freezing to balmy temperatures. If you choose the 130-S with text to speech you will want to stick with the default voice because it allows for street names to be synthesized/pronounced. But if you choose the 130 try out the voice of Kathy from Ireland. Outside of having an aphrodisiac effect she says things like “second exit off the roundabout” or “Take the motorway”. Highly recommend these GPS units.
    
    Ah yes, the only other thing you might consider is a protective carrying case sized for this unit for when you take the GPS out of the car into the house at night or for packing the unit for business travel. TomTom One Carrying Case and Strap for One 125, 130, 130s, 140 and 140s (Black) If you have not used the unit in a while you should plug it into your PC to charge it up the night before. Also to update the maps using the included software.

16. Cute toy, annoying little device

    by T. Stephen

    I am mystified by how this device has managed to garner 3 1/2 stars when it only deserves a solid 2. Evidently, the ” cute factor” must have a value of at least one star.

    Certainly, if you are looking for a navigation device where Burt Reynolds, Homer Simpson or even a Cylon Centurion will give you verbal directions and time and distance traveled are of little consequence then this is the device for you.

    When you first get the device out of the box you will need to immediately hook it up to your computer where, if you’re lucky, it will begin to automatically download the Tom Tom Home Software. In my case, I had to visit the website and manually download the program myself. Once installed, the synchronization between the device and the program are seamless.

    I encountered an error during the initial update but after disconnecting the device, rebooting my computer and reconnecting the device the update completed successfully. As far as I can tell, the device has suffered no ill effects from the error.

    The Tom Tom Home program is evidently a generic program designed to work with all models as many of the options for this particular device are ” grayed out”. And of those that are available some are subscription based. If you want additional maps for your device (such as Canada or Mexico) plan on dropping 70 bucks. There’s also a fee schedule for keeping your default maps updated. The subscription service just to keep the maps that came with your device updated includes four quarterly releases “for the equivalent of only $9.95 per map”.

    If you’re interested in traffic and fuel prices then you, as any savvy shopper would, have already noticed that innocuous little word “optional”. To obtain U.S. fuel prices your download costs $19.95. For real time traffic updates you must purchase a separate accessory available for the low, low price of $99.95.

    But enough about the add ons. Let’s talk about the functionality of the device itself. I haven’t had any experience with a standalone GPS device prior to this one. My personal experience extends to the VZ Navigator application on my phone. This, then, is my benchmark for rating this device.

    In the interest of perspective I would describe a five star rating as a device that could study my driving habits and learn from simple observation that I do not use freeways. A device whose functions border on the supernatural. As Arthur C. Clarke said “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic”. Obviously, it would require a price slightly outside my range to get a five star rating.

    A four star rating would be a device whose basic navigational functions would be truly impressive. The type of device that has you constantly making statements such as ” Wow, I didn’t know it could do that!”.

    The three star rating would be a device that matches the functionality of my phone application, whereas a two star is a device that is inferior to my phone and a one star isn’t worth the box it was shipped in.

    I gave this unit a two star rating prior to the latest update to my VZ Navigator software. Obviously, as per my description, I consider this device to be inferior to the application on my phone. The reasons are fairly straightforward. On the Tom Tom, you have the option of selecting the shortest route, the fastest route or avoiding freeways. There are other options available as well, but they apply to situations other than traveling in an automobile such as walking or riding a bicycle.

    The main and most confounding issue that I have with this device is that you are forced to choose one of the three options. On my phone, I can select the fastest, shortest or simplest route AND choose two exclude highways. With the Tom Tom, if you choose to avoid highways it’s almost as though the device wants to punish you for doing so because the route that it plots is not the shortest, not the fastest nor even the simplest.

    There are several places that I go to on a regular basis and I am quite well aware of what the fastest and the simplest routes are. When I choose to avoid highways the route always, without exception, attempts to take me to a state route even if in doing so, it takes me miles out of my way. Each “alternate route” that I select takes me farther and farther out of my way.

    Today, for example, while traveling on a county road I directed the Tom Tom to navigate a course home. The road that I was on was of equal distance between two state routes and instead of plotting a course in my current direction of travel then turning south and continuing on to the southern state route, upon which I live, then directing me home, the route that was actually plotted just boggled my mind. The device instructed me to turn around, go back in the opposite direction for just less than 5 miles, turn north and proceed 4 miles until I reached the northern state route, turn west and proceed 17 miles to yet another different state route, turn south and proceed 7 miles into the center of town where I would intersect the southern state route and follow it back east out of town until I reached my home.

    As annoying as that was to read, you can imagine what it’s like to be given directions from this vaunted device that absolutely flies in the face of reason. The estimated time of arrival of the Tom Tom’s directions was 58 minutes. When I entered the same directive into my phone I was provided with a much more reasonable route with an estimated time of arrival of 32 minutes. As I said before, instructing this device to avoid highways can result in a route that is not fast, not short, and most certainly not simple.

    If you’re lost in the middle of an unfamiliar city and you have the misfortune of not owning a map, then this device will eventually get you home. But it will not do so in any manner that could be considered efficient. My intention is to throw this in the trunk in case I need to find my way in an unfamiliar location when I have forgotten to bring my phone. On a side note, my phone provides me with fuel prices as well as real time traffic updates. For free.

    In the rare event that I find myself with some spare change lying around, I might just buy a Garmin just to see if the company that manufactures aircraft avionics can do a better job. Right now, however, Verizon has just taken a great step forward towards keeping me as a customer. Interestingly enough, it’s not even because of their phone service although I certainly have no complaints there, either.

    The only reason this thing doesn’t get one star is because it is an actual, functioning GPS device. My advice is to spend the extra and get the real deal… You’ll be happier in the long run.

17. POOR RECEPTION

    by TVB

    Wasn’t able to receive GPS signal. Left it outside away from tall building/trees, etc, no luck for 30-60 minutes. Gave up and returned to product.

18. GPS

    by Kyle D. Dale

    I have proplems with picking a location like a restaurant off of the Point Of Interst menu, and rather than taking you to that location it goes haywire and send you around the block, or on the wrong side the road. i.e. McDonalds will be on your left and it will be telling you to turn right.

    Over all it’s easy to use.

19. Proud owner

    by T. Cerezo

    As promised it was new and in it’s original packaging. Everything works fine and I’m happy I went with them.

20. stay away!!!!

    by Sean Li

    i have used numerous of GPS devices. and this one is by far the worst. i have no idea why would anyone give this GPS a 5 star? anyhow, it sucks, and here is why.

    1st. software sucks. I have the latest map (thanks to the latest map guarantee), but there are still many errors on the map. from Lexington park, MD to Webster field, the GPS asks me to use roads that do not exist, make turns that would lead you to a dead end. it has numerous errors and the map is totally wrong at some places. i don’t know the accuracy of their map in other parts of the country, but at MD, it sucks, you better off buying a paper map.

    2nd. software sucks. okay, so there is a feature called map correction (obvious TOMTOMS knows how sucky their map database is). i was patient enough to pull over and mark the ‘non exist’ road for them. guess what? it does not apply you input. it still shows the road exist and want you to use the fictitious roads.

    3rd. software sucks. on other GPS devices, you can find a location, say walmart, it will list all the walmart around you and their location, phone numbers. on this device, it does much of the same thing, except… it only shows your POI within 2 miles… wtf? not to mention some of its POI are horrible out of date.

    4th. software sucks. why would TOMTOM think it is more intuitive to say “turn right, in 2 miles” instead of saying “in 2 miles turn right”. it could just be a personal preference, but why does it say the other way around when the turn is within a mile? it should at least be consistent.

    5th. hardware wise, the GPS reception is great. but the screen resolution is horrible. the stand is good. it really does suck to the window, which is a pleasant surprise.

    anyhow. i payed 60 dollar for it. but for 100 dollars, you better off with garmin nuvi.