TomTom ONE 130-S 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator

Reviews

1. Decent GPS with wacky moments

   by E. Sanchez

   PROS- Shows local points of interest nearby, in the city, or along the route. Conveniently small. Good design of menu’s and maps. You can also view the route by text, maps, or turn by turn.

   Cons- Sometimes the GPS will go wacky along the route and keep re-routing itself when it doesn’t need to. I simply restart it and hope that it fixes itself(usually works). The Gps also says i’m on the highway most of the time when I’m actually along the feeder road. The satellite signal isn’t immediately picked up once you turn it on, I usually have to drive around for 1-2 miles for it to pick up a signal even if I had signal where I turned off the GPS.

   It’s an okay unit except for when it gets VERY frustrating when it goes wacky and keeps re-routing itself for no reason and then you have no idea where you are going.

2. not user friendly

   by Bruce Albert Payton

   The lack of clear instructions and long download time of the operating program were the two most glaring points made of this GPS. On my computer I had to re-start the download process three times due to errors indicated in the download site. After more than four hours of download time the program was finally loaded and my unit was ready to operate. Then the actual process of setting up a destination and other added tweaks was time consuming, and really more hassle than it was worth. However, once ready, the unit performed flawlessly. But, don`t ever try to do any adjustments while driving because that would be akin to texting while driving. Overall, for the money spent, this is a reasonable unit, but I would choose a different one if I were to consider another purchase.

3. Tom Tom 130S – won’t stick to windshield

   by Greg H

   I am on my second 130S from Amazon and am about to return it as I did the first one. I bought the clamshell package version of the 130S (as opposed to the boxed version). It is new, not refurbished. However, the windshield suction mount will not stick the windshield at all. I even handed it over to someone who has exactly the same model to get them to stick it to the windshield assuming I was doing something wrong. After about 60 seconds, the guy told me that there was something wrong with mine and he demonstrated how his stuck to my windshield just fine. Ok, no problem. I got a bum unit and returned it to Amazon. They sent me a replacement right away (great return service, by the way). Well, now the replacement unit will not stick to the windshield either and I’m about to return it. Yes, I followed the directions (what little there were) and turned the disc to “lock” it in place. Still doesn’t stick.

   The electronic unit itself works great. But if I can’t mount it to the windshield, it is useless. Tom tom really needs to engineer a new mount. As a side note, there are aftermarket mounts available that have good reviews. But it burns me up to pay for Tom Tom’s mount and then have to go out and spend money on another replacement mount from another manufacturer.

4. awesome

   by Karolina Wentland

   very small, many voices to choose from, shows speed limit of area you’re driving in and how your own speed limit compares to it, text-to-speech, downloadable images [so you're not stuck with a blue triangle as the image for your car; i replaced the triangle with a Pontiac Firebird]. I am very satisfied with it.

5. On the go route changes and ETA are pretty wonky

   by Matthew C. Boucher

   I’ve been using this device for work for about 2 months now. Overall it’s not bad and it will get you where you want to go but the ETA (estimated time of arrival) is never even close until you are about 5 miles from your destination. Trips that take me 2.5 hours says 3.5 hours at the start and slowly it updates as you get closer. In comparison I used to own a Garmin Nuvi 200 until someone stole it and the ETA on that was almost spot on and it would update fairly often depending on how fast I was going or if I was stuck in traffic. The other problem I have with this device is the inability to update your route if you take a wrong turn or a different turn to avoid traffic. To be blunt it doesn’t even try to update your route it just tries to get you back on your old one even if you are about 100 feet from the next street you are to be on in the original route. Again my Garmin worked fine when this happened and would update to a route that worked better for the street you were on rather than the original route planned. I would not purchase this product again.

6. over all good product

   by Capital One

   i have a garmin right now and my mother wanted a tom tom so i bought it for Xmas…..asked to use it for a few days i liked it overall but what i didn’t like was to much stuff stuffed on the little screen at one time which made it hard to focus on.so if you don’t have good eyes you don’t want this one. my same size screen on my gamin is so much easier to read but i must say no were nere the features on my garmin, could be its an older unit nuvi 350?the other thing i due miss about the tom tom(which my garmin has) that i it either doesn’t have or i couldn’t find is mph avg,total miles that my garmin has …..

7. GPS turns on all by itself

   by D. Mclean

   I’m on my second unit. TomTom replaced the first one because it would randomly turn on all by itself while just sitting on the counter. The replacement unit does this as well. Of course this will result in a dead battery, which is a pain in the butt when you’re in a hurry and just want to grab the GPS and make a short run w/o bothering with cords, etc.

   It happens once a week or so. Most people probably don’t notice because they keep it in the car.

   There are numerous complaints on the internet about various TomTom models that do the same thing and that TomTom has not provided any solution. Too bad they don’t care more about customer satisfaction.

8. Piece of crap

   by TTL

   Do yourself a favor and avoid this product – the software sucks. I bought it and with the initial version of software, it worked OK. Then I installed an upgrade – big mistake. I took it while traveling across South Dakota, Wyoming, etc. You would think there should be no problem going from point to point – I mean it’s mostly just prairie. But every half hour or so, the device would go completely haywire indicating it was planning a new route. Invariably, it would have me turn into the middle of a wheat field. Once while trying to get onto an expressway, it took me to a spot underneath the overpass. It was hard to judge which exit to take if there were a number in a row, such as in a big city highway system since the device would go haywire and start planning a new route to replace the one it had just calculated minutes earlier. And now, when I connect it to my computer, I just get the Orange TomTom screen and can get no further. What a piece of crap. I just wish there was some way I could re-install the original software.

9. poor GPS right out of the box

   by R. Cordio

   [...]. Brought it home hooked it up to the computer and downloaded the software and it said an updated map was available so i downloaded the updated map and it corrupted the update and would not finish the download and now the GPS will not even work. It will not even locate the satellites at all. I have returned the unit 2 days after i bought it and i am done with Tom Tom.

10. BUYER BEWARE-nice item but Company nor item 100% reliable…

    by UniversityDoc

    I bought this item after the last time I drove aimlessly about trying to find a destination with just a map and directions. The item works great overall. Some of the time. As packaged, this GPS covers all our needs. Warning: A GPS needs to have clear access satellites. This one needs access to four satellites. If it can’t reach the satellites, you don’t get a signal. When you don’t get a signal the TomTom is totally useless. Picutre a paperweight with graphics on it. I could not get a signal in an area surrounded by a forest. I could not get a signal during an overcast day, and on another day I couldn’t get a signal on a partly sunny day. Good thing I knew the area I could not acquire a signal or I would have been lost. And that did happen a few days later while driving to a new destination. The TomTom lost the signal while I was making a turn and I no longer had directions from the GPS how to proceed after the turn. I wound up pulling into a parking lot to wait for a signal. It took 10 mins to eventually get one. Sometimes, I’ve had to wait as long as 20 minutes to acquire a signal.From then on, I still carry a map and directions in case the TomTom loses its signal. Hence, though I like the concept of the GPS and enjoy using it while it has a signal, it’s too unreliable for me to rate it any higher than I did. If you can’t acquire a signal to guide you, what good is a GPS, any GPS?

    Important warning for US consumers: if you purchase anything from the [...] website, or TomTom Home, which connects to the websit, be forewarned that the bill will be processed from their office in Amsterdam, Netherlands and NOT in the USA. As a result, your credit card may or may not charge you a foreign transaction fee/finance charge for the purchase. And note, nowhere on the TomTom website, nor on your receipt nor ahywahere else will you be told this. You won’t find out until you are charged on your credit card. I learned about it in this exact way. My Mastercard charged me 3%.
    
    FYI: I contacted TomTom by phone about this, and they basically don’t care with the reply that “they’re not required to tell the U.S. consumer anything because not all credit cards charge a fee.” Hello, how many credit card companies do you know of that don’t charge a fee for foreign transactions.I then asked, “How about just adding a disclaimer to inform your customers that they may incur additonal fees from performing a foreign transaction?” They didn’t care:it’s not their legal responsibility, so they can care less.If you want to buy American, stay away from tomtom. I wouldn’t mind the purchase if I was warned up front, a disclaimer would have made me an informed consumer; a professional courtesy would have been appreciated, but I wasn’t told at all until the credit card company billed me. Shame on you, tomtom. They list an address in the U.S., which is listed as their contact address, as if they are out of the U.S.A., BUT they’re NOT. They deliberately lead you to believe that your purchase is billed in the USA. Are they hiding something here? They do no list their address in the Netherlands. I wonder why. Buyer Beware. By the way, they were supposed to have called me back WITHIN a week for a Customer Service Representative to explain the terms of their site, not to work with the consumer. NOTE: Its been over a week now and no call has been made to me. I did receive an email that I can’t respond to(It comes from Do Not Reply) that says “since you did not contact us, this issue is closed.” I did contact them. I’m waiting for that call back.
    

11. No luck with TomTom 130-S saying the street names

    by Margie Esteban-Gonzalez

    I am very disappointed. I received the first one and it did not say the street names, so a replacement had to be obtained. Again! It did NOT speak the street names. This is very frustrating because I did a lot of research before deciding to buy this item to then have all this hassle.
    

12. Ok for the price, but not great

    by Marc Mallette

    I just moved to a new city with a new job that has me traveling, so a GPS was almost a necessity. I went with the TomTom ONE 130-S because of the price, and because reviews said it was a great value (once they fixed the volume issue).

    The pros:
    
    Screen is easy to read, computer voice is easy to hear and understand, portability is great (attachment folds up against the unit, there’s no base unit in the car).

    The cons:
    
    Two major problems. Screens are easy to navigate, BUT, it won’t accept certain address formats. Some suburbs around Chicago have addresses in the form of “111W22 33rd St”, and it absolutely will not allow you to enter a direction (letter) in the middle of the number.

    The other major problem is the program that creates the route. It does great getting you close to the destination, but when you get there, it will surprisingly often tell you to pass your destination, go a mile, then take you on a big loop through some other streets, ending up going back the way you came, finally stopping at your destination on the second or even third pass. It literally had me do a big, 3 mile figure 8 yesterday, passing my destination twice before it actually said to turn in.

    In the end, I would recommend this model for someone who only wants to have it as a backup, who won’t be using it all the time. It’s inexpensive and usually works fine. But if you’re using a GPS daily like me, you’ll probably wish you’d gone with a higher quality model.

13. Highly recommended

    by Ms. Monica Anita

    I am in my twenties and have never driven outside of my state. This GPS guided me from the Midwest all the way to Florida. It helped me find gas stations, rest stops and hotels along the way. I would recommend this product to anyone who is looking for a basic, easy to use GPS system.

14. It is a nice GPS

    by G. Wu

    Overall it is a nice GPS based on the price. Amazon.com provids the good service

15. Gps Tom tom 130s

    by NakLife

    Great price and quick delivery. It works perfectly and it makes driving much more pleasant.
    
    However it does not have Itinerary planning which allows you to create and save your own personal routes.
    
    Its an important feature & i wish i would have understood that before my purchase !

16. Excellent purchase, has already paid off

    by Sky

    A few weeks ago Teenage Daughter and I took a road trip from the Deep South to Toronto. Usually my husband and I share the driving on such trips, and once we enter a city I do the navigating. This time around I knew that I would do all the driving since Teenage Daughter only recently received her learner’s license. I wanted our trip not to be stressful but rather relaxed without having Teenage Daughter looking constantly at a map and feeling the pressure to navigate in unknown territory. We both decided to look into a navigation system, but also did not want to spend too much money. I am an avid reader of Consumer Reports and checked out their recent ratings on navigation systems, and of course I read all the amazon reviews. The TomTom ONE 130-S looked like a good and affordable choice. But you never know what you are really getting unless you put the system up to the test. And this model – we named ours “Tamara” – passed the mother-daughter road trip test with flying colors.

    This TomTom lets you put in a final destination (address or a Point of Interest = POI), and then it will guide you from your current location or you can plan your trip/s further ahead. So off we went. If you use the computer voice, the TomTom will not only tell you the directions but also the street names which I found rather helpful when driving in a place I am not familiar with. Yes, you can also download the voice of Bart Simpson and others, but of course you cannot expect for the voice to have recorded all street and place names in the world (or the maps you are using), so you will get only directions which can be confusing, at least it was for me. If you just wish to show off and/or impress your friends while driving in your surroundings, then go ahead. Speaking in a pleasant sounding computer voice (you have several options to pick from) Tamara never once led us astray. We liked that the system came already loaded with the maps of Canada, no additional purchase needed. During the trip we felt the need to stop several times at Dairy Queen. Teenage Daughter simply picked up Tamara, and in no time we knew when the next DQ would come up and of course Tamara led us there if we wished so. Don’t panic, you are not tied to DQ as your only option for food – you can also look for other places to eat. The evening before every section of the trip we looked up online where we wanted to go on the way: art museums, H&M stores (the Swedish clothing stores with great affordable fashion), outlet malls with the occasional stop at Trader Joe’s to stock up on food and the like. Teenage Daughter punched in the address, and off we went the next morning. We had no trouble to navigate through Nashville, Columbus, Cleveland or Toronto. Tamara told me in advance when I had to turn so I could prepare to change lanes. The instructions were clear, and the monitor lets you see exactly where you are and also shows you when to turn. I used the 3D view, but you can also have the map view option. I also liked that the system told me in advance in which lane to keep after a turn in case I needed to turn again. The major test came when we were driving on small roads through Ohio Amish country. Suddenly we faced a closed road more or less in the middle of nowhere. Tamara found an alternative route without a problem. At one point she directed us using rather small roads (for a small section), and we looked at each other rather doubtfully, but she had picked the correct route, and we indeed saved a lot of time by following her when I later checked a map.

    All in all we were and still are very happy with our purchase. This model is very affordable, and it also allows for upgrades on current traffic problems. If you drive a lot, that could come in handy, but with the alternative route option, we did not see the need for such a subscription. So plug the thing in, and you are ready to go. An initial loading of the battery is recommended by the manufacturer, which we did. The system attaches rather easily to the windshield, no problems at all. I had read complaints about the system falling to the floor and breaking. If you follow instructions, meaning making sure that the system is snapped in securely, and you know that when you hear a clicking sound and pull and it stays safe in place, you will have no problem whatsoever. If you do not screw the lid of the milk container tightly, and you turn the container and the milk gushes out, it is neither the fault of the carton nor the milk; you, the consumer, are responsible for this malfunction. Initially I asked Teenage Daughter every time if Tamara was securely clicked in place, and after an annoyed look Teenage Daughter would check, and indeed, there were times where Tamara was ready to pop out, so just make sure that the system is locked in, a clicking sound will let you know.The model fits comfortably into a purse and is light weight.

    After following this TomTom for about 2400 miles I can only say that I would by this system again. And of course you do not need to name your TomTom “Tamara.” How about “Natascha” or “Boris”?

17. Things you should know BEFORE you buy…

    by Ariel Wundes

    Although this unit has some great features, there are a couple of pretty significant misrepresentations in TomTom’s advertising for the product that you should at least be aware of before making your final decision.

    First, there is a considerable lack of available memory. TomTom advertises a variety of great features and options for this unit but, in reality, this model doesn’t have enough memory for any of these additions. My unit has only the application, 1 map, 1 voice and the standard POI’s and it is completely out of memory. I can’t even update the map with any of the map corrections that TomTom promise because there isn’t enough memory.

    The other thing they advertise on this model is “Spoken Street Names.” What they DON’T tell you is that, while there is a huge selection of different voices you can choose from, ONLY the 1 or 2 “Computerized” voices can actually read street names. So you really only have one or two choices for which voice you want to use — all the rest of the voices can “speak” but can’t speak the street/hwy names… which kind of defeats the purpose of spending the extra money on a text-to-speech model, in my opinion.

    On the plus side, however, this is a very compact, easy to navigate unit and the Easy Port Mount is fantastic! This is where TomTom really surpasses any other GPS manufacturer. The mount is so small that I can put the entire unit (including the mount) in my pocket or purse and easily take it with me when I travel. Before purchasing the TomTom, I had to leave the mount behind when I traveled… it was just too big & bulky to bring with me.

    So, as you can see, I still gave this unit 3 starts because it does have some great features. Really, the lack of memory is the biggest problem since it prevents keeping the unit updated with the newest information.
    

18. What they don’t tell you

    by M Cast

    TomTom One 130S 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator (Factory Refurbished)]
    
    Unit arrived with 15 month old maps. You do not receive one free update to current map as stated. You can update to current map for $60 which then makes unit $28 more that new unit with free update. What a deal. Link to page that states all TomTom’s have latest maps available; [...]

19. Fast GPS at a Reasonable Price

    by Wai Lam Lui

    Power on set-up time is short, so you don’t need to sit around and wait.
    
    The computor generated voice is a little strange, “Los Angeles” sounds like “Los Anheles”……
    
    Other than that, the unit works well.

20. awesome GPS

    by Dirk De Roover

    This is my first GPS. I never knew I would need one, but I’ve been using it quite a bit already. Used it just recently to navigate in L.A. and that took a lot of stress out of our trip! If you get one, definitely get the one with voice, marked with ’s’. The voice is extremely useful as you don’t have to look at your display all the time, providing more safety. The display of the TomTom 130s is very good as well. Extremely easy to navigate around the menu. Finds stores and restaurants in places you’ve never been. Absolutely love this product!