Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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37 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great little device - while it works...., 29 Jun 2009
Bought this two weeks ago and so far, I am impressed! It is really easy to use - I haven't even looked at the manual yet because everything is intuitive and clear. I have used it for long and short distance trips and I think the routes it finds are quite good. The spoken instructions are very clear and mostly easy to follow. I wasn't sure about the screen size I wanted but decided for the smaller one in the end and I think the screen is large enough and easy to read (AND I'm far-sighted an not normally too keen on reading maps). The touch screen works really well too. A very nice feature of this device is that it switches to a different view when it needs to show you which lane you should be in and what exactly is written on the overhead sign for that lane. That really helps to find your way in some more complicated situations. It also detects the light level and adjusts the screen accordingly when it gets dark. I was a bit sceptical when I bougt it - I never had a satnav and wasn't sure this would be a good idea but, so far, I have to say it was worth it. Recommended.
UPDATE: hmm, maybe I was too quick with my praise..... I updated the map a few day ago and now it isn't working anymore. The problem is that I didn't wait long enough to unplug the TomTom from the PC after finishing the download & installation of the new map. You have to wait until prompted to unplug it but since the prompt didn't appear after about 30 seconds I assumed that it should be ok now to unplug. Granted, that was my mistake but I think the device should be robust enough to deal with such a user mistake and I would be surprised if I would be the only one who ever did that. Anyway, the result was a lot of corrupted files on the device that I couldn't even delete through the Windows Explorer anymore. Luckily, I have a Linux operating system too, which was able to delete those (large) files. The map is still corrupted and I have to wait for customer support to give me a new download code for a new map. This whole thing has taken several evenings of my time already and is still not sorted out. I don't know if other satnavs are any better in this respect but I certainly think that TomTom need to improve this and make sure that it can at least recover from problems like this. For example, the device should never have indicated that the download and isntallation was actually finished when it was clearly still busy shifting files around. Still think it's a good gadget but be warned to be VERY, VERY CAREFUL with your updates!!
UPDATE
I'm still having problems with this. There are loads of corrupted files on the device and it is not possible to even use the backup because of this. I was able to delete most of the corrupted files in the end by switching to a Linux PC but if I had windows only I would have been stuck. The fact that the support staff keep telling me how simple it is to restore this doesn't really help much either, especially since they are unwilling or unable to tell me which files actually should and which should not be on the system. Very frustrating. Look through all the reviews for this device (inculding the XL version and the UK&ROI only version, which are basically all the same hard and software): you'll find quite a few people who report the same instability problems, so there is obviously something wrong with this thing. I think this is the point where I would take a couple of stars away from my rating but apparently this isn't possible when editing reviews here.
UPDATE2
OK, I got a replacement now and this time the map update has worked flawlessly even though it was interrupted half way through. Maybe I was just unlucky with the first one - we'll see....
UPDATE3
I have now used the device abroad for the first time - two weeks holiday in Poland. I have driven quite a distance within the country and visited several cities, also drove through Germany on the way. I can say that it worked very well there although due to the current massive road building programme in Poland, the map was sometimes outdated but still got me to my destination all the time. In the cities you also have to expect more incorrect routes (i.e. turns that you can't actually do and wrong way into a one way street) but all in all it worked well and if it does guide you wrong it quickly finds an alternative. I only had one situation where it got me into a bit of trouble by guiding me onto a road that turned more and more into a forest track. The quality of the map in Germany seems to be a lot better and probably is the same quality as in the UK.
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27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Great Navigation - Terrible PC Software, 5 Jul 2009
I've had the TomTom One IQ Routes Edition with Euro maps for a few days now and generally the device itself is great. Navigation is accurate, GPS fixing occurs really quickly, the lane guidance is sweet, voices are clear and loud.
The terrible part is the software. TomTom allows you to update the maps with its latest maps garuantee in the first 30 days. This is great, but the problem is that the map downloaded corrupted three times and would not install. The thing is that downloading these 2GB files takes a while. The zip file had CRC errors in it. Eventually I managed to fix the zip file with a special program and install the maps. Installing the maps to the device takes HOURS, as the USB connection is at USB 1.0 speeds (roughly 0.5 MB/s). Anyway, after that everything worked ... for a while.
I wanted to customize my TomTom with some extra voices. So I downloaded some from the internet and installed the onto the device. That worked fine for a while, until I found and added some more. My TomTom would not boot any more after that. I had to end up formatting the device, and installing everything again. Which takes another 2 hours of your life away.
I don't understand how TomTom can make such great hardware, but fall terribly short in the software department. It's a real dissapointment and I am thinking about sending the unit back and buying a Garmin.
At the moment I am installing the TomTom for the second time, as I have had to format it *again*.
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56 of 58 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Unsure whether to buy - get one it's great!, 31 May 2009
Having never owned a SatNav before I was unsure which make and model to go for. I knew the TomTom had a good reputation and a friend had the normal V4 Europe and I thought his was good. However, the early reviews for this model all gave very negative comments, but the system technical specs seemed excellent, so after much thought I decided to try it.
I have used mine now for a while I think it is brilliant. It locates the satlellites very quickly and the routes are formulated in a flash. If you stray off route the system recalculates swiftly and accurately. The advanced lane guidance aplication is superb so don't believe some of the bad comments others have made. The speaker is loud and clear and the directions are easy to follow. The speed camara data is timely and spot on.
Some of the negative comments concern the USB cable and connecting to computers. From my experience the USB cable isn't that bad at all. It is slighty awkward but not bad and certainly not a reason not to buy this system. If you are a lady with very long nails it will be fiddlely but what small cable wouldn't be? I've hooked the system up to my laptop and so far no problems at all.
Over all if you are unsure whether to buy, get one it's brilliant and well worth the money. Hope this review is of use.
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