Customer Reviews

TomTom ONE IQ Routes Edition Satellite Navigation Unit UK & ROI

5 star:		(164)
4 star:		(101)
3 star:		(33)
2 star:		(21)
1 star:		(37)

 

 

I wrote this review to address some of the problems people have listed with this system so here goes. Firstly, the USB lead supplied with it is a strange L shape but I had no problem using it at all, it fits easily first time. There is another way around this by using any other USB lead. The same goes for the car charger, just use any car USB charger with the same power output.

Secondly, the maps. It took 24 minutes to download them on my 10Mb connection and then another 40 minutes to install. Not too bad in my opinion and it only needs doing once. There have been lots of talk about the Tom Tom not having enough memory to fit the maps on, well mine shows 1.9GB available on the device with only 1.6GB used and 300Mb free for extra voices etc.

Thirdly, the lane guidance. It does work exactly as it shows on the box with a nice full screen display, but only on motorways. If you come across a normal roundabout etc then you only get the small arrows down the bottom left.

Now all that's done, all that's left to say is that I love this sat nav! It's a great improvement over my old 520, in fact I "downgraded" to a Tom Tom one because it has 4 times the internal memory, the built on windscreen mount is great (much better than any other i've had) and the speaker is far louder than ever before. I have written some less than positive reviews about Tom Tom's before but i have to say they have got this one spot on.

I'd recommended buying the Tom Tom One without any hesitation. Yes of course it has the usual sat nav problems of the odd speed limit being wrong etc but just remember - when you turn your sat nav on, don't turn your brain off!

Good clear screen, easy to use. Satellites picked up quickly and current position is very accurate indeed. Directional voice instructions are very good, I especially like the on screen distance countdown which allows you to quickly glance how many meters are left to the next turning. It generally takes me to the correct location. On some occasions it has been completely inaccurate and has tried to take me the wrong way down one-way streets or down streets that have been pedestianised and by the look of them have been so for many years. It's saving grace to these inaccuracies is that it recalculates the route quickly and smoothly. I have added some sets of PoI which was relatively easy to do. There is speed camera warnings but unless you pay for the updates ignore this as I have passed many fixed cameras without a warning, the useful alternative is to turn on the excess speed warning option which will warn you if your speed exceeds the limit for the road you are on. TomTom was recommended as the make to get by a colleague at work whose job it is to appraise satnav technology for my organisation and I trust his recommendations.

The Tom Tom One is a great little Gadget and I am so surprised that I hadn't bought one earlier. Just one drawback appears to be the preinstalled software. I have owned one for about 6 months now and the device had been working absolutely fine until a couple of weeks agao when I was trying to navigate out of a town in Leicestershire. All of a sudden the device started losing the GPS signal and became useless for an hour or two. Over the next few days, this became more and more of a problem before losing all its ability to locate a GPS signal. When I returned home I emailed Tom Tom and they sent me details on how to delete certain files and reinstall the software. This has now fixed my Tom Tom. It's just a good job that I own a PC and am able to carry out this fix.

The Tom Tom ONE v4 is a first class item. Although a Sat-Nav entry level item, and thus reasonably cheap, it has all the necessary built-in functions you need for successful navigation. I have used this item for over a week now, and found it to be an 'excellent driver's companion', and I cannot fault it in any way. It is easy to use, and don't forget to connect it to your computer for updates. Additionally, using Tom Tom HOME (software downloadable from the Tom Tom site) you can carry out many basic functions. Additionally, using Google Maps in conjunction with Tom Tom HOME you can download locations you want to visit (ie: locations such as Forde Abbey as opposed to town names) directly into 'your Tom Tom favourites'. I recommend this item !

This is my first Sat nav.... Chosen because it is the newest model with the additional IQ & LANE GUIDANCE. I have used this to travel to 10 locations in one day, and it found them all exactly! The lane guidance you see on the picture actually does appear on the screen about half a mile before the junction, then it reverts back to the "normal" looking Sat Nav screen.
Loads of free stuff on TomTom web site to add really easily.
Bad points? I'm struggling to think of any! except I should of bought one sooner...

Only driving locally, whenever we wanted to go for a good drive or a trip, I always had to plan the route beforehand and write down directions on a paper for the main junctions and roads to look for. Once there, if we wanted to travel a little further out, I had to look in the atlas, which I was forever buying just to keep the roads up to date. After getting lost one time on a fairly straightforward route) I decided to take the plunge and buy a navigation aid. There are plenty of manufacturers all after your custom, and the various models making choosing the right one a little tricky for the newcomer. I asked a lot of friends what they used, and most had a tom-tom or were going back to tom-tom after trying other makes. This made the manufacturer easy, and as I never would drive outside the UK, this one was the choice I made.

The screen is a nice size (although smaller than the more expensive models, but price is also a consideration) and the menu is very easy to navigate. You can route to a full postcode search, not just the first 4 or 5 digits of the postcode, this makes getting door to door a breeze. Setting the volume limits and tones will take a few minutes only to get the desired levels you need. The suction holder pushes against the window and the TomTom clips on the holder to make a sturdy mount, and because the unit is on the window, you should get a clear satellite signal. This makes the screen easier to see, so when approaching a junction or intersection, you can also see where to go on the screen as well as being told, very handy.

If you are at a place you want to go again, you touch the screen and press favourites then add to favourites. You can then give the place a name and it is all done for next time. You can then just navigate to a favourite place. I have put in all the theme parks and places we go. On a journey, if traffic is bad then you can just press the screen and touch find alternate route. I tried this out coming back from holiday, the motorway signs were saying very long delays ahead. We were 3 junctions away from where we come off and decided to re-route. The TomTom told me to come off the motorway and took me through all places I never been before, but it got me home avoiding all the delays.

Very pleased with the unit so far. The only real gripe that I have is that the battery does not last long. Without the power cable in the car, the battery would last probably 1-2 hours. This means that you could not use this outside the car, but then again, thats what I had it for.

This is my first SatNav so cannot compare it any other makes, but would recommend this unit without hesitation.

I bought a cheap Sat Nav about three years ago and it was temperamental, involved plugging in an external antennae (attached to the roof), and was incapable of giving directions around northern Warwickshire.

This Tom Tom is simple, easy to use, and - so far - has been absolutely fine for getting me from A to B (even in Warwickshire)!

Screen size is a little small but perfectly adequate and the sucker mount is compatible with the Braketron Nav Mat from South Mids Products which means it can sit on the dash board without sliding around and avoid leaving sucker marks on the windscreen.

I purchased the TomTom GO 500 for about £470.00 back in 2005 so comparatively this is a bargain. It does the job, beautiful screen, a great help feature that tells you exactly where you are (if you flap like I do, it's nice to be able to tell someone where you are if you need help - by phone, AA, etc.) The charge socket is a little annoying as it's tucked away in the centre of the unit but this is no deal breaker simply take your time and don't jam it in (universal advice if ever there was such a thing). The "sucker" is a lot better than the one provided with the G0 500 but be warned, you'll need to "break it in" first by moving it about (....I swear I'm talking about the TomTom model here.....I didn't realise how loaded this review would be -- apologies!). So would I recommend it? Definitely. There are cheaper alternatives out there but TomTom's the original sat nav and it's still the best. Go get it.

I did a lot of research in choosing the ideal Sat Nav. After reading many reviews i chose this Tomtom and i'm happy about my choice. It does everything you need and for £120 after the tomtom cashback you cant go wrong.
Good things: Quick satellite response, great user interface where you can pick your own shortcuts, nice and small mount for quick discharge, nice design.
Bad things: can be a bit flimsy to attach the charger onto the tomtom, not much else.

The IQ routes and the lane guidance are a little pointless. The IQ routes is the same as picking fastest routes in rush hour and shortest distance is quieter times. The lane guidance only works on the major motorways like the M25 and its mainly for graphical design and doesnt really help the user because they would know which lane to be in.

Overall its a great Sat Nav which i think for the money its ideal, if you dont want the 2 new things: IQ Routes and Lane Guidance then get the v4 version for £20 cheaper. All in all im happy with it and i havent had any problems with it.

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.