TomTom ONE XL-S 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator
TomTom the second greatest GPS devices producer (at least for consumer market), this time we will review the ONE XL-S model which is a Widescreen portable GPS navigator. This device is a mid-range one and has more features than the cheap entry-level Magellan Maestro 3100 that was reviewed earlier. The list price for TomTOm ONE XL-S is $399.99, but one can get it for $255 in some shops (about 27% off).
Having a wide screen in a GPS is very handy, one can see a much larger part of the road and it is easier to make decisions where to look for junction. XL-S has a nice and clear user interface that helps to do the obvious things easily. The voice instructions are loud and clear the S in the name means that it also speaks out the street names. The volume of the voice depends on the noise level, so if your engine is louder for few seconds the GPS will speak louder also. More over the voice instructions are available in over 30 languages so it should fit most of the people. The route planner allows avoiding toll roads as well as planing a more scenic route. Of course ONE XL-S allows saving of the frequent travel destinations. The Bluetooth interface allows access to TomTom Plus subscription services which provide information about current weather and traffic information.
The software that comes with the TomTom ONE XL-S allows easy customization of the GPS device, e.g. one can download voices of famous celebrities, preplan a trip, install newest map updates (including information about safety cameras) and get some information about traffic.
TomTom preinstalled map of only Canada and USA, if you would like to try out this GPS in other countries you can buy some map and add it to the ONE XL-S using SD memory card. The newest hot feature is the MapShare which allows making corrections to the maps provided by TomTom (such as a road is changed, blocked, one way) and share them with other users of TomTom devices, the sharing happens using USB connection to your PC. This way you can also add and receive new Points of Interest.
If one wants a mid-range GPS the TomTom ONE XL-S is the way to go, if the text-to-speech of street names isn’t essential one could also have a look at TomTom ONE XL, have a look at the link below for more information on the XL-S.
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