For the price, this thing is awesome. Out of the box my battery was already charged and ready to go. I see the stories about it not working accurately. Personally, I drive for a company near Boston Mass.. I go in and out of the city as well as suburbs all day; Including rotaries(roundabouts), tunnels, tolls, etc etc... 99% of the time it's dead on. If I had one small complaint; Once in a great while Tomtom will tell me to switch lanes slightly late in the city, setting me in a bit more of a rush than I want to be. Other than being late into a lane once in a great while my G.P.S sees many many road miles and combined with a proper mounting kit the system works awesome for a daily driver like me. I have a feeling that parts of states like Hawaii, Alaska, Maine, Vermont , Washington State, and Oregon will have more problems with the actual mapping due to surveyors accuracy, but this can be taken care of (for the most part, if not in the future) by connecting the device to your computer and taking part in user corrections downloads which are free. The system allows you to use 3d or 2d mode, avoid tolls, look at your route ahead of time in text or map mode, free browse the maps, set tons of points of interest. It recalculates your route very quickly if you miss your turns or exit. It was good enough for me to care enough about writing a positive review..lol TomTom XL 335SE 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator (Factory Refurbished)
Recently I purchased a Tomtom XL335SE. The price was very attractive under $80. In the past I was operating a Magellan unit that I really enjoyed using, but it was stolen from my car several weeks ago. The Tomtom GPS unit is feature rich. Lots of eye data - what time you will get to your location, miles left, current time, speed limits, lane assist.
Part of my attraction to the unit was all the features, but here is what it is lacking. Can't enter address via zip code, in the commercials they are airing on tv it states that Tomtom has a million more miles of road vs. their competitor. I was traveling to a remote destination and it did not have the street address. My Magellan which I purchased back in 2006 had the street address. It has the feature called IQ routes which is suppose to get you to your destination quicker, but what you can't do is tell the unit you want to take the scenic route, shortest distance, avoid toll roads. I really liked that feature on my Magellan. I am on the road daily for my job. I was travelling a route that I typically take and IQ routes tried taking me in a different direction. I kept on driving and thought it would correct it self. It wasn't until I turned the unit off and on again that it gave me the different route home.
I'm in the process of updating my Tomtom on my computer so hopefully it corrects most of these issues. I'll keep you posted on what else I see as time progresses with the unit.
This unit works well but a few things are disappointing. The voices that give you street names miss probably 40% of the turns and instructions, they just don't happen. You see what you need to do but you don't hear it. The other voices miss about 5 - 10% of the instructions. The mount doesn't hold as strong as I would like. The manual doesn't cover everything and there aren't quite enough "points of interest" (such as major chain stores, etc.) Those are the gripes but I do like the unit overall. The lane guidance feature is nice. It calculates accurate routes quickly. It's thin and light weight. The touch screen works well. Despite the manuals vagueness, it's easy to figure out the different features.
UPDATE: There was a fix to the problem regarding the missed spoken directions that was corrected when I last updated the unit on my PC.
it looks like brand new. It's factory refurbished though. I'm totally satisfied with the product. I'll never get lost if I have it on my car. There is a variety of very nice and easy-to-hear voices to direct you on the way. It's light-weight and very portable. The menu is so friendly and easy to use.
The only bad thing for this product is about the mount. The mount is so loose and it's likely not to attach so tightly to the device. In addition, the mount is made with hard plastic , and I can find some small breakages at the joint. So, handle with care if you don't wanna break your mount. On balance, that's not a big problem because I'm a typically careful person :)
I bought this unit on a whim. It was my first GPS. Good price, but very flawed. I updated the maps as soon as I got it.
Flaws:
1. Voice cut-off.
Like a bad cellphone call .. all the time.
2. Numbers -- can't enter dashes.
Here in Hawaii, we have addresses like 94-234 Kamehameha Hwy. You CAN"T ENTER the dash!!! If you enter "94" instead of "94-234", you get about 1/2 mile from your destination.
3. Bad routing.
Going eastbound on I-H1 past Aloha Stadium into town, the correct route is: I-H1 to H201 (H78) to I-H1. Tomtom instead routes you to I-H1 to Halawa Hgts exit to H201 to I-H1. Ridiculous!!! That exit is very dangerous -- doing 360 degree turn. This bad routing algorithm alone makes this unit TOTALLY UNUSABLE on Oahu.
Pros:
1. Easy to use.
2. Cheap. - Large Screen - Maps - Gps - Car Gps'
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