This is my first GPS purchase. I researched various products at wildly different pricepoints on the web before choosing the refurbished TomTom One-130-S. While it may not have all of the bells and whistles of the more expensive models, it is very functional. I was somewhat disappointed that TomTom's "Latest Map Guarantee" does not apply to refurbs, but a call to customer service led me to find that the unit's map was only about six months old...so no problem. I've tested the unit on destinations that I normally travel and found that when I deviate from the suggested route, the TomTom quickly recalculates wihout insisting on making a U-Turn. I've also used it on trips to unfamiliar areas and was very pleased with the quality of the direction.The feature of having the voice identification of street names is definately worth the few extra bucks over the standard One-130. I am very pleased with this product. TomTom One 130S 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator (Factory Refurbished)
The Good News: Mine arrived in new condition, no way to tell it was refurbished except the box says "Road Tested" (i.e. someone took it for a drive before they returned it, so you could buy it!) and it includes a note in the box saying it has a 6-month limited warranty and that you'd have to return it directly to TomTom. The text-to-speech (TTS) where it reads the street names works well, though a bit wordy with highway exits (e.g. "Turn right ahead, take Exit 1 South onto Route 91, Route 10 connector" is a lot of words to listen to for a single turn.)
The Bad News: Another review here said his map was 9 months out of date. At that point I could have canceled my order because that didn't seem to far out. But my unit's maps are 15 months out of date, which is too long. Even worse for me, their MapShare technology will only work with maps less that 12 months old, so that new technology I'd wanted to try won't work.
This unit only comes with 3 voices (my original TomTom ONE 300 included 9-12 voices).
The mini-USB connector in the base is very sticky/picky and it takes a little bit to plug it in. At least at first.
But to me, the savings of buying the refurbished unit is totally negated by having very old maps and no access to MapShare. So I spent $60 to update the US/Canada maps, which made my total cost $10 more than if I'd bought the new unit! :-(
DON'T use a Mac to update the TomTom using TomTom Home, because the "spotlight" feature on the Mac screws it up, which will make your device show a flashing X (basically, error). I played with it for a few hours, before I gave up. Came into work the next day, and hooked it up to my PC there. Called Tech Service. They told me all I had to do was uninstall the TomTom Application and reinstall on the PC and all would be well. Worked. So, in short:
1. Use a PC to do all of your TomTom updates. Right out of the box you will need to update some features via TomTom home [...]
2. Your map will be out of date, because it is a refurb. To get the updated map without paying go to the "Tools" menu on TomTom Home (it is in the tool bar at the top of your screen). Clicked on "Use Newest Map Guarantee." I clicked on that, and it said that there was a newer map available and to click on "Download" to download and install it now. It will take over an hour, because the new map is 872 MB. Not sure if this works more than once, but it will save you the $50 you would otherwise spend if you purchased the updated map. I see some on this review panel did just that.
Navigationally, it works well. Have no problems with set up or anything else. However, I am disappointed that there is only one choice for "computer" voice ("Samantha")I can use for the device. According to manufacurer, the "regular" voice choices will not allow you to use the spoken street name feature, which is why I bought this "S" model in the first place. Claims the 100's of unique voice choices available for DL on Tom Tom web site for navigational directions will not enable the spoken street name feature for the "S" model. All in all, it's still worth what I paid for it.
TomTom ONE 130S 3.5-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator (Factory Refurbished)Excellent shape. Had one month with no problems. Upgraded from a TomTom XL. Text to speech is far superior.
Description neglects to notify you that you will receive the improved locking window mount (actually works), USB adapter, car charger but not the home charger.
This is a great GPS and particularly like the built in mount so there's 1 less piece to take. It is fast and re-routes fast. Very intuitive. Only wish it would tell you the destination was on your left or right hand side as you approach the destination.
I just got mine and installed Home and was getting annoyed that it looked like it wasn't going to give me my free update. It certainly wanted to sell me the update though... I was just about to pack it up and send it back to Amazon. I then found and followed the instructions from another review, now pasted below -- and it worked. Got my free map. Go get it!!
"Following the other reviewers instructions, I clicked on the "Tools" menu in the toolbar at the top in "TomTom Home" and found an option for "Use Newest Map Guarantee." I clicked on that, and it said that there was a newer map available and to click on "Download" to download and install it now. I did that and 2 hours later I had my new map, free and clear. I don't understand why they make it so difficult to find it, but it is there. "
Got my Tomtom 130S yesterday, main part and accessories looks new/unused. Read some reviews having old maps, I got to update my unit with the latest map available for FREE with no problem. No special step made (call Tomtom or anything) just plugged it to the PC then followed the update instruction. I still haven't road tested it, will update review after. I also own a Garmin 260 (paid $250 for it last year! but also happy with this unit) so I'm still getting used to the program layout difference. So far, I'm happy with the unit.
** Update
Used it last week from Atlanta to Destin, Florida... no problem, all the roads were accurate, even for the small roads. IMHO, definitely better than my old Garmin 260.
One small problem, the travel distance on long roads the voice will say something different like "travel 110 miles" when the display is only around 90 miles. My wife and I thinks that the voice will say the length before actually turning but display is the length of the current road, it might not the additional road length if it changes road name without turning. Whatever the reason, it kinda feels weird hearing something and reading something different. Makes you feel the unit is not accurate, although we experienced no problem the whole trip. Will check with Tomtom CS re this. - Gps - Tomtom 130s - 130s - Tomtom One'
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