This product is extremely easy to use - I only found one or two of the very extensive options to be a little unintuitive, but after less than a couple hours of poking around the features you really get a glimpse of the depth of the product. It may not have a few of the features that the $400+ models carry, but for my needs it far meets and exceeds. I was a little disappointed when it wouldn't find a numbered address on a highway ( such as when a smaller state highway runs through a city street ), but the database of points of interest had my destination on file.
I was somewhat concerned about the voice volume issue that I'd read about in a few of these reviews ( after already having put my purchase order in ), but I'd have to say any units with poor volume have to be from a bad batch - even at the default 70% volume it was clearly audible with music playing and a window open at highway speeds. At max volume you really can't miss it unless you have difficulty hearing in general, though I found a few of the default voices were softer than others. Since it seems possible to create your own voice sets, and some voice sets are louder than others, I would assume one could edit a copy of the default voice and increase the gain / volume and reinstall, but there are a number of built in voices that are wholly satisfactory in the volume department.
If I had to list any cons, it would be that base package voices still show up in the menu even if you remove them from the TomTom with the manager software. The inability to find an address on a highway might be a weakness of all navigators for all I know, as I've not had much experience with any others.
If you buy this, definitely spend some time with the management software. There is a goodly amount of user supplied content ( maps, points of interest databases, and even voices ) that are free, as well as the normal software updates.
When I left the store with it the most difficult part of setting it up was getting it out of the evil tough plastic packaging that most of us are familiar with. A car charger was included, so I plugged it in, answered a few basic questions, did a short tour and was on my way to my next destination within only a few minutes. Normally I can't find my way out of a paper bag, even if I'm still outside of the bag, so this is probably the best $200 I've ever spent. A separate data cable is also included for connecting to your home PC ( which will be required to update the software and add new features to the device ).
There is an optional attachment and service you can purchase that will give you real time weather and traffic data. I understand that there is a monthly fee for this additional service, but I've not yet bought the extra receiver so I can't comment on its performance or cost.
In short - if you want a very well rounded GPS navigator for an excellent price, you can't go wrong with the XL 330. I know what a few friends and family are getting for the holidays this year. TomTom XL 330 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator
I have a Garmin c320 GPS unit and wanted to upgrade to a model with more features - particularly coordinates and "Where Am I" features. After reading the reviews, I really liked the features in the TomTom XL 330. The only hesitation I had was with the speaker volume. The Amazon reviews showed some buyers that had speaker problems with their units. There were enough positive reviews to make me buy it.
PROS:
1. Lots of customization. You can change color schemes, choose your voice, change viewing angles (Garmin c320 & 205W can't do that).
2. "Where Am I?" This is far superior than Garmin. It shows in what City, Township, Municipality, etc. you are and the nearest address. This can be very valuable when calling for help. Garmin only gives nearest address and nearest intersection (which I like to call "some random intersection within a few miles")
3. Alternative routes. If you don't like the route you're given, you can ask for a new one. Read more in the Cons.
4. Tons of route control. You can look through a list of every turn ahead of time and ask it to avoid a certain place on that route.
5. Compact, attached mount. I didn't use it, but it was a cool idea. The mount would detach from the unit or you could leave it on and fold it in.
6. Fixing map errors. I never got to see this in action, but it sounded really cool.
7. Results as you type. I loved this feature and will really miss it with my new Garmin. As you type a street name or city, it will show you the results as you narrow them down. This can really save time and effort.
CONS:
1. Routing. (Deal-breaker one) The routing seemed to have a large bias toward driving on interstates. It seemed to me that the reason was insufficient non-interstate speed limit information. For example, I asked the Garmin and TomTom for a route from Irwin, PA to Oakland, MD. The Garmin used state routes and backroads to get us there in 2 hours. The TomTom insisted we take mostly interstate (and adding many, many miles) at an estimate of 2.5 hours. The TomTom alternate route was even longer. (Google Maps, Yahoo! Maps, Mapquest all were similar to Garmin's route.) When we took the Garmin route, the TomTom said it would take over 2.5 hours (adding existing travel time + time left), but as we drove, the time remaining kept decreasing super fast. The Garmin's arrival time was rock steady all the way.
2. Address entry without City. (Deal-breaker two) There are many occasions in which I have a street address, but don't know the city. You know -- maybe someone lives in a Township with a city's mailing address, or any area known as "North Hills" has many post office names, but you don't know which one. Garmins give you a "Search all cities" option. TomTom has no option. You must enter a city. If you don't know it, you won't get there.
3. SPEAKER. (Deal-breaker three) I had read two problems with the speaker; 1) too quiet, 2) garbled. I figured that if I got a bad one, I'd exchange it and I'd get a good one. How widespread could the problem be? Well -- the first unit was very quiet. If you have the radio on, you can't hear this thing. I called TomTom and the nice rep seemed to be very familiar with the problem and suggested returning it to the store. So fine, I shipped it back to Amazon. The second unit was much louder. Wait -- you couldn't understand it, it was all garbled. Well, third time should work. NOPE -- just like the first, you couldn't hear it.
4. POI annoyances. On my first unit, when searching for a POI, it would show the distance you were from the POI, but not which direction it was from you. This made it unusable. I won't make a big deal of this, because my unit #2 did have a directional arrow for each POI. This may have to do with software version on the unit. Secondly, though, it only listed a few pages of POIs. I would have liked to see more choices.
5. Graphics. The graphics rendering was very jagged and old-looking. Garmin is far ahead here.
After doing all this testing, my decision was easy. Even if the speaker actually worked, the first two cons make it unusable for me. I returned them all. I recommend the Garmin nuvi 205W 4.3-Inch Portable GPS Navigator (although it has it's own weaknesses, watch for my review there).
My final question is -- TomTom, don't manufacturers test products before they get shipped to poor American consumers?? - Gps - Tomtom - Navigation - Xl 330'
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