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It does the job
The American male's obsession with "the best GPS under $ ---" is probably symptomatic of a depeer malaise (reflecting our feeling of being lost in a world in flux), but from all the reviews I read, it is a massive epidemic. I confess to being part of this dysfunctional fraternity, constantly researching GPS units and looking for "the best". This review is a kind of halfway mark: After trying out half a dozen different GPS units in the below $ 250 range, I have temporarily settled for the Tom Tom XL 330s (bought from RadioShack for $ 250) unit for the following reasons: It has the basics more or less right: screen brightness is good, map clarity and layout is just right (not too much clutter), map is up to date ( October 2007 Teleatlas), routing to destinations is usually good, and screen positions correspond accurately with physical terrain. Rerouting when you miss your turns is not instantaneous, but reasonably fast and good, though one misses the audible "Recalculating Route" announcement which most GPS brands have. The 330s' menus are more or less intuitive and relatively easy to use. Text to speech is good (street names are read out in a single voice though there are several voice options for navigation instructions), but road names are read at a lower volume than navigation instructions, though audible enough when volume is set to 70 %. Instructions are repeated frequently enough, though the final instruction just before your turn/exit does not mention the street name. The feature set on the 330s is extensive: multi-destination routing, way point setting, alternative routes with many more options than either Magellan or Garmin or Mio, Map Correction (the only GPS unit with this feature which allows you to add POIs to the unit's map database, change the direction of traffic flow and much else; other brands allow you to add POIs but not make corrections to roads and directions), and Tom Tom's famous Map Share technology which allows you to share corrections and download corrections/additions made by others. Indeed, Tom Tom lets you access your GPS unit through your PC and back up/restore, update or add/delete maps, and share map info. Garmin and Magellan have nothing comparable, though they do have basic capabilities in this respect. Another neat feature is the facility to export POIs from Google maps to the device (saved in the favourites folder), and the ability to plan routes when your device is connected to your PC. The XL 330s has a built in Traffic Management capability, but to use it you have to buy an additional TMC reciever, which very few stores carry. I could not find a receiver and so havent been able to test this feature. A key feature missing from the XL 330 s is bluetooth connectivity to the map database, which the earlier One XL series had. Consequently you cannot call a POI number handsfree. On the negative side, I noticed errors in routing instructions several times, and at other times the unit would tell me I had arrived at my destination a good 100-200 ft before I had done so. These errors did not amount to complete wrongs, but mere inaccuracies. The POI database is also quite thin even after downloading all the optional POI lists available from Tom Tom( Tom Tom claims the unit contains millions of POIs, but this does not seem to be borne out ), and I was not able to find my son's high school, the largest hospital in the city, the largest car dealer, the largest university and many other notable landmarks. Even the region's largest shopping mall, Sawgrass Mills in South Florida, was missing. Also searching the POI database is not as easy as it is in Garmin or Magellan which seem to have paid a lot more attention to the whole issue of POIs. Indeed if there is a serious deficiency in the Tom Tom line of GPS units, it is the POI database and the way it is structured. The multi-destination routing feature is more of a joke than a useful feature, since it does not automatically route you to the next destination after you have reached one of the destinations on the list. You have to manually route to the next destination, which you can also do on all GPS units by going to the history or recent destination list and selecting a destination of choice. The device's processor also seems to be a bit on the slow side: planning a multi-destination route from one coast of the US to the other seems to take almost forever, and making changes to the route once it has been found takes forever again. The slow processor can also be a problem if you have several consecutive turns/exists/changes in quick order, because the system cannot keep up and gives you your instructions after you have passed your turn/exit/change. On a recent road trip to Orlando, an unfamiliar city, I found the TTS feature on the 330s missing the mark on more than a few ocasions. The Garmin units are overall much faster in this respect, though Magellan and Mio are not much different from the Tom Tom. The manual for the XL 330 s is only available on the Tom Tom website from where you have to download it. The manual shows a feature for changing the way the compass is displayed (the same feature as was available on the One XL) , but the feature has been deleted from the XL 330s without the manual being updated. In the XL 330 you cannot change the way the compass is displayed. Also, the compass is an almost invisible wedge shaped icon placed in the bottom left corner of the screen, and works only when you are in motion. Tom Tom's tech support is not the most accessible in the world with wait times as long as 45 minutes in the morning (their lightest time, but at least it is available. Notwithstanding its few shortcomings, the 330s' features and capabilities added together make for a pretty good GPS unit, which is sufficient for most everyday needs. At $ 250 (introductory price) the Tom Tom 330S is good value for money, but if the price is moved to $ 299 (regular price) buyers will probably opt for Garmins or Magellans with similar base line capabilities, but without all the bells and whistles.Not Perfect but Pretty Good
I've had the unit for about three weeks now and for the most part I like it. The volume issue hasn't been an issue for me. It's very audible at about 70%; maybe it really is a bad batch of those out there that you can't hear. Two complaints: The unit sometimes doesn't recognize street names but will recognize the highway name. Here's an example: I was dispatched to Kit Creek Road in NC. I arrive at the airport and put Kit Creek Road in the GPS - It doesn't know what I'm talking about. Now I'm in trouble and have to make phonecalls back NY to get directions. When I finally get there, I see that Kit Creek is on the GPS. However, it's recognizing it by it's highway number first: HWY 1639 Kit Creek Road. The other complaint isn't so bad. Sometimes it just takes an inefficient route instead of getting straight to the point. That's 1% of the time though. Overall it's a great device. Even with the Kit Creek incident, the XL 330 helped me to get around the back woods of NC and everywhere else that I go. It's very accurate but you sometimes have to know how to enter the info.Volume issue is probably a bad batch problem........
A few days ago I bought this GPS mainly because I loved the widescreen feature and TOM TOM reliability. The XL 330 first struck my eye and I found out that the 330 was the updated version of the XL. This GPS is truly a wonderful product and I could'nt be more happy with it so far. Let me tell you what happened to me last week. Incidentally, I had to bring back the first one I bought at Circuit City, because the Volume at the highest setting was barely audible. This volume issue was in response to an early review by Michael Dahlin "Dr D" stating that he ALSO had a volume problem with his unit. I have made numerous attempts at contacting TOM TOM regarding the numerous complaints about the volume, with no response yet. Anyways I went back to Circuit City to exchange the unit for another one. Low and behold the new unit i received worked PERFECTLY with loud and clear sound and great volume. I have to assume that TOM TOM MUST have released a bad batch of XL 330's. I have not as of yet received a response from TOM TOM......but again I want to reiterate this product is really wonderful....great GPS for the money!jim from broomall,pa
first of all gps systems i judged, the volume is the loudest of all 3, different of all my tomtoms, it is thinner and lighter and the mount has been much improved over other mounts before this device, even switches to night mode without touching the screen, also has a brightness control, very simple to set up,for 200.00$ you will not find a better gps, my wife and daughter have tomtoms,two of them has blutetooth,which does not interest me but, once again to me tomtom has the best voice and display,that i tested with other brands.the volume control will also link to your speed of driving.customer support at tomtom needs improving but i have contacted crutchfield support to knock out the kinks.onnce again stay with tomtom.you will notice the differenceShould be better
I bought an XL 330 and drove to the California coast. The menu was easy to learn and navigate, and I liked the free voices I could download and night-time display options, but the device was not as accurate as it should be. Once near the coast, it showed me traveling on the water, and on one freeway, it told me to turn off the road when there was no where to turn. The freeway had been redone and moved maybe 20-30 yards and it showed me as being off route. I had no problem with the volume. Even at 60% volume setting, I could hear it just fine. (I was in a quiet luxury car, so I don't know what it's like in a noisier car.) The unit got me where I needed to go, but I took it back and will buy a better unit. I like the fact that TomTom allows users to correct map errors and submit them. The unit got a little annoying on some freeways telling me quite often to "keep left". I can understand this when a lane goes off, but it sometimes told me to keep left when a lane did not go off (exit only). I think TomTom should update US freeways. I downloaded the latest maps right before the trip so it should not have had these problems.Keyword : tomtom
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