Customer Reviews: Read 50 more reviews...
 Glitch City January 5, 2009
I recently received 3 different units of this model and all 3 had the same unexplainable problem. I made at least 5 phone calls to Tom Tom and exchanged 10 emails with them, but nothing could be resolved or explained. They had me format the piece of tin and reinstall different applications as well as different map versions and no matter what we did the glitch kept happening. The device would not recognize ONE duplicated address that I would occasionally be using... 120 Broadway in Manhattan, NY. It would not be recognized no matter how many ways I planned my route. The piece of tin kept routing me to 120 Broadway in BROOKLYN!!! When I tried routing 120 Broadway (Manh) to 120 Broadway (Bklyn) I got a CANNOT COMPUTE error message! Different maps, different applications, same results. I wonder what will happen when I'm hundreds of miles away from home and 50 Main St takes me to a Main St in a different town! Think about this before buying it.
 Great entry level GPS January 4, 2009
Last Saturday I bought the TomTom One 125 Portable GPS. In the week since I've used it extensively, setting it up in the car whenever I've gone somewhere even if I already knew how to get there. It's one of the most useful devices I've ever bought and I've been enjoying it immensely.
I never really thought I had much of a need for a GPS. I rarely go anywhere that I don't know how to get to already and when I do using Google Maps and printing out directions has always worked fine. If it ain't broke don't fix it right? In the last few months though my fiancé and I have gone several places at night and in the rain where trying to see street signs was almost impossible. In one case we missed a turn and wound up going far out of our way and as a consequence almost missed our dinner reservation. Between seeing advertisements for the 125's low price and getting some money for Christmas I decided to use the latter towards buying it.
The 125 is a simple device. It lacks a lot of the features found on more expensive models like an SD card slot and Bluetooth connectivity among others. I really just wanted a device to help me get from Point A to Point B after doing some research I realized I didn't really need those extra features.
The plastic packaging it comes in is a royal pain to open and the type that could easily break the skin and cause you to bleed if you're not careful. There's actually not much in the box; the GPS itself, the car mount, a USB car charger, USB cable for connecting to your computer, and two small booklets with instructions and such. The documentation is limited but you don't really need it. The 125 is easy enough to figure out without it. Within minutes of opening the box it was up and running with the address of our destination that night for a family get together already inputted.
The car mount is in my opinion is poorly designed. It consists of two pieces. The first part is a round piece that is slick on one side and sticky on the other for attaching to the windshield. (Or in my case the dashboard.) The second part is a bendable piece that has a suction cup for attaching to the first piece and a round part that attaches to the back of the GPS itself. The suction piece isn't very strong and I've found it doesn't take much pressure to knock it off the rest of the mount. Eventually I'll get a vent mount for it.
As I mentioned, the unit is easy enough to use without reading the instructions first. I prefer learning something new by using it and only referring to the instruction manual only when I get stuck and can't figure something out. I never had a need for doing this with the 125. I spent maybe a half an hour flipping through the different menus and seeing what the various options were and it's all pretty straight forward. One minor annoyance I did find however was after changing a setting it kicks you back to the home screen requiring you to go through the whole preferences menu again if you want to change multiple settings.
From using it for the past week I can say for certain the maps and the routes the device calculates are accurate. Occasionally the directions it provides can be a bit confusing and you need to watch the display for the actual road name to make sure you're understanding it correctly. The device doesn't speak actual road names, only directions but the speaker is loud and clear and provides multiple warnings in ample time before each turn. While it won't tell you if you've missed a turn it's very quick in recalculating the route and getting you back on track.
A few other things I like about the 125: the touch screen is easy to use and type on. When entering a destination you rarely have to enter the entire street name. As you type in letters it gives you a list of streets and tries to predict where you're going.
A few things I dislike about the 125: Initial satellite acquisition is slow and even with a clear sky can take upwards of 60-90 seconds. This only seems to be an issue with the device has been off for a few hours. Otherwise it picks up the signal almost immediately. I also don't like that the USB port is recessed into the casing. The included USB cable with an angled plug seems to be the only one that will fit into it. I haven't had a need to connect it to my computer much but it's still one additional cable to keep around instead of just having one USB cable that will fit multiple devices.
Having never used a GPS before I don't really have anything to compare it to but overall I really like the TomTom One 125. While it lacks a lot of the features found on more advanced and expensive units (such as spoken directions, bluetooth connectivity, etc) it meets my needs perfectly. It's a simple device designed to help you get from place to place and in that respect it excels. If you're looking for an entry level portable GPS the TomTom One 125 is the way to go.
 X-mas gift January 3, 2009
I got this TomTom GPS as a gift. I was excited to have a GPS and tried it. It said a gas station was on the right side of the road, but it was only a lake there. The GPS never showed the right destination. We tried 4 different sites, and each time, it was off. The first one was an eye doctor, but it took us to a private residence and the actual destination was still down the block. Another one was still TWO streets away. Needless to say, I was very disappointed and will be returning it. I definitely won't buy a TomTom product in the future.
 This is a great GPS, especially for the price January 3, 2009
I ordered the Tomtom One 125 for my son for Christmas. A few days later, I got to thinking, less than $100, I'd be a fool to not get one for myself. So, I ordered mine. In the meantime, Christmas had passed and my son told me how much he was enjoying it, so I figured I should be good to go.
I've had a Garmin eTrex Legend for a long time, and have enjoyed it, and figured I would get a Garmin Nuvi when I did get one of these. But with the price I thought this would be the way to go.
Anyhow, mine arrived a few days ago and I've spent more time playing with it, than actually using it. I usually ride a motorcycle and I don't have a mount for it yet, which is why I'd not used it. But, yesterday, I finally tried it out in a car.
I used it to go to the local Lowe's. It took me there without issue. So, coming home, I decided to ignore its directions and see what happened. It was amazing. It kept trying to get me to go home with the next viable option, including at one point, telling me to make a U-turn as soon as possible. Of course, I ignored it. But, no matter what I did, it was finding a new route and directing me how to get there. Since I know the area very well, I know the routes were good.
I feel very comfortable that it will get me where I'm going when I'm not familiar with the area, which is what it should do.
One thing to remember, if you set your preferences for shortest distance, rather than quickest time, it will do that, even though your shorter distance may take substantially longer to get there. I found that out when I took it with me on a motorcycle trip on New Years Day (I kept it in my coat pocket, checking at gas stops). We stopped for gas on the way home, and I checked for a route home. The miles it said were way off from what I knew to be the distance. I thought, "something's not right here?" Aw, but Tomtom was telling me to hop on the nearby Interstate, which would take me to another Interstate to get home. But, since we were avoiding Interstates (we were doing a pleasure ride, enjoying the roads and scenery), I reset my preferences to avoid freeways. Tomtom recalculated and my distance was now what I knew it to be. Very cool.
I've read some of the negative reviews, and honestly think that many of the complaints are from folks that don't really understand either what a GPS can do, or the limitations of the base model, $100 unit.
Summary:
Likes - fast satellite acquisition
Ease of use (don't even need the instruction booklet)
Ability to add new icons (I now have a motorcycle instead of an arrow)
Ability to add new POIs
Quick GPSfix
Map corrections with Map Share
Dislikes - to be honest, at this point, nothing really bothers me with this unit.
There is also an excellent forum for Tomtom owners that I would suggest you visit if you own one of these, or are thinking about getting one:
http://www.tomtomforums.com/
Great GPS January 3, 2009
I purchased the TomTom ONE 125 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator for myself for Christmas and with the price of the unit you can't go wrong. One of the things I do dislike however is that every time you go in "Change Preference" and make a change you go back to the main menu and you have to navigate your way to the menus again, besides that its great. It's so small and compact I even take it with me for small bikerides and short walk while I took my vacation. For all first GPS users this Unit is a MUST it has the features you need and nothing you HAVE to have it truly is a great GPS starter.
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