TomTom ONE 130 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator

Sun, May 9, 2010

3.5-inch touchscreen with award-winning Fold & Go EasyPort mount that folds flat against the device, making it easy to take it with you
Effortless navigation from A to B–enter the address on the touchscreen or use voice address entry and start driving anywhere
Preloaded with millions of points of interest to enhance your traveling experience-easily find your favorite gas stations, hotels, and more
With TomTom Map Share technology, you can instantly modify street names, street direction, POIs, road speeds, and turn restrictions on your own device
Help Me! menu provides added safety features so you can easily access local emergency providers, such as police, fire stations, and hospitals

Amazon.com Product Description
The TomTom ONE 130 is easy-to-use personal navigation. TomTom’s award-winning software means effortless navigation from point A to point B. Switch on and go right out of the box. Just enter the address on the touchscreen and start driving anywhere in the United States or Canada. TomTom guides you door-to-door with turn-by-turn spoken instructions. And 3D graphics help guide you to your destination, worry free. Easy-to-use widescreen navigation. Click to enlarge. TomTom’s award-winning software means effortless navigation from point A to point B. Click to enlarge. The ONE 130 is preloaded with millions of points of interest to enhance your traveling experience–easily find your favorite gas stations, hotels, restaurants, and more. TomTom has the most accurate maps, and with TomTom Map Share technology, you instantly can modify street names, street direction, points of interest, and more on your own device. And with the “He… More >>

TomTom ONE 130 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator

Incoming search terms for the article:

3.5Inch, Navigator, Portable, TomTom

This post was written by:

Kent - who has written 699 posts on Delighted Stupid Wind | Empire Illusion.

Working in the English Search Engine industry, focusing on the new media and new economy, Trying to find out a way for e-commerce integration!

Contact the author

5 Comments For This Post

T. Stephen Says:
May 9th, 2010 at 9:59 pm

I am mystified by how this device has managed to garner 3 1/2 stars when it only deserves a solid 2. Evidently, the ” cute factor” must have a value of at least one star.

Certainly, if you are looking for a navigation device where Burt Reynolds, Homer Simpson or even a Cylon Centurion will give you verbal directions and time and distance traveled are of little consequence then this is the device for you.

When you first get the device out of the box you will need to immediately hook it up to your computer where, if you’re lucky, it will begin to automatically download the Tom Tom Home Software. In my case, I had to visit the website and manually download the program myself. Once installed, the synchronization between the device and the program are seamless.

I encountered an error during the initial update but after disconnecting the device, rebooting my computer and reconnecting the device the update completed successfully. As far as I can tell, the device has suffered no ill effects from the error.

The Tom Tom Home program is evidently a generic program designed to work with all models as many of the options for this particular device are ” grayed out”. And of those that are available some are subscription based. If you want additional maps for your device (such as Canada or Mexico) plan on dropping 70 bucks. There’s also a fee schedule for keeping your default maps updated. The subscription service just to keep the maps that came with your device updated includes four quarterly releases “for the equivalent of only $9.95 per map”.

If you’re interested in traffic and fuel prices then you, as any savvy shopper would, have already noticed that innocuous little word “optional”. To obtain U.S. fuel prices your download costs $19.95. For real time traffic updates you must purchase a separate accessory available for the low, low price of $99.95.

But enough about the add ons. Let’s talk about the functionality of the device itself. I haven’t had any experience with a standalone GPS device prior to this one. My personal experience extends to the VZ Navigator application on my phone. This, then, is my benchmark for rating this device.

In the interest of perspective I would describe a five star rating as a device that could study my driving habits and learn from simple observation that I do not use freeways. A device whose functions border on the supernatural. As Arthur C. Clarke said “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic”. Obviously, it would require a price slightly outside my range to get a five star rating.

A four star rating would be a device whose basic navigational functions would be truly impressive. The type of device that has you constantly making statements such as ” Wow, I didn’t know it could do that!”.

The three star rating would be a device that matches the functionality of my phone application, whereas a two star is a device that is inferior to my phone and a one star isn’t worth the box it was shipped in.

I gave this unit a two star rating prior to the latest update to my VZ Navigator software. Obviously, as per my description, I consider this device to be inferior to the application on my phone. The reasons are fairly straightforward. On the Tom Tom, you have the option of selecting the shortest route, the fastest route or avoiding freeways. There are other options available as well, but they apply to situations other than traveling in an automobile such as walking or riding a bicycle.

The main and most confounding issue that I have with this device is that you are forced to choose one of the three options. On my phone, I can select the fastest, shortest or simplest route AND choose two exclude highways. With the Tom Tom, if you choose to avoid highways it’s almost as though the device wants to punish you for doing so because the route that it plots is not the shortest, not the fastest nor even the simplest.

There are several places that I go to on a regular basis and I am quite well aware of what the fastest and the simplest routes are. When I choose to avoid highways the route always, without exception, attempts to take me to a state route even if in doing so, it takes me miles out of my way. Each “alternate route” that I select takes me farther and farther out of my way.

Today, for example, while traveling on a county road I directed the Tom Tom to navigate a course home. The road that I was on was of equal distance between two state routes and instead of plotting a course in my current direction of travel then turning south and continuing on to the southern state route, upon which I live, then directing me home, the route that was actually plotted just boggled my mind. The device instructed me to turn around, go back in the opposite direction for just less than 5 miles, turn north and proceed 4 miles until I reached the northern state route, turn west and proceed 17 miles to yet another different state route, turn south and proceed 7 miles into the center of town where I would intersect the southern state route and follow it back east out of town until I reached my home.

As annoying as that was to read, you can imagine what it’s like to be given directions from this vaunted device that absolutely flies in the face of reason. The estimated time of arrival of the Tom Tom’s directions was 58 minutes. When I entered the same directive into my phone I was provided with a much more reasonable route with an estimated time of arrival of 32 minutes. As I said before, instructing this device to avoid highways can result in a route that is not fast, not short, and most certainly not simple.

If you’re lost in the middle of an unfamiliar city and you have the misfortune of not owning a map, then this device will eventually get you home. But it will not do so in any manner that could be considered efficient. My intention is to throw this in the trunk in case I need to find my way in an unfamiliar location when I have forgotten to bring my phone. On a side note, my phone provides me with fuel prices as well as real time traffic updates. For free.

In the rare event that I find myself with some spare change lying around, I might just buy a Garmin just to see if the company that manufactures aircraft avionics can do a better job. Right now, however, Verizon has just taken a great step forward towards keeping me as a customer. Interestingly enough, it’s not even because of their phone service although I certainly have no complaints there, either.

The only reason this thing doesn’t get one star is because it is an actual, functioning GPS device. My advice is to spend the extra and get the real deal… You’ll be happier in the long run.

Rating: 2 / 5

Sean Li Says:
May 9th, 2010 at 11:21 pm

i have used numerous of GPS devices. and this one is by far the worst. i have no idea why would anyone give this GPS a 5 star? anyhow, it sucks, and here is why.

1st. software sucks. I have the latest map (thanks to the latest map guarantee), but there are still many errors on the map. from Lexington park, MD to Webster field, the GPS asks me to use roads that do not exist, make turns that would lead you to a dead end. it has numerous errors and the map is totally wrong at some places. i don’t know the accuracy of their map in other parts of the country, but at MD, it sucks, you better off buying a paper map.

2nd. software sucks. okay, so there is a feature called map correction (obvious TOMTOMS knows how sucky their map database is). i was patient enough to pull over and mark the ‘non exist’ road for them. guess what? it does not apply you input. it still shows the road exist and want you to use the fictitious roads.

3rd. software sucks. on other GPS devices, you can find a location, say walmart, it will list all the walmart around you and their location, phone numbers. on this device, it does much of the same thing, except… it only shows your POI within 2 miles… wtf? not to mention some of its POI are horrible out of date.

4th. software sucks. why would TOMTOM think it is more intuitive to say “turn right, in 2 miles” instead of saying “in 2 miles turn right”. it could just be a personal preference, but why does it say the other way around when the turn is within a mile? it should at least be consistent.

5th. hardware wise, the GPS reception is great. but the screen resolution is horrible. the stand is good. it really does suck to the window, which is a pleasant surprise.

anyhow. i payed 60 dollar for it. but for 100 dollars, you better off with garmin nuvi.

Rating: 2 / 5

T. Cerezo Says:
May 10th, 2010 at 12:46 am

As promised it was new and in it’s original packaging. Everything works fine and I’m happy I went with them.
Rating: 5 / 5

Marc D. Behr Says:
May 10th, 2010 at 2:53 am

I have had 3 Garmins over the years, and thought I would try a TomTom this time (for my daughter). When I tried to update the system to the latest firmware and maps, it took me many hours and 2 calls to tech support to get things straightened out. The system appears to have had a flaky storage unit so when the updates tried to get installed, it would fail after 90-120 minutes. After several attempts, I contacted TomTom and was told to try running chkdsk against the unit. Errors and bad sectors were found and corrected. Attempted to install updates again, and after 100 minutes, the updates failed again. Called TechSupport back, was give more things to try (deleting files manually, etc) and after running chkdsk 2 more times, I was finally able to get the data to load.

My daughter tried using it for a few days, and said she would rather have her Garmin C330 back, because she did not like the way that the TomTom worked and the screen was too small, so I sent it back to Amazon and ordered a Garmin nuvi 260w for around the same price.
Rating: 2 / 5

A. KENYON-SMITH Says:
May 10th, 2010 at 5:35 am

We all know you can buy SatNav’s (aka GPS Navigators) these days, costing anything from $70 to over $3,000. It says a lot about overpriced mapping, given that I actually live in the UK, and it worked out considerably cheaper to buy a new TomTom ONE 130 (complete with mapping for the whole of North America/Canada) than to just buy an SD card with North America/Canada maps for the Navman SatNat I’ve owned for a few years to guide me around Europe. On the face of it, that’s just crazy.

The TomTom ONE 130 is about as basic as SatNav’s get, and not even in the same league as my Navman. However, it’s worth noting that my Navman cost me more than FIVE times what this TomTom ONE 130 cost me.

I believe TomTom are the current market leaders as far as these type of machines go worldwide, and although the 130 is far from the best in TomTom’s line up, I can see why TomTom maintain their market share. For $80 including North America/Canada maps and in-car charger, the ease of installation of the TomTom ONE 130 is a breeze. In fact much easier than my Navman, which with EU maps cost me £300/US$450.

The TomTom ONE 130 does exactly what it says on the box. It’s so straightforward even my mother was able to get to grips with it’s ease of operation within five minutes. And if you knew my mother (a technophobe if ever there was one), that means it’s ridiculously easy to use!

If I was being hyper-critical, yes, a larger display would be great of course, and a widescreen display instead of the ‘old fashioned’ 4:3 ratio. But the TomTom ONE 130 has accurate and fairly detailed mapping, it’s light to carry (don’t forget you can use these systems on foot too!) and it has just about as many features as you need to get by.

It’s not got any unique or particularly spell-binding features. It’s a low cost SatNav system which guides you from A to B accurately, without stress, and without having to go via C, D, E and F. Relatively speaking, I’d say you get slightly more than what you pay for. Let’s be real, how could anyone justify complaining? It was just under US$80 for the unit, a 12v in-car charger, and full mapping for the whole of North America and Canada from Amazon.com. What more could anyone ask for at that price?
Rating: 3 / 5

T. Stephen Says:
May 9th, 2010 at 9:59 pm
I am mystified by how this device has managed to garner 3 1/2 stars when it only deserves a solid 2. Evidently, the ” cute factor” must have a value of at least one star.

Certainly, if you are looking for a navigation device where Burt Reynolds, Homer Simpson or even a Cylon Centurion will give you verbal directions and time and distance traveled are of little consequence then this is the device for you.

When you first get the device out of the box you will need to immediately hook it up to your computer where, if you’re lucky, it will begin to automatically download the Tom Tom Home Software. In my case, I had to visit the website and manually download the program myself. Once installed, the synchronization between the device and the program are seamless.

I encountered an error during the initial update but after disconnecting the device, rebooting my computer and reconnecting the device the update completed successfully. As far as I can tell, the device has suffered no ill effects from the error.

The Tom Tom Home program is evidently a generic program designed to work with all models as many of the options for this particular device are ” grayed out”. And of those that are available some are subscription based. If you want additional maps for your device (such as Canada or Mexico) plan on dropping 70 bucks. There’s also a fee schedule for keeping your default maps updated. The subscription service just to keep the maps that came with your device updated includes four quarterly releases “for the equivalent of only $9.95 per map”.

If you’re interested in traffic and fuel prices then you, as any savvy shopper would, have already noticed that innocuous little word “optional”. To obtain U.S. fuel prices your download costs $19.95. For real time traffic updates you must purchase a separate accessory available for the low, low price of $99.95.

But enough about the add ons. Let’s talk about the functionality of the device itself. I haven’t had any experience with a standalone GPS device prior to this one. My personal experience extends to the VZ Navigator application on my phone. This, then, is my benchmark for rating this device.

In the interest of perspective I would describe a five star rating as a device that could study my driving habits and learn from simple observation that I do not use freeways. A device whose functions border on the supernatural. As Arthur C. Clarke said “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic”. Obviously, it would require a price slightly outside my range to get a five star rating.

A four star rating would be a device whose basic navigational functions would be truly impressive. The type of device that has you constantly making statements such as ” Wow, I didn’t know it could do that!”.

The three star rating would be a device that matches the functionality of my phone application, whereas a two star is a device that is inferior to my phone and a one star isn’t worth the box it was shipped in.

I gave this unit a two star rating prior to the latest update to my VZ Navigator software. Obviously, as per my description, I consider this device to be inferior to the application on my phone. The reasons are fairly straightforward. On the Tom Tom, you have the option of selecting the shortest route, the fastest route or avoiding freeways. There are other options available as well, but they apply to situations other than traveling in an automobile such as walking or riding a bicycle.

The main and most confounding issue that I have with this device is that you are forced to choose one of the three options. On my phone, I can select the fastest, shortest or simplest route AND choose two exclude highways. With the Tom Tom, if you choose to avoid highways it’s almost as though the device wants to punish you for doing so because the route that it plots is not the shortest, not the fastest nor even the simplest.

There are several places that I go to on a regular basis and I am quite well aware of what the fastest and the simplest routes are. When I choose to avoid highways the route always, without exception, attempts to take me to a state route even if in doing so, it takes me miles out of my way. Each “alternate route” that I select takes me farther and farther out of my way.

Today, for example, while traveling on a county road I directed the Tom Tom to navigate a course home. The road that I was on was of equal distance between two state routes and instead of plotting a course in my current direction of travel then turning south and continuing on to the southern state route, upon which I live, then directing me home, the route that was actually plotted just boggled my mind. The device instructed me to turn around, go back in the opposite direction for just less than 5 miles, turn north and proceed 4 miles until I reached the northern state route, turn west and proceed 17 miles to yet another different state route, turn south and proceed 7 miles into the center of town where I would intersect the southern state route and follow it back east out of town until I reached my home.

As annoying as that was to read, you can imagine what it’s like to be given directions from this vaunted device that absolutely flies in the face of reason. The estimated time of arrival of the Tom Tom’s directions was 58 minutes. When I entered the same directive into my phone I was provided with a much more reasonable route with an estimated time of arrival of 32 minutes. As I said before, instructing this device to avoid highways can result in a route that is not fast, not short, and most certainly not simple.

If you’re lost in the middle of an unfamiliar city and you have the misfortune of not owning a map, then this device will eventually get you home. But it will not do so in any manner that could be considered efficient. My intention is to throw this in the trunk in case I need to find my way in an unfamiliar location when I have forgotten to bring my phone. On a side note, my phone provides me with fuel prices as well as real time traffic updates. For free.

In the rare event that I find myself with some spare change lying around, I might just buy a Garmin just to see if the company that manufactures aircraft avionics can do a better job. Right now, however, Verizon has just taken a great step forward towards keeping me as a customer. Interestingly enough, it’s not even because of their phone service although I certainly have no complaints there, either.

The only reason this thing doesn’t get one star is because it is an actual, functioning GPS device. My advice is to spend the extra and get the real deal… You’ll be happier in the long run.

Rating: 2 / 5
Sean Li Says:
May 9th, 2010 at 11:21 pm
i have used numerous of GPS devices. and this one is by far the worst. i have no idea why would anyone give this GPS a 5 star? anyhow, it sucks, and here is why.

1st. software sucks. I have the latest map (thanks to the latest map guarantee), but there are still many errors on the map. from Lexington park, MD to Webster field, the GPS asks me to use roads that do not exist, make turns that would lead you to a dead end. it has numerous errors and the map is totally wrong at some places. i don’t know the accuracy of their map in other parts of the country, but at MD, it sucks, you better off buying a paper map.

2nd. software sucks. okay, so there is a feature called map correction (obvious TOMTOMS knows how sucky their map database is). i was patient enough to pull over and mark the ‘non exist’ road for them. guess what? it does not apply you input. it still shows the road exist and want you to use the fictitious roads.

3rd. software sucks. on other GPS devices, you can find a location, say walmart, it will list all the walmart around you and their location, phone numbers. on this device, it does much of the same thing, except… it only shows your POI within 2 miles… wtf? not to mention some of its POI are horrible out of date.

4th. software sucks. why would TOMTOM think it is more intuitive to say “turn right, in 2 miles” instead of saying “in 2 miles turn right”. it could just be a personal preference, but why does it say the other way around when the turn is within a mile? it should at least be consistent.

5th. hardware wise, the GPS reception is great. but the screen resolution is horrible. the stand is good. it really does suck to the window, which is a pleasant surprise.

anyhow. i payed 60 dollar for it. but for 100 dollars, you better off with garmin nuvi.

Rating: 2 / 5
T. Cerezo Says:
May 10th, 2010 at 12:46 am
As promised it was new and in it’s original packaging. Everything works fine and I’m happy I went with them.
Rating: 5 / 5
Marc D. Behr Says:
May 10th, 2010 at 2:53 am
I have had 3 Garmins over the years, and thought I would try a TomTom this time (for my daughter). When I tried to update the system to the latest firmware and maps, it took me many hours and 2 calls to tech support to get things straightened out. The system appears to have had a flaky storage unit so when the updates tried to get installed, it would fail after 90-120 minutes. After several attempts, I contacted TomTom and was told to try running chkdsk against the unit. Errors and bad sectors were found and corrected. Attempted to install updates again, and after 100 minutes, the updates failed again. Called TechSupport back, was give more things to try (deleting files manually, etc) and after running chkdsk 2 more times, I was finally able to get the data to load.

My daughter tried using it for a few days, and said she would rather have her Garmin C330 back, because she did not like the way that the TomTom worked and the screen was too small, so I sent it back to Amazon and ordered a Garmin nuvi 260w for around the same price.
Rating: 2 / 5
A. KENYON-SMITH Says:
May 10th, 2010 at 5:35 am
We all know you can buy SatNav’s (aka GPS Navigators) these days, costing anything from $70 to over $3,000. It says a lot about overpriced mapping, given that I actually live in the UK, and it worked out considerably cheaper to buy a new TomTom ONE 130 (complete with mapping for the whole of North America/Canada) than to just buy an SD card with North America/Canada maps for the Navman SatNat I’ve owned for a few years to guide me around Europe. On the face of it, that’s just crazy.

The TomTom ONE 130 is about as basic as SatNav’s get, and not even in the same league as my Navman. However, it’s worth noting that my Navman cost me more than FIVE times what this TomTom ONE 130 cost me.

I believe TomTom are the current market leaders as far as these type of machines go worldwide, and although the 130 is far from the best in TomTom’s line up, I can see why TomTom maintain their market share. For $80 including North America/Canada maps and in-car charger, the ease of installation of the TomTom ONE 130 is a breeze. In fact much easier than my Navman, which with EU maps cost me £300/US$450.

The TomTom ONE 130 does exactly what it says on the box. It’s so straightforward even my mother was able to get to grips with it’s ease of operation within five minutes. And if you knew my mother (a technophobe if ever there was one), that means it’s ridiculously easy to use!

If I was being hyper-critical, yes, a larger display would be great of course, and a widescreen display instead of the ‘old fashioned’ 4:3 ratio. But the TomTom ONE 130 has accurate and fairly detailed mapping, it’s light to carry (don’t forget you can use these systems on foot too!) and it has just about as many features as you need to get by.

It’s not got any unique or particularly spell-binding features. It’s a low cost SatNav system which guides you from A to B accurately, without stress, and without having to go via C, D, E and F. Relatively speaking, I’d say you get slightly more than what you pay for. Let’s be real, how could anyone justify complaining? It was just under US$80 for the unit, a 12v in-car charger, and full mapping for the whole of North America and Canada from Amazon.com. What more could anyone ask for at that price?
Rating: 3 / 5

Delighted Stupid Wind | Empire Illusion