Dutch manufacturer TomTom hit US shores with a splash in April 2006 with the highly anticipated TomTom GO 910. The GO 910 was one of the first GPS units to make use of SiRF's high performance StarIII receiver, and sold for around $800. In September 2006, TomTom followed the TomTom ONE, a price-friendly stylish GPS that aimed to bring the best of the GO 910 to the masses. Now TomTom is bringing a 4.3" wide display to the ONE, and calling it the ONE XL.

Table of Contents

1. Technical Specifications
2. TomTom's Product Line
3. What's in the Box (Unboxing)
4. Mounting the TomTom ONE XL In the Car
5. Wait, no SiRF? Is that OK?
6. Powering on the TomTom ONE XL for the First Time
7. TomTom's Updated Maps
8. Navigating with the ONE XL - Finding an Address
9. Finding a Restaurant
10. Finding an Alternate Route
11. Itinerary Planning (Multi-Stop Routing)
12. Bluetooth
13. TomTom's PLUS Services
14. TomTom Traffic
15. Enabling All Options
16. Configuring Preferences
17. Routing Engine Performance
18. Pros
19. Cons
20. Conclusion

1. Technical Specifications

• Highly sensitive GPS chipset
• 32 MB RAM
• CPU 266 MHz
• 4.3 inch full TFT color LCD touchscreen (480 x 272 pixels, 64.000 colors)
• Internal Lithium-ion battery (2 hours operation)
• 119 x 86 x 27 mm, 208 grams
• Operating temperature: -10 °C to +55 °C
• Bluetooth™ 2.0
• Pre-loaded maps of the United States & Canada (TeleAtlas)
• 6 Million POIs (Points of Interest)
• Global Locate's "Hammerhead" GPS receiver

2. TomTom's Product Line

TomTom currently sells four models in North America: the GO 910, GO 510, ONE, and ONE XL. The GO 910 is currently TomTom's most expensive model, and the ONE is the entry-level GPS.

	GO 910	GO 510	ONE XL	ONE
Diagonal Screen Size	4"	4"	4.3"	3.5"
CPU, RAM	400 MHz, 60MB	400 MHz, 60MB	266 MHz, 32MB	266 MHz, 32MB
Maps	US, Canada & Europe	US & Canada	US & Canada	US & Canada
Hands-Free Calling	Yes	Yes	No	No
MP3 and audiobook players	Yes	No	No	No
Audio line out cable	Yes	No	No	No
Slideshow viewer	Yes	No	No	No
Text-to-speech technology	Yes	No	No	No
PLUS services	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
iPod control cable	Accessory	Accessory	No	No
Storage	20 GB HD	1 GB Flash SD card	1 GB Flash SD card	1 GB Flash SD card
SiRF Star III GPS	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Built-in Bluetooth	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Automatic light sensor	Yes	Yes	No	No
Home dock and TomTom HOME software	Yes	Yes	Yes	Download
New design windshield mount	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Additional external microphone	Yes	Yes	No	No
Remote Control	Yes	Accessory	No	No
Price	$499.95	$399.95	$399.95	$299.95

The ONE and ONE XL share an identical feature set, have the same processor, RAM, and storage space. The ONE and ONE XL use a significantly slower CPU than the GO 510 / 910, and overall I found the ONE XL somewhat sluggish and less responsive than the GO 910.

3. What's in the Box (Unboxing)

Figure 1: TomTom ONE XL Retail Box

ONE XL's retail box looks almost identical to the ONE's box, except the box is blue instead of green, as it is on the ONE.

Figure 2: Everything That's Included with the ONE XL

The TomTom ONE XL includes the following items in the box:

• TomTom ONE XL
• Windshield Mount and Adhesive Mounting Disk
• USB Car Charger and USB cable
• Installation CD
• Documentation (on the CD-ROM, plus a quick-start poster)

Figure 3: TomTom ONE XL, Front

The ONE XL is one good looking GPS, no doubt about it. The simple, elegant design makes the ONE XL one of the most handsome GPS units I've seen to date.

Except for the power button, all controls are performed via the 4.3" touch-screen LCD display.

Figure 4: TomTom ONE XL, Back

The back of the ONE XL is home to a single speaker, and the external antenna connector (located at the top-right corner).

Figure 5: TomTom ONE XL, Bottom

The USB connector, RDS-TMC Traffic connector, SD Memory Card Slot, and reset pin-hole are located on the underside of the ONE XL.

Figure 6: TomTom ONE XL, Left Side

The ONE XL's case is made out of black and silver colored high-impact plastic.

Figure 7: TomTom ONE XL, Top

Looking at the ONE XL from a top-down view, you can see the curved shape of the case and the power button. The curvyness makes the ONE XL feel thinner than it actually is - at its center, the ONE XL is 1.06-inches thick, making the ONE XL thicker than both the Garmin nuvi 660 (0.9" thick) or Magellan Maestro 4040 (0.8" thick).

Figure 8: TomTom ONE XL's Windshield Mount

TomTom's windshield mount is simple and effective. Simply press the suction disc against the windshield glass to secure it in place, and pull on the hanging tab to release it. The mounting bracket forms a ball-and-socket style joint with the mount, and is firm enough that it held the ONE XL vibration-free and in place while driving.

Figure 9: TomTom ONE XL's Windshield Mount

The ONE XL attaches to the windshield mount be lining up the mount with the grooves on the back of the ONE XL and pressing down until the unit clicks into place.

Figure 10: TomTom ONE XL, Attached to the Windshield Mount

Once the ONE XL is connected to the mount, the head can be easily articulated into the desired viewing angle. One issue I noticed during testing is that the angle of the mount combined with the short distance between the suction disc and the GPS caused the ONE XL to hit the windshield glass when trying to mount or unmount the GPS. More on this in the next section, "Mounting the TomTom ONE XL in the Car".

4. Mounting the TomTom ONE XL In the Car

Figure 11: Connecting the 12v Cigarette Lighter Adapter

TomTom's included 12v cigarette lighter power adapter has a long enough cable that locating a suitable 12v socket isn't an issue.

Figure 12: Connecting the USB Power Cable to the ONE XL

The ONE XL uses the USB connector for both power as well as connecting the unit to a PC via TomTom's HOME application. It would have been nice if the power cable connected to the windshield mount rather than the GPS directly, as mounting / unmounting the unit would be simpler.

Figure 13: TomTom ONE XL's Windshield Mount, Attached

TomTom's suction-cup style windshield mount is secured to the windshield by pressing it against the glass.

Figure 14: TomTom ONE XL's Windshield Mount, Side View

The connection isn't quite as solid as some other mounts (it fell off the glass once while I was driving), but it does an adequate job provided you press hard enough to secure it in place.

Figure 15: Connecting the ONE XL to the Windshield Mount

The biggest problem I had with TomTom's windshield mount is that the mount sits too close to the glass, making it impossible to slide the ONE XL on top of the mount without hitting the windshield glass. In order to mount the unit, you have to angle the bracket down, slide the ONE XL onto the mount, and then re-adjust the position back to the desired viewing angle. Correcting this design flaw should be a priority for TomTom (possibly by extending the the mount's neck so it clears the windshield adequately).

Figure 16: TomTom ONE XL, Mounted in the Car

The TomTom ONE XL looks good in the car. In very bright sunlight, the ONE XL created a silver reflection in the glass, but not enough that it's distracting while driving.

Figure 17: TomTom ONE XL Mounted in the Car, Side View

Side view of the ONE XL, mounted in the car.

Figure 18: TomTom ONE XL vs. Garmin nuvi 660

The TomTom ONE XL and Garmin nuvi 660/680 have the same size (4.3") LCD display, and both are handsome GPS devices that will look at home in almost any car.

5. Wait, no SiRF? Is that OK?

SiRF's high performance StarIII 20-channel indoor GPS receiver is extremely sensitive and able to maintain solid signal reception even when driving in GPS-challenging situations, such as behind tall buildings, under bridges, through canyons, etc. Most new GPS devices currently on the market are using SiRF.

The integration of SiRF's chipsets into the latest generation of in-car navigation systems has been a watershed event for GPS navigation. Prior to SiRF, line-of-sight to the sky was required to receive GPS signals, resulting in poor GPS performance (or no signal at all) in many cases. SiRF's chipset has ushered in a new era of GPS performance, affording fast signal acquisition and precise positioning that is solidly maintained while driving.

The TomTom ONE originally shipped using SiRF's StarIII receiver, but subsequently TomTom cut production costs by replacing the expensive SiRF receiver with Global Locate's Hammerhead receiver. The ONE XL also uses Hammerhead, so I was interested to see how the ONE XL's GPS signal performance would compare to SiRFs.

I tested performance by comparing a SiRF-equipped TomTom ONE with the Hammerhead-equipped ONE XL. Signal performance was nearly identical for both chips, although I did notice that SiRF's receiver had slightly faster initial acquisition times and re-acquisition times if signal was lost. On the other hand, Hammerhead seemed better at map tracking. On the whole I'd say SiRF's performance was slightly better, though not enough to sway your decision to buy a particular GPS or not.

6. Powering on the TomTom ONE XL for the First Time

Figure 19: First Use - Setting the Language

Press and hold the power button on the top of the TomTom ONE XL for 2 seconds to turn on the device.

The first time the ONE XL is powered on, you are prompted to answer a series of questions to complete the first-time use start-up wizard. First TomTom asks for the preferred language. Be default English UK is selected.

Figure 20: First Use - Confirming the Language Selection

After choosing a language from the list of available languages, the ONE XL asks you to confirm the choice.

Figure 21: First Use - Beginning the Start-up Wizard

One the language has been set, the ONE XL still needs to ask a few more questions before we're ready to navigate.

Figure 22: First Use - Right-handed or Left-handed?

TomTom's software allows you to configure the ONE XL for either right-handed or left-handed use. This is a nice feature exclusive to TomTom, and no doubt a blessing for all the leftys out there...

Figure 23: First Use - Setting the Unit of Measure

Next the ONE XL asks us whether we want to use Miles or Kilometers. One annoyance I noticed while navigating with the ONE XL is that the ONE uses yards instead of feet when set to Miles (not a big deal in Canada, but irritating here in the United States).

Figure 24: First Use - Setting the Time Format

The ONE XL allows you to specify how you'd like to see the time of day displayed.

Figure 25: First Use - Setting the Current Time

Next we'll need to set the current time so the ONE XL can display the estimated time of arrival. Using the up and down arrows, the time can be manually set. Alternatively, if you are receiving GPS signals, you can tap on the Sync button to get the current time from the GPS signal automatically.

Figure 26: First Use - Selecting the Voice

The ONE XL doesn't have Text-to-Speech, so it won't announce actual street names or highway names. But it will verbally announce navigation maneuvers (in .5 miles turn left). The ONE XL ships with 4 different US voices to choose from (3 female and one male), and 3 UK voices. Additional voices can be downloaded and installed from the included CD-ROM. TomTom also sells additional voices available in funny accents or celebrity voices (NY Taxi Driver, Mr. T, John Cleese, etc.).

Figure 27: First Use - Selecting the Map

This setting is probably more useful for our European readers, but you'll need to specify the regional map before TomTom can navigate. Here in North America,the United States and Canada are contained in a single map.

Figure 28: First Use - Settings the Home Address

The Home address is a special saved address in the GPS that allows for quick, one-touch routing back to the designated Home address. The Home address can be changed at any time via the Configuration menu.

Figure 29: First Use - Would you like a brief tour?

With the first-use wizard complete, the ONE XL asks if we'd like a brief tour of the features before continuing on to the main menu. The tour is handy for complete newbies, but doesn't go deep enough to help someone who's somewhat familiar with GPS and wants to know how to do more complex tasks.

Figure 30: TomTom ONE XL - Main Menu

One the first-use wizard completes, the ONE XL displays the Main Menu, shown above in figure 30.

This screen will look very familiar to anyone who has used a TomTom GPS before, and will look identical to anyone who has used a TomTom ONE before. Note that the first time you use the ONE XL (or if you haven't used the ONE XL for a few days), it may a few minutes for the GPS to calculate it's position and figure out where you are.

7. TomTom's Updated Maps

The two largest mapping providers are NAVTEQ and TeleAtlas. Magellan, Garmin, LG, Yahoo Maps, MSN Maps, and most in-car OEM GPS systems all use NAVTEQ maps. All TomTom GPS devices use TeleAtlas maps. NAVTEQ has historically had more complete and accurate maps in North America than TeleAtlas, and in my recent "What to look for in a GPS" article, I recommend shopping for a GPS that uses NAVTEQ maps.

When I reviewed the TomTom GO 910 and TomTom ONE last year, without question the biggest problem was the poor quality maps and routing engine. TomTom responded to customer complaints about their poor North American maps by releasing updated maps for 2007. Version 675 of TomTom's maps adds:

• More than 410,000 new road miles and 500,000 points of interest
• More than six million new household and business addresses
• Improved road detailing for better visual representation

I tested the ONE XL with the updated maps in areas that the previous maps lacked coverage. During my testing every road that was missing on the previous TomTom maps (and was present on the Garmin nuvi's 3-year old maps) now appears in TomTom's new maps. I'm pleased to report that the 2007 maps are, indeed, on par with the current NAVTEQ maps, so that's very good news for TomTom.

Figure 31: TomTom Maps Version 675

TomTom's new maps are considerably better than the previous maps used on the GO 910 and ONE. If you own an older TomTom, you may qualify for a free map update, otherwise it'll cost you. Either way, if you're using a TomTom GPS in North America, you'll definitely want the new maps.

8. Navigating with the ONE XL - Finding an Address

Figure 32: Entering a Destination

The ONE XL allows you to enter a street address, POI, cross streets, or coordinates as a destination address. Most of the time you'll likely be navigating to a street address, so let's test that first.

From the Main Menu (shown above in figure 32), tap on "Navigate to..."

Figure 33: Using an Address as a Destination

The "Navigate to..." screen, shown above in figure 33, allows you to specify what type of destination you want to navigate to. We'll be inputting a street address so I'll tap on "Address" and continue.

 

Figure 34: Choosing a Destination Address Type

TomTom provides four different options within the Address destination sub-menu: City center, Zip Code, Cross street or intersection, and Street and house number. We'll be navigating to a street address in New York city, so I'll tap on "Street and house number" to continue.

Figure 35: Entering the Destination City Name

After telling the ONE XL we want to route to a street address, the ONE XL prompts us to input the city. Entering the city is similar to other GPS units: as you input letters of the name, the GPS displays matching names in the upper area of the screen.

A nice TomTom-only feature is that previously used cities appear on the City screen before you start typing a name. So if the most recently found city was New York, New York will appear at the top of the list without having to type in any letters. As soon you start to type out a city name, the previously used cities disappear.

While I liked TomTom's time-saving feature of automatically showing previously used cities, the TomTom ONE XL is under-powered and sluggish. There's a good 1-2 second delay between tapping on a key and the ONE XL registering the key. Then there's another delay while the GPS filters the results list, making for an overall slow experience compared to other GPS devices from Garmin and Magellan.

One enough letter have been entered, the ONE XL produces a list of matching cities to choose from. Unlike most other GPS units, the ONE XL doesn't ask you to enter the State name - only the city. So if you spell out "NEW YORK", for example, the ONE XL produces a list of all cities called New York, as shown above in figure 35.

Figure 36: Entering the Street Name

Entering the street name is identical to the city name; previously found streets pre-populate the results list (a great time-saving feature), and as you input letters, the ONE XL filters the results list.

Figure 37: Entering the House / Building Number

A helpful feature I wish TomTom would implement is the ability to see the valid range of house numbers on a given street. For example, on Magellan's GPS devices, the page used to enter a house number displays the valid range -- so if you're not sure exactly which house number you're going to, you can guestimate and pick a house somewhere in the middle.

Figure 38: Setting a Preferred Arrival Time

Another handy feature only found on TomTom devices is the ability to tell the GPS what time you'd like to arrive at your destination address, and then see on the map screen how close to your preferred arrival time you'll be.

Figure 39: Setting a Preferred Arrival Time

Setting the preferred arrival time is easy - just tap the up/down arrows to set the time you want to arrive at your destination address.

Figure 40: Displaying the Target Arrival Time on the Map

If you specify a target time you want to arrive by, the GPS displays how many minutes under (shown next to a plus (+) sign in green text) or over (shown next to a minus (-) sign in red) you'll arrive by. If the estimated arrival time is less than 5 minutes before the entered preferred arrival time, the number is displayed in a yellow font. I loved this feature and quickly found myself missing it on other GPS devices. How excellent to glance at the GPS and instantly know how much ahead of schedule you'll be!

However, the TomTom ONE XL seemed especially poor at estimating an accurate arrival time, which seriously undermined the usefulness of this great feature. While driving the arrival time would fluctuate wildly within just a few minutes of driving. For example, if I hit a good open stretch of highway and could drive 75 MPH for 60 seconds, my arrival time would drop by 10 minutes, but then as soon as I dropped back to slower driving speeds it would add another 10 minutes back to the ETA. By contrast, Magellan and Garmin are much better at estimating the arrival time -- it seems Magellan and Garmin sample the speed rates over a greater time period, and also more accurately factor in the maximum speed you can realistically drive on given surface roads.

Figure 41: Calculating Route

Route calculation on the TomTom ONE XL is slow compared to other GPS units. Route calculation times varied greatly according to distance, with short trips calculating relatively fast and longer trips taking much longer. For example, an 80-mile trip took around 7 seconds to calculate -- not egregious but still quite a bit slower than competing GPS units.

It seems the ONE XL must finish calculating the entire route before you can begin navigating. Garmin and Magellan GPS units, by contrast, quickly calculate the first few turns so you can begin navigating, and then finish calculating the entire route.

Figure 42: Avoid Tolls?

If, after calculating the route, the ONE XL concludes that the most efficient route will take you through toll roads, the above warning screen is displayed and presents the option for avoiding the pay tolls.

Figure 43: TomTom ONE XL's Map Screen

This is TomTom's Driving View, and is the screen you'll spend most of your time looking at when navigating with the ONE XL. TomTom does a good job with the map screen, displaying the key pieces of information without cluttering the screen.

Figure 44: TomTom's Driving Screen, Explained

Many aspects of TomTom's driving screen can be customized via the configuration settings pages (more on this later in the review). By default, the following items are displayed on the map when navigating to a destination:

1. Zoom In
2. Highlighted route the GPS wants you to follow
3. Represents your vehicle on the map
4. Shortcut to mute/un mute the volume
5. Upcoming turn indicator
6. Current street name
7. Distance and time to destination
8. Estimated arrival time
9. GPS signal strength
10. Shown if a preferred arrival time has been set
11. Zoom out
12. Upcoming street name

Figure 45: Viewing Route Details

TomTom provides a bevy of ways to view the turn-by-turn list of maneuvers for the trip. Tapping on the estimated arrival time from the map screen brings up the "View route" page, shown above in figure 45. From here you can view all remaining turns in the trip as a text list, as images, view the trip on a 2D map, or simulate the route with the "Show route Demo" function.

I'll tap on "Browse as text" to view a text-only list of all remaining turns:

Figure 46: Viewing Route Instructions as a Text List

By default the ONE XL displays a list of all remaining turns along with the time between each turn. Tapping on the Options button allows you to configure how you want the ONE XL to display the turns:

Figure 47: Changing the Information per Instruction

This is another example of how many aspects of the ONE XL can be configured to suit your own particular preferences. I personally prefer to see the maneuvering list displayed with the distance to instruction rather than the time.

9. Finding a Restaurant

In GPS speak, a "Point of Interest" is a business address saved on the GPS. You can think of the POI database as a pre-loaded yellow pages. Most modern GPS devices come pre-loaded with a Points of Interest database, allowing you to find nearby businesses, such as restaurants, gas stations, hotels, and more.

The TomTom ONE XL ships pre-loaded with approximately 6 millions POIs (Points of Interest).

Figure 48: Entering a Destination Address

To route to a Point of Interest, such as a restaurant, tap on "Navigate to..." from the main menu.

Figure 49: Navigating to a Point of Interest

Tap on "Point of Interest" to tell the ONE XL that you want to search the POI database rather than enter a street address.

Figure 50: Setting the POI Search Radius

TomTom provides 5 options for telling the ONE XL where to look for a POI:

• POI near you - searches within a 7-mile radius from your current position
• POI in city - allows you to input a specific city to search for a POI
• POI near Home - once the Home address has been set, this option becomes available to choose. Like the POI near you option, this option searches within 7-miles of the saved Home address
• POI along route - when navigating to a destination, this option searches for POIs along your current route
• POI near destination - searches for POIs within 7-miles of your destination address (only available when actively routing to a destination)

Figure 51: Entering a City to Search for a POI

Tapping on "POI in City" from the screen shown in figure 50 brings up the city entry page, shown above. Entering a city name for a POI search is identical to the process for entering a city name when navigating to a street address.

Figure 52: Choosing a POI Category

After telling the ONE XL where to search, you're prompted to choose a POI category type. The following POI categories are available on this page:

• Any POI category - allows you to search all POI categories. Useful if you know the name of a business but aren't sure what category it is listed under
• Hotel / motel
• Parking garage
• Gas station
• Restaurant

Tapping on the arrow in the lower-right takes you to the entire POI category list where you can choose any of the available 49 categories to search.

I'll tap on Restaurant to continue.

Figure 53: Choosing a POI to Route To

Tapping on a POI from the search results list immediately starts navigating to that location.

I found several annoying issues with the POI search function on the ONE XL:

First, there is a Restaurant sub-category, as is standard on most other GPS devices. So if you want to find the nearest chinese restaurant, for example, most GPS devices allow you to specify POI -> Restaurant -> Chinese. The TomTom ONE XL only allows you to list all restaurant types.

Second, there is no way to view the complete address and phone number of the POIs. Most other GPS units I've tested display the full POI address and telephone number. Being able to see the actual street address of a POI isn't just handy, it's essential, and I'm surprised TomTom's interface doesn't allow for this.

10. Finding an Alternate Route

Figure 54: Finding an Alternate Route

There may be times when navigating to a destination that you'll want to force the ONE XL to re-calculate the route, either avoiding a particular street or by adding a stop along the way. Tapping on the map screen while driving brings up the Main Menu, shown above in figure 54.

Figure 55: Find Alternative Sub-Menu

TomTom provides 6 important options within the "Find alternative" menu:

• Calculate alternative - Force the ONE XL to recalculate to your destination, this time using different roads. This is a quick way to have the ONE XL calculate an alternate way to your destination using totally different roads.
• Avoid Roadblock - If you see a roadblock or traffic jam, tapping Roadblock allows you to route around the problem area by selecting either 100, 500, 2000, or 5000 meters as the distance you want to avoid that particular road.
• Travel via - Tap this button to change your route so that it passes a particular location. Using this button, you can only travel via one location. If you want to pass more than one, use an Itinerary instead
• Recalculate original - Tap this button to return to the original route without any deviations for roadblocks or to travel via particular locations
• Avoid part of route - Tap this button to avoid a part of the route. Use this button if you see that your route includes a road or junction you don't like, or which is well known for traffic problems. You then choose the road you want to avoid from a list of the roads on your route
• Minimize traffic delays - If you have connected the ONE XL to a compatible Bluetooth enabled cell phone and have subscribed to TomTom's Plus traffic service, tapping this button checks the currently planned route for traffic problems and avoids the traffic delays whenever possible

TomTom's avoidance features worked well; excluding a given road or highway from the planned route did indeed produce a new route, different route.

11. Itinerary Planning (Multi-Stop Routing)

An itinerary is a trip with multiple stops and consists of an end destination and waypoints you want to pass on the way to the destination.

Figure 56: Would you like a brief tour on itineraries?

TomTom asks if you want a brief tour on how to use itineraries the first time you access the itineraries button.

Note that TomTom's ONE XL does NOT perform "Route Optimization", a powerful feature that allows the GPS to take a bunch of addresses and sort them based on distance, creating the most efficient order to visit each stop. Instead, you simply input as many addresses as you want, and manually order them in a saved itinerary list.

Figure 57: Creating an Itinerary

Before you can use an itinerary you must first add the individual stops to the itinerary. After tapping on Itinerary from the Main Menu, tap on Add to add a stop to the itinerary. You can always re-order the addresses later.

Figure 58: Adding a Stop to an Itinerary

Adding a stop, or destination address, to an itinerary is identical to entering a regular destination. You can use a street address, a saved favorite address, a recent destination, POI, coordinates, city center, or cross street as a destination address.

Figure 59: Viewing the Itinerary

As you add stops to the itinerary the ONE XL displays the current order of addresses to be visited. Once all the addresses have been entered, pressing on the Done button completes the itinerary setup process.

Figure 60: Start Navigating the Itinerary

After tapping on the "Done" button (shown in figure 59), the ONE XL asks if you want to start navigating to the first address in the itinerary.

TomTom's itinerary feature is really more a list of individual destinations than a true itinerary, but I suppose there are limited scenarios where this is better than nothing.

12. Bluetooth

The ONE XL does NOT support hands-free speakerphone via Bluetooth, but when paired with a compatible Bluetooth-enabled cell phone can connect to TomTom's PLUS services -- subscription services such as traffic, weather, speed camera databases, etc.

Before you can make use of any of the TomTom PLUS services, you'll need to pair the ONE XL with a Bluetooth enabled cell phone and have a wireless data plan with your provider (GPRS, EDGE, UMTS or CDMA). Most mobile carriers charge a monthly fee for data services, so that's something to consider when deciding to use a TomTom PLUS service.

Figure 61: Pairing the TomTom ONE XL with a Bluetooth Cell Phone

Before the ONE XL can find your Bluetooth-enabled cell phone, you'll want to make sure that you've set the phone so it can be discovered by other Bluetooth devices.

Figure 62: Searching for Phone

The ONE XL will search for a Bluetooth cell phone for about 60 seconds before timing out.

Figure 63: No Blackberry Love For the ONE XL

TomTom has always had poor Bluetooth support. In my own testing, I was unable to successfully pair the ONE XL to my Blackberry 8800, nor was I able to connect it to the Blackberry 8700. After contacting TomTom support, I was told Blackberry wasn't on the list of supported devices.

Oddly enough, the Blackberry "saw" the TomTom, but the TomTom couldn't "see" the Blackberry. Unable to find a compatible Bluetooth cell phone, I was unable to further test any of the ONE XL's Bluetooth features, including TomTom's PLUS services.

13. TomTom's PLUS Services

Figure 64: Accessing TomTom's PLUS Services

TomTom PLUS is a collection of services that TomTom offers at additional subscription cost. Currently TomTom's PLUS offering includes traffic, radar camera databases, additional maps, additional voices, TomTom buddies, weather, and additional POIs. TomTom occasionally adds new services that can be installed via TomTom's HOME application.

In order to make use of any of the PLUS services, you'll need to pair the ONE XL to a compatible Bluetooth-enabled cell phone and ensure you have a valid data plan from your cellular carrier.

TomTom only supports a limited range of cell phones, so be sure to check if your phone is supported before buying a TomTom.

Figure 65: Starting TomTom PLUS

Starting a TomTom PLUS service will cause the connected cell phone to transmit data over the cellular network, downloading current information such as weather, traffic alerts, and more.

14. TomTom Traffic

Figure 66: TomTom Traffic

TomTom Traffic is a TomTom PLUS service that sends real-time traffic information to the ONE XL. The ONE XL is then able to consider current traffic conditions when calculating the best route to your destination address.

TomTom's ONE XL support real-time traffic data either via TomTom Traffic, or by purchasing an optional external traffic receiver and using the Traffic Message Channel (TMC). Note that the TMC option is a Europe-only solution, as TomTom doesn't (yet) offer a U.S. TMC subscription.

As I was unable to successfully pair the ONE XL with either of my Bluetooth-enabled cell phones, I was unable to test TomTom's Traffic offering.

15. Enabling All Options

Figure 67: Main Menu, Page 1

By default, TomTom hides all but the most basic functions on the ONE XL. For example, I quickly noticed that there is no apparent way to cancel the current route under the default, reduced icon set.

TomTom's documentation says many buttons and features are hidden because "you will not need these features very often." While I can see the value of saving the more complex features for advanced users, and offering a basic menu for newbie's, but I quickly found TomTom's basic (default) menu very limiting and frustrating (i.e. "how the hell do I cancel the current route?").

You'll want to enable all menu options to take full advantage of all that the ONE XL has to offer:

Figure 68: Enabling ALL Menu Options

Tapping on the "Show ALL menu options" button in the preferences menu reveals all the buttons and features on the ONE XL.

Figure 69: Showing ALL Menu Options

Helpful screen tips are displayed throughout the TomTom interface. After you've used a particular feature, the associated tip is no longer shown. Tips can also be disabled in the preferences settings.

Figure 70: Canceling A Route

Once "All menu options" are turned on, the "Clear route" icon appears as a menu option, albeit buried on the third page of the Main Menu. Given how often you'll likely use the Clear route button, I feel TomTom should include this icon in the basic, default Main Menu, and re-locate this icon to the first page on the Main Menu.

16. Configuring Preferences

Figure 71: Preferences Page 1 of 7

Once all menu options have been enabled, TomTom allows you to configure many aspects of the ONE XL's settings. Page 1 of 7 in the Preferences section allows you to toggle between night/day color scheme, change the map viewing mode, configure safety preferences, specify which POI's appear on the map, and mute or un-mute the volume.

Figure 72: Safety Preferences

The "Safety Preferences" menu is where you can enable / disable the "safety lock", a "feature" that prevents you from using all but the most needed buttons while driving. Once the vehicle stops, all buttons and features can be used again. When set to disable, all buttons and features can be used while driving.

Figure 73: Turn of Map Display

Another setting located within the "Safety preferences" page is the "Turn of map display" setting. This setting allows you to specify when the map should be turned off:

• Always - When set to "Always", you will only see information about the next instruction and arrows. The map will never be shown.
• Above certain speeds - you set the speed at which the map is turned off (you might want this if you find the map view distracting while driving)
• Never - the default setting, the map is never turned off

Figure 74: Enable / Disable POIs

Tapping on the "Enable / disable POIs" icon from the Preferences page allows you to set which categories of Points of Interest (POIs) should be shown on the map.

When you check a POI, it will be displayed on the map with the corresponding symbol for that POI.

Figure 75: Preferences Page 2 of 7

Page 2 of 7 on the Preferences menu is home to the volume preferences, favorites management, setting/changing the Home location, managing maps, and POIs.

Figure 76: Volume Preferences

This page is used to change the volume of the spoken instructions.

When selected, "Link volume to car speed" automatically adjusts the ONE XL's speaker volume to compensate for the current vehicle speed. In my testing this feature didn't work especially well, and produced erratic volume levels.

Figure 77: Manage Maps

The "Manage maps" allows you to install or un-install additional maps on the ONE XL.

Figure 78: Manage POIs

The "Manage POIs" menu allows you to add / edit / delete custom POIs, create your own custom POI category, and specify proximity warnings for certain POIs.

"Warn when near POI" is used when you want to be alerted when you are near a Point of Interest (POI). For example, you might want to be notified if you are near a known speed trap.

Figure 79: Preferences Page 3 of 7

Page 3 of 7 on the preferences settings menu allows you to customize the status bar, set the time, customize the map, and specify brightness settings:

Figure 80: Status Bar Preferences

TomTom is one of the only GPS manufacturers that allows you to customize exactly what information you want to see on the status bar (the blue bar across the bottom of the map screen). The following items can be checked / unchecked:

• Remaining time - the estimated time left until you reach your destination
• Remaining distance - the distance left until you reach your destination
• Arrival time - your estimated arrival time
• Current time
• Street name - the name of the next street to turn on to
• Speed - your current speed (if the speed limit information is available for the road you are driving on, it is shown next to your current speed)

By default, the remaining time, distance, arrival time, and street name are displayed.

It's tempting to select everything, but the font size used to display this information is slightly small, and the display can become easily cluttered.

For readability sake, I recommend selecting just the information you care most about.

The ability to control what information is displayed on the map screen is a powerful feature that I wish others (Magellan, Garmin, are you listening?) would also offer. I loved being able to display the ETA, remaining time, AND distance, all on one screen.

Figure 81: Clock Display

Tap the "Set clock" icon to set the time and to specify how the time should be displayed. Unless you're in a basement and cannot receive GPS signals, you'll probably want to use the "Sync" button instead, which forces the ONE XL to grab the current time from the GPS signal.

Figure 82: Setting the Daytime Color Scheme

The ONE XL allows you to select a "day" and "night" color scheme. When set to automatically switch between the two, the ONE XL will change from the day color scheme to the night color scheme at sunset.

Note that automatic switching between the two modes is controlled by the time of day, and not the actual ambient light conditions.

Figure 83: Selecting the Night Color Scheme

The standard night color scheme is "Antarctica", shown above. Additional color schemes can be downloaded via TomTom's PLUS service.

Figure 84: Brightness Preferences

Brightness levels for day and night modes can be manually adjusted via the brightness preferences page, shown above.

Figure 85: Preferences Page 4 of 7

Page 4 of 7 on the Preferences settings menu allows you to configure planning, toll, compass, voice, and language settings:

Figure 86: Planning Preferences

Planning preferences is used to set the kind of route planned when you input a destination. TomTom provides the following options:

• Ask me every time I plan - you will be prompted to choose a routing method every time the ONE XL routes to an address
• Always plan fastest routes - this is the default setting, and sets the ONE XL to always assume you want to take the fastest (though not necessarily shortest distance) route
• Always plan shortest routes - sets the ONE XL to always choose the shortest distance when figuring out the route to take
• Always avoid freeways - forces the ONE XL to avoid highways
• Always plan walking routes - sets the ONE XL to pedestrian mode
• Always plan bicycle routes
• Always plan for limited speed - useful if you're driving a slow vehicle, such as a farm vehicle

Figure 87: Toll Road Preferences

This settings tells the ONE XL how you want to handle toll roads, should any tolls appear on a planned route to a destination. You can specify that the ONE XL should always avoid toll roads, never avoid tolls, or ask you what to do if a toll is on your planned route (default).

Figure 88: Compass Preferences

This setting allows you to specify whether you want a compass to appear on the map screen, and, if so, what type of compass will be displayed. The following options are available:

• None - By default, no compass is displayed on the map
• One with arrow pointing north - the arrow always points north and the direction you are moving is at the top of the compass
• One with arrow showing your heading - the arrow always shows the direction you are moving and the top of the compass is north
• One with arrow pointing to your destination - the arrow always points to your destination relative to the direction you're traveling. The distance to your destination is shown in the middle of the arrow

Note that if you choose either the north or heading compass options, you then choose what is shown in the middle of the arrow (direction, degrees, or nothing)

Figure 89: Select a Voice

TomTom's ONE XL ships with support for 36 languages for spoken navigation instructions, and includes 4 different US English voices and 3 UK English voices.

TomTom's ONE XL doesn't support text-to-speech, so it won't announce actual street names. Instead, you'll hear generic maneuver instructions, like "in one-quarter mile, turn left".

TomTom's more expensive GO 910 does have text-to-speech, and TomTom's TTS is among the best I've heard; voices sound natural and don't sound computer generated.

The ONE XL supports voice prompts for the following languages:

• Australian
• Brazilian
• Bulgarian
• Catalan
• Chinese Mandarin
• Chinese Cantonese
• Croatian
• Czech
• Danish
• Dutch
• Estonian
• Finnish
• Flemish
• French
• German
• Greek
• Hungarian
• Italian
• Japanese
• Portuguese
• Latin American Spanish
• Latvian
• Lithuanian
• Malaysian
• Norwegian
• Polish
• Portuguese
• Romanian
• Russian
• Serbian
• Slovenian
• Spanish
• Swedish
• Thai
• Turkish
• UK English
• US English

Figure 90: Preferences Page 5 of 7

Page 5 of 7 on the preferences page allows you to configure the unit of measure, set left/right handed operation, specify what type of on-screen keyboard you prefer, name preferences, and disable screen tips:

Figure 91: Keyboard Preferences

By default the TomTom ONE XL uses the large on-screen keyboard. Using a smaller keyboard makes things a little harder to use, but it does free up more space on the results portion of the screen, making it easier to scroll through the lists of matching names (when looking up an address or POI).

Figure 92: Keyboard Preferences, Format

Another nice feature I've only seen available on TomTom's units is the ability to specify whether you want to use a QWERTY, AZERTY, or ABCD type keyboard. The default setting is ABCD style, but I know many people prefer the QWERTY type keyboard.

Figure 93: Name Preferences

This page allows you set what is shown on the map while driving to a destination. The following options are available:

• Show house numbers before street names
• Show street names
• Show next motorway - signpost - when this option is selected, the next major road on your route is shown at the top of the screen

Again, these are nice configuration options not typically available on other GPS units.

Figure 94: Preferences, Page 6 of 7

Page 6 of 7 on the preferences menu allows you to configure owner information, set the GPS to upside-down display mode, configure the GPS receiver, input TomTom PLUS account information, and configure start-up preferences:

Figure 95: Set Owner

Setting owner information on the ONE XL creates a 4-digit password that must be entered before the unit can be used. Unfortunately, you'll need to connect the ONE XL to a PC and use TomTom's HOME application to complete the 4-digit code setup process.

Figure 96: Start-up Preferences

Start-up preferences tell the ONE XL what it should do when powered on. The following three options are available:

• Continue where I left off - the ONE XL starts as it was when it was powered off (this is the default setting)
• Ask for a destination - the ONE XL starts with Navigate to... on the screen
• Show the Main Menu - displays the Main Menu

Figure 97: Preferences, Page 7 of 7

Page 7 on the Preferences menu allows you to enable / disable bluetooth and wireless data, set the menu system back to show fewer options, tell the ONE XL not to ask about arrival times, and reset the the ONE XL back to its original factory settings (selecting this will completely wipe the ONE XL of all saved settings and addresses).

17. Routing Engine Performance

All the bells and whistles aside, what really matters on any GPS is the quality of the maps, and how well the GPS figures out the best way to get from point A to B.

I put the TomTom ONE XL to the ultimate routing test, pitting the ONE XL against the wide-screen Magellan Maestro 4050 and Garmin's wide-screen nuvi 680. Which GPS has the best routing engine? Read on.

The single most common complaint I hear is "the GPS took me on a crazy route that I would never have chosen and was not the best/shortest way."

Arguably the most critical components of any turn-by-turn GPS navigation system are the routing engine and map accuracy. The routing engine is the software on a GPS that decides which route the unit should choose to get from point A to point B. Many people falsely assume that simply having the same maps on two GPS devices will result in the same routing choices. Not so, as there is a great deal of math and decision-making involved when calculating the "best" route.

Not surprisingly, this also one of the most difficult and complex aspects for GPS manufacturers to get right, and is the aspect of GPS navigation that is least well understood by consumers.

The two largest mapping data providers are NAVTEQ and Tele Atlas . NAVTEQ is more accurate and complete in North America, so it's preferable to buy a GPS that uses NAVTEQ rather than Tele Atlas (as of this writing). (for more detailed information on both NAVTEQ and Tele Atlas, check out "NAVTEQ vs. Tele Atlas, Which one is Better?")

However, there is a lot more to a routing engine than just the mapping data provider. How a given GPS will determine the "best" route is the result of not only the mapping data, but also how many additional data points, or attributes, are factored into the equation. For example, are certain roads closed after hours or on the weekend? What is the average rate of speed for a given road? Statistically speaking, more accidents happen when making left turns as opposed to right turns -- is the GPS unit factoring that into the route? Each company takes all this data and compiles it in different ways, making unique decisions about what data is more important than others. The number of attributes used varies depending on how much money the manufacturer is willing to spend on their mapping data. For example, a full NAVTEQ map database that includes all available attributes can cost the manufacturer twice as much as a basic set of attributes.

All Magellan and Garmin GPS units use NAVTEQ mapping data, while TomTom uses Tele Atlas. Magellan's Maestro unit ships with 2007 NAVTEQ maps pre-installed, while the Garmin nuvi's NAVTEQ maps are several years old, (although Garmin is planning to release updated maps (v9) within the next month). TomTom newly updated Tele Atlas maps are also from 2007.

In order to find out which GPS has the best mapping and routing capabilities, I tested the latest and greatest models from Magellan (Maestro 4050), Garmin (nuvi 680), and TomTom (ONE XL). Note that the TomTom ONE XL I tested has TomTom's newly updated maps (v675) installed.

To accurately test each of the units, I entered three different trips of varying distance in three different regions of the United States.

Our first test took us along the Northeast, starting in Southbury, CT and ending in New York City:

ROUTING TEST #1
WINNER: Garmin
Start: 14 Oak Tree Road, Southbury CT. Destination: 135 Central Park West, NY, NY
Magellan Maestro 4050	Garmin nuvi 680	TomTom ONE XL
►0.1mi Main St S ►0.1mi US-6/Main St N ►0.1mi W I-84 ▲14mi W I-84 ►4.1mi W I-84 ►6.6mi Exit 20/White Plains/I-684/NYC ◄0.1mi White Plains/I-684/NYC ▲10mi South I-684 ◄16mi South I-684 ◄9.1mi W Cross County Pkwy ▲2.4mi W Cross County Pkwy ▲0.3mi W Cross County Pkwy ◄2.1mi Exit 2/NYC/Saw Mill ◄0.2mi Saw Mill River Pkwy South ►2.0mi S Rt-9a/Henry Hudson Pkwy ►10mi Exit 79 St 0.1 Roundabout W.79 St ►0.3mi Broadway ◄0.3mi W. 74 St ►0.4mi Central Park W * 0.1mi Arrive at 135 Central Park West	►300ft Main St S ►300ft Main St N ►0.1mi Keep right onto I-84 W to Danbury ◄14mi Keep left on I-84 I-84 W ▲4.1mi Keep right onto I-84 W to NY State ►6.5 Exit 20 right to I-684 to New York City/White Plains ◄0.1mi Keep left onto I-684 to New York City/White Plains ▲28mi Exit 1 left to Hutchinson Pkwy to Whitestone Br ▲9.1mi Exit 15 left to Cross County Pkwy to George Washington Br ▲2.7mi Keep left on Cross County Pky W ▲2.0mi Exit 2 left to Saw Mill Pkwy South to New York City ▲0.2mi Keep left onto Saw Mill River Pkwy South ▲2.0mi Keep right onto Henry Hudson Pky South ►10mi Right to 79 St Boat Basin ►500ft Take roundabout to 3rd exit ►400ft 3rd exit to 79th St ►0.2mi Right on Broadway ◄0.3mi Left on 74th St ►0.4 Right on Central Park W ►120ft Arrive at 135 Central Park W on right	►40yd Main St S ►100yd Main St N (US 6) ►240yd 84 WB ◄14.1M Bear left onto 84 WB ►4.1M Bear right onto 84 WB ◄3.2M Bear left onto 84 WB ►3.4M Rt. 20 White Plains ◄250yd 684 SB ►10.9M Saw Mill Pkwy ▲0.55M Continue Saw Mill Pkwy ◄13.2M Bear left Yonkers ►4.7M 22 Thruway ◄250yd 87 SB ◄0.35M 87 SB ►16:5M 7 Trenton ◄400yd 95 SB to 1 ►0.50M 95 SB to 1 Lower Level ►0.55M H Hudson Pkwy ◄210yd 9A SB Downtown ►0.40M H Hudson Plwy ►4.6M Exit Boat Basin ♦220yd - Roundabout W 79th St ►275yd Riverside Dr ◄0.35M W 72nd St ◄0.60M Central Park West ♦130yd - Arrive 135 Central Park W
Total: 80 miles / 1hr 29 minutes	80 miles / 1 hour 19 minutes	79.2 miles / 1 hour 30 minutes

Magellan's Maestro 4050, Garmin's nuvi 680, and TomTom's ONE XL all get us to our destination address, but the Garmin nuvi chooses a slightly faster route, provides more detailed navigation instructions, and is also the only GPS to announce what side of the street our destination address is on.

TomTom's ONE XL faired the worst in this test, routing us in such a way that the destination address is actually on the left side of the street. We would then either have to make an illegal U-turn or go around the block to arrive at 135 Central Park West on our right. TomTom also has less detailed navigation prompts than the Magellan Maestro 4050. TomTom also uses yards instead of feet, which is impractical here in the Units States.

Yahoo! Maps (not shown in the table above) chooses a route identical to Garmin's route, but estimates the trip will take 3 minutes longer (1 hour 22 minutes) than Garmin estimates. Google Maps also chooses the same route as the Garmin nuvi.

So far Garmin's nuvi is in the lead in our routing battle. However, sometimes a GPS that routes perfectly well in one area can perform terribly in another region. Our first test used a trip that was approximately 80 miles in length and took us from Connecticut to New York City.

For our second test, I started out at Fry's Electronics in San Jose, California and entered a destination address at 300 Grove Street in San Francisco (about 46 miles in distance):

ROUTING TEST #2
WINNER: Garmin
Start: Fry's Electronics, 550 E. Brokaw Rd, San Jose CA Destination: 300 Grove St., San Francisco, CA
Magellan Maestro 4050	Garmin nuvi 680	TomTom ONE XL
▲0.7mi San Francisco/US-101 N ▲6.7mi N US-101 ▲17mi N US-101 ▲8.6mi N US-101 ▲7.3mi N US-101 James Lick Fwy ◄3.0mi N US-101/Central Fwy ▲0.3mi N US-101/Central Fwy ►0.9mi Market St ◄0.2mi Franklin St ►0.3mi Grove St *Arrive at 300 Grove St	►0.3mi I-880 S to Santa Cruz ▲0.8mi Exit 4C right to US-101 N/San Francisco ▲0.2mi Keep right onto Old Bayshore Hwy to San Francisco ◄0.3mi US-101 N to San Francisco ▲25mi Keep left on US-101 N ▲8.6mi Keep left onto US-101 N to San Francisco ▲7.3mi Keep left onto US-101 to Bay Bridge/Civic Center/Silver Ave ▲3.0mi Keep left onto US 101 N to 9th St-Civic Ctr/Fell Street/Mission St ▲0.3mi Keep left onto US 101 N to Golden Gate Bridge/Mission St ►0.7mi Mission St ◄0.6mi Grove St ►500ft Arrive at 300 Grove St on right	►0.4mi 880 NB Oakland ▲12.1mi 880 NB ▲1.5mi 880 NB ▲6.8mi 880 NB ▲4.9mi 880 NB ▲2.4mi 880 NB ▲2.6mi 880 NB ▲6.4mi 880 NB ▲2.4mi 880 NB San Francisco ▲1.0mi 880 NB ▲210yd 80 WB ▲0.40mi 80 WB ►0.35mi Mission St ▲0.65mi 101 Mission St Mission St San Fran... ►300yd 101 Mission St Mission St Mission St ◄0.60mi Grove St *180yd Arrive 300 Grove St
Total: 45 miles / 46 minutes	47 miles / 43 minutes	49.3 miles / 52 minutes

Again Garmin chooses the best route, Magellan chooses the second best route, and TomTom's ONE XL chooses the worst route. While Magellan and Garmin both route us along the 101 highway from San Jose to San Francisco, TomTom's ONE XL instead chooses highway 880 North to 80 West -- an odd choice that adds around 4 miles (6 minutes) to the journey. Even worse, TomTom again has us arriving on the wrong side of the street, with our destination address on the left.

Both the Magellan Maestro 4050 and the Garmin nuvi 680 arrive with our destination address on the right side of the street, but only the Garmin actually tells us what side of the street our destination will be on. Occasionally the Magellan unit would verbally announce what side of the street the destination was on, but that was the exception and not the rule.

Garmin's maneuvering instructions are also by far the most detailed. It's not shown in the table above, but the angle of Garmin's turn icons actually vary to indicate the upcoming turn's actual angle, a feature not found on either the Maestro or the TomTom ONE XL. Garmin wins routing test #2.

For the third test, I chose a short, 3-mile trip from Beacon Street in Boston to Cambridge, Massachusetts:

ROUTING TEST #3
WINNER: Garmin
Start: 1200 Beacon St, Boston MA Destination: 5 Cambridge Center, Cambridge MA
Magellan Maestro 4050	Garmin nuvi 680	TomTom ONE XL
►0.1mi Beacon St ►0.1mi Carlton St ◄0.3mi W US-20/Commonwealth ►0.1mi RT-2 ►0.2mi RT-3 S ◄1.5mi Wadsworth St ◄0.1mi Amherst St ►0.2mi Ames St *0.3mi Arrive at 1200 Beacon St	►400ft St. Paul St ►0.5mi Commonwealth Ave ►0.3mi Keep right onto Hwy 2 to Cambridge ►0.1mi Mountfort St ◄0.4mi Take roundabout to 1st exit ►200ft Brookline St to Cambridgeport/Central Square ►Massachusetts Ave ◄300ft keep left on Main St ◄0.7mi Arrive at 6 Cambridge Ctr on left	►80yd Saint Paul St ►0.55mi 20 to 30 Commonwealth Ave ►0.30mi Mountfort St ►0.40mi RT-3 to Memorial Dr ◄300yd Vassar St ►1.2mi Cambridge Ctr *160yd Arrive at 5 Cambridge Ctr
Total: 2.8 miles / 6 minutes	3.0 miles / 5 minutes	2.8 miles / 8 minutes

The results of test #3 are consistent with the previous two tests: TomTom's ONE XL chooses a route that's about 30% longer than Magellan's Maestro or Garmin's nuvi. Garmin chooses a route that's slightly longer in distance than Magellan's Maestro, but is actually a shorter drive time, and Magellan's Maestro plots an acceptable route that's only slightly worse than Garmin's. It's interesting to see such varied routing results even on a short trip of less than 3 miles -- just goes to show you how different every GPS unit actually is.

The routing engine on the Maestro 4050 produced consistently solid results, soundly beating TomTom's new ONE XL unit, and closely matching Garmin's routing engine. Garmin edged out Magellan in all three tests, choosing slightly more efficient routes with more detailed turn instructions and shorter drive times.

TomTom's ONE XL unit performed poorly in all three routing engine tests, producing the longest routes in all three tests, and putting us on the wrong side of the street at our destination address.

Again, only Garmin's GPS unit announced what side of the street our destination address was on.

In all three tests TomTom's ONE XL faired the worst -- despite having the newest map data of all three units.

18. Pros

• Elegant, handsome design
• 4.3" wide-screen LCD display
• Easy to use
• New, 2007 (v675) maps are a significant improvement over TomTom's previous North American maps
• Broad language support with voice prompts for over 30 languages
• Support for routing to longitude/latitude coordinates
• Handy, time-saving address entry system pre-populates lists with recently used cities / streets / house numbers
• Preferred arrival time feature lets you specify what time you need to arrive, and the ONE XL will report how early/late you'll be
  Itinerary planning allows you to view routes ahead of time
• supports multi-destination routing (but not route optimization by distance)
• Lots of customizable display options
  

19. Cons

• Slow - ONE XL feels underpowered and is annoyingly slow at route calculation / re-calculation and other common tasks
• Poorly designed windshield mount (difficult to get the ONE XL on or off the mount without hitting the windshield glass -- you need to angle the mount down, slide on the ONE XL, then re-position the mount)
• Announces upcoming turns using yards instead of feet
• Screen not as bright as other wide-screen GPS units
• Occasional bugs (i.e. sound would sometimes turn itself back on while navigating, even though I had muted the volume)
• No text-to-speech (GPS only announces generic maneuvers, not actual street names)
• No hands-free speakerphone calling support
• Very limited bluetooth cell phone compatibility
• Poor routing engine
• Important menu options (i.e. cancel route) hidden until you manually enable all menu options
• Text font used on the map screen is too small, can be hard to read from the driver's seat
• ETA not as accurate as other GPS units - time displayed on map changes too quickly while driving (i.e. drive 75MPH for 1 minute, and you're ETA drops in half. Come to a stop light, and it doubles again)
• No route optimization feature
• Real-time traffic (and all other TomTom PLUS services) requires a compatible Bluetooth-enabled cell phone to be paired with the ONE XL
• AC adapter not included
• 3D angle of the map is too steep
• Poor customer support

20. Conclusion

TomTom's ONE XL is a handsome turn-by-turn GPS navigation with tons of customizable display options, broad language support, and unique features not found on other devices. The ONE XL brings wide-screen navigation to TomTom's popular ONE product line, and adds newly updated 207 maps that are a significant improvement over TomTom's previous North American maps. I really liked TomTom's time-saving text-entry features, as well as the ability to specify a preferred arrival (and then see how late or early you'll arrive).

However, TomTom's ONE XL feels decidedly under-powered, and the unit feels sluggish. Common operations, such as entering an address and calculating the route are frustratingly slow. Worse, TomTom's routing engine came in last place when tested against Garmin and Magellan GPS units.

The ONE XL suffers from many of the same issues that plagued the TomTom ONE. The XL still lacks text-to-speech, supports only a very limited number of Bluetooth-enabled cell phone (though not for hands-free calling), and the 4.3" wide display wasn't as bright as some other similarly priced GPS units.

With the ONE XL, TomTom has delivered a GPS that's heavy on style and light on navigation. Given the poor routing performance, slowness, and various other issues with the ONE XL, I recommend a similarly priced Garmin or Magellan GPS instead -- either will be better at the GPS' core function: navigation.