TomTom ONE 130 Car GPS Receiver

The TomTom One 130 is a compact GPS that provides all of the basic in navigation functions very well but It may take someone who is not used to TomTom’s functional design some trial and error to get to understand how this GPS tool works.   When this TomTom 130 GPS came up for $70 new ($80 with shipping) on sale, a much better price than the typical $110 to $130 I had been seeing for compatible units, I thought I’d give it a try even though 2 out of our 3 vehicles have built-in navigation and one has On-Star turn-by-turn services. 

Having a device to take on the road, hopefully walk around with, put in rentals, and so forth, would  be great.  Except for the learning curve that I experienced,  I am very pleased with the performance and functionality that this unit gives for under $100.  If I was going to invest more than $100, I would study and compare units closely; but for under $100, you can’t go wrong.


Basic Navigation:  I’m going to assume that everyone has a basic understanding of how navigation GPS devices work.  The way I use this unit is by sticking with the basic “navigate to” and “to an address” function.  Once into that function, you type in state, then city, then street and finally street number; then “done.”  The unit then finds your route.  It asks if you want to avoid tolls.  Then you can either run the navigation with a very large scale map or touch “details” to have the street level information show.  As you will learn later in this review, you have to figure this out on your own, there are no instructions in the user manual to guide you on the finer points of using the device.


Quick Responsive Polite Route Changes:  The most positive attribute that this unit has is that it gets you where you need to go even if you modify your path as you go along, without insisting that you, “go back to the planned route” as our in-vehicle systems try to do.  If you change course because you were diverted, or you want to take a different road from the one that was planned, or if you miss a turn, it automatically recalculates the route without complaining and trying to turn you around.  By complaining I mean that it doesn’t keep on telling you to turn around and go back to the planned route like we experience with the built in navigation systems in our cars, or like OnStar turn-by-turn navigation.  I prefer a built in navigation system, but for some reason they get fixated on keeping you on a planned route and don’t easily adjust if you make changes by going down a different street or picking another highway when you know that is as good a route as the planned GPS one.   The other systems eventually adjust, but the TomTom One design just does it much faster, and with no nagging.


Very Little User Guidance:  The least positive attribute for this unit is the lack of detailed user guidance.  The user manual is sparse and offers limited information on how to use the functions.  The installation diagrams offer only illustrations that are not very clear, so it’s a trial and error effort just to figure out how the mounting suction device works.  The guidebook provides just one example of how to navigate to an address, but doesn’t tell you how to cancel navigation, or how to change between addresses once you’re on a route, or pretty much anything else!  I may be spoiled by the highly detailed user manuals that come with in-car navigation systems, but compared to just about any electronic device user manual, they really do give you very little to go on. 


Eventually I figured out that this system doesn’t have an address book – you select “navigate to” and “address” and get excellent guidance to reach that destination.  What is called an address book in our vehicle systems for the TomTom is a combination of the designation of a “home” location plus a list of favorites and recent locations that form as you use the device over time.   While frustrating to have to go without an easily organized address book, the low cost and great navigation performance more than make this unit well worth the money even all the way up the higher end $130 selling prices.


Screen Size & Visibility:  I was hesitant to think that a square shaped, 3.5 inch by 3.5 inch screen would work well for me, but it does a surprisingly good job and is adequate.  Of course a larger screen unit will give more visibility and a larger map picture, but I bought this unit for its small size portability and for that, the screen size, brightness, and clarity are very good.   The user manual provides a detailed diagram of the screen and explains what all of the information displayed on the screen is.  You get information like distance to the next turn, the road you are on, the road that your next turn is on, names of streets in the immediate vicinity, your road speed, the speed limit of the road you are on; the amount of information provided in such a small space is quite extraordinary.  I especially liked how clearly the road I am on is highlighted with a darker color that not only shows where I am, but also the road in front of and behind me.  There is a 3D and 2D view, but I’ve stuck with the 3D view.  You can change the color schemes.



Touch Screen:  The screen operates on touch, and even with the small size, and my larger fingers, I have not had any trouble touching the correct point on the screen.  What I do have trouble with is clipping the unit back into the mount.  What I do is program a trip holding the unit in my hand, then smap it into the mount that is already attached to the window.  When snapping it in, it's just about impossible to avoid touching the screen which causes the unit to go to the next screen; the solution is to snap it in, then click "done" and you return to the main navigation screen that you programmed for your trip.



Voice Prompts and No Text to Speech:  The TomTom One 130 gives plenty of warning of upcoming turns, telling you in a voice you can select and set as your preferred guidance voice, how far to the next turn and action you’ll have to take when you get to the next action point.  For instance, “Turn left in 500 yards” or, “Take the next exit in 1 mile and then keep to the left.”  

When I was shopping for a GPS, I didn’t know what “text to speech” was – and now I know – when you have a GPS with that feature, the voice also tells you the road name, for example, “Turn left in 500 yards onto Main Street.”  That would be a nice feature, but of course, it costs more money.  All of our in-car navigation systems have that feature, and of course, On-Star turn-by-turn speaks the names of roads too.  I have used the TomTom One on four trips so far and didn’t miss that feature at all; so if it’s included for a great price, get a unit with it, but it’s not a critical item to have.


Hand Held Use:  I tried to use the unit on the ground while walking around in San Francisco downtown around tall buildings, and that was a total failure; it rarely registered a signal and I gave up after a few tries.  I don’t have enough experience for that type of use yet to say if that was just a glitch for that location or if it is going to be a bigger problem.  I have used the unit in cars several times and it has quickly registered routes, identified signals within seconds, and works excellent.


Mounting System:  The TomTom One mounting system for this unit allows you to easily detach the GPS to take it out of the car and secure it when you’ve parked.  First you hold the suction cup against the vehicle glass and then twist a knob to the right; that creates a very strong suction grip that has never let loose.  To detach, you turn the knob to the left and tug a little on the suction cup and the bond is released.  Once you’ve put the mounting bracket where you want it, the GPS unit snaps onto a rink on the mounting bracket, and locks in place with spring loaded clips that give just enough tension to firmly hold it in place, while also letting you twist the unit easily out of the mounting ring when you want to remove it, leaving the mounting bracket on the glass.  The unit is not a distraction while driving because of its small size; larger units, in my opinion, could be a problem.

Size:  Unit without mounting bracket is 3.8 inches by 3.2 inches and 1 inch thick.  Weight is 6.1 ounces.