Very Pleased with Tom Tom One 3rd Ed. (US Version)

I've always been frustrated trying to read maps or printed directions while driving -- it's difficult to do both and easy to get lost. When I found the Tom Tom One 3rd Edition for an attractive price, it seemed like a smart investment -- and I'm now a big fan of it.

The basics
Tom Tom One 3rd Edition is a fairly basic, low-priced (compared to others) GPS. It claims to be the #1 selling GPS worldwide, and got good reviews from Consumer Reports, both of which played a role in me choosing it (along with price). The unit is small - about 2 1/2 by 3 inches, and less than 1 inch thick - and lightweight, so it's easy to put in your pocket. Being a basic model, it doesn't offer slots for additional memory or Bluetooth capability, and if you want real-time traffic updates, that requires a device that costs almost as much as I paid for my Tom Tom.

Using Tom Tom One
Having never used a GPS device before, I was thrilled that the Tom Tom was easy to use right out of the package. In fact, opening the plastic package was harder than figuring out how to use it. After a few quick on-screen tutorials, I was ready to go -- a good thing, too, since the Tom Tom doesn't come with much in the way of printed instructions.

It's probably best to key in your destination info before you start driving, because it's a slightly involved process -- the state, then town, then street and house number. Usually you only have to type in the first few letters and then choose from a list of possible choices for that city/street, but it can take some time. I'd also recommend reviewing the route first, so you know what to expect. The map software is similar to Google Maps or Mapquest in that it sometimes takes you over lesser-traveled roads; you'll still end up at the correct place, but if a friend were giving you directions, it might be different than what Tom Tom says. However, it's easy to tell Tom Tom to route you via a specific point if you know, for example, that you want to take a certain road. Tom Tom will also ask you if you want the fastest route, shortest route, walking route, non-toll highway route, etc.

The menus are simple but it can take some time to get used to where to find things and what the different options are -- another reason not to play with it too much while you're driving.

Driving with Tom Tom is a pleasant experience. On a highway, the unit will tell you "left turn ahead" so you have time to get into the left lane. Then, usually about 800 yards out, it will again remind you of the turn, and lastly just as you approach the turn. Because the unit doesn't offer text-to-speech recognition (ie, it won't announce the street name), I found it helpful to turn on the setting that shows the street you're currently on at the bottom of the screen, and the street you're turning onto at the top of the screen. So, with a quick glance, you can easily see what the upcoming street should be. This is especially helpful if, for example, you're driving on a highway with several exits close together; you want to be sure to take the correct one!

Depending on how you set up your preferences, while you're driving, the unit will display things such as your speed, time to reach destination, expected time of arrival, current time, current street name, miles until next turn, etc. All good stuff -- it's just a matter of figuring out what you like. It will even warn you (if you want) if you are speeding or approaching a school.

Another nice feature is that if you make a wrong turn or go off route, you don't get an annoying "recalculating" message that I've heard on other GPS units. The unit quietly plots a new route after a few seconds and leads you that way, although sometimes that message will be "turn around."

In addition to navigating to a street address, intersection or recent destination, you can pick from a variety of "points of interests" (POIs). These include restaurants, stores, airports, banks/ATMs, gas stations, hospitals, zoos and lots more. You can also display these POIs on the map, which is great if you're not familiar with the area but want to find a nearby gas station or restaurant. The POIs in my area seem fairly accurate and comprehensive; you can also manually add missing POIs.

Accessories & Other Stuff
In addition to a mini USB cable and car charger, Tom Tom comes with a windshield suction cup mount, and a mounting disk if you want to suction it to the dashboard. I've been using the windshield mount to help cradle it in my cup holder, and that seems to work OK -- but using the car charger can get in the way of that.

Tom Tom offers a free map update for the first 30 days you own it, and you can download map and POI edits/corrections for another year.

As noted above, there are very minimal printed instructions included with the package.

Criticisms
A couple of minor flaws that I've noticed, if you can call them that, are:

--The map software on the device thinks my home is about 200 yards away from where it actually is, and positions it on the wrong side of a cross street. I've "fixed" that by standing at home and setting my "home" location by using the "my location" option instead of my street address.
--The maps seem reasonably accurate -- about as accurate as Mapquest. However, some nearby residential streets that have only existed for about a year are not shown.
--I wish there were a wider variety of included voices -- there are only 4 US English voices, and I can't say I love any of them. You can download more voices for a fee.
--I also find it hard to use the device as a map. Zooming in and out is a little hard because your finger tip is fairly broad, but the incremental zoom markings are close together. When I try to drag the map right or left, it often reverts back to the menu or zooms out.
--The battery life is somewhat short - about 2 - 2 1/2 hours. (bring the car charger with you)
--There is a "night" setting on the display (darker colors), but you have to manually adjust between day and night colors -- it's not automatically done based on the time of day.

All in all, I love this device and it's a great help when driving in less familiar or new areas. Don't leave home without it!