Refine search for Car Tech

  1 comment      Email TrustedReviews Newsletters

With so many PDAs and phones offering every type of functionality under the sun, it's easy to be seduced into thinking that they're good enough to do all their jobs brilliantly. That's not always the case, however, and as with attractive female tennis players, who are seduced by the lure of endorsement deals, technology companies often go too far and their products lose focus.

TomTom is definitely not in this category – its products are more Justine Henin than Anna Kournikova – and has been producing top quality sat-nav systems for years. The latest in the TomTom range is a widescreen version of its portable One sat-nav and it aims to continue the tradition. TomTom's sat-navs are also a favourite in the TrustedReviews offices. We like them because they do two things very well: they provide accurate and sensible driving instructions, and they're intuitive and easy to use.

The One XL is no different from its predecessors in this respect. Its interface isn't the nicest to look at, but it is organised logically and this makes it easy to find your way around. Tap the screen once and you get the main menu screen. Tap the Navigate To option then choose a destination type and you're straight into the address search.

Other important functions are just a click away. Hit the left hand area of the information panel (in driving view) and a large volume control appears. Press the pane to the right of it and the One XL displays a route summary. Mio's sat-navs, in contrast, hide their fiddly volume four button-presses away from the main navigation screen and the route summary two clicks away.

As with other TomToms, the main map display is mercifully free of distractions with only small zoom controls in the top corners. Again it's functional rather than pretty, but this means it's clear and easy to read. If anything, I'd like to have seen better use of the space offered by the 4.3in widescreen.

Add your comment