My New TomTom XL-S: So Long Mapquest, Well Almost

I travel, a lot; not only back and forth to work, but for personal reasons are well. Most of my travel is confined to the area in and around Chicago, IL, but that is an immense area covering the better portion of northeastern Illinois. I frequently have to go into the city, or one of the city’s many suburbs on a job, or to visit family members. In the (recent) past I have relied heavily on Mapquest.com for detailed step-by-step directions to and from one town, village, or hamlet to the next, as well as direction in the city of Chicago itself. All of that changed this past Christmas when my wife surprised me with a brand new TomTom One XL-S GPS Device.

In the box:

o TomTom One XL-S GPS Device
o Quick Install Guide
o USB Cable
o Car Charger
o Windshield & Dashboard Mount
o TomTom Home Software

The TomTom One XL-S is an update to the TomTom One XL; the XL-S brings text-to-speech capabilities to the table. This means that instead just a visual display of directions the TomTom One XL-S will announce them together with the street name; e.g. instead of just "turn left in 500 feet," you’ll hear "turn left on Ohio Street in 500 feet.” It seem like a small improvement, but believe me it makes a world of difference. Real-time traffic services can be had via TomTom Plus services (a subscription service) or via an RDS-TMC traffic receiver, which can be purchased separately.

Like the TomTom One XL, the TomTom One XL-S is fitted with a 4.3” color touch screen, and comes pre-loaded with maps of the United States, Canada, and Guam (what about Puerto Rico?) right out the box. But the unit is surprisingly lightweight and compact measuring in at 4.7 inches wide by 3.4 inches high by 1.2 inches deep; and weighing in at a very manageable and portable 7.4 ounces.

The power button, located on the top of the unit, is the only control point on the outside of the unit; an SD expansion slot, a mini USB port, and a power connector are located on the bottom of the TomTom One XL-S. Meanwhile, on the rear of the unit you will find the device’s speaker, a jack for attaching an optional external antenna for increased reception, and a mounting point for the windshield mount.

Set-up & Use

The first time you turn the TomTom One XL-S it will ask you for your location and suggest you be outside in order for the unit to find the GPS satellites it needs. My unit was able to pick up the satellites inside my house, though a larger building might be an issue.

Next the TomTom One XL-S setup procedure called for voice setup; there are a number to choose from, but “real” human and computer generated. In order to take advantage of the text-to-speech capabilities of the TomTom One XL-S you have to choose a computer generated voice. Once I set my home location I could enter my first destination.

TomTom Home Software

The TomTom One XL-S software, called TomTom Home is included in the box, and will work with Windows XP and Windows Vista. With the TomTom Home software one can update the GPS unit as well as operate it. The TomTom One XL-S connects to the computer via the included USB cable that can also be used to recharge the unit. Windows will auto-detect the unit as a storage medium.

Before you connect to the TomTom Home software for the first time I recommend create an account on-line at TomTom.com; then you can log-in via TomTom Home software and up-date the TomTom One XL-S..

I have read many reviews on TomTom GPS devices, most complaining that this feature or that was missing. The TomTom One XL-S ships with a lot of features such as Points of Interest (POI) turned off. Street announcements are also turned off by default. These and many other features can be turned on once the unit is set-up.

One can plan a destination in a number of ways; e.g. a single hop, multiple hops, or via an itinerary. You can input a destination via street address, cross street, city, or zip code. You can input pre-determined destinations into a Favorites List and plot a route to one of them from your current location.

I have used the TomTom One XL-S a number of times since I un-wrapped it on Christmas Eve and it has yet to let me down, with the exception of one case where I could not input the street number; for some reason I could not input building number for a major city in Chicago (LaSalle Street). Then I had to fall back to MapQuest to provide me with destination directions. Outside of the one bump in the road (patron the pun), I am loving the TomTom One XL-S. The directions are concise and the text-to-speech functionality very, very useful.

Need to alter your path on the fly? No problem, the TomTom One XL-S automatically adjusts calculating a new course on the fly. Again, a very useful feature.

Conclusion

In the short period of time I have used the TomTom One XL-S I have become enamored of it and what it can do. The use of MapQuest.com has for the most part, become a thing of the past. No more taking my eyes of the road to read a MapQuest printout, and no more pulling off the road at night to do the same. With my new TomTom One XL-S my direction are read to me with astounding accuracy and in color!

The TomTom One XL-S is a keeper.