I’ve reviewed a number of in-car GPS navigation units for Tone over the years, and despite the attachment one gets for a device that sternly tells you what to do (over and over and over), I’ve constantly been disappointed by several key aspects of their performance. So much so, in fact, that when my last GPS system was snatched from my car (watch out, they’re a quick smash and grab for experienced thieves), I made do without one for nearly a year.

The TomTom XL has completely renovated my slightly jaundiced view of GPS systems, and it’s quickly become an indispensable travelling companion.

So why is this generation of GPS systems so much better than the last? Well, think about what you would want out of an in-car GPS. Clear, concise, and correct navigation, surely. Speedy satellite connection and repositioning is a must. Good speaker sound quality to hear it properly over road noise, passenger babble and stereo voltage, for sure. Incredibly simple inputting of directions and equally simple touch-screen access to maps and routes, definitely.

Those are a few basics, but earlier generations of navigation units couldn’t even get the basics right. TomTom does, in spades.
Straight out of the box, TomTom performs, as it doesn’t need the tortuously long charging periods that some units require. As with most good gadgets, the manual wasn’t required once; it just worked. The 4.3-inch touch-screen display is just the right size to work with, and it was profoundly simple to do so.
I might seem to be banging on about the obvious, but the ease of use is a major selling point of the TomTom, as it has a Help Me function that will take you through any confusing on-screen moments, and it’s easy to backtrack to a previous screen.

Add to this a set of handy features and you’ve got a winner. Unlike some units, for instance, TomTom will sound a warning bell if you’re exceeding the speed limit, and it will also warn you about speed reduction areas like schools, and permanent police cameras. Other useful and entertaining settings include the ability to listen to instructions in a wide variety of voices and languages. If you prefer a stuffy English madam to a brassy Aussie, then you’re in luck.

So how does TomTom keep this at almost half the price of some competing brands’ top of the line units? For one, TomTom doesn’t announce street names, so there’s a certain amount of trust involved that it’s taken you to the correct destination. For another, it doesn’t include add-ons like cameras and so forth, so you could say it’s less feature-rich than some GPS units.

The only glitch I detected was a source of much hilarity. It also has a weird habit, when you’re nearing your set destination, of announcing something like: ‘Drive another 200 metres, then…’ Then nothing! Uh, yes, we’re waiting! And like every other GPS I’ve auditioned, it took me on a few fanciful routes (but nothing too serious). Companies like TomTom rely on up-to-date – and more importantly correct - map information and there were occasions when the details were found a little wanting. These occasions were minor and rare: things like being told were off the road when we were clearly driving along a well-established rural route. The most extreme example was near Albany, where what should have been a simple right-hand turn onto a major road became a left turn, then a turn down a dead-end lane! [Map updates can be downloaded via the internet]
Mostly, however, the TomTom OneXL has ushered in big improvements to my driving habits, including my ability to reach an address on schedule, and I would be surprised if there was another brand on the market that could compete with it at the price.