Electronics : TomTom ONE v3 Satellite Navigation - Great Britain Traffic Edition

Rating: - Great product, shame about the traffic..
I found the device easy to use and very intuitive; it's software worked very well and the updates were very good..however.. the main reason I bought this unit, the ability to know what traffic is doing ahead of me and suggest detours, simply doesn't work.
The guy at Halfords helpfully informed me that it doesn't work in Surrey (which would have been great advice had it been given at the point of purchase!) and that because all manufacturers seem to be using TMC now there is No sat nav that can help.
The ONE has now been returned and I await developments with interest. (He mentioned digital units that should be available soon...?) I would advise everyone to check TMC in the the shop you buy it from (or just outside) - do you have a signal? And take it back if it doesn't. If you aren't fussed about traffic then buy the cheaper version. If I was feeling a little more strongly on the subject I would say it's a complete con.

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Rating: - Good SAT NAV ....but absolutely dire support
Overall the SAT NAV is good however:-
If you aim to buy UK/Ireland only and maybe intend to add Europe or other maps later think twice
Firstly installing new maps via the Tom Tom HOME application is a trial. Not sure their servers are up to much.
Secondly the 3rd Edition regional has an internal 512Mb memory and not an SD slot. Some of the bigger maps will not fit and it can't be expanded. This little feature is not advertise -- so beware

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Rating: - Good Product - but misdescribed by Amazon
This is a great product and has been very useful. Easy to use with most of the menus being quite intuitive. It is great that it just works, out of the box.

Unfortunately Amazon have misdescribed the product. The following lines are taken from the description as of 10th Jan 2008 (which is the same as it was last year):

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With the latest and most complete maps on SD card,

Additional Services & Smart extras include built-in Bluetooth(tm) technology
- Easy connection process to the mobile phone
- Remembers up to 5 different mobile phones to connect to.
Ready for TomTom PLUS services with real time information on traffic congestions, weather conditions and extra downloads such as detailed city maps, scenic routes, additional voices, Points Of Interest and much more.
(Subscription and mobile phone with Bluetooth® and GPRS needed)
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It all sounds good - if only it were true. This device does not come with maps on an SD card so it is not possible to upgrade memory size. There is no bluetooth capability in the device.

Despite informing both Amazon and Tom-Tom last year of the misdescription, they haven't changed it on the website.

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Rating: - Traffic Edition is Useless - Go for simple UK or European instead
The TomTom is an absolutely fantastic bit of kit, but this traffic edition is useless. This is the same as a TomTom one great britain, but with an antenna in the box as well. The antenna is clumsy, sticks to the windscreen with inadequate suckers, is a nuisance to take off and out on (you won't want to do it every journey, its a security risk advertising your gps to leave it on, and you can't hide in in the trim as this stops it working). Even when its stuck in the middle of the windscreen it usually can't get a signal, when it does, its classic FM's travel service and the information is not of high quality. Avoid this, either get the cheaper UK version without traffic, or for the same money as this get the Western Europe edition - great for the holidays. To repeat, its a superb GPS and I love mine, but the traffic element is rubbish.

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Rating: - The grestest Gadget ever!
The TomTom ONE Great Britain Traffic Edition is simply awesome!
It shows Traffic Cameras, and even your speed (accurately). It also knows the speed limit of the road and sounds a warning if you exceed the speed limit by more than 10%. I let it calculate the quickest route to my work and it saved me 5 miles a day (£200 worth of petrol per yr).

My only gripe was that the postcode search is not particularly accurate. My postcode exists, but I can't input my house number as it's not in the preset range for some reason. I tried navigating to an address using a postcode and the road wasn't shown. Not a major problem really as I just picked a nearby road instead.

Using this device is easy. Route recalculation is fast (3-4 seconds). Great screen and clear instructions. When you connect it to a computer, it's automatically recognised and the hardware drivers take over. This is such a well designed piece of kit.