GPS Units

My sons gave me a TomTom One 3rd Edition for my birthday. Never thought much about getting one and have no frame of reference other than using the Garmin that comes in a Hertz rental and the TomTom at the same time. They both work though they use slightly different routes in residential areas (TomTom does have options on how to route you so a different option may result in the exact same route).

When you first get the unit you are directed to hook it up to your PC via the USB port. The unit contains software that is loaded to the PC for managing updates. You get one free map update (ensures you are up to date when you first start using it but you need to pay for updates after that, ~$90 for a complete US/Canada map). It allows you to make map corrections for errors found which you can share via the PC interface. There is also voices and themes you can down load ala cell phone, some free but most cost.

One feature that seems to be useful are the help screens that will tell you where you are if you need to call for help and will route you to the nearest hospital/police/fire and the ability to set it for foot travel so you can use it when walking and it won't route you onto a hiway or such. Of course it has points of interest such as gas stations and restaurants along your trip.

I would assume all the others have the same types of features so you would really need to play with them to see which you like the best. Can't imagine all these companies develop their own map and likely get the data from the same source so accuracy from one to another won't vary much.

What I don't like? I don't like the suction cup mount. It either falls off or sticks so hard that you can't get it off without forcing something under the edge (there is a pull tab to break the seal but it's hard to get a grip on it). I have found that there are other companies making accessories just like there is for cell phones and there appears to be plenty of other options out there for mounting which I will eventually get.