Windows Phone Thoughts: Son of Road Trip - TomTom Navigator Bluetooth GPS reviewed

Using the Routes.


Figure 21: The map is zoomed out between turns…


Figure 22: …and zoomed in to give you a detailed view of each turn.

The maps give very clear details when an instruction is displayed. A large green arrow shows the exact move to make, as do the instructions in the bottom display. In some situations, the bottom display will show multiple icons to better communicate the instructions. For example, if you have to turn left onto an entrance ramp to get onto a highway, the bottom display shows the left turn arrow along with a highway icon.

Voice prompts are helpful and easily understood. When necessary for clarity, the instructions include multiple steps. The voice instruction for the entrance ramp example listed above is "Turn left, then take the highway." As with most of the programs, TomTom gives you advance warning when an instruction needs to be followed. The distance before the turn or exit at which the warning sounds increases as your speed increases. It doesn't have my favorite "way advance" warning feature from Destinator 3, however. With that program, in a situation where you're on a long stretch of highway and are approaching a turn or exit, Destinator gives you a preliminary warning about 2 miles prior to the turn, as well as the expected warnings as you get closer. I like that idea because it gives you time to prepare for the turn, such as changing lanes, etc. TomTom developers: if you're reading this, this would be my #1 suggestion for improving your program.

The quality of the routes is outstanding, for the most part. I tested these programs with some routes with which I'm familiar, so that I could see if the calculated route made sense. In every case, the TomTom routes were very direct, making the choices that I believe most drivers would prefer. Automatic rerouting is very fast in most situations.

Another very impressive aspect of TomTom is its stability. When testing other navigation software packages, I found that I had to soft-reset from time to time, more often than I'd like. With TomTom, in the entire time I was testing it, I had to soft-reset only once.

The user interface of the software makes effective use of tap-and-hold menus. However, some menus are only available from certain screens, so some commands, such as "Clear route", can be a bit of a chore to find.