Sunday, March 18, 2012

TomTom XXL 540-S World Traveler Edition

TomTom XXL 540-S WTE UPDATE: This model has been discontinued. For a list of current TomTom models and their features, please see our TomTom comparison chart.

The TomTom XXL 540S World Traveler Edition (WTE) marries a luxurious 5” screen with preloaded maps on the US, Canada, Mexico and Europe.

read more

Motorola MOTONAV TN765t review

MOTONAV TN765t

Hands on with the Motorola MOTONAV TN765t

The Motorola Motonav TN765t has a whopping 5.1” display, voice recognition, Bluetooth, lifetime traffic, text-to-speech, lane guidance, and pre-loaded maps of the US and Canada. I’ll get into the details of many aspects of this feature-laden unit shortly, but first let’s look at how the TN765t differs from other models in the current MOTONAV product line…

read more

TomTom XL 340M

TomTom XL 340M review
UPDATE: This model has been discontinued. For a list of current TomTom models and their features, please see our TomTom comparison chart.

The TomTom XL 340M adds lifetime map updates to the TomTom XL 340-S feature set, and gives you preloaded maps of the US, Canada and Mexico, a 4.3” wide-screen and text-to-speech, so you’ll hear “turn right, Oak Street,” instead of just “turn right.” read more

Finally — Garmin City Navigator Israel NT!

City Navigator Israel NT

UPDATE: According to Garmin support, this product is only compatible with the nuvi 1xxx models. (Thanks Alex)

In my nearly five years of GPS blogging, I’ve had more requests for GPS maps of Israel than any other country. Hence, I thought this morning’s release of Garmin City Navigator Israel NT warranted a post. The link may throw an error, but the page should be available shortly if it’s not now. The maps cover most of Israel, including Jerusalem, Tel-Aviv, Haifa and Eilat (I’ve included a coverage map below, after the jump). Roads and names can be displayed in either Hebrew or English.

read more

TomTom rolls out lifetime maps and traffic

We knew lifetime map updates were coming to some TomTom units, but an announcement today adds lifetime traffic to the mix and lets us know that lifetime traffic and/or lifetime map updates are now available on select TomTom XL and XXL models.

UPDATE: Amazon has pre-order pages up for several models, listed below. Release dates are April 26 for most units, with a few slipping into May. The ones with lifetime maps have an M; lifetime traffic  is denoted with a T, and I bet you can guess what it means when they have a TM (and no, it doesn’t stand for trademark).

read more

TomTom EASE review

TomTom-EASE-review

UPDATE: This model has been discontinued. For a list of current TomTom models and their features, please see our TomTom comparison chart.

Hands on with the TomTom EASE

The TomTom EASE is a new entry-level unit with a 3.5” screen, text-to-speech, 3 million points of interest and pre-loaded maps of the US. But what really makes the EASE attractive is the fact that it includes IQ Routes, TomTom’s historical road speed database that can make for significantly improved routing. This feature is not included in many other low-price TomTom models, so I was quite pleased to see it included on the EASE.

read more

Garmin nuvi 1450

Garmin nuvi 1450 The Garmin nüvi 1450 is a relatively high-end unit in the 1xxx series line up, offering a luxurious five-inch screen and advanced features such as multi-destination routing, lane assist and junction view.

read more

Magellan RoadMate 1700

Magellan-RoadMate-1700UPDATE: A new model, the 1700LM, adds lifetime map updates

The Magellan RoadMate 1700 sports one of the largest screens available of any after-market navigation device — a whopping seven inches! Clearly aimed at truck and RV drivers, the 1700 also offers lane assist and multi-destination routing. read more

Garmin nuvi 1260T

Garmin-nuvi-1260T-review UPDATEThis model has been discontinued. For current recommendations, please refer to our auto GPS buyers guide.

The Garmin nüvi 1260T is a mid-level unit in a line of Garmin GPS navigators introduced in 2009 (here is a list of more recent nuvi introductions). All of the units in the 1200, 1300 and 1400 series come with customizable data fields and the ability to utilize the pedestrian and mass transit features of Garmin’s CityXplorer maps. They also have text-to-speech, so you’ll hear “drive one-half mile, then turn left on Elm Street,” instead of just “drive one-half mile, then turn left.”

read more

TomTom to offer daily map updates?

Harold Goddijn TomTom CEO I’m never sure how much to trust Google Translate, but if they got this German article right, TomTom’s CEO Harold Goddijn (pictured) claims they will be offering map updates every day or two by the end of the year. It sounds like we are definitely moving towards connected devices with constantly updated maps. Here’s the translated quote:

read more