Customer Rating:  
Summary: Good GPS
Comment: The TomTom XL 330 S is a good GPS. I have been using it for the last 2 months and have made the following conclusions.
Pros
It has pretty good maps which can be upgraded for a fee.
It calculates re-routes within 15-30 seconds depending.
It has a nice size touch screen at 4.3 in with Google-Like "Click and Drag" ability to scroll across maps.
POI(Points of Interest) and other customizeable features(Backgrounds, Color Schemes, Icons, Voices etc...) are upgradeable via internet or manually by yourself.
Routes and Maps can be user updated to reflect Roadwork and changes of Traffic patterns (ie. 2-way street becomes a 1-way)
Route options include a choice of Fastest Route to Walking Route which means you can use it somewhat to walk around a city.
Cons
The included computer voice which speaks the street names has a low volume even at its maximum setting. It's audible when the car is quiet but a highway speeds it is sometimes tough to discern what she is saying.
Re-routes are not the most logical(if you are familiar with the area-Common GPS problem)
Overall, this GPS is a good value. It is easy to use right out of the box and has enough features and upgradeability for the seasoned driver. If you don't need Bluetooth Cell Phone features or a built in MP3/Photo viewer, this definitely fits the bill. With software updates this product should keep growing.
Customer Rating:
Summary: I like it so far
Comment: I got this for the wife. She works weekends & goes from house to house in various neigborhoods ( professional clown). I can give her great directions & she still gets lost. She's used the Tom-Tom & loves it. Volume is fine. Ease of use is great ( she can't turn on a computer). I like the mounting & the quick re-routing aspects. I did notice that some directions did not initially pick the most direct route. Fortunately for our usage we traveled in the right direction & let the re-routing take over. No problems thus far. I did buy at Costco knowing I could always return it. I needed that safety net- I guess. I definately would recommend it
Customer Rating:
Summary: Some nice features, but major problems! Bought 3, all had speaker problems.
Comment: I have a Garmin c320 GPS unit and wanted to upgrade to a model with more features - particularly coordinates and "Where Am I" features. After reading the reviews, I really liked the features in the TomTom XL 330. The only hesitation I had was with the speaker volume. The Amazon reviews showed some buyers that had speaker problems with their units. There were enough positive reviews to make me buy it.
PROS:
1. Lots of customization. You can change color schemes, choose your voice, change viewing angles (Garmin c320 & 205W can't do that).
2. "Where Am I?" This is far superior than Garmin. It shows in what City, Township, Municipality, etc. you are and the nearest address. This can be very valuable when calling for help. Garmin only gives nearest address and nearest intersection (which I like to call "some random intersection within a few miles")
3. Alternative routes. If you don't like the route you're given, you can ask for a new one. Read more in the Cons.
4. Tons of route control. You can look through a list of every turn ahead of time and ask it to avoid a certain place on that route.
5. Compact, attached mount. I didn't use it, but it was a cool idea. The mount would detach from the unit or you could leave it on and fold it in.
6. Fixing map errors. I never got to see this in action, but it sounded really cool.
7. Results as you type. I loved this feature and will really miss it with my new Garmin. As you type a street name or city, it will show you the results as you narrow them down. This can really save time and effort.
CONS:
1. Routing. (Deal-breaker one) The routing seemed to have a large bias toward driving on interstates. It seemed to me that the reason was insufficient non-interstate speed limit information. For example, I asked the Garmin and TomTom for a route from Irwin, PA to Oakland, MD. The Garmin used state routes and backroads to get us there in 2 hours. The TomTom insisted we take mostly interstate (and adding many, many miles) at an estimate of 2.5 hours. The TomTom alternate route was even longer. (Google Maps, Yahoo! Maps, Mapquest all were similar to Garmin's route.) When we took the Garmin route, the TomTom said it would take over 2.5 hours (adding existing travel time + time left), but as we drove, the time remaining kept decreasing super fast. The Garmin's arrival time was rock steady all the way.
2. Address entry without City. (Deal-breaker two) There are many occasions in which I have a street address, but don't know the city. You know -- maybe someone lives in a Township with a city's mailing address, or any area known as "North Hills" has many post office names, but you don't know which one. Garmins give you a "Search all cities" option. TomTom has no option. You must enter a city. If you don't know it, you won't get there.
3. SPEAKER. (Deal-breaker three) I had read two problems with the speaker; 1) too quiet, 2) garbled. I figured that if I got a bad one, I'd exchange it and I'd get a good one. How widespread could the problem be? Well -- the first unit was very quiet. If you have the radio on, you can't hear this thing. I called TomTom and the nice rep seemed to be very familiar with the problem and suggested returning it to the store. So fine, I shipped it back to Amazon. The second unit was much louder. Wait -- you couldn't understand it, it was all garbled. Well, third time should work. NOPE -- just like the first, you couldn't hear it.
4. POI annoyances. On my first unit, when searching for a POI, it would show the distance you were from the POI, but not which direction it was from you. This made it unusable. I won't make a big deal of this, because my unit #2 did have a directional arrow for each POI. This may have to do with software version on the unit. Secondly, though, it only listed a few pages of POIs. I would have liked to see more choices.
5. Graphics. The graphics rendering was very jagged and old-looking. Garmin is far ahead here.
After doing all this testing, my decision was easy. Even if the speaker actually worked, the first two cons make it unusable for me. I returned them all. I recommend the Garmin nuvi 205W 4.3-Inch Portable GPS Navigator (although it has it's own weaknesses, watch for my review there).
My final question is -- TomTom, don't manufacturers test products before they get shipped to poor American consumers??
Customer Rating:
Summary: XP Issues - But Not Bad
Comment: I get lost in a paper bag with air holes in it. It's a sad fact of life I have to deal with, and when some friends introduced me to a GPS I saw my life coming back to me. No longer would I be limited to well traveled areas and wasting gas looping back around paths familiar because I was sure to be lost, otherwise. What price can you put on freedom?
I tested all the different brands at Best Buy. The TomTom line found the most addresses which I personally used, including my home. Garmin didn't seem to realize there was such a street. There were some places which eluded all brands, but TomTom seemed to have better maps for me. I read all the reviews and noticed the main complaints about the sound on the TomToms and the slow connection to satellite on the Garmins. They seemed to have their strengths and weaknesses, so I decided to take the gamble on getting a decent speaker.
And I did. I have no trouble hearing Darth Vader directing me to the Dark Side. In using it to take the paths I'm familiar with it seems to pick a good route. If it's good for long distance... well, just get me there. If I knew how to get there in long vs. short routes I wouldn't need the thing to begin with. I understand the gas price issue, but for me this hasn't been a problem. Sound is fine. Easy set up. Quick connection and route plots. Even the software started out just fine. It was easy to download and use. Yes, you do have to adjust the screen if you use 800x600 but that's becoming more and more common with larger monitors and smaller settings. I connected, updated my map, and played with a few of the free voices for fun.
Everything was delightful, until I upgraded Windows XP Home with the standard required / recommended update from Microsoft. XP no longer recognizes the TomTom is connected and declares there's an unidentified device that may be malfunctioning.
I've attached 2 scanners, 2 different printers, my MP3 player, and my digital camera. Those are still recognized just fine. I've gone through all the troubleshooting tips with TomTom Home as well as Win XP. I realize XP Home is becoming a dinosaur, but there's which went awry in the update. My map is current for now, but this issue will have to be resolved if I ever want to update it again.
Customer Rating:
Summary: No subcategories on POIs
Comment: Garmin and Magellan show subcategories of points of interests like restaurants: Italian, Greek, etc. TomTom doesn't. It didn't even show a full list of restaurants; if I typed a name in, it found it. This is not acceptable as in a new town; how am I supposed to know what name of an Italian restaurant to type in? I won't recommend TomTom to anyone based on this.
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