TomTom ONE 140-S 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator
Filed Under (Car Stereo) by Admin on 27-05-2010
Amazon.com Product Description
The TomTom ONE 140-S is complete navigation. Switch on and go right out of the box. Spoken turn-by-turn instructions, including street names, will guide you to any address in the United States, Canada, and Mex… More >>
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TomTom ONE 140-S 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator
After a couple of long trips out into the country, and a lot of in-city driving, here are my conclusions (comparisons are to the Magellan 1440 and the Nuvi 660).
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What works well:
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1. In standard suburban driving, I never once lost a signal. It takes about 25-50 seconds to find a signal on a cold start, which is par for the course with other GPS units I’ve used.
2. The routing was pretty decent, and got me to where I was trying to go. It was able to recover fairly quickly when I went off course, and then re-plot a revised route fairly quickly.
3. The unit is tiny and literally fits in my front shirt pocket. I can see this as being a great walkabout unit.
4. You can charge the device from a computer or from a USB charger – a wonderful option when not using it in an automobile.
5. One touch volume change. Simply click and drag … no need to click a separate OK button.
6. The coolest new feature with this device is its Demo mode. You simply input your target destination, and then have it simulate a drive to that location. This worked great when I had to show a friend how to get to a location.
7. A speed limit warning beeps at you when you go over either a set driving speed, or when you go over the speed limit for a highway. Unfortunately, I could only get it to warn me on the freeway (where the speed limits are mostly well known.) However, my Nuvi 660 works well even on most neighborhood streets.
8. There are a ton of safety features that can be turned on – such as audible warnings when you get near a school or place of worship. I’m not yet sure how useful this will turn out to be, but its definitely a fun feature.
9. It provides lots of color schemes for both day and night displays. I just went with the defaults, which were more than adequate. In particular, the night time view is very clear and easy to read.
10. POIs are editable. In fact a lot about this device is user editable (incl. speed limits on streets, street names, etc.) This works for the occasional edit or error correction.
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What doesn’t work well:
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1. The screen real estate is just way too cramped. Once you factor in all the “avionics”, the map display ends up being cramped. I much prefer the roomier 1440. Of course, I cannot slip the 1440 into a shirt pocket.
2. In my usage, I regularly rely on good voice prompts. The 140-S lets you pick from either a “human” or a “computer” voice. This choice is a problem for me since one voice can speak street names while the other cannot. It’s hard to imagine why the engineers felt that this choice was relevant, especially since the text to speech feature loses it’s value (at least to me) when street names cannot be spoken. Also, depending on the voice I chose, the units changed from feet (which I liked) to yards (which I had to mentally convert).
3. The speech is on par with my Nuvi 660, and not quite close to what the 1440 can do. The words often lose a syllable and sound clipped. This is slightly better than the 660.
4. The unit does not Power On the vehicle is turned on, or Power Off when the vehicle is turned off. This is a biggie.
5. The Magellan 1440′s Lane Assist is much more informative. On my commute, there are at least 3 interchanges off of 494 to other highways. At each such major interchange it warns me about staying on the correct lane. The 140-S seems to do so only when it thinks there is potential for confusion. I’d much prefer the extra help, esp. when in an unfamiliar city.
6. The screen is difficult to see in direct sunlight, but its still slightly better than the Magellan 1440.
7. The mount folds neatly into the device, and is very low profile. However, when removing a GPS unit, I almost always just unhook the device itself rather than taking along the whole mount, I’ve yet to see why this may be a design advantage. In addition, the low profile actually makes it harder to position in my Bracketron mount.
8. The USB connector seats in snug, and then is really, really hard to unplug. I thought I was going to damage the connector before it finally came off.
9. The POI database is very incomplete. It couldn’t find either the Best Buy, Walmart, or Sam’s Club in Woodbury, MN. Even worse, it placed the Oakdale Best Buy right in the middle of I-94.
10. Strange terminology – a “roundabout” becomes a “rotary”.
11. The keyboard does not default to QWERTY – and I found that a bit hard to get used to until I discovered a preference that sets this mode.
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Conclusion:
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The screen size is fairly minuscule when compared to the 4.5″ 1440. A key deciding factor is which you value higher, portability or readability/usability. This wins on portability, but I’d recommend a larger screen otherwise.
The 1440 is my gold standard for data entry, voice prompts, and lane assist; and the 140-S doesn’t compare as well on those counts.
(Note that while other reviewers have complained about issues when updating this device – I haven’t yet connected it to my computer.)
Updated July 29:
I have noticed that I cannot “click and drag” to scroll the map. Each click takes me to the routing screen. This is a major downside for my specific usage behavior. The 1440, by contrast, scrolls like a dream.
Happy Driving!
-Damodar
Rating: 3 / 5
I have just replaced my TomTom One 130S with the 140S. The IQ Routes Technology dramatically improves the routing. I have owned Navman, Mio, and Garmin GPS units. This one has the best routing yet! This is an excellent value!
Edit: I just returned from a trip from Rochester, NY to Charleston, WV to Topsail, NC.
I was very impressed with my 140S. It never suggested a faulty or weird route. One route it suggested in West Virginia was far superior to the route I normally take.
The voice directions always seem to be spoken at exactly the right time.
“Reality views” of expressway interchanges popped up frequently. I have really come to appreciate the feature.
I love that you can set voice warnings for Rest Areas.
The only negative thing I have to report is that some POIs in the Topsail, NC area were shown in wrong locations. I also found this to be the case with my Garmin 260 last year.
A new section of interstate in North Carolina is in the latest map. My brother’s Garmin (with the latest map) does not yet show the new road.
I have more confidence in the 140S than any GPS I have owned.
Rating: 5 / 5
I upgraded from the TomTom One 130 to this TomTom One 140s for the advanced lane guidance and I absolutely love it.
The spoken street names are nice but no big deal (You have to select a computer voice to get street names. The natural voice can only say pre-recorded things). The names are probably helpful for people who do not want to take their eyes of the road. However, those people will miss the absolute greatest feature which is the advanced lane guidance. It is so nice to get advanced notice that there are multiple lanes coming up and being told very clearly by means of the multiple arrows which lane(s) you can choose. I live in the Seattle area and found that it will show those arrows for nearly all large intersections that have multiple turning lanes. On the freeway you not only get the guidance arrows at the bottom, but frequently a big computer generated picture that clearly depicts all lanes and on/off ramps with big arrows inside the lanes you can choose. It is actually quite shocking when it then switches back to the standard lines view. They feel like cave drawings by comparison. I think it is already technically possible to make this realistic picture view the (moving) permanent view (kind of like a video game). All they need to do is extend their database to include the number of lanes of a road.
Two other improvements over the 130 are that you can add your own Points Of Interest. Although the 130 already allowed you to download locations from Google Maps as Favorites, adding them as POIs will display them on the map just as any other POI and reduce the clutter in your Favorites. The other minor improvement is the ability to create an itinerary. The itinerary is basically a sequence of destinations (with some minor editing capabilities such as adding, removing and moving a destination up or down in the list) which you can save as an itinerary. Just like the 130, the 140s is accurate, quick to draw the screen and recalculate the directions if you stray off course. If you notice after a while that the satellite aquisition is taking longer, connect the TomTom to your PC and update it and the aquisition will be back to a few seconds. I updated my 130 about once a month.
So far I haven’t noticed the IQ Routes giving me different routing suggestions than the 130, but I have only had it for a few days and my trips so far may not have required a special IQ re-route. If I notice any specially great or bad routing later, I will add it to this review.
Rating: 5 / 5
Thinking back to the first GPS device I ever owned (the TomTom One) and how much I plopped down for it got me to pondering the many pros and cons of technology. It’s always advancing and it’s always coming down in price. Am I mad that I spent over twice as much money on my original TomTom One when compared to the new TomTom 140-S? Naaaahhhhhh…my original TomTom One is practically a member of the family. How could I stay angry at someone who has guided me through the frantic Los Angeles freeways, helped me find address with pinpoint accuracy and guided me home through the deserted back country roads of Illinois? Sure the little guy may have cost me a little more than I wanted to spend, but where would I be without him? Lost…that’s where…
Well, look out GPS enthusiasts and people with no sense of direction…the TomTom One is now better than ever. Introducing the TomTom 140-S, TomTom’s best in the entry level category. Let’s cut to the chase…what’s new? Well, for those familiar with the TomTom One there’s quite a bit of added features to the 140-S that you may find worth it. Here they are:
- Spoken Street Names (that’s right, gone are the days of simple turn left & right directions)
- I.Q. Route Technology (a GPS device that’s self aware…echoes of Terminator 2)
- Advance Lane Guidance (holy cow is this a time saver)
- Fold & Go EasyPort Mount
Let’s start with the Spoken Street Names feature…for a lot of people this is a biggie. For years GPS owners in the entry level division have been stuck with basic “Turn Left” of “Turn Right” verbal prompts from there TomToms. Well, not anymore…we now have Text-To-Speech technology at an unbeatable price. Drivers will now hear actual street names spoken to them as they drive instead of the general navigational commands they’re used to. For example: Instead of hearing “Turn Right” you will hear “Turn Right On Jackson Street”. For many drivers this is a groundbreaking feature for a GPS of this price…also considered by many as an added safety feature due to the fact the driver doesn’t have to take his or her eyes off the road to see which street to access.
The I.Q Route Technology is another fabulous feature worth mentioning. As you use your TomTom 140-S it learns which routes are faster basing it’s conclusions on it’s many arrival times to chosen destinations. Say for example you are trying to get from Pasadena to LAX on a Monday morning to catch a flight, the TomTom 140-S would understand that using certain major freeways during morning rush hour is not the best route, given the traffic congestion. So it will automatically choose a better, more efficient route avoiding crowded freeways, getting you to the airport quicker and ensuring you don’t miss your flight.
Advance Lane Guidance…how did I ever live without this? Sure my original TomTom One is amazing when it comes to navigation but there were times where I was a little confused on those insane Los Angeles highways with multiple exits that lead to more exits that merge into on ramps which lead me to a manifold of off ramps…get the idea? There are times when I’m looking at three exits at once, knowing I’m supposed to be on one of them because my TomTom is telling me so. I consult the TomTom screen, it has my route outlined but the exits are so clustered together I have trouble telling which one to take. I play a quick game of eenie meenie miney mo and merge…only to find I’m on the wrong off ramp. Of course it generously re-routes me within seconds but I always feel a little embarrassed in the presence of my noble TomTom device. No more! The new Advance Lane Guidance is a feature that will have many singing praise. As you approach your freeway exit (or multiple exits) the screen cuts to a much more detailed route outline, basically like your looking at an exact image of what your seeing when you look out you windshield. This makes merging so much more convenient and is just another of many helpful features included in the TomTom 140-S.
The Fold & Go EasyPort Mount is another small blessing. For years I’ve “reached my destination” and, after parking, had to pack-up my TomTom One, putting all the pieces (the unit itself, the suction cup mount, the cigarette lighter adapter) in my book bag. At least with the new Fold & Go EasyPort Mount I can simply fold the suction cup mount into the back of the unit, instead of having to dissconnect it from the TomTom device and find a separate spot inside my book bag to store it. This is a step in the right direction and it is one that is much appreciated.
For the technical data: The screen is a small 3.5-inch LCD. I actually prefer this because of it’s compact size, after all I’m not watching a movie in anamorphic widescreen…I’m simple getting directions. The actual product dimensions measure 3.6″ x 0.8″ x 3 inches and weighs 6.9 ounces. The TomTom 140-S also has a little brother, the TomTom 140. If you are looking at both products and are indecisive about which one to purchase the only difference between the two is the TomTom 140 does NOT have Text-To-Speech technolgy. Meaning you will not have spoken street names read to you. This may or may not be important to you, you can decide for yourself though.
As far as the TomTom name itself…I feel they are the best GPS devices hands-down. I have maintained for years that Garmin GPS devices are good but have a lot of hype surrounding them. Being an owner of both over the years I have got to use both names and TomTom has always come out on top. Whether it’s routing, points of interest, map detail or product features TomTom has always impressed me where Garmin has lacked.
Rating: 5 / 5
This product does exactly what it says it’ll do. No problems. Just a couple of enhancements I’d like the Tom Tom folks to consider:
1. The keyboard is way too compact. Difficult for me to type out anything and I constantly have to back up and start over.
2. It’d be nice to give the owner the ability to delete maps he/she knows they will never use. For example, I’ll never need it in Mexico or Canada, but since you’ve lumped those with U.S. maps, I’m stuck with them. It would be nice to free up some hard drive space and dump those countries.
Still, I’m happy with what I bought. Perhaps when I buy another GPS I’ll get one with a bigger screen.
Rating: 3 / 5