The 130S features a touchscreen which you can switch from either alphabetical or QWERTY keyboard modes. This is a nice feature to have and not offered in many consumer car navigation systems. The keyboard also offers predictive typing which can save you tons of trouble when you have to keep your eyes on the road. There are two drawbacks that come to mind with this arrangement. The screen is very small, making the nav information difficult to see. Also, it's designed for mounting on the wind shield. The design of the 130S is very compact and portable. It folds with a clamshell hinge and attaches to a windshield with a strong suction cup and a twist lock that ensures the device won't budge.
In between the two halves of the clamshell is a ball and socket joint that allows the mount to be angled into a variety of positions. It can be rotated for use with an adhesive disc on the dash, or for use directly connected to the windshield. This joint makes it so you can adjust the GPS to any angle, and is quite handy. On the other hand I found it to be just a tiny bit too tight, and the GPS would sometimes pop off the mount while I was trying to adjust the angle. If you are careful however you can pop off a rubber protector exposing two screws and very slightly reducing the tension on those screws. (If you find the same issue I did.) One eighth of a turn on each screw was enough, and it may naturally loosen with time anyhow.
There’s another potential issue with this style of mounting. The windshield mounts run the risk of obstructing your view and compromising safety. It's even illegal in some states, such as Minnesota. That said, the 130S is small and unobtrusive presence. The touch screen, though small, is very intuitive and offers straightforward, no nonsense mapping functions such as simply revealing your location on a map, to showing the quickest route to a given location. If a route has traffic, you can tap the Alternate Route icon for different route choices. The device comes loaded with maps of the United States plus Points of Interest data such as restaurants, gas stations, and other useful info.
The maps can be viewed in both 2D and 3D mode, depending on your preferences .
The 130S has a status bar at the bottom of the screen that gives you directions on where and when you need to turn, based on your indicated destination, as well as voice guided, turn by turn navigation that directs you on upcoming turns. It's a great feature to keep your eyes on the road but somewhat disappointing, in that it's difficult to hear and the volume adjustment is quite limited.
The "Help Me!" feature proves true to its name, offering you useful access to safety information relevant to your positioning. You can pinpoint your location with the "Where Am I ?" function and then pull up the nearest intersection names and info on the closest hospitals, gas stations and car repair shops.
The Tom-Tom 130S, with prices ranging under $200 dollars offers some one of the better values for a dash mounted GPS. If one is not deterred by a small screen or low speaker volume, the 130S can be a useful travel companion.
This article was written by Candice Fellowes. Candice is a gadget addict who found the best Handheld GPS choices at ChosenMobile.com plus a mind-blowing assortment of other high tech goodies. Even if you don't think you're in the market for a Handheld GPS check out ChosenMobile.com and you might change your mind!
Tags: computers, gps, technology, navigation, handheld gps, tomtom, vehicle gps, driving navigation, portable navigation