TomTom’s Via 260 will bring you to places you’ve never
been to
Price: $195
Info: www.tomtom.com
When it comes to GPS devices, there
are only so many brands that comes to mind and TomTom is one of them. This
month, we have the newly launched TomTom Via 260 with us. It’s not the more
premium GO series but is it good enough? Let’s find out!
The Via 260 is equipped with a
4.3-inch display and everything is controlled using the touch screen interface.
However, some things can be voice controlled. We’ll talk about this later.
It is equipped with an integrated
mount that can be angled at any position you can think of. It can also be dash
mounted but you will need a flat surface in the car to do that. The problem
with an integrated mount is that you’ll need to take the mount off the
windscreen whenever you are getting out of the car (Malaysia is not as safe as
other countries). This causes the suction cup to lose it’s suction. On our
reviewing unit, the mount worked for about 3 times. After that, it just dropped
off after 30 minutes or so.
The
integrated amount can be angled at any position you can think of.
The interface is intuitive enough to
be used. The buttons are pretty big and typing in addresses couldn’t be easier.
There are options for the user to report speed cameras as well as traffic info,
but it’s not supported in Malaysia.
Performance wise, the Via 260 is
pretty accurate. With only 70% signal strength (we tested this on a car with
tinted windows), our speed and location was only about 2km/h and 5 – 10 meters
off. On a fully charged battery, it took us about 2 hours to deplete it.
The device has Bluetooth connectivity
to connect to a phone as well. Pairing it is easy enough and we got ours
working in less than a minute. You can also control the device using voice
controls. There are a bunch of voice commands that can be used, including
navigating to a location and basic operations of the device.
Chip
Conclude
The TomTom Via 260 is a pretty full
featured navigation device and our only beef is the integrated mount. While it
is a good idea, it’s not practical. Let’s hope TomTom can address this issue.
|
Specifications
Display:
4.3-inch
Bluetooth
Connectivity: Yes
Interface:
Micro USB
Storage:
2GB (Internal), external SD card slot
Dimensions
(W x D x L): 119 x 84 x 19.7mm
Weight:
183g
|
Ratings
Performance:
4 stars
Features:
4 stars
Design:
3 stars
Value:
4 stars
Good:
full featured device, bluetooth connectivity, voice controlled
Bad:
integrated mount |
