TomTom Go

The TomTom Go is the iPod of the navigation world. Cute and friendly-looking, it has interchangeable color faceplates, an organic pod shape, and a minimalist one-button design. It even comes packaged in an Apple-esque square box that breaks in half to reveal the product. The point of this charming come-on is, we assume, to establish TomTom as the user-friendly brand, and it's not at all an empty promise. The TomTom Go is designed to be ready to go right out of the box.

The TomTom Go comes with an awkward little mounting bracket and car charger, but once you suction the thing to your windshield and plug it in, it is ready to live up to its name. If no in-car power is available, the Go also has an internal rechargeable battery. Its 3.5-inch screen is identical in size to that of the Navman iCN 510, but it is even more brilliant with 262,144 colors.

One great perk is that TomTom provides pre-loaded maps of the entire U.S. and Canada on a single Secure Digital card. There's no discounting the joy of skipping the irritating map-loading procedure that experienced handheld GPS users are no doubt familiar with by now, but you'll pay for the convenience. The TomTom Go without pre-loaded maps costs $200 less.

The Go proved to be as out-of-the-box-simple as it promised. We literally popped it into its bracket, turned it on, typed in an address on its touchscreen, and off we went. Its dynamic 3D guidance is brilliantly designed and easy to follow. You can zoom in and out just by touching the corners of the screen, and the voice direction is helpful and clear, thanks to the excellent internal speaker. Planning your destination is quick and easy with the touchscreen keyboard, and you can instantly zoom in and out on maps to find details.

The GPS antenna never missed a beat-although like most systems, it had a hard time amid the skyscrapers of Manhattan-and the routes it picked were rational and fast. If you encounter an obstruction or traffic jam, a few taps of the screen can get you rerouted quickly.

Our only problem with the device is its shape. It's hardly pocket-sized and, frankly, a little difficult to hold on to-there are no corners to grip. Aside from that, we recommend the TomTom Go wholeheartedly. It is a joy to use and it gets you where you're going with the least amount of fuss.