Holiday gift ideas: Travel Gear

Road Warriors love getting gadgets too – here's what we want for Christmas

Gadgets were practically invented for mobile business workers – always traveling, they're always looking for technology that makes their journeys easier, more productive, and even fun or entertaining. You can argue that other categories in the gift guide, such as portable entertainment, smartphones, even computers/notebooks owe their existence to the road warrior. That said, here are some travel (or automobile) specific gadgets that we enjoyed:

TomTom XL 340S LIVE

This widescreen GPS unit from TomTom includes traffic updates through a built-in receiver that can access TomTom’s LIVE service. When you buy the unit you get a three-month trial of the services, which provide live traffic information on your current route, local search with Google, fuel price updates, a sped-up time to get your GPS position, and weather forecasts.

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Gadgets were practically invented for mobile business workers – always traveling, they're always looking for technology that makes their journeys easier, more productive, and even fun or entertaining. You can argue that other categories in the gift guide, such as portable entertainment, smartphones, even computers/notebooks owe their existence to the road warrior. That said, here are some travel (or automobile) specific gadgets that we enjoyed:

TomTom XL 340S LIVE

This widescreen GPS unit from TomTom includes traffic updates through a built-in receiver that can access TomTom’s LIVE service. When you buy the unit you get a three-month trial of the services, which provide live traffic information on your current route, local search with Google, fuel price updates, a sped-up time to get your GPS position, and weather forecasts.

The device has a 4.3-inch widescreen display, which in theory lets you see more map when driving, but it’s not really that much of a difference than other GPS units I’ve tried. I did like the new EasyPort mounting system, which makes it a whole lot easier to mount the device on your windshield than earlier suction-cup systems – an older TomTom unit we have still occasionally falls off. With the EasyPort, you can snap on the GPS device to the mount a whole lot quicker, and also snap it off quicker, which you’ll end up doing a lot of because you won’t want to leave this in your car so that thieves can take them.
Software updates include advanced lane guidance (the system does a good job of telling you what lane to get in way before you need to be in that lane), and it speaks street names for you if you want (which is highly entertaining in Massachusetts, where I still can’t pronounce town names, let alone street names, correctly).

Like other TomTom units, you can download its HOME software to your PC, which makes it easier to get map updates and other applications for the GPS. I’m especially intrigued by the ability for users to create their own voices for the system – I’m half-inclined to have my 4-year-old daughter record directions so I can hear her giving me navigation tips. Another great voice to download is Homer Simpson, who offers hilarious driving directions while you’re traveling.

Cool Yule rating: 4.5 stars
Price: $300
Product Web site
Reviewed by Keith Shaw