TomTom XXL 540TM 5-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator (Lifetime Traffic & Maps Edition) - Gadget Box

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R. Pertusio –

  

History with GPS Navigation:
I’ve used built-in Honda (Alpine), standalone Garmin, and Ford ‘Sync’ audio GPS navigation devices.
I loved the Honda navi for its size, and I hated it because updates were sparse and expensive.
I loved the Garmin for being up-to-date but I hated it because it always seemed to change its mind a lot, or direct me into strange areas.
I didn’t really care for the Ford Sync navigation, as it wasn’t a visual navi. Included for free with the car, but I choose not to use it. Maybe only good as a ‘back-up’ in case the TomTom fails– though I don’t think it ever will.

I sold my Honda and needed a new navigation system.

I bought the XXL 540TM for…
1) Screen size
2) Frequent map updates (4x a year + Map Share)
3) Ability to customize it (lots of settings to play with)
4) Well Known & Quality (I’ve always heard ‘Garmin’ is the best, but when I’ve tried Garmin, I didn’t like it!)
5) Lane Guidance
6) IQ Routes (figuring out which roads were best to use)

By the way, in case you were wondering the “TM” stands for “Traffic” and “Maps”, indicating there are free traffic and map updates. I had NO problems entering the “Lifetime Maps & Traffic” code provided.

What’s in the box:
-> GPS device itself
-> Window mount (with suction cup)
-> Dashboard ‘sticky’ pad
-> USB cable (to connect to PC)
-> Car Power adapter
-> Set Up Guide
-> Slip of paper with 1 code, valid for Lifetime Map/Traffic updates

The first thing I did was hook it up to my PC and run all the updates. (A newer map was available + GPSFix + Map Share.) It took about 1.5 hours to update all of it. After it was done, it took up about 96% of the 2GB built-in memory. (I didn’t check how much it used before updating.) Not a lot of ‘wiggle room’ to add more features. No built-in SD slot to add memory, either.

One major downside is that I don’t like how easily the device ‘pops off’ the windshield mount. (See further explanation under “The BAD” below.) I am considering getting a (non-adhesive) weighted/padded mount to put on the dashboard.

The GOOD:
+ Screen size met my expectations. Easy to see everything on the screen

+ Startup time (including time to lock onto satellites) seemed fairly quick

+ Roads were up-to-date and labeled properly. Didn’t find any errors

+ Allowed me to customize just about everything I wanted to.

+ It functioned perfectly as a Navigation device. This is where I felt Garmin was lacking. With all the features a Garmin has, it never seemed to ‘navigate’ the way I liked. Of all the features, the ‘Navigation’ is the most important, and TomTom does it well from what I’ve seen.

+ It pronounced some ‘hard to say’ roads perfectly! I’m sure I’ll find some that are not right, but Garmin/Sync had a hard time saying road names.

The “OK”:
+- Traffic is only updated by RDS (sent by local FM radio stations). This is what I paid for. RDS updated only major roadways (Interstates) and marked some accidents / road construction / road closures. It only worked when the power cord was plugged into the accessory power port on the car (as the cord functions as the antenna.) I would have preferred TomTom’s GO/Live line of products which has a built-in ‘cell phone’ to grab more detailed and current traffic information. But, these were out of my price range. The XXL 540TM does “just enough” traffic to make it useful.

+- It takes some time to calculate a long distance route. But, I also know that it is using IQ Routes to choose the best roads. It seemed 1 or 2 seconds longer than it needed to be, but certainly not a huge problem.

The BAD:
- Internal memory not expandable. 96% used up without any ‘extras’ installed? Hope I don’t need more…

- When browsing maps (dragging my finger) it is a bit ‘laggy’. I don’t expect perfection, but it seemed sluggish. Fortunately, I don’t plan to browse maps often, so I’ll deal with it. I tried turning off Points Of Interest (POIs), and turning off 3D maps (using 2D maps instead), and it really didn’t seem to make a difference. I’m impressed with the detail it showed, but wasn’t thrilled about waiting 10 seconds for the entire screen to finish ‘drawing’.

- Windshield mount seemed to ‘pop off’ too easily. When suctioned to the windshield, I have to use 2 hands to ‘hold’ the GPS and keep it attached to the mount while I adjust. I suppose it is useful for people who leave the mount stuck on the windshield. I prefer to remove the device AND the mount and hide them when not in use. (I figure a thief will know that the mount is for a GPS, and that the GPS is hidden in the car somewhere.)

I have yet to try this out on a LONG or COMPLEX road trip, but…

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David Pearlman “sound fanatic” (Arlington, MA) –

  

  

  

The GPS market has come a long way in the past few years. A decade ago, there were very few after-market GPS units, they were mostly expensive, and they were also mostly mediocre. The best units cost more than a thousand, and while they’d get you from here to there, didn’t feature a lot of bells and whistles. Factory installed GPS units–then limited mostly to high end cars–generally cost $2-3k.

A growing number of portable GPS units have come to market in the past 5 or so years. Over time, the hardware has improved, the software has (for the best ones) gotten pretty good, and prices have (especially in the past year or so) dropped tremendously. (That last point–the tremendous drop in price–has forced many manufacturers out of the market. At this point, it is mostly dominated by names like TomTom, Magellan, and Garmin). There is also now competition from high end smart phones, most of which have a GPS unit built in.

(Amazingly–or perhaps not–the cost of factory installed car GPS systems has stubbornly remained around $2,000!)

While there has been substantial brand attrition in the GPS market, there is no shortage of choices. That’s because each manufacturer now offers an almost ridiculous number of models, many of which are only modestly different.

GPS units can basically be differentiated as follows

1) Screen size (usually 3-5″ diagonally)
2) Ability to acquire a GPS signal
3) The GUI (graphical user interface) presented to the user
4) Quality of the maps (how often updated, what geographical regions they cover)
5) Does the unit incorporate traffic data?
6) Quality of routing (how good are the driving instructions generated)
7) Does the unit offer text to speech? (Does it tell you the names of streets, or just say “next left”?)
Does the unit offer voice recognition
9) Does the unit incorporate blue tooth to communicate with your phone and/or FM transmission to play over your car radio?
10) Does the unit have expandable memory; play mp3s; etc?
11) How good is the included mounting hardware?

Let’s take these features one at a time for this particular GPS, the TomTom XXL540TM

1) The screen size of this unit is 5″. This is at the high end of current offerings by the major GPS manufacturers. This doesn’t really buy you any additional “real estate”, i.e. the resolution isn’t higher than the small GPS units. It’s just a little bigger. That IS useful, to be honest, and is also helpful as it makes it easier to maneuver the touchscreen menus.

2) This unit, like all the current TomTom line, does a great job of acquiring a GPS signal. It can take far less than a minute with clear lines of sight, and my unit was even able to pull up 5 satellites inside my home with the blinds drawn. I also have GPS units from Sony and Garmin, as well as a built in unit in my car. The TomTom is better than the Sony at getting a signal, as good as the Garmin, and slower than the built in in my car (not a fair comparison, since the built in gets a much larger antenna).

3) This TomTom has a very good GUI. The touch screen is reasonably responsive and most everything appears where one would, intuitively, expect it to be. My biggest complaint is that there are a LOT of options and option screens you can drill through–way too many to deal with while driving. The upside, is there is a “simple menus” options that will present only the most significant option screens. It should be noted that some of the recent TomTom models (e.g. the 550) have eliminated a lot of the options/option screens, leaving ONLY the “simple” menus. That is a big negative, since some of these deep menus are quite useful. Bottom line: Good GUI and stick to a model like this that at least gives you the option of the deep menus.

4) The map data is good, and this particular GPS comes with lifetime map updates. TomTom also has a “map share” facility, which allows users to upload/download map changes. That means if a bunch of users discovery that a street is closed, they can note this information on their GPS and that info will get transmitted back to TomTom, who then shares it with everyone else. In this way, maps get corrected very quickly. This unit includes maps for both North America (US/Mexico/Canada) and much of Europe. The inclusion of European maps will be considered a major bonus for some, and irrelevant for those who don’t plan to take this outside this continent.

5) This unit includes lifetime traffic data. The value of this data will depend on where you live. Major cities have great coverage. Smaller cities frequently get poorer coverage. The traffic data is also sometimes incorrect. But on the whole, the traffic data is good, and reasonably reliable (where you can get it). It is transmitted over the FM frequency, and an antenna is built into the auto…

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 Comments (14)

I bought the TomTom XXL 540S a few weeks ago. This gps is the big brother to the TomTom XL 340S. This gps just has the bigger and brighter 5″ screen.

I have very mixed feelings about the gps. There are many things that I like about it, but there are also so many small details and functions that are lacking on it that TomTom either decided not to work on or decided to exclude. These little things that are missing drive me absolutely crazy at times and I don’t know if I can stand them or not. I may consider returning this gps and getting either a Garmin or Magellan instead. I don’t know yet. I really hope TomTom starts addressing some of these issues.

Some of my pros vs cons are below which I hope will help others who are trying to decide on a gps.

Pros:

+ IQ Routes (TomTom uses historical speed data for roads based on the time of day and day of the week, so that it can give you the best possible route)
+ Big 5″ Screen, which is easy to see.
+ Very loud speaker. (Option in Volume Preferences to link the volume to your cars speed if you want)
+ Satellite acquition is fast (less than 10 sec for me). Shows usually around 9 satellites.
+ Map Color can be changed.
+ Can change the color of the car symbol in 3D mode
+ Auto Day/Night mode changes the brightness and color.
+ Ability to prepare a route with any Depart and Destination coordinates.

+ Shows the current street that your on at the bottom of the screen and the next street to turn on in the top right corner.

+ Advanced Lane Guidance on the highway is displayed really nicely. Shows an arrow with the lane that you need to be in and also sometimes shows a 3D sign for your exit. It is nice and big and it stays on the screen long enough to be viewed so that its clear to see where you need to go.

+ Status bar can be customized to how you like it. It can be displayed either horizontally or vertically. Can show the remaining time, remaining distance, current time, arrival time, your speed and the speed limit, distance to your next turn, compass, ect.

+ TTS (text to speech) instructions are very helpful in letting you know where to turn and also preparing you for your next turn as well. For instance it will say something like “After one qurter mile turn right”. Then as you get closer to the street it will say “Turn right Main St. Then take the second left”

Cons:

- POI (Points of Interest) Map Screen shows the POI name, street and cross street, phone, city, and state. But it gives NO street addresses! So you don’t know the address or what side of the street the POI is on, unless you call the place ahead of time and ask. All you get is a checkered flag shown in the middle of the street with TomTom saying “you have reached your final destination”. On the Go model the POI Map Screen has a “Details” button that shows the street address, zip code, and food cuisine type for instance. Why TomTom decided to remove this on this model I have no idea.

- No AutoZoom enable/disable option (like on the Go model). You can manually zoom in or out on the map, but about 5 sec later AutoZoom will kick in and take you right back to what TomTom wants you to see. Its very frustrating because I like to zoom in and out sometimes so that I can see more map detail, but TomTom won’t allow me to for anymore then about 5 sec. When I turn on the gps the zoom level that TomTom has picked is so bad that most all of the street outlines around me have completely vanished from the screen. All that I see are a bunch of street names just floating around on the map with no streets being shown.

- Doesn’t speak which side of the street your destination is on. (If you enter a street address for a destination however it does show a little arrow on the map pointing to the left or right hand side of the street when you are approaching your destination. Along with a little checkered flag on the side of the street your destination is on.)

- Change Preferences screen is 6 pages deep and only has a button to advance foward to the next page. There is no back button. So if you say accidently go past the screen you wanted to be on you have to then press the foward button 5 more times just to get back to that page.

- No simple way to get into the Browse as Text turn lists display from the main screen.

- Browse as Text route instructions, the text and arrows for the turn list is just way to small. Also there is no Auto Scroll function. To view the next page of new upcoming turns you have to scroll down the list manually yourself.

- POI Map Screen in Night mode shows the cross street text in black, which is extremely difficult to see unless you get very close to the screen.

- 3D mode during the day the maps background brightness isn’t consistent across…

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