TomTom XXL 540T (Lifetime Traffic Edition) 5-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator
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GPS, TOMTOM XXL 540T, LIFETIME
Features
- Preloaded with maps of the US, Canada and Mexico, complete with Map Share technology for easy modification and updates
- Lifetime Traffic Updates included–outsmart traffic and avoid delays for life with real-time information via your TomTom
- IQ Routes Technology calculates the fastest route possible based on time of day, saving you time, fuel and money
- Advanced Lane Guidance indicates exactly which lane to use, so you can go confidently
- Announces turn-by-turn directions aloud, including street and place names
- Dimensions (W x H x L): 5 x 4 x 1 inches
- Weight: 1 pounds
My Second TomTom
The TomTom XXL 540TM is exactly what I expected. It has performed perfectly thus far. It is such an upgrade compared to the basic 130, 2nd edition I first purchased a few years ago. Very satisfied with it.
Defective
Took the GPS out of the box, connected it to a computer with TomTom Home software installed. It immediately prompted me to create an account and when I did to update my maps because the shipping maps were out of date. Ok, sounds good. The sync process downloads new maps (fine), and then removes the existing maps from the device without backing them up first. Then it syncs new maps.
The device could never complete the syncing process of new maps. Regardless of the actual reality of the situation, the TomTom software would interrupt the sync stating that the GPS had been disconnected partway through the sync process. Nevermind that the device was still mounted to the computer, filesystem was browsable, and the GPS screen showed a do not disconnect notice. 3 hours and 6 attempts to sync maps later (on more than one computer), this has been boxed up and returned.
Two stars because the actual build quality was ok (except the mount, which had trouble staying in the locked slot at any time).
Worst design ever !
Ordered this off Amazon after seeing the great price reduction in spite of the bad reviews. Red Cross of death ! The device connects fine to a PC and the TomTom Home PC app finds the device. First thing the app does is to download the latest map for the device – it’s about 1700 MB and there’s only 1200 MB free space on the device ! So basically no map ! Also, when you disconnect the charged up device from the PC, all you get is the totally uncool flashing Red Cross. The app itself has a mode where you can operate the device through a simulator, that works great, but I can hardly carry my laptop around with this GPS. Waited for customer service for a couple of hours, nobody answers your call, very bad CS. Scarring experience with TomTom, will not go back there again. Returned the device for a refund from Amazon, let’s see what happens. Whoever thought of putting a USB 1.1 port on this device is just nuts, they just shouldn’t call it a new model at all. Save your money, try Garmin instead.
great product
Easy user interface. Acquires satellite lock faster than the other TomTom. Traffic updates are accurate for major highways. Lane assistance is a great feature. The only drawback is it’s mount. It slides off the glass very easily.
Impressive..
Actually I was impressed.. I have 2 other gps’s at the moment.. I have upgraded the maps on the other two.. but I have to hack them to get them updated.. that is why I bought this one.. Lifetime Map updates… I don’t have to worry about finding new maps every time I turn around. I havn’t used it as much lately.. I have been riding my motorcycle, I have put one of my older ones on it. I would love to use this one.. but I am leary of the EZ-mount.. I would hate to lose the GPS over a big bump.
I love the screen size, and the menus.. I even have my truck as the 3d pointer. I am thinking of a trip this summer so I will have plenty of time to test it out more.
Spend The Extra $–Get The Lifetime Maps!
The product works great, but spend the extra $$ to get the lifetime maps edition. Tomtom will charge you more for one year of add-on maps than you will pay for the lifetime add-on, and you CANNOT purchase the lifetime subscription after the initial purchase!
Optional Items
They do not tell you that you need to purchase the optional RDS-TMC Traffic Receiver to be able to use the traffic update function. Otherwise Tom-Tom’s are great GPS. I had a Magellan and it was so hard to update. You had to download a file and then use a DOS program to update it. With Tom-Tom, you just plug in the USB plug, start the HOME program and it updates all the maps.
not satisfied
The most appealing feature of ths gps is “lifetime maps. After 6 phone calls and attempts by Tomtom to download I still do not have that feature. The gps works fine. They say they are having problems with some activation codes and they are working on it.
This is great!!!
I am sorry for a real tech person to know a lot about computers and software. Iwas almost afraid to buy one of these things. The price first got me, thinking that they were about $300.00. My brother has a fancier one that has the voice of Homer Simpson. I am sure that program was costly. I do a lot of musician gigs in different parts of the state. This thing was TOO easy. The set up was about a minute. It gives you both car charger and USB cable.
(some i found dont have the USB cable) The XXL 5 inch is very easy to read. the voice module is very clear.
So if you get lost even on your “blind date” it will get you there perfectly.(now you have to see what your
date looks like) This is a great new toy for the “explorer” to me the novice…………
Good for basic needs
This is the first time I used the dedicated navigation system. I bought this TomTom because of the screen size, lifetime traffic updates capability and possibility to download European maps. I have used the device for a few trips in town and around San Diego, and for a trip to the lake Edison in High Siera. Here are my observations.
Good: Solid navigation under “normal” circumstances, i.e., in the city and suburbs, as opposed to remote countryside. Knows small roads and shortcuts. Directions are clear and highway lane guidance is good. Driving time estimates are accurate, and display is informative.
Not good:
- No navigation on the streets inside the shopping areas / malls. When they are large, you sort of expect the device to bring you to the store you programmed, rather than abandoning you half a block away of the shopping area entrance.
- “Avoid highway” option for navigation produced unexplicably convoluted and manifestly unoptimal route(e.g., driving in opposite direction to destination), even though a much shorter and simpler route existed. The “shortest route” option gave better result, almost matching the route I usually take. However, in the middle of driving, the thing changed its mind and suggested a turnaround at an intersection. When I refused and drove forward, it re-routed again, this time correctly, and stayed so to the very end.
- Driving in remote areas can confuse the device quite a bit. When driving above Kaiser Pass on CA Hwy 168, TomTom routinely placed the vehicle 50 to 100 yards away from the actual road, every so often asking me to turn right or left whenever possible. It was a source of more than one joke, given the road was a one lane in both directions, with a wall on one side, and drop off on the other. Below Kaiser Pass, however, it was fine.
I miss a possibility to choose a point on the map through which the route must pass, and I did not particularly like the “IQ routing” it suggests.
The price / performance is still quite good, and you can have a lot of use of the device when driving roads more traveled, when it really gives a 90% best route.
This is a good basic device for the money, without too many bells and whistles.
tomtom xxl 540s
it is a good gps .better than garvin , magellan . a lot of improve .
Lemon?
In three weeks it took me to 8 wrong locations and on a dead end dirt road. It replaced my old Garmin Nuvi 760. Setting up trips & destinations took more steps and longer. I returned it and bought the Garmin Nuvi 1450T. I’ve had it one week. It seems to be working well.
Preliminary impression – so, so
I bought this GPS because it came with the map of Mexico and because it came with free map updates. It works well in Los Angeles (Los Anhelles as the voice says). What I really wanted was something that would keep me from getting lost in Tijuana, BC. It was less than no help there. I was traveling to Ensenasa and was on the toll road heading directly for Ensenada when the GPS told me twice to turn left off of the road. On the return trip there was no help from the GPS at all. I am very disappointed in Tom Tom.
Also, I have tried three times to update the maps and each time, after lengthy waits, I end up being timed out. I emailed Tom Tom regarding this and have an automated response stating that they have had an unusual number of “incidents” and will respond as soon as possible. If the problems are resolved I’ll amend this review. So far I’m sorry I bought this device.
xxl 540
Worked great right out of the box. Updates all went fine and the traffic feature works great!! Replaced a Garmin unit and the life time updates and traffic makes this a sweet deal.
Great so far
Two road trips so far and everything is great so far. Second GPS for me and this is way better than the first. My only concern is the free traffic cam update on TomTom home that doesn’t seem to be working for me, however the 540tm itself works great.
Bad Quality
I had a Garmin Nuvi before and figured I should probably give TomTom a try when looking for a new GPS with traffic update. This one seems to have some nice features like 5 inch screen, lifetime map update and lifetime traffic. Well, “lifetime” is great, if it actually works. The traffic worked for 2 weeks and now the device no longer recognizes the receiver. The traffic icon doesn’t show up on the screen at all. When I choose TomTom Service/Traffic, it asks me to plug in the TMC receiver which is already plugged in. I’m done with TomTom and going back to Garmin.
As for the review, it has some pros and cons. Here is my list.
Pros:
1. Ad-Free Traffic update. Garmin’s free lifetime traffic update includes ads. Even though it doesn’t seem obtrusive, I don’t like the ideas of having Ads on a GPS.
2. Seems cheaper than Garmin with same features.
3. Maps and routing are accurate as far as I can tell.
Cons:
1. Bad quality. Traffic receiver no longer works.
2. A big one – when approaching destination, it doesn’t announce if it is on the left or right. On major roads, the destination flag does show which side of the street you should be pulling into, but it doesn’t announce it.
3. Menu system isn’t as friendly as Garmin’s. It might have lots of configurable items, but just not very easy to navigate through the menu items.
4. The screen has good resolution, but the text looks terrible. Either the font is not good or not scaled right. The letters on the soft keyboard are not smooth.
5. Touchscreen not accurate. Again on the soft keyboard, pressing “E”, 50% of time “W” or “R” is registered. Many times have to tap twice to get the menu item, and sometime a tap registers twice.
6. Very slow routing, and map drawing. My office is about 30 miles from home, from once side of Washington DC to the other. It takes a good 25 seconds to draw the map to show the route.
7. Only default computer voice has TTS. What’s the point of having other voices if they don’t support TTS?
8. Power cable/Traffic receiver plugs into the unit, not the mount.
9. The mount is strange. As the other reviewer said, it is difficult to keep the unit level because it clicks to lock into position, not like Garmin devices you can rotate to any angle.
TomTom xxl thoiughts
Positives: Great screen size and great satellite capture.
Negatives: Screen not so bright and not great choices for screen colors…had to download a couple. I’m wondering how long the tension on the spring for the mounting will last…a bit flimsy…also the lane feature does not seem to be working…maybe I have it set incorrectly???
NYC
Works great
HAD THIS FOR A FEW WEEKS AND IT WORKS GREAT. ONLY COMPLAINT IS THE SPEED LIMITS IN MY AREA OF SOUTH CENTRAL PA ARE VERY LIMITED. THIS IS MY FOURTH GPS AND BY FAR THE BEST.
Big screen, IQ route rocks.
Not sure what was all the fuss about problems with the lifetime updates. I just followed some commons sense and it all went well
before downloading any maps:
1. update the desktop tomtom software
2. update the GPS operating software
and now go and update all the maps.
The only issue – no safety camera warning. apparently they are not allowed to provide this service in the US, why are they still marketing this feature?
Very poor customer service
Try getting help from customer service, and trust me you will need it just to get the free maps that are supposed to be included with the device