Has TomTom's customer service improved - last I looked there were numerous complaints.

Second, as I understand it, MapShare does not make continuous improvements but only when the next map version comes out - is this true?

Traffic service is not free for life
One has to pay about $60 per year

I've read several times that the 340 S crashes, freezes or otherwise malfunctions when you try to download the latest map updates & the units have had to be sent back to TomTom with
varying degrees of satisfaction/dissatisfaction. Fletch, or anyone else, do you know anything about this problem which seems to be a memory problem? (No SD slot, a definite 'con'.) I'm thinking of buying one for my daughter & I don't want to dump a problem in her lap. Any info you have will be greatly appreciated. I'm an old dude not born into the digital age so I'm learning as I go. I learned a whole lot from your review Fletch. Thanks.

I can't decide between this (xl 340 s) or the garmin 255wt (or 1250T). I'd like one that's accurate more times than not.

About the itinerary planning. Does the planner require the use of the "Home" destination as the starting point in all instances? If so is there a work around for this ? i.e. Can the "Home" destination be deleted after saving the itinerary and the next destination be the starting point of the trip?

I often fly to other cities and rent a car there and would like to pre-plan and save my itinerary using the destination airport as my starting point for my TT itinerary.

Does Garmin have a technology that is similar to "IQ routing" by tomtom?

Danny, I've heard Tomtom and Garmin have similar accuracy rates in urban areas but that Garmin is better in rural areas. Anybody know if this is true? And does rural areas include suburbs?

These reviews are killing me! I have been reading for hours, here and Amazon. Seems like all of these products have major shortcomings. First I want one with good sound. Loud. That seems to eliminate all Garmins. Next, I want bluetooth, not for calling, but to be able to listen to directions through my bluetooth head set. I want an active windshield mount. I want a bright, wide screen. I want to be able to update maps with speed camera. I want to be notified when I am approaching a camera. I don't care about much else. Which one will give me this? Thanks!

I have the TomTom XXL 540S which is exactly the same as the XL 340S. The only difference is it has a larger screen.

I have very mixed feelings about this gps. There are many things that I like about it, but there are also so many small little details and functions that are lacking on it that TomTom either decided not to work on or decided to exclude and only put on their more expensive Go model. 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.

Some of my pros vs cons are below which I hope will help others who are trying to decide on a gps. I'm sure I will miss quiet a few, but these are the ones off the top of my head that I can think of right now. (Many of them are covered by Fletch in his great review of this gps)

Pros:

+ IQ Routes.
+ Screen Size (on my model)
+ Loud speaker
+ Map Color can be changed.
+ Can change the color of the car symbol in 3D mode
+ Shows the current street that your on at the bottom of the screen.
+ Auto Day/Night brightness and color.
+ Ability to prepare a route with any Depart and Destination coordinates.

+ 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 be.

+ Status bar can be customized how you like it. Showing your speed, speed limit, distance to your next turn, remaining distance to your final destination, ect.

Cons:

- POI Map Screen shows the POI street, cross street, phone, city and state. But it gives NO street address! So you don't know what side of the street the POI is on and neither does TomTom. 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 I noticed. Why TomTom decided to remove this for this model I have no idea. It was very dumb.

- 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 you are 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 on the map with no streets being shown.

- 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.

- Doesn't ever say which side of the street your destination is on.

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

- 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.

- TTS (text to speech) of multiword street names sounds many times garbled.
- TTS pronounces some words and streets poorly.
- Can't change the color of the car symbol in 2D mode.
- Can't search restaurants by cuisine type.
- Can't enter the street name untill after you have entered the city. Its bad news if you know the street but unsure of the city.
- No MicroSD memory card slot for expansion. Room is pretty tight with only 2GB of internal flash memory.

how do i remove languages from my tomtom xl 340s

It's easy to remove languages from the TomTom. Once you install HOME, you go to "Manage My Device" tab and then once that loads you have a choice of either the TT or the computer. From the TT tab, click on "voices" and then delete what you want. You should leave on computer voice at least. Make sure you back things up FIRST before you go deleting anything from your device, just in case.

It's easy to remove languages from the TomTom. Once you install HOME, you go to "Manage My Device" tab and then once that loads you have a choice of either the TT or the computer. From the TT tab, click on "voices" and then delete what you want. You should leave on computer voice at least. Make sure you back things up FIRST before you go deleting anything from your device, just in case.

Hate my tomtom, I'm returning it. It would tell my I have reached my destination in the middle of an intersection!! It will pull up a POI based on a search reconize the establishment, derict me there, and tell me I've reched my destination in the MIDDLE of the intersection! The last time this happened my destination was across the street and the other side of the road. So, because I shouldn't have three parking lots/strip malls to find my destination, I'm getting a Magellan. Hopefully, I'll have better luck:)

CB, Have you returned your Magellan yet, and if so what did you replace That One with ?

Hey Fletch, Since Tom Tom will now be reissuing some of its XL and XXL models with "Free" lifetime traffic updates and "Free" lifetime (quarterly) map updates, do they become a better value and more desirable models now ? The XL 540TM (traffic/map) will be released in a few weeks at a list price of $259. What do you think regarding it and the Garmin 1390T (or compared to the 1350T)? Thank you !! Joe D

Hey Fletch....The XXl540TM is now preorder for $203. What do you think ?

Hello


G'night

hello everyone. just to let all the users of tomtom products know that the tom tom hd traffic does not fucntion at all with the newsest set of maps. When you call customer service all they do is give you the run around. I will never purchase another tomtom product for as long as I live. they customer support and product are very sub par. Garmin here I come once I can sell this piece of crap to someone elese.

I decided to keep my Tom Tom after trying out the newer Garmins. A piece of crap from Tom Tom is better than a load of crap from Garmin.