TomTom XXL 540TM - US (including Puerto Rico), Canada & Mexico Automotive GPS Receiver

First, i'll say that I waited to write a review on this unit. I wanted to give it a few weeks. That's the right way to write a review. Some people play with something for a few hours or only a few days and write an incomplete and only partial truth.

My first opinion of the 540TM was impressed. The ease of use thru the touch-screen features and functions. There was a bit of a learning curve for me. I've never owned a GPS before. But TomTom had a very good reputation. I researched for almost six weeks before deciding on TomTom. Then I spent another few weeks researching the models of TomTom within my budget.

First impressions aside,... TomTom has it right with this GPS unit. I am still very impressed with it's features and how quickly technology today can snap nearly immediate signals from space back down to earth. With all GPS there should be expected some short delay in it's back and forth communications with the space satellites. The 540TM has very little delay.

My second impression after about seven days was my still being impressed. I began learning TomTom home features with my laptop. I love that. The only thing I need to find the answer to is how to lock the map zoom view to a certain zoom. It seems it reverts back to it's factory setting sometimes. However, i'm pretty sure such a glitch was resolved. It's more likely operator error in my case. Hey,... at least i'm honest.

My third and current impression after two weeks of use is that the battery life is pretty short. But you must appreciate that big screen = less battery life. That was something I assumed when I purchased it. That goes with anything in technology. It comes with a DC power cable. That plugs into the GPS bottom. The only port is a USB port. No other ports. Thus, you charge it thru your computer or thru the kit given DC car adapter.

I love that you can trade out your 'car icon' for most anything you can dream up. There are free icon editors online. So, realistically you can go outside, take a rear photo of your car,... edit it in an icon editor and upload it to your GPS thru the USB cable and TomTom home program that's included in the package.

Aside from my appreciation of it's features and options, I would say the learning curve for a newbie (like myself) would be about 20% of your time trying to figure out how to do something. After the second week I was accustomed to it's software and it's GPS features. And am only spending about 5% to 10% of my time 'tinkering' around. The included TomTom manual was very good and brief. Instead of a 100 page manual. Which it could realistically have done because of so many features.

If I were to loose my 540TM would I replace it with the same unit? I can honestly say absolutely I would. I love the traffic, roadways, alerts, maps, and options to upload map corrections. That's just awesome! No other GPS has that feature as far as i've seen.

What did I pay for mine? Brand new in the box $129 shipped to me. I get lifetime maps and traffic updates for life. That's what the 'TM' stands for. However, one slight disappointment was that the 'lifetime' updates you are only allotted 4 of such updates each year. I really doubt i'd need five major updates. But for me to really dig into and try and find anything lacking. The only things I can see is the battery life is reduced, as should be expected from a large screen unit. And the 'limited' lifetime updates only four per year.

I hope this extensive review is helpful. I love mine!

i really like this GPS and the whole tom tom line i find it really easy to use and great at directing, the maps and guidance in this GPS are better than my tom tom one, it has a choice of qwerty key board, and has a nice big screen and obviously traffic. the down sides are that it doesn't have an automatic turn on like the Garmin's and also the traffic doesn't show up on screen but rather it tells you if there is a shorter route as you are driving so you don't know if it gives you a route because there is less traffic or just because that is the way it routes.

I had bought this GPS from a local store on sale, and when it was stolen I headed to ebay for a replacement. The screen is large, bright and easy to read, and there are many variable options: screen colors, sound of the voice, etc. The top of the line features include automatic posting of the speed limit where you are traveling, precise visual and spoken directions for turn-offs and ramps, and real-time traffic surveys that allow calculation of routes based on current conditions. You can tell this unit what time you want to arrive at your destination, and it will plot the route accordingly. Update of maps (through your computer) and the traffic surveys are free for a lifetime. This is a great product. I got spoiled fast.

All in all, it does what it is supposed to do. It also allows other users to give valuable information to the community, but there is an upside and sownside to that. The good: you will know when things have changed on your route (road closings, location changes, etc) The bad: you have to rely on others to update things like that to ensure you don't end up following a route to nothing or something that doesn't exist anymore.

Another con, I was unable to downlaod the maps for life because of the space available on the device. Also, it takes too much to access your route in list form; a shortcut would helpful and safer.

I like the big display, freedom in planning and setup preferences

It takes a little time and patience to get the hang of working with this device.
I had a little trouble figuring out how to get the map update (my Device has 'lifetime map updates), so I called TomTom's customer service department and tney guided me through the process.
Although I had to wait several minutes 'in line' for tech support, the guidance I received made it well worth waiting for.)


I highly recommend practicing programming it to places you know how to get to in town before going to someplace you've never been.
If you want it to be specific in naming the streets you need to choose "Susan" the American computer voice. Although the voices I purchased (online download) are fun to listen to for awhile, they aren't specific enough for me to drive confidently in unknown territory. ("In four hundred yards, turn left")
I really like the feature for highways when my TomTom tells me what lane to be in to make an exit (and when!), as well as what highway I'm going to be looking for/merge onto.

It's fun to program it to take certain routes over others as well as being able to choose the map color scheme, vehicle, and POI's.
I connect my device to TomTom Home (online) to get map corrections regularly, and have submitted some corrections and additional 'Points of Interest') of my own.


All in all, I'm very happy with my purchase!