Looking for new GPS, any ideas on these?

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frieslander

Joined
Mar 9, 2009
Messages
88
Location
Woodstock, Ontario, Canada
I am looking to buy a new GPS. At present I have a Tom Tom One XXL TTS. I bought it refurbished 2 years ago and updated the maps 3 months ago. However I wish to pass this one to my daughter who needs a better one.

I do not care about traffic updates, gas prices or blue tooth etc. I am retired but at times my memory is not the best so the GPS is a real help when driving.

I am looking at the following Tom Tom models:

XL 350M 4.3" refurbished @ $114.97
XXL 530S 5.0" refurbished @ $69.95
XXL 550 5.0" refurbished @$79.95

What is the difference between the XXL 550 and the XXL550 M?

Also some state Free Lifetime Map Updates, is there a limit or catch to this?

I use TYRE to plan all my routes so I need intinerary planning.

Any help or comments will be appreciated.
 
Unfortunately, you've just eliminated the 350 and 550 you listed as neither of them comes with Itinerary Planning as you require (though it can be added by adding a custom menu).

Check out the various models in the excellent comparison spreadsheet maintained by supermod mvl. Get it here:
https://www.tomtomforums.com/genera...del-feature-reference-updated-4-1-2011-a.html

It's not FREE lifetime maps, it's INCLUDED maps, in that the models with the M designation cost more than those without the M. There's not a catch, you get four updats/year.

Be careful about any refurbished models. I know the price seems attractive but I know that refurbs are NOT eligible for the Latest Map Guarantees.

Anyway, spend some time with the chart and then come back with furtgher questions.

My choice, if I had to make one right now, would be a new 540.
 
Thanks for the quick reply. I have decided to go with a Garmin this time. The one I ordered is a refurbished Garmin Nuvi 4.3" 1390LMT. It will work with the TYRE program I use and the Lifetime Map updates will more than pay for itself in the long run. And at $179.95 it is within my price range.

Too bad Tom Tom took the itinerary planning off the lower priced models, big mistake.

Thanks for your help. :)
 
frieslander said:
Thanks for the quick reply. I have decided to go with a Garmin this time. The one I ordered is a refurbished Garmin Nuvi 4.3" 1390LMT. It will work with the TYRE program I use and the Lifetime Map updates will more than pay for itself in the long run. And at $179.95 it is within my price range.

Too bad Tom Tom took the itinerary planning off the lower priced models, big mistake.
Click to expand...
FWIW, I purchased a new TomTom XXL540M for significantly less than this price in May, and have seen similar prices for it on several occasions since then. The XXL540M has a 5.0 inch screen, works well with TYRE, and comes with Lifetime Maps.

It is counterintuitive, but the XXL550 is actually less capable than the XXL540 - a result of what I consider a poor marketing decision by TomTom.
 
I checked out the XXL 540M just now and the prices here are around $200 plus shipping if available, there are not many out there..

However it would require me to buy from unknown sources with no easy way of returning them if defective etc.

I still do not understand why TomTom went the way they did, I always liked them. However I will have to see how I like the Garmin, maybe I will like it better. ;)
 
I did try there, $199 was the lowest price. Then there is shipping on top of that.

I have given up on shopping at Amazon for the simple reason that time after time the suppliers at Amazon.ca are USA suppliers and will not ship to Canada.

Like I said, I have ordered an Garmin Nuvi and it should be here by Tuesday or so. If I do not like it for some reason I can return it to the nearest BestBuy Canadian store, about 30 minutes from here.

Thanks just the same for the help.
 
Bummer. I'm still trying to figure out what NAFTA was good for -- if anything.
 
dhn said:
It helped kill of thousands of manufacturing jobs in Canada. :rant:
Click to expand...
Yeah - well they certainly didn't come here. Guess that only leaves one place...
 
Actually, many did for a while. Tennessee and other southern (read: non-union) States.

And then they left there for the 'other place'

But.......I'm guilty of being of being warned by a moderator to :focus:

Well, I'll warn myself.............:p
 
dhn said:
Actually, many did for a while. Tennessee and other southern (read: non-union) States.

And then they left there for the 'other place'

But.......I'm guilty of being of being warned by a moderator to :focus:

Well, I'll warn myself.............:p
Click to expand...

LOL self service I guess.

Well I found out that the Garmin I ordered does not have itinerary planning after all so I did some deep researching and ordered one that did have the itinerary planning.

In the mean time the first Garmin came and since I had 30 days to return it to BestBuy I decided to try it out to see if I liked it. I DID NOT! :mad:

So then I did some more research on the TomTom, dhn the XL spread sheet list you linked me to really helped. I could not find a XXL 540M at my usual sources but then I checked out the TomTom Canada store. Here I found the XXL 540M for $179 and ordered it. I know I will be happy with this one.
 
I did the backups as suggested. Then I copied them to a USB card using a 4GB card and a card reader. Then I removed the card reader and re-inserted it. The card was recognized as a TomTom GPS.

I then updated the actual GPS and again backed up all the files in a second folder. I again loaded them on the 4GB SD card after first deleting all the previous files. I again removed the reader and after about 30 seconds re-inserted it into the USB port.

Again it came up as a TomTom GPS and I was able to run it as a GPS on the desktop. The reason I go the extra step is to verify all the files are there and not corrupt.

I discovered this trick with my One XL that had a SD slot. I always ran it off the SD card rather than the internal memory. I loaded my .int files on both when I went on a trip. If the card files got corrupt all I would have to do is shut the unit off and pull the card. Then I could run it on the internal memory.

In the past I have coppied files and they have corrupted while being copied. I do not take anything for granted. I spend many years creating custom databases for the Quality Control field using Microsoft Access. Thus the reason for going the extra step.
 
I did the backups as suggested. Then I loaded them to a USB card using a 4GB card and a card reader. Then I removed the card reader and re-inserted it. The card was recognized as a TomTom GPS.

I then updated the actual GPS and again backed up all the files in a second folder. I again loaded them on the 4GB SD card after first deleting all the previous files. I again removed the reader and after about 30 seconds re-inserted it into the USB port.

Again it came up as a TomTom GPS and I was able to run it as a GPS on the desktop. The reason I go the extra step is to verify all the files are there and not corrupt.

I discovered this trick with my One XL that had a SD slot. I always ran it off the SD card rather than the internal memory. I loaded my .int files on both when I went on a trip. If the card files got corrupt all I would have to do is shut the unit off and pull the card. Then I could run it on the internal memory.

In the past I have coppied files and they have corrupted while being copied. I do not take anything for granted. I spend many years creating custom databases for the Quality Control field using Microsoft Access. Thus the reason for going the extra step.
 
Oh - you shouldn't have said anything - I'd have never known.

I thought you were just making another "backup"! :behindsofa:
 

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