Customer Reviews

TomTom XL 340S 4.3-Inch Portable GPS Navigator

5 star:		(309)
4 star:		(274)
3 star:		(113)
2 star:		(86)
1 star:		(167)

 

 

just received my new GPS today, plugged it into my mac, and installed tomtom's mac version of their home software. everything has worked well so far and the free map update installed fine. there are two main things that purchasers need to know:

1) space is very limited on the device. there is only 2 GB of internal flash memory and out of the box there was less than 50 MB free. the very first thing you should do is to delete voices in languages you don't use. this will free up a couple/three hundred MB. they can get backed up to your computer so you could always put them back in the future. once a bit of space is freed up you'll be able to update the device without issue. after removing spanish and french voices, running update which installed a new dave voice, and then installing the free map update i was left with 89 MB free. when i tried to run update before removing the voices, the unit warned me about lack of space and aborted without creating any further problems. maybe the mac version of home is more robust than the windows one in this respect.

2) the device only supports USB 1.1 transfers which max out at a bit over 1 MB/sec and can be slower. so doing a full backup or a map update will take quite a while (1-2 hours) and this is normal.

for me, those limitations are more than offset by the large, bright screen, text2speech capability, crowd-sourced map/route updates, and cheaper southern africa maps (we're moving there soon). especially given the cheap sale price i found. i will provide updates as i put unit through paces on cross-country trip and then intercontinental move.....

I'm pretty tech savvy and have used different GPS devices in the past. I chose Tomtom over Garmin mainly due to tomtom HOME support, better user interface: tomtom has more info on the screen including the street name you're driving on.

Most negative reviews here are from issues updating map which is larger than the old one (about 5 Mb larger) and causes error.
but it's simple to go around it.

1. connect to home computer. turn the unit on. select Yes to connect. Tomtom Home will install on your computer.
2. on Tomtom HOME menu, go to "Manage my ONE XL". On Items on Device, click voices. you can back up then delete all foreign computer voices (recorded voice files are small, so doesn't matter). just keep DAVE, and Susan computer voices( you need at least one computer voice for spoken street names). You should free up about 130 Mb (much more than you need)
3. now you can update new map with no problem. it does take a long time. after you're done, you still have 125 Mb extra to download customized items, map corrections in the future. customized car symbols are really cool, as are start up and shut down images. these customized items and map corrections are so small: tiny to 0.5 Mb that with > 125 Mb free, you can keep updating for years to come.

Pros: 4.3 inch screen, great routing, advanced lane guidance (it does work well), IQ route (faster route based on historical traffic data), very quick GPS fix <30 sec (but you need to connect to computer at least every 7 days so that a GPS file can be updated to help fix signal quickly), a little longer for a cold start or if you forget to sync with your computer more than 7 days, but it's still around 1 minute or less to fix the signal. also very strong signal, almost full bar inside my house. Text to speech (for spoken street names) is computer voice, so it's OK. recorded voices are nicer but unable to do text to speech. the included Easyport mount is great, simple, stable.

Cons: the screen brightness at 100% is still not as bright as I want (I also use Tomtom Navigator 6 on my smartphone with better contrast, brightness) but you still can see fine on a sunny day. The computer voices for text to speech are not as clear when you drive and play music.

In summary, this tomtom has a lot of great features for the price. if you don't need bluetooth (for hands free call with your cell phone, which is not good anyway because your volume always appears tiny to the other end), FM transmitter (which is not practical if you need to play your CD in the car), or live traffic receiver (which is spotty based on the info I've read), This 340S is the one to get. most people own smartphones these days with internet, so they can get live traffic, up to date points of interest from Google map, play mp3 and pictures. So you don't really need those features from a GPS device (which is more expensive)

(please keep in mind the date of this review, it is from Nov. 2009 and some things have changed since then)

I have used many GPS devices such as Garmin, TomTom, Navigon, etc.. And in the end the TomTom products always seem to be superior. Every time I buy a new GPS, I sit in my driveway and do a few simple tests. The first is how fast is it ready to navigate. I don't think anyone will ever be faster than TomTom. Second, how easy is it for me to find a local store I shop at every week... for example the local Kroger's grocery store that's close to my house. Again, TomTom can help me route to this very quickly and with minimal amounts of button pushing. To be fair, other devices may be able to find the same place, but not without having to scroll through 1000 POI's, or without having to push 50 buttons... Third, I need weather and traffic, and as much information as I can get about where I am, where I am going, and what's in between.. the more information the better as far as I am concerned. TomTom again is excellent in this area and now with a built in data connection provided by a cell signal, I can have all the information that I want, anywhere and anytime. I have tried the FM traffic version of this, and the MSN version of this, but MSN is going to stop offering this service next year (2010), so don't waste your time getting a device that you plan to use MSN on, and the FM signal range and quality of data has left me a bit underwhelmed. Once again the TomToms "Live" feature has found a great way to provide real-time information to me regardless of where I am. Yes, this feature is free for the first three months, and then runs about $10 a month. If you buy this GPS, try the Live feature out for a week or so and if you don't see the value, then go back to buying printed maps, because you are not ready for the future of GPS devices. One of the interesting features of the Live service is the ability to use Google search right from the device. At first I was not sure what use this would be, then I found myself in a situation where a location I thought should be a POI was not found on the device, or perhaps I was not looking in the right place, or had the category wrong... who knows.. But I went to the Google search feature, and told it what I was looking for, and Google pulled up some listings just like it does on your computer, and I selected what I wanted, and the device created the route from that. So for some reason if the GPS device can't understand or find what you are looking for, then Google is there to fill in the gap. Another great feature of the Live service is the location of cheap gas! Yes, that's right, the Live service can tell you all about the gas prices around you, and help you get to the cheapest. Who couldn't benefit from that? Additionally, the "TomTom At Home" software that you install on your computer does a great job of updating the device, make changes to it or even plan routes or travel from it. Lots of GPS's lets you update the device from the web, but none allow as much interaction with the device outside of basic map updates then the "At Home" software. If being able to interact with the GPS device using your computer is important to you, then I would suggest getting a TomTom for now. For me, this device has all you can ask for in a car GPS (PND for you tech geeks), and the price is right. The device is advanced, yet easy to interact with, so I feel even for a first time GPS user, or non-tech type of person, you would still be very happy. I have spent a long time on my quest for a great GPS device, and I hope this little bit of information will be helpful to you on yours.

If one follows the instructions and updates the software and Map on a new Tomtom unit before backing up the brand new device, one will be left with a non-functioning unit that must be returned to the manufacturer. The Map update that Tomtom suggests customers download as a matter of course, and which one is prompted to update as a new customer WILL NOT FIT on the device, and the updating process may render the unit useless, as it did in my case. No where is this noted in the FAQ or in Support or on the Web Site or in the downloading procedure or instructions. Having owned literally dozens of software driven devices, I have never before encountered a company that so brazen disregards its customers' well being, by suggesting they download and install a software update or driver that will render the device inoperable. A web search has revealed that many others have had this identical problem, and Tomtom Tech Support is fully aware of this issue. Yet they will not post anything cautioning their customers, or revise the suggestion to download and install the latest Map. I found out the hard way, and will not have a GPS for trip I expressly purchased it for. I must pay to ship the unit back to Tomtom. When/if it works, this is probably a great device. But companies must be responsible, and I imagine that Tomtom will receive many more angry reviews along these lines. Beware.

I've been in the market for a new gps and I decided on this one. Of course I saw all the reviews talking about the map update problem. I decided to email tom tom to get their take on it. I was told that yes the updated map is alot bigger but if you go into your tom tom home application on your cpu and delete a couple of those silly voices that we never use first. Then the map will fit just fine. Remember, you always have the option to re add those voices later from tom tom home. So does a need a little work from us to be perfect...yes, but it makes it worth it as tom tom is hands down the best Navigation out there!!

The 340S is a solid, no frills GPS that incorporates some of the best features TomTom units offer. The best of these features are IQ routes, mapshare, and highway "advanced lane guidance". The 340s also allows you to have some fun with easy to download voices and car icons. Also as a point of reference to other reviews, the TomTom Home software worked flawlessly for me. Now it was already loaded into my computer so that may of helped but I encountered no problems updating the device, downloading gas prices, downloading mapshare updates, voices, etc.

The heart of a good GPS is routing, re-routing, and the point of interest (POI) database. TomTom is good in the first 2 and ok in the third. TomTom uses something called IQ routes. It gathers information from TomTom users and used that information when planning routes. So it knows when a particular street gets congested at 5:00 pm on Friday and will route you where its IQ route database considers a faster route at that time. This is not the same as real-time traffic. The route it chooses will be the fastest on average with out any accidents or other obstructions. You can also elect to have mapshare updates on your unit. This uses information gathered from users to correct or update with new information the base map in the unit. Both IQ routes and mapshare are very useful. Re-routing is very fast.

The POI database does leave something to be desired though. Around my house it has missed a couple of restaurants that Magellan and Garmin units both had, but overall with any POI you are getting millions of points. And one sample like that is not definitive. What is lacking though is a category search for restaurants. Restaurant POIs are one of the biggest types of POIs I search for when traveling. Magellan and Garmin units both list types of restaurants, BBQ, American, Asian, etc. TomTom just starts listing them all. Small but baffling design flaw.

Some other considerations: custom voices. TomTom really excels here. There are celebrity voices you can purchase for around $13 with for instance Homer Simpson, Mr. T, and John Cleese (do not buy the Cleese, I did and it is basically just his voice saying turn right, turn left). But some of the voices say more (not street names but more phrases). There are free voices from other users. My favorite is Cartman. It brings a whole new level of hilarity and amusement to a GPS unit. Fair warning though that is a deserved `R-rated' voice. There is also a Darth Vader voice (when you reach your destination it says `your journey to the dark side is complete'), and many more free voices. One drawback to TomTom units though is that you need to have a `computer voice' selected to actually have street names spoken. A voice like Cartman (or the celebrity voices you buy) will tell you to turn right without a street name. Although it will be a turn right warning unlike anything you ever heard on a GPS unit. You can download these voices via the Home software and the usb cable. You can also download gas prices but they will not be updated till you have the unit connected to the Home software and say yes download prices again, they are not `live'.

Overall this is a competitive entry level 4.3 inch screen GPS. It is fairly compact for a 4.3 inch size screen and the screen is pretty good quality although in direct sun you do lose some readability. In addition to the excellent IQ routes and mapshare, there is also advanced lane guidance on highways. A graphic comes up showing you your exit lane, exit number, and exit name. It also brings some funny commentary if you have the Cartman voice selected. One other consideration with a TomTom is a large selection of safety preferences that I have not seen on other brands. You can set a warning for instance when driving faster than a set speed or when driving faster than a speed limit (this only works for highways and is fairly but not always accurate).

First-time users or people looking to step up to a 4.3 inch unit or a new unit should consider this. I personally really enjoy the voices on the TomTom. But people tell me I am easily amused. At the time of this review, I feel the unit is priced competitively for a 4.3 inch screen unit. It doesn't seem to have the best POI database, but IQ routes, mapshare, and voice choices make it a unit worth considering.

This unit is worth buying just for the IQ routes! The most important feature of any GPS is its competence in routing. I have owned several brands of GPS, including Garmin and Mio. This one has the best routing yet! It always seems to choose a route that a local driver would choose. Some local drivers could even learn some better routes with this thing.

The text to speech voice works well. Like other TomToms, it is very easy to customize in terms of the information you wish to display on the screen.

The screen could be brighter. The windshield mount does not hold as securely as one would wish. I use an Arkon vent mount.

I just spent nearly 2 hours on the phone with tom tom customer support only to find out that by updating the included map on the unit that I had wiped it out. The only remedy is to return it. This should have been posted on their website but it wasn't. Even their tech people took forever to figure out the problem. Now I'll be without the unit for a week or two and I need it. I will NEVER buy a tom tom again. Way too much work for a device that is supposed to help make things easier.

I researched the TomTom XL 340 S and the Garmin 255 W beyond reason resulting in my calculated conclusion the TomTom XL 340 S was the better device between the two. While I maintain my original premise - the TomTom is far from perfect.

BE ADVISED - you can not update the maps on this device; until - TomTom creates a patch to shink the download data size below 2G(s). I write from experience - when I attached my device to my computer and was prompted to upload TomTom's Guaranteed Latest Maps - the device tanked and I was left with NO maps. "That's right - NO MAPS".

TomTom's solution, mail the device back for a replacement that can not be updated at this time. Moreover, I was informed I had used my one and only chance to upgrage for free - so tough luck.

In the end I know I will be able to update the device (TomTom will likely take Mexico's Maps out leaving it a North American device) and I strongly suspect TomTom will make right by their customers and provide a free maps update, but it was a real PITA.

We purchased this product because it guaranteed updated maps for a number of years. When we got the TomTom unit, we checked for an updated map. The website said that there was one available and we started to download the map. After a few mins. the site said that there was a problem with the download. It told us that the updated map was too big for the unit. Well, OK, we figured that we at least had the original map available and would work with that map. Come to find out, the download process wiped out the original map. We called TomTom customer service and found out that the original map is not available at all anymore, and that there was no valid map available for the model, and that there were no plans to make a map available for the model. TomTom told us to return the unit and get something else.

We sure did get something else - a Garmin! The Garmin 255W we got was less expensive and had more features. It even has an SD drive for expansion. Updating the map was quick and easy. The Garmin worked so well on our first trip with it, that it cut 40 mins., (80 mins. roundtrip), off of our drive time from Baltimore to upstate New York.

If you buy the TomTom, you get nothing except your wheels spinning to bring it back to the local UPS store for return.