TomTom XXL 540S 5-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator (Discontinued by Manufacturer)

by TomTom

Product Features

• TomTom GPS navigation with a 5-inch, full-color, TFT LCD widescreen touch display
• Pre-loaded maps of U.S., Canada, and Mexico with TomTom Map Share, Advanced Lane Guidance, and 7 Million POIs
• IQ Routes Technology gives you the fastest route every time by using actual average speeds of travel on your route to calculate your trip
• With TomTom Map Share technology, you can instantly modify street names, street direction, POIs, road speeds, and turn restrictions on your own device
• Award-winning Fold and Go EasyPort mount, folds flat against the device, making it easy for users to transport

› See more product details

Product Description

Amazon.com

The TomTom XXL 540S is complete navigation in a XXL widescreen device. Switch on and it's ready right out of the box. Spoken turn-by-turn instructions, including street names, will guide you to any address in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico--including more than 7 million pre-loaded points of interest.

Complete navigation in a XXL widescreen device. Click to enlarge.

EasyPort mount folds neatly onto the back of your device. Click to enlarge.

Advanced Lane Guidance uses photorealistic images to bring even more clarity to complex multi-lane exits. Click to enlarge.

Complete XXL Widescreen Navigation and Spoken Street Names

IQ Routes
IQ Routes technology* gives you the fastest route every time by using actual average speeds of travel on your route to calculate your trip rather than only posted speed limits, so you'll always travel the smartest route.

Advanced Lane Guidance
Advanced Lane Guidance** uses photorealistic images to bring even more clarity to complex multi-lane exits so you can be more confident on the road.

5-Inch Touchscreen
An extra-wide 5-inch touchscreen helps you find your way, worry-free.

TomTom Map Share
TomTom has the most accurate maps, and with TomTom Map Share technology, you can instantly modify street names, street direction, POIs, road speeds, and turn restrictions on your own device.

Get Help
With the "Help Me!" menu, there are added safety features so you can easily access local emergency providers.

EasyPort Mount
The award-winning Fold and Go EasyPort mount folds flat against the device, making it easy to take with you from car to car.

The XXL 540S is complete, widescreen navigation.

*Feature only available in the U.S. and Canada
**Feature available in the U.S. only

What's in the Box

TomTom XL 540S device, EasyPort mount, USB cable, adhesive disk, car charger, and user's guide.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1,294 of 1,351 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Still needs a few improvements to make it a great gps unit December 17, 2009

By Pete

I bought the TomTom XXL 540S a few weeks ago. This gps is the big brother to the TomTom XL 340S. This gps just has the bigger and brighter 5" screen.

I have very mixed feelings about the gps. There are many things that I like about it, but there are also so many small details and functions that are lacking on it that TomTom either decided not to work on or decided to exclude. 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. I really hope TomTom starts addressing some of these issues.

Some of my pros vs cons are below which I hope will help others who are trying to decide on a gps.

Pros:

+ IQ Routes (TomTom uses historical speed data for roads based on the time of day and day of the week, so that it can give you the best possible route)
+ Big 5" Screen, which is easy to see.
+ Very loud speaker. (Option in Volume Preferences to link the volume to your cars speed if you want)
+ Satellite acquition is fast (less than 10 sec for me). Shows usually around 9 satellites.
+ Map Color can be changed.
+ Can change the color of the car symbol in 3D mode
+ Auto Day/Night mode changes the brightness and color.
+ Ability to prepare a route with any Depart and Destination coordinates.

+ Shows the current street that your on at the bottom of the screen and the next street to turn on in the top right corner.

+ 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 go.

+ Status bar can be customized to how you like it. It can be displayed either horizontally or vertically. Can show the remaining time, remaining distance, current time, arrival time, your speed and the speed limit, distance to your next turn, compass, ect.

+ TTS (text to speech) instructions are very helpful in letting you know where to turn and also preparing you for your next turn as well. For instance it will say something like "After one qurter mile turn right". Then as you get closer to the street it will say "Turn right Main St. Then take the second left"

Cons:

- POI (Points of Interest) Map Screen shows the POI name, street and cross street, phone, city, and state. But it gives NO street addresses! So you don't know the address or what side of the street the POI is on, unless you call the place ahead of time and ask. 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 for instance. Why TomTom decided to remove this on this model I have no idea.

- 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 take you 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 around on the map with no streets being shown.

- Doesn't speak which side of the street your destination is on. (If you enter a street address for a destination however it does show a little arrow on the map pointing to the left or right hand side of the street when you are approaching your destination. Along with a little checkered flag on the side of the street your destination is on.)

- 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.

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

- 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.

- 3D mode during the day the maps background brightness isn't consistent across the whole screen. There are noticable lines across the screen where you can see the various brightness stages. Towards the bottom of the map its the brightest and then as you pan up the screen it gets slightly darker.

- 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. You should be able to search for the street in any city near you or near the city that you entered (if it was incorrect).

- TTS (text to speech) of multiword street names sounds sometimes garbled.
- TTS pronounces some words and streets pretty poorly.
- Can't change the color of the car symbol in 2D mode.
- Can't search restaurants by cuisine type.
- No MicroSD memory card slot for expansion. Room is pretty tight with only 2GB of internal flash memory. After removing all of the voices except for computer voice Susan and removing most of the car symbols. I still only have 105mb of space free remaining.
- Only supports USB 1.1 transfers. So when you install maps or performing backups its very slow.

Miscellaneous info: gps chipset on mine was a GL2 BCM4750 (Global Locate 2), The CPU speed is 266MHZ. 64MB of RAM. Read more ›

255 of 265 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars The way it should be. Good product with good support. February 26, 2010

By Roman F. Sims

Amazon Verified Purchase

This is a good product, that is reliable, works as expected, and comes with good customer support. After I purchased and tried out this TomTom XXL 540S, I promptly installed and used TomTom Home to update it, and used the Map Guarantee for my free full update. All this worked exactly as expected. Once I had the device and started using it, I noticed how easy it was to operate and configure. It does a better than expected job of routing, and map accuracy is also pretty good. The Text to Speech function works pretty good, this is what gives you spoken street names, places and addresses. The voice is clear and loud (I had to turn down the volume a bit from maximum). It does fumble some odd or foreign street names.

More recently I got a notice of new maps available in TomTom Home, and attempted to purchase and update while signing up to the Map Update Service, which is an excellent value, as you get 4 more map updates during the next year, and you do get those, as TomTom releases 4 full map updates per year, every year. This is where the support comes in. During this update I was offered 1 full map update for about $12 when combined with the Map Update Service for about $52. This is for the North America Maps which include the US+Canada+Mexico. It let me purchase the full map update, but not the Map Update Service, and it would not let me download and install it. I called TomTom customer support line on a weekday about 10AM, got a customer support representative in just minutes, and when I explained my issues to him, he was ready with a solution. It involved TomTom correcting a problem with my online account so my purchase registered correctly, and manually deleting some files from TomTom Home and the TomTom device, after which the update was successful.... We also figured out that this same issue was preventing QuickGPS data from updating, and that was corrected as well. Over all I spent about 40 minutes on the phone. Excellent and polite service.

I also had ordered a Magellan 4700, and this device was compared to that. After 2 software updates, no map updates, and no map updates expected for 12-18 months (as per Magellan documentation), their map guarantee is worthless. Also, in the less than 30 days I had that unit, I applied 2 software updates to correct issues with crashing, performance, satellite acquisition, and position accuracy, it still did not work correctly and I returned it.

There are some things I wish they would improve. On this 5" unit it becomes apparent that their display is low resolution. I like the Magellan display much better. However, the Magellan is much slower to power up, and seems much less responsive. The TomTom turns on and off very quickly. And as long as QuickGPS data is current (a QuickGPS update is good for about a week), it gets a fix in less than 15 seconds. In 3D view, which is normal for navigating, you can see some color banding as the shading goes off into the distance. The TomTom is a little thicker than the Magellan, but some of that is due to the larger speaker the TomTom uses. I like the compact windshield mount, but it is a little tricky to snap on and off the device. The windshield mount has a fairly stiff swivel joint, so you need to adjust it with care using two hands or with the device detached. The joint being stiff is a good thing, as there is little flex, vibration or bounce during driving. But if you attempt to adjust it with your hand on the TomTom, you will just detach it from the mount. I believe this is intentional, so that the mount does not move when you attach or detach the device for theft or break in deterrent. The device reminds you to remove it on the shutdown screen for this reason, the reminder can be disabled. I wish they would make a more feature rich version of this device. It is their largest display, but only has the most basic features. This is equivalent to the ONE series. It does not have bluetooth, live services, or any extras except for an optional traffic receiver/power cord. I tried the traffic receiver, but coverage is spotty, and updates take too long to be really usefull. A TomTom GO Live edition with an internet connection through a bluetooth connected phone is much better, but also pricier. I got this for it's large display, as my folks are going to be using it, and they have trouble seeing, and operating a small touch display. More room for fingers and bigger text. One last issue, this unit has 2GB of memory, and it is just enough. There is little room for extras. I have removed foreign language voices, especially the text to speech, and all extras I did not need to maintain some free space, and allow the few customizations that I installed. I installed a vehicle cursor that matched my car, and custom shutdown and startup screens. This issue is fixed on the TomTom XXL 540S World Traveler model, which has 4GB of memory, to load additional maps for more countries. This model does not have a SD card expansion slot for additional storage. I wish I could get terrain/elevation mapping, and 3D landmarks. Watch the sky above the horizon in the display, it changes from day to night. There are clouds in the sky during the day, and twinkling stars at night.

Overall I am very pleased with my purchase. The price at Amazon was good during Christmas, and free trial of Amazon Prime let me get free fast shipping on it. It meet the needs of my folks, and is easy to use for them. I have pre-programmed their most common destinations into it, and it performs well. With my familiarity of the TomTom interface and its easy operation, the mostly don't need my help, and if they do, I can usually walk them through the menu.

Sorry that this was so long winded, but I hope this provides some useful information for your decision making. And please understand, that for the purpose I purchased it for (my folks) it works really well and I am very satisfied. The issues I bring up are from my point of view, which would be a more advanced and demanding user. I have looked at a number of Personal Navigation Devices from various manufacturers, and I think the TomTom is the easiest to use, with good maps, frequent map updates, and good customer support.

Falko Read more ›

160 of 174 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars You'll have no trouble seeing this one! December 2, 2009

By C. D. Hess

I have owned several GPS units, including models from Garmin and Navman. I upgraded to this model from the TomTom 140S. This model has twice the screen size. The screen is brighter, and the sound is louder and fuller. I cannot recommend it highly enough. Routing is excellent. The Points of Interest database is huge. Advanced lane guidance is very helpful. The large screen makes data input easier. Like all TomToms, you can configure it to your liking.

The only negative is that battery life is reduced because of the larger, brighter screen.

The manufacturer commented on the review below

40 of 41 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars A Good but Not Great GPS February 15, 2010

By S. Hock

Amazon Verified Purchase

I purchased this unit to replace my aging Garmin 550c unit so that is what I'm using as a point of reference.

What I Like:

* Large bright screen, very easy to read.
* Fast start-up time and signal acquisition.
* Trip information at bottom of screen including compass and road speed.
* Reasonably easy to set up once you understand the interface. Lots of options.
* Online map update procedure with sharing.
* Plenty of detail available on the screen (User definable)
* Volume is good. Plenty loud.
* Can program by latitude & longitude coordinates

What I dislike:

* No SD Card expandability - Very limited available memory.
* Limited number of favorites.
* Searching POIs not very convenient.
* The mount is cheesy. It attaches OK but is prone to wiggle and wobble and FALL OFF with vehicle vibration.
* The enunciation leaves a lot to be desired. Street names are almost unintelligible sometimes. Particularly if the streets are "ethnic" type names. Its' fine with Main Street, or Second Street but some of the others are laughable.
* Some spoken names are inconsistent. On a recent trip I was traveling on Route 209 in PA. At times the enunciator spoke "Highway two hundred nine" (that's fine). In other parts of the same road it spoke it as "Highway two west nine". What's up with that? Pretty dumb.

I have to say I'm a bit disappointed that the speech and the routing isn't better. I expected more. This unit is three years newer than my "old" Garmin and I really expected a considerable improvement. I'm not saying it's bad, just that they still have a ways to go to make a really GREAT GPS.

I have to rate it as nice unit for the price ($150 or less)....

03/03/2010 ADDED
Today I downloaded my free map upgrade. It's a huge file and took 7 hours over my wireless connection!! It seemed to load onto the device OK. One thing I did not do (much to my chagrin) is BACK-UP my unit in TOMTOM "Home" software before downloading the new map. Therefore, I lost all my 40+ carefully entered "favorites". Grrrrrrr! Don't expect the software to automatically do this for you because it won't! Hopefully the new file will take care of some of the glitches. We'll see ...

UPDATE: Don't see much difference really. The speaking of street names is still pretty goofy (worse than my old Garmin) and the Route 209 speaking error (mentioned above) still exists. It's a shame really. This unit has the potential of being great. Guess you have to spend the extra 200 bucks for real quality? If I had a "do over", I would stay with Garmin and suggest you do the same.

I finally had to buy new mount for my car. The piece of junk supplied caused the unit to fall at least four or five times. The stock mount is junk.

10/28/2010
The battery has never been great from the beginning and here it is 8 months later and it barely holds a charge. Pretty poor. I have zero faith that TOM TOM will help me ( from the other reviews). Don't bother updating maps. Wait for a special and just by a new unit. Maps are WAY too expensive! That goofy speaking error is still going on. No fix yet, and probably never will be.

When I'm ready to replace this unit I will definitely be looking at other manufacturers. Too bad ... I really wanted to like this unit, but the goofy speech, pronunciation and the poor battery life leaves me cold.

Wish I had waited for a "lifetime" map deal. (Even though "lifetime" isn't what it appears.)

UPDATE: 1/20/2012

I couldn't take it any more! The goofy pronunciation that is. No fix in sight. And the cost of map updates. Forget it!! It was way cheaper to just get a new unit with lifetime maps! Guess what ... I bought another Garmin (nuvi50LM). It doesn's have as many features as this one but it speaks words properly, does what I need, and map updates are free! That's more like it. Only $94 at a big box office supply.
Bye, Bye TomTom. Sold online at auction. Read more ›

The manufacturer commented on this review (What's this?)

Community Manager, TomTom saysMarch 4, 2012

We're sorry to hear that things didn't work out with your TomTom device. We take feedback seriously and will be sharing your comments with the relevant TomTom teams. Thanks for taking the time to post your review.