TomTom XL 340S Live 4.3-Inch Portable Internet Connected GPS Navigator

Fri, May 28, 2010

4.3-inch full-color TFT LCD touchscreen with WQVGA (480 x 272 pixels) resolution
Maps of the United States, Canada, and Mexico with TomTom Map Share, Advanced Lane Guidance, and 7 Million POIs
GO LIVE automatically accesses traffic feeds; updated fuel prices; and Local Search powered by Google, Weather, and more
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

Amazon.com Product Description
TomTom XL 340-S LIVE is navigation and so much more. Real-time information saves you time, money, and stress. GO LIVE automatically accesses traffic feeds, updated fuel prices, Local Search powered by Google, and Weather–so you can stay in the know on the go. Real-time services work right out of the box via a built-in wireless data connection. Three months of service included. GO LIVE automatically accesses traffic feeds, updated fuel prices, Local Search powered by Google, and Weather. Click to enlarge. Advanced Lane Guidance brings clarity to complex multi-lane exits. Click to enlarge. The award-winning Fold & Go EasyPort mount folds flat against the device. Click to enlarge. TomTom’s award-winning software means the ultimate driving experience. Click to enlarge. Widescreen Connected Navigation and Advanced Ro… More >>

TomTom XL 340S Live 4.3-Inch Portable Internet Connected GPS Navigator

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5 Comments For This Post

W. J. RUMPF Says:
May 28th, 2010 at 4:01 pm

Before I buy ANY tech equipment, I go to the Manufacturer’s web site to view the manual for the item I am thinking of buying. Curiously, the only english language manual available for the XL340S is one tailored for the U.K. While I don’t mind the slighlty-off spellings (favourites, colours, centre, etc.) or the different words used in England (motorway, postcode, roundabout, petrol, etc.) and the speedlimit signs shown as standard EU signs (in KM/hr)), I though it baffling that for a manual supposedly for the U.K., all of the map illustrations were for places in Holland. This leads me to think that they don’t care enough about the American market to produce a manual for us (US). I had 2 major questions: (1) is there an audio output jack to enable you to plug the unit into your car’s audio system and (2) when the battery is low, can you operate the unit on the car charger (on some GPS units, you can’t – you have to charge the battery before you can use the unit again) – an important consideration on long journeys. Neither of my questions were answered. For all these reasons – manual and no tech details. I will NOT purchase this unit – good as it may be. Sorry.
Rating: 2 / 5

JJ Says:
May 28th, 2010 at 4:52 pm

Right on the box, the unit indicates it says street names. We got it home, downloaded the latest maps from Tomtom etc. and then put it through the test…. NO STREET NAMES… Just turn left and turn right.

Went through the laborious task of trying to contact by email… Had to read thru screens to make sure answer wasn’t on screen then was given opportunity to send message to tech support.

Received email back from them.. informing me I had to provide more details etc.. OK, that’s not a problem IF THEY ACCEPTED AN EMAIL REPLY.. No, they forced you to jump thru more hoops and log back into their system and go thru the whole procedure again.. I don’t have to time to play around with these companies.. Took unit back and bought different GPS device.
Rating: 1 / 5

El Says:
May 28th, 2010 at 6:26 pm

I had TomTom GO 510 first. I used it for one and a half years and it stopped working, it doesn’t charge or turn on. I called Customer Service, they said the warranty is over and that i’d have to go to Best Buy to repair this item and pay more than I paid for the device. Then, I bought this item, Tom Tom XL 340s, from Amazon. I charged this item for three hours in my car, I wasted half a tank of gasoline so I could charge the GPS. I kept pushing the on/off button, over and over again to turn it on. When I finally got it to turn on, it never turned off. Don’t waste your time buying this item, then returning it. Stick to another GPS company.
Rating: 1 / 5

Christopher Reno Says:
May 28th, 2010 at 8:13 pm

This TomTom was not as described. It does not have mapping capabilities like I was told (repeatedly) by TomTom’s customer support.
Rating: 1 / 5

J. Rose Says:
May 28th, 2010 at 10:55 pm

I bought this to replace my Garmin Nuvi 265T because TomTom had IQ routes for city driving. Bad idea. The TomTom can’t even set its clock automatically from the GPS satellites like the Garmin can. The text to speech doesn’t work (yes I selected a computer voice, not a prerecorded human voice). The USA voice uses terms like “motorway” instead of “highway” or “freeway” and it will not pronounce any street names. It just says turn right or turn left, for example. On the plus side, the lane assist feature works very well. I had reality views of almost every freeway exit I came across. The menus on the TomTom are very, very difficult to navigate. On my Garmin, I just tap “Where To?” and enter an address. On the TomTom I have to navigate through a seemingly endless set of menus. The software updates using the included Home software are a joke. I didn’t even get to the map update before my unit ran out of memory. I tried formatting the unit’s memory in Windows so I could just download the latest software over the internet using the Home software but TomTom uses a USB 1.1 interface and has a severe stuttering problem when writing to its built in memory. This means that formatting took 6-12 hours! Outrageous! I immediately got rid of this unit and bought an MSN Direct receiver for my Garmin Nuvi 265T. The traffic is real time, not NEAR real time (it updates every 30 seconds).

I’ve heard that TomTom’s Go GPS units have zero problems, but most of them come with an old school windshield mount that does not have a lever to increase suction like Garmin, Magellan and others do. This means that TomTom’s Go GPS units will likely fall off of your windshield…while you’re driving and likely cause you to have a wreck. Frankly I’d rather have a GPS that just works (Garmin) instead of having the voice of Homer Simpson giving me directions (TomTom).
Rating: 1 / 5

W. J. RUMPF Says:
May 28th, 2010 at 4:01 pm
Before I buy ANY tech equipment, I go to the Manufacturer’s web site to view the manual for the item I am thinking of buying. Curiously, the only english language manual available for the XL340S is one tailored for the U.K. While I don’t mind the slighlty-off spellings (favourites, colours, centre, etc.) or the different words used in England (motorway, postcode, roundabout, petrol, etc.) and the speedlimit signs shown as standard EU signs (in KM/hr)), I though it baffling that for a manual supposedly for the U.K., all of the map illustrations were for places in Holland. This leads me to think that they don’t care enough about the American market to produce a manual for us (US). I had 2 major questions: (1) is there an audio output jack to enable you to plug the unit into your car’s audio system and (2) when the battery is low, can you operate the unit on the car charger (on some GPS units, you can’t – you have to charge the battery before you can use the unit again) – an important consideration on long journeys. Neither of my questions were answered. For all these reasons – manual and no tech details. I will NOT purchase this unit – good as it may be. Sorry.
Rating: 2 / 5
JJ Says:
May 28th, 2010 at 4:52 pm
Right on the box, the unit indicates it says street names. We got it home, downloaded the latest maps from Tomtom etc. and then put it through the test…. NO STREET NAMES… Just turn left and turn right.

Went through the laborious task of trying to contact by email… Had to read thru screens to make sure answer wasn’t on screen then was given opportunity to send message to tech support.

Received email back from them.. informing me I had to provide more details etc.. OK, that’s not a problem IF THEY ACCEPTED AN EMAIL REPLY.. No, they forced you to jump thru more hoops and log back into their system and go thru the whole procedure again.. I don’t have to time to play around with these companies.. Took unit back and bought different GPS device.
Rating: 1 / 5
El Says:
May 28th, 2010 at 6:26 pm
I had TomTom GO 510 first. I used it for one and a half years and it stopped working, it doesn’t charge or turn on. I called Customer Service, they said the warranty is over and that i’d have to go to Best Buy to repair this item and pay more than I paid for the device. Then, I bought this item, Tom Tom XL 340s, from Amazon. I charged this item for three hours in my car, I wasted half a tank of gasoline so I could charge the GPS. I kept pushing the on/off button, over and over again to turn it on. When I finally got it to turn on, it never turned off. Don’t waste your time buying this item, then returning it. Stick to another GPS company.
Rating: 1 / 5
Christopher Reno Says:
May 28th, 2010 at 8:13 pm
This TomTom was not as described. It does not have mapping capabilities like I was told (repeatedly) by TomTom’s customer support.
Rating: 1 / 5
J. Rose Says:
May 28th, 2010 at 10:55 pm
I bought this to replace my Garmin Nuvi 265T because TomTom had IQ routes for city driving. Bad idea. The TomTom can’t even set its clock automatically from the GPS satellites like the Garmin can. The text to speech doesn’t work (yes I selected a computer voice, not a prerecorded human voice). The USA voice uses terms like “motorway” instead of “highway” or “freeway” and it will not pronounce any street names. It just says turn right or turn left, for example. On the plus side, the lane assist feature works very well. I had reality views of almost every freeway exit I came across. The menus on the TomTom are very, very difficult to navigate. On my Garmin, I just tap “Where To?” and enter an address. On the TomTom I have to navigate through a seemingly endless set of menus. The software updates using the included Home software are a joke. I didn’t even get to the map update before my unit ran out of memory. I tried formatting the unit’s memory in Windows so I could just download the latest software over the internet using the Home software but TomTom uses a USB 1.1 interface and has a severe stuttering problem when writing to its built in memory. This means that formatting took 6-12 hours! Outrageous! I immediately got rid of this unit and bought an MSN Direct receiver for my Garmin Nuvi 265T. The traffic is real time, not NEAR real time (it updates every 30 seconds).

I’ve heard that TomTom’s Go GPS units have zero problems, but most of them come with an old school windshield mount that does not have a lever to increase suction like Garmin, Magellan and others do. This means that TomTom’s Go GPS units will likely fall off of your windshield…while you’re driving and likely cause you to have a wreck. Frankly I’d rather have a GPS that just works (Garmin) instead of having the voice of Homer Simpson giving me directions (TomTom).
Rating: 1 / 5

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