TomTom XL 350TM 4.3-Inch Portable GPS Navigator

****Update****

I changed my review of this GPS from five stars down to three stars for a few different reasons and I ended up taking the GPS unit back to the place I purchased it from (it was very hard to walk away from the $129 sale price) and purchased the TomTom XL340 TM.

The main reason I traded this unit in for a new one was the user interface. I completely understand that TomTom wants to create a simple user interface geared towards the 80% of people who want a simple and easy to understand GPS unit. On this, the XL 350 TM performs exceptionally well. However, if you want to really customize the GPS to do things for you, then you are out of luck because you cannot update very manypreferences in the unit. I like to tinker with the GPS unit and in the end I want ultimate control over what is on the screen and what information I can or cannot get. The 350 TM does not give you ANY leeway to set up the GPS in the exact way you want. If you see the words “Easy Menu” on the box and you like to have control over everything the GPS displays then the unit will not be for you. If you want simple and easy-to-understand-out-of-the-box performance, then this GPS will work fine.

The XL 340TM GPS uses the old menu system from TomTom. I ended up paying $60 more for this GPS but it was important to me to be able to customize the menu system. This unit also has lifetime maps and traffic and this was my main reason for buying a new GPS. Instead of two options on the main screen, I have ten. Under the preferences menu this unit lets me check seven different boxes under the Safety Preferences menu. Additionally there are two other sub-screens under this that let me set when I am driving on the wrong side of the road and to choose if I ever want the map display shut off. I can also change the information displayed on the status bar and on the 350 I could not. There was no compass function that I could see on the 350 that is available here. It also lets me set up different information on the Quick Menu preferences and this option was not available on the 350 at all. It also lets me check off about 15 different items under planning preferences including things like avoiding toll roads, avoiding ferries, plan routes by fastest times, shortest routes, avoiding freeways etc. Under Advanced Preferences it lets you select options like displaying street names, house numbers before street names, lane images etc. You can also prepare routes on this unit and also build an itinerary including waypoints.

I also sent an email to the TomTom support team asking if there was anyway I could get and use the old menu system they used and was told that is was not possible. The problem with this response? It took TomTom over a week to answer my question. That seems like a very long response time and is another reason I took one more star off of my rating.

Overall the 350 was a nice unit and easy to use, it simply did not allow me to customize the GPS like I wanted to.

*****Update over*****

I travel a lot for my job and have used an older model Mio GPS unit to get me to my destinations. The Mio worked fine for the most part, but the last time I went to a new city the maps were very old and out of date. I decided it was time to upgrade to a new GPS unit and researched Garmin and TomToms because they are the two biggest players in the market. In the end, the lifetime traffic and lifetime map upgrades pushed me towards the TomTom XL 350 TM, a model that just came out at the end of May 2010.

In my research for a new GPS it seems that people either liked Garmin or the TomTom because of the interface. People usually had a strong bias for one or the other. The interface did not matter to me as much as what I could get for my money. I seriously looked at the Garmin nuvi 780 because this is a top-of-the-line Garmin, albeit a discontinued model, and Amazon is selling it for 74% off the original price. For the money it seemed like a fantastic deal except for two things. This unit uses MSN Direct content for traffic and you have to pay a subscription fee after the trial period ends, and MSN is discontinuing this service at the beginning of 2011. This unit did not include lifetime updated maps, which is a big deal for someone buying a new GPS unit simply because the old one had maps in it that are getting obsolete.

Since lifetime maps were very important to me (without having to shell out $100 more for the upgrade) my choices were suddenly locked in on TomTom units. I researched their products and decided I was either going to get the XL 540 TM (the TM is lifetime traffic and maps) or the same unit but with a smaller screen size, the XL 340 TM. I decided I was going to go for the one with the 4.3″ wide screen, the XL 340 TM, instead of the bigger 5″ screen because I read that the 5″ screen is cumbersome for the window mount to handle.

Well the best laid plans sometimes go astray because when I went into Best Buy they had the brand new XL 350 TM on sale for $169.99 when the regular price was $229.99. I bought the unit immediately beacuse I figured the unit was very similar if not an improvement over the XL 340 TM.

Here are my first impressions after using the TomTom XL 350 TM for two days.

1. The design is sleek with a crisp and clear screen. My old Mio looks like a clunky old refrigerator compared to the new TomTom.

2. I wish TomTom had an external memory card on these units. I have read people have had problem updating maps because they have run out of room on the unit. Since I read about it, I was expecting it, and ended up backing up my unit and then deleting the French and the Spanish language functions to free up space. This freed up about 30 mb on a 2 gb flash drive. TomTom could fix this issue by simply making the maps of Canada, the United States and Mexico separate. Anyway, the fix of deleting the French and Spanish speaking files worked well.

3. The instructions are very skimpy in the box. There are basically no instructions on how to set up and install the new software on the device. This was not a big deal for me because I researched the hell out of it, but for someone like my mom this would be a killer. I connected the device to my computer and found the setup program on the device and ran it.

4. When you first plug the unit into the computer it takes an hour and a half to download the new maps and the GPS fix software. After it downloads all the software it needs, then you install the TomTom Home software. This is not really installed on your machine, but rather it is an account set up on a web site and the software seems to reside there.

5. Once you install the Home software or set up an account, the icons in TomTom Home are very easy to understand and use. I performed a backup of my unit and then I deleted the Spanish and French language files from the unit. If TomTom would ever install Mexico, Canada and the United States separately then space would not be an issue because most sane people would never rent a car or drive in Mexico unless you lived there, and then if you did liver in Mexico you most likely would not need maps of Canada. This is a very small issue but one that could be fixed with minimal issues.

6. Once you perform the backup and delete you install the software upgrade to the TomTom. This did not take long at all, maybe 15 minutes.

7. The window unit is very different from the Mio. I like the looks of it because it looks elegant. It is a little awkward to use at first, but after you get used to it then it works as designed. My Mio had a linchpin system to hold the unit to the window unit and over time I lost the linchpin so the design there wasn’t perfect. This design is like a hip joint, a ball in the socket, and although it moves stiff (I bet in order to keep the GPS unit still) it functions well and had no problems holding the unit on the window or dash. It is easy to unsnap the unit from the wondow mounting device so you can take the GPS unit with you instead of leaving it in the car.

8. The user interface on the GPS unit is simple and easy to use. It is very intuitive and when you fist turn it on there are pop-up balloons there to help guide you through the process. By playing around with it for a bit I became very adept at doing what I needed to get done for the GPS unit to function.

9. I like the graphics on this unit. The GPS fired up and found a signal within seconds (my old unit took up to a minute or so to lock onto a satellite). I typed in the address of where I wanted to go, it plotted a route for me, and I hit the done button to get the 3-D view map on the screen. From there it is easy because you follow the prompts. The section on the bottom of the screen tells you which way your next turn will be(left or right) and it tells you how far away from the turn you are at the moment. This unit is accurate to within 5 feet or so of where my car was so it would be very hard to miss a turn. My old unit was only locked in from about 20 yards, which caused problems sometimes when I was on a freeway and passed my exit going 70.

10. I have not been able to get lane assist to work yet (I only drove local routes). This is part of the reason I bought this unit. From the pictures on other reviews it looks great.

11. I have no clue on how the routing is compared to my old unit yet. I will get a better judge of this over time. I like it a lot so far.

12. The screen is absolutely bright enough to see in the daytime. The sound is loud enough to hear the spoken street names and directions.

Overall I highly recommend this unit. If anything changes in the next few months I will come in and update my review.

Rating: 3 / 5

First of all the is am entry leve gps. My wife purchased it for me for fathers day. I used it and it works great right out of the box. I did delete the other languages (not needed for me), performed the LONG SLOW update that took about 1hr 45min . Used it for work —the traffic worked well. Please remember this is a no thrills gps gets you to point A—B. Other people that posted comments must not have read the product description. All the features that this gps has is right on TOMTOM’s website. All the ADVANCED features that this gps doesn’t have are on higher priced gps’s. My wife only paid $129.99 from BestBuy a week before fathers day. This is a graet gps that is accurate and has a nice basic feature set. If you want a basic gps that has lifetime maps and traffic — get this gps.
Rating: 5 / 5

I am a previous owner of a Tomtom 2nd Edition, which had lasted me a couple of years, however after seeing this unit with unlimited maps and traffic for under $200, I figured it was a worthwhile upgrade. I use a GPS daily for deliveries in New Jeresy and also NYC. After I opened the box and used the unit for a couple of weeks, I found a few positive points, but too many negative points. I ended up returning the unit, but I want to give you a list of the things to watch for.

PROs:

1. The lifetime maps are updated on a regular basis. A week after my inital update it offered another new map right away.

2. I really like the design on the new mount. It has a clip/swivel/lock design that when tightened adds extra suction. No more pressing your old mount with super-strength to keep it on the windshield. When finished the mount can fold flush onto the back on the Tomtom, or easily unclip from the back. There is a case (sold seperately) that holds both the Tomtom and the mount together if you travel with it alot.

3. Included with mine was a very nice carrying case. It wasnt large enough to carry the mount, but was more like a slipcover with a foldable magnetic flap. Almost as protective as a hard case and very stylish looking. All 350TM’s may not come with a case, check your contents carefully before buying.

4. It has the same clear maps and lower directional guidance that I was used to with my older Tomtom, but with an easy-to-use slimmed down menu system. The maps graphically looks slightly better, the ability to change the car icon is fun, and the low battery indicator is clearly visible when your unit is about to run out of juice. Also the new Lane Guidance feature can be helpful at times while giving you a close-up, high-detail photo of all lanes at places like confusing off-ramps. This only seems to pop up at highly complex roadways.

5. Speeding warnings are enabled by default and add a lot of piece of mind. When a road has a posted speed added thru Tomtom, it factors in your current speed which it tracks very accurately. If you are speeding on that road by more than 5 mph, part of the display bar lights up bright red, warning that you are driving too fast. When you slow down, the warning goes away. Also if a speed is not added to a road, you can easily add it via Mapshare. These features may been in previous versions, but adding the speed warning by default impressed me.

CONs:

1. The directional pointer/compass is stationary in an upwards position, whereas the old one would point in whatever direction you were travelling. For example, if you are travelling from Florida to Maine, the directional will point North. If you veer left, the directional will then point West, etc. This is helpful when you know which general direction you are supposed to be travelling, especially on multi-route deliveries. The Tomtom forum users will say that “it will now always point north, like a compass does”, whatever that excuse means. If it ALWAYS points north, then it is a waste and should be removed. I dont want a compass, I want a DIRECTIONAL POINTER. To not even allow an option to go back to the old pointer is a huge negative for me.

2. You no longer can display your route in text before you travel. Previous Tomtom versions let you look at what street names you would be travelling on, so that you can select certain roads and mark them to “Avoid”. If I prefer one Northbound highway over another, shouldnt I be able to choose? Not according to Tomtom, with this unit you must blindly follow along with whatever route they suggest. It looks like most of the earlier reviews point this out, and of all those people they decided to return the unit or are extremely dissatified.

3. The speaker sounds very weak to me. At 100%, the speaker should be blasting over any radio or music playing. This sounds more like 50-60% maximum.

4. The Lifetime traffic is actually a charger/traffic cable, not a subscription. If the cable is damaged or lost, you will have to pay whatever the cost is for that cable to get Traffic back. Alteratively, you may be able to use this cable on other units and get “lifetime traffic”.

5. Even in and around New York City, I received very few traffic alerts with the cable plugged in. NYC, one of the busiest cities in the US, with barely any traffic alerts? Really? The traffic updates I did get didnt divert me, and didnt affect my travel at all. I dont know if service is bad there, or the cable has a weak antenna, or if they dont care to update it much. In any case, it was so useless that my 350TM might as well have been a “350M”.

OTHER:

1. Not a major gripe, but it seems like this unit processes routes at the same pace as my unit from 2006. I would have thought the processor would get a slight upgrade for long routes, or even rerouting. Again this didnt ruin my experience, just would have been nice to see it run faster.

2. I want my soothing-voiced Mandy with Computer voices! Computer voice = Text-to-speech support, or spoken street names. Instead the only Computer voice “Susan” truly does sound like a computer. At least Mandy is still there, who speaks clearly and loudly. Perhaps getting Mandy to do new Computer voices is not possible.

SUMMARY:

I would have given this a 2 star instead of 3 star, but the end result is that you really do get your destination frustration-free with clear directions, however so does the most basic Tomtom unit for half the price. The unit is not awful, just a huge step backwards feature-wise.

Overall the first 2 cons (useless pointer and no text routing display) really killed the product for me and forced me to return the product. As a driver it didnt work well for me, but a casual driver may accept these changes and actually enjoy the product. My feeling is these options may have moved to the GO line, but if the features were in the ONE and XL series for years, why change? This feels like something of an insult to Tomtom’s fanbase, who have been looking at Garmin as a very close competitor, and sadly I will be looking at Garmin now too. Hopefully an update will add more user control, but by then it may be too late for this now-neutered line of GPS’s.

P.S. As pointed out here, the TomTom XL340 is available for around the same price and appears to have many of the same features, but with the more configurable older software. That one may be the better unit to buy.
Rating: 3 / 5