540TM instead of the 540TM World Traveler(WT)

[ehunter]

Cyber Monday I bought a 540TM for $129, free shipping and no tax. I think I got a good deal because today I see Amazon bumped the price and are now selling the same unit for $165.

Anyway, am I going to be able to use this unit in Europe at all (Germany only)? My gut tells me I will be able to offload the USA/CAN/MX map and buy a Germany map to use in its place and the 2Gb memory should be enough to get me around Germany. Is this correct or have I overlooked something?

Since I don?t care about the rest of Europe it seemed overkill to pay $70 more for the WT unit and then on top have to pay another lump of money for an euro update for when the trip arrives in about a year. With either unit, from what I understand, I would have to offload maps for a Euro update anyway (unless I bought only a German update instead of the whole of Europe for the WT).

At the same time I saw another thread related to Traffic updates for a US 540TM. As I understand it, even with my German update on either the standard or the WT units, my USA bought unit still will not work for Traffic updates outside of my home continent, correct (and there is no tweak for this either)?

TIA

 

[dhn]

The 540 series with traffic includes a combined traffic receiver/car charger. The same combo unit DOES work in Europe as well as North America (I used the 540 WTE with traffic module in Italy last summer).

About the maps.......

You can off load the USA_Canada_Mexico from your unit and still will NOT have enough room for an entire Europe map which now takes at least 2.2 gigs. Your 540 unit only has 2 gigs of internal storage.

BUT...........

If you buy a European map, the entire thing WILL download to your computer and you then select a 'zone' to install on the unit. For example, Germany is NOT in the same zoned map (Europe_West) as countries such as UK, France, Italy.

So, bottom line:
You can get the map for Germany once you off load the USA_C_M map AND the traffic module will work IF you buy the traffic component and its specialized antenna.

The antenna can be purchased from TomTom -- USA. See here:
- Accessories - TomTom

 

[ehunter]

Thanks dhn,

If I understand you correctly the Traffic receiver/charger that comes with my purchase IS NOT compatible for the euro environment. This is why you referenced the receiver/charger in the link you gave?. Right? ($80)

Also the link for that receiver does not list my unit under the compatibility section? Is that something I need to be worried about?

I just found the maps on the Tomtom site. My 540TM is not listed in the product selection but 540S is. I assume the maps which follow are compatible as they would be for the 540TM? right? If so, I found the zone-able Western Europe v8.60 map costing $80.

-E

 

[dhn]

If you have a traffic receiver such as shown in the link, it will work in Europe and North America. If you have a different traffic receiver, the usb connection type, it only works in North America.

For all intents and purposes the 540S is the same as the 540TM when it comes to maps. The 540TM model IS the 540S with lifetime maps and traffic included in the price.

 

[ehunter]

Sounds Like I am Golden then!

After this exchange we just had, I wonder why euro-only travelers would want to buy the world traveler version at all? I mean, those headed to Europe with either the 540TM or 540TM-WT still have to play zone games with their maps to make sure they don?t exceed 4Gb, and if they have to do that, it is not much different than the games you would play with zone-ing on a 2Gb product. So for me, the advantage of having a 4Gb product just is not there since the map games still have to be played with.

I am sure it is tough getting more and more memory on these devices, I mean after all, lots of people don?t have 4Gb on their home desktops yet and the GPS world is trying to squeeze 4Gb systems onto things the size of a chocolate bar. Come to think of it, these devices are now at the 32bit memory reference limitation so the next GPS revolution must be just around the corner.

Thanks for your guidance, I guess I am done.
(at least until my unit arrives at the end of the week ;-) )

 

[dhn]

In fact, the 540 WTE has never been offered for sale in Europe.

The somewhat equivalent model, function wise, is the XXL IQ Routes edition but that unit only has 2 gb storage and Western_Europe maps, no North America.