Any recommendations for XL 340 replacement that doesn't need a smartphone?

[fala00]

It's time to replace my XL 335 (thought it was a 340 and can't change the thread title!), which is no longer supported (although I still get the map updates). I don't have a smartphone, so I can't use the GO 520/620 offered as promotions. I was looking at the VIAs (1525, etc.) with lifetime traffic and maps, but they don't have great reviews on Amazon. I do want the free lifetime traffic and maps. Any suggestions? Thanks!

 

[canderson]

I am wondering about your reference to 'smartphone'. Although a 340 Live was available, your 335 didn't include Live data, which is the reason you would want a smart phone connection to one of the newer units. The GO 520/620 will work without a smart phone, but you won't get any Live traffic without that connection in North America. Only in the rest of the world do they offer the 5200/6200 with internal cellular capability. When AT&T decided to shut down 2G service here, TomTom decided to let the user provide their own connection using whatever technology their cell provider could muster.

Still, it might NOT require that smart of a smart phone to do this job IF yours is capable of acting as a WiFi hot spot. Even some flip phones support that function. If yours can perform that function, you'll be able to do Live traffic on a 520/620.

 

[fala00]

I am wondering about your reference to 'smartphone'. Although a 340 Live was available, your 335 didn't include Live data, which is the reason you would want a smart phone connection to one of the newer units. The GO 520/620 will work without a smart phone, but you won't get any Live traffic without that connection in North America. Only in the rest of the world do they offer the 5200/6200 with internal cellular capability. When AT&T decided to shut down 2G service here, TomTom decided to let the user provide their own connection using whatever technology their cell provider could muster.

Still, it might NOT require that smart of a smart phone to do this job IF yours is capable of acting as a WiFi hot spot. Even some flip phones support that function. If yours can perform that function, you'll be able to do Live traffic on a 520/620.

Thanks for your response! Let me clarify my situation. On my 335, I had lifetime traffic that I got from a radio signal--the receiver was built into the charger cable. It wasn't super accurate, but it was a lot better than nothing. The GO units get traffic information through a phone. My cell phone is a very basic Tracfone cell phone, and I have to pay for every minute I use and for any data (although I don't use it for data). So I am looking for another navigation device that gets traffic information from radio signals.

 

[canderson]

OK. So you had the RDS/TMC cable for your 335. They don't offer that for most of the GO series. The last units that I recall with an RDS cable were the GO Basic 5" and 6" sold in Europe, but not even all of those included a cable.