I like my 540TM, but here's why I think I'll return it

[tony22]

I got my XXL 540TM (from Amazon) last week and used it for a number of trips. It's been succesfully updated to the latest software and maps, but I've found a number of issues which have left me wanting to return it

1. The "operate my XXL" feature does not work. Yes, I read through the other major thread on this and understand what is going on here. And I know it may eventually get fixed - but it may not. It shouldn't matter where I bought it; all the functionality should work. That's not a major reason, though.
   
2. Local North-South roads in my area (greater Philadelphia area in New Jersey) are annouced in the wrong direction. Northbound directions are announced as "south" and vice-versa. This is only on a couple of major local roadways, and of course I know which is the correct orientation, but if I'm on a trip in an unfamiliar area I don't want to deal with this potential confusion.
   
3. The major issue is that the XXL routing does not know about (or how to deal with) "jughandles" (as they are called around here), or turnarounds. There are many roadways in this area where in order to make a left you have to use one of these jughandles to cross from an intersecting roadway. The XXL appears not to know about this and prompts the driver to make lefts when this is not possible. Again, I know my way around in this area, but this would be a deal breaker in unfamiliar territory.

The unit has otherwise been useful and accurate, but am I wrong to conclude a return is in order?

 

[DavidS777]

Tony22

You can return that for virtually any reason. Amazon takes a return for 30 days from the day you received it...

Now, TODAY - 3/10/11 - TT FIXED the "Operate my XXL" via Home. ALL works. Even on 9.061 app.

Connect to home, be logged in. Scroll to "operate my xxl" and click on it. Home will offer to download a file. Take it. FIXED. This came out today, and will fix your Amazon XXL540TM.

Map issues: using map report, you can correct this problem. And your problem is fairly local. Most of the map is accurate. But the US is large, and stuff happens. I've noticed one error here in Seattle, where it was telling me to take an exit. I was familiar with the area, and thought "Oh, they've added an exit." Not the case. Turns out - it was directing me to take the CLOSED on ramp for the Reversible Freeway Express lanes. (I was headed South/the lanes were running North - and had been for a bunch of hours...)

I don't really know, but I believe any GPS is going to have some sort of map errors, while the majority of the map will be fairly good...

D.

 

[mvl]

Regarding the jughandles, you can block each left turn in mapshare, but you have to do it location-by-location.

Have you updated the map to 865? Tomtom fixes roads/turns every map release and this could be fixed in a newer map.

 

[tony22]

David, thanks for the latest on the Operate My XXL issue. I'll give it a try. MVL, yes I am using the latest map. I can see where blocking the left turns will work, but that's the Catch-22 of course - it will only work if I know it in advance. And doning that for a lengthy road for every left could be quite a chore.

The North-South errors are annoying but I could live with them I suppose. But the jughandle thing really bothers me. My only hesitation is in whether the Garmin has the same problem. If something like the 1450LMT has similar issues then there's really no point in retruning this one.

 

[Bily42]

I got my XXL 540TM (from Amazon) last week and used it for a number of trips. It's been succesfully updated to the latest software and maps, but I've found a number of issues which have left me wanting to return it

1. The "operate my XXL" feature does not work. Yes, I read through the other major thread on this and understand what is going on here. And I know it may eventually get fixed - but it may not. It shouldn't matter where I bought it; all the functionality should work. That's not a major reason, though.
   
2. Local North-South roads in my area (greater Philadelphia area in New Jersey) are annouced in the wrong direction. Northbound directions are announced as "south" and vice-versa. This is only on a couple of major local roadways, and of course I know which is the correct orientation, but if I'm on a trip in an unfamiliar area I don't want to deal with this potential confusion.
   
3. The major issue is that the XXL routing does not know about (or how to deal with) "jughandles" (as they are called around here), or turnarounds. There are many roadways in this area where in order to make a left you have to use one of these jughandles to cross from an intersecting roadway. The XXL appears not to know about this and prompts the driver to make lefts when this is not possible. Again, I know my way around in this area, but this would be a deal breaker in unfamiliar territory.

The unit has otherwise been useful and accurate, but am I wrong to conclude a return is in order?

Regarding #2 on your list. I'm having the same problem here in Murphy, NC. This new map seems to have everything exactly backwards on the main highways here with westbound and eastbound being opposite. This seems to correct itself once you turn onto the road, but it tells you to turn on to the road in the exactly wrong direction. I'm familiar with the roads and know it is wrong, but a tourist using it would be headed in the totally opposite direction if following TomTom.
My husband tried to report this to the map service at their web site, but they said they would need more detailed information. It's a difficult problem to decribe and report since EVERYTHING seems to be mirrored on the map as far as compass direction.
We only used the 845 map for a brief time, but believe it did not have this problem.
Regarding #1 on your list: Anxious to try out the new fix for "Operate My XXL" but it's 5 AM (can't sleep) and have to wait until later to fetch the TomTom and connect it to the PC to get the update.

 

[Rick F.]

Regarding the N-S or E-W problem...

Is it the map that is wrong or is it the verbal instructions that are wrong? If it's just the verbal instructions from Susan (or Dave) maybe it can be fixed with an edit of the .LEX file. Just a thought.

 

[Bily42]

Okay, tried out the "Operate My XXL" and it works! Thank you TomTom Dutch engineers!

As far as the E vs W on our main highway here, it's not just a voice error. The road is labeled as "westbound" when it is actually eastbound and when you are on a side road and going to turn onto HWY 64, it will direct you to turn east instead of west or vice versa by voice AND the arrows on the road. Once you get on the road, however, it does not tell you to "turn around" when you choose the opposite of what it has indicated.
Anyway, we need to go out on a TomTom "expedition" and try out various locations here in Murphy, NC and see if the error is just isolated to our little section of HWY 64 or what.
We don't get out much.

 

[tony22]

Regarding the N-S or E-W problem...

Is it the map that is wrong or is it the verbal instructions that are wrong? If it's just the verbal instructions from Susan (or Dave) maybe it can be fixed with an edit of the .LEX file. Just a thought.

I also got the update and now Operate My XXL works. Yay! So that one is off the list.

In my case it's the verbal indication that is backwards. The route is pointing in the correct direction on the map. The arrow is telling me to travel on Route 73 North but Susan says to continue on Route 73 South.

BTW, in the meantime I did a search on the web for discussions of jughandles and Garmin. It seems Garmins also have a bad record for this road feature. So maybe I wouldn't be any better off with one of them.

 

[makaiguy]

This may be related to the way it deals with rotaries. The verbal instructions relate to the overall net effect of your trip onto the rotary, telling you go right/across/left on the rotary as though it were a normal 4-way intersection.

Your jughandles are like going 3/4 of the way around a rotary, and you're told to go left.

 

[tony22]

These are really two separate issues (I maybe didn't make that clear in my first post). The jughandles and the incorrect verbal direction are not tied to each other. The verbal inaccuarcy applies to a standard roadway. The jughandle problem is that Tomtom does not seem to know when some roads use jughandles for "left" truns.

 

[canderson]

The jughandle problem is that Tomtom does not seem to know when some roads use jughandles for "left" truns.

That's not a function of the TomTom, but is a function of the map. I have only two of these that I ever encounter. In one case, the map holds the correct turn options - and in the other case, it apparently does not.

I also have one funny situation where there's a pull-out on the right for FedEx/UPS boxes in a business park. The 'exit' of the pull-out lines right up with a street to the left. My TomTom thinks that it's a jug-handle left turn, and always tries to route me through the pickup area to make the left!

I suspect that when a lot of the 'jug-handle' issues occur, it is because the map has been updated using satellite imagery that has never been field updated, and the person that made the map edit didn't pick out the left turn (or in my FedEx/UPS case, picked it up when it should not have been). Until stuff like this is reported and field checked, it's always a guess on the part of the person reviewing the satellite imagery.

 

[tony22]

OK, I've decided to keep it

So for all my whining about the problems with the 540TM I've decided not to return it. As pointed out the Operate My XXL feature now works, and my investigation of the Garmins with respect to jughandles has resulted in quite a few sources indicating they have similar problems. So no magic solution there. Yes, I don't like that restaurant POIs cannot be categorized, and some screen operations are slow. But in looking at it from a feature-price perspective, getting a Garmin with an equivalent feature set appears to be quite a bit more expensive. So bang for the buck wins out. The 540TM really does have a very nice feature set for the money, and it all works! - with annoyances that are no worse (for me) than the same kind of, or different, annoyances I'd get going with a much more expensive Garmin.

Sigh. It'll do. :couch2: