Quick question -- GO 630 or XXL 540?

[Zeromus-X]

TomTom used to have a nice little feature comparison page with their models. Looks like it's not there anymore.

Looks to me like the XXL has the larger screen, but the GO 630 has Bluetooth, hands-free calling, and voice input. Is there any difference as far as processing speed, IQ routing, etc? They both have ALG, IQ routes, etc.

Trying to make a decision today so any advice would be great!

 

[canderson]

Some of the differences are pretty subtle. For the XXL540S, the folks at TomTom suddenly realized that Mexico is part of North America for the first time. Not so for the 630. Would you ever use that? I could have made good use of it on a recent trip down to the Yucatan, and that might have swayed my decision along with the 5" screen.

Not knowing which features are REALLY important to you, it's hard to guide your decision. Amazon has the XXL 540S for $149 (new, not refurb) at the moment. Tough to beat. I can tell you that there are better hands-free units out there. The internal speaker in the 630 is OK, but you can find better. Whether you want Bluetooth really depends only upon your use of handsfree or any plan to try to tether your cell phone for traffic services.

I'd give the 540 a really long and serious look if I were in the market right now. The only thing that would bother me about it at all is the fact that it doesn't have an SD card slot, and I doubt it has enough internal memory in reserve for my Euro maps.

 

[dhn]

The 540 XXL World Edition comes with 4-gigs storage and maps of both USA_Can_M and Western_Europe.

 

[canderson]

The 540 XXL World Edition comes with 4-gigs storage and maps of both USA_Can_M and Western_Europe.

Yeah, but it also comes with a much bigger price tag. For those of us that already own Euro maps, both the XXL 540S and Traveler version are kind of a gotcha.

 

[dhn]

What's nuts is that the Canadian web site is selling BOTH the 540 World Edition and the 540 S for the SAME $349 Canadian. (same price as the US site).

For Canadians, a good deal on the World.

 

[canderson]

What's nuts is that the Canadian web site is selling BOTH the 540 World Edition and the 540 S for the SAME $349 Canadian. (same price as the US site).

For Canadians, a good deal on the World.

Actually .. no. Not a good deal on World, just the usual retail. You're getting screwed on the straight XXL540S. The TomTom U.S. site has the "World Traveler" for $349, but the North American version (straight XXL 530S) is going for $209 on TomTom's U.S. site right now. Note: my reply above was predicated upon this.

 

[dhn]

I know about those prices, yes.

The really best deal is is somebody can get a 930 new at a decent price. They're still around.

 

[Zeromus-X]

I've got a Palm Pre cellphone, which I've heard reports from people that it's not on TomTom's compatible list for the bluetooth tethering. As well, it appears even for those who have gotten it to link, it can't use it for traffic/internet services. So, I'm guessing the 540 is the way to go.

Both of them are almost the same price on Amazon ($149 and $156 if I remember right). I kinda like the idea of being able to voice input the directions, though I don't know how good it really works. The hands-free device would be nice since Virginia is pushing for a cellphone ban, but again, I don't know how often I'd really use it, since I can just put my phone on speaker and accomplish mostly the same thing.

I've got unlimited Sprint Navigation on my phone, I should probably just buy a mount and a car charger and save $120 bucks... but I'm so used to the TomTom interface, I'd miss it if it weren't there!

I'll be buying one or the other in the morning, so any more advice would be great. The 730 isn't much more (Amazon actually has them for $119 after rebate for a refurb one, which seems great), but it doesn't appear to do anything for me that the 630 would. I don't travel outside the US and so Europe/Mexico maps aren't a selling point for me.

Thanks for your advice so far!

 

[grwebster]

I have the 630. Bluetooth may or may not work with your phone. Also it does not have the functionality that my $30 blue tooth ear piece has. I have hardly used the voice input. I suppose if I could push a button and say "nagivate to...." I would use it but that is not the way it works. These features are not that great. Base your decision on other factors. For my money I would not buy this particulat model again even though I got it for under 200 cdn. It is a bit bulky for me as well. I don't like to leave it in the car, and although it fits in a pocket, it is a bit too bulky for me.

 

[Zeromus-X]

Amazon actually made up my mind for me in the end -- I couldn't decide, and while I liked the bigger screen, it wasn't really a necessity. I remembered how fast my Go 510 seemed compared to the XXL 530, and so I decided to stick with the Go 630. I don't know if I'll be able to Bluetooth pair it, or if I'll ever use the voice activation, but when it was time to buy, I scored the 630 for US$130 brand new, whereas Amazon shot their price on the XXL up to $190. You can still get it for $145 from Beach Camera with free shipping, but I needed it for tomorrow, and I've got Amazon Prime, so I decided to let price sway my final decision.

I'm updating the maps now and we'll see how it goes! Now if I can just figure out how to get the stupid thing off the windshield mount, heh.

 

[Zeromus-X]

Maybe this was a mistake.

Booted the thing up, hooked it up to the laptop. Wouldn't sync to the account because I already had one linked within the past 6 months. Created a new account with a different email address. Ran the updates. Clicked on latest map guarantee. Downloaded, said it couldn't install due to insufficient space. Deleted voices that I wouldn't use. Went back to latest map guarantee, it says click Next to download, and nothing ever downloads. Unplugged the GPS and it can't boot because it doesn't have any maps.

*sigh*

 

[dhn]

It should boot without maps if the operating system is installed. Take a look at the contents of the unit using Explorer. Do you see a specific map folder in there with files?

If you did download an updated map, you should find it here:
C:\Documents and Settings\yourname\My Documents\TomTom\HOME\Downloads\complete\maps\

Connect your unit to Home. It should offer an application. Accept and install. Now then, if you did see the downloaded compressed map where I pointed to, then make an Explorer backup, not Home. Next, you can try installing the map without using Home.

See here:
https://www.tomtomforums.com/genera...nstall-downloaded-map-without-using-home.html

 

[Zeromus-X]

Thanks for the advice. I'm guessing the problem was that I'd downloaded the maps for the 530 less than a week ago, which aren't compatible with this device. I deleted them from Home and manually from the TomTom, and it's redownloading the 2 gig map package still.

 

[grwebster]

Great Price!

 

[Arden Murphy]

Interested in XXL540. Does it have "ear phone" capability? Want to use it on my motorcycle withoult the prohibitively large price of motorcycle units.
Also ... anyone used it in Mexico recently?.... Guadalajara area???
Thanks

 

[dhn]

The 540 does not have an audio out port. Nor has it got bluetooth functionality.