XXL 540 or XXL 550

[agardk]

Hello all,

Here is my story: I have owned a XXL 550 (Which until a couple of days ago I thought was a 540) for a while now and am fairly satisfied with it. My only issue was not being able to use itineraries on it which after some help from forum members I was able to over come with a menu hack.

Before the menu issue popped up I decided to by another 550. Then, before I was able to figure out the menu issue and get it working on the 550 I decided to cancel the 550 and order a 540. As a result, both units should be arriving today.

Now I have to decide which to keep and which to return. I visited the TomTom web site and looked at the specs for both as as far as I can tell, with the exception of Easy Menu, they appear identical.

As the 550 was $15 less than the 540, I'm inclined to keep the 550 and return the 540.

So my question is this: Are there any real differences between the 2 models and is there any reason to go with the 540 over the 550?

Thanks.

 

[dhn]

I would keep the 540 with the full menu options over the 550, even if you can put some functionality back with a custom menu.

 

[agardk]

From your other posts on the subject, I gathered that was your opinion. But my question is really about the hardware. Are they basically the same unit?

Other than the Itinerary, what other functions does Easy Menu remove/hide?

 

[dhn]

The 550 has a dedicated reset hole on the bottom. The 540 uses the drum reset (hold power button about 20 seconds till you hear the drum sounds.

See here for a link to a reference guide where you can compare features:
https://www.tomtomforums.com/t21826-tomtom-model-feature-reference-updated-11-2-2011-a.html

 

[agardk]

Well, one difference I noted in the xls file is that the 540 uses USB 1.1 where the 550 uses 2.0.

That assumes that the xls is correct in this regard, I noticed at least two errors regarding the 550 in that file and mvl does not accept messages so I don't know if it is even being updated.

 

[Andy_P]

Post those errors in a forum post or in a PM to one of the other mods and we'll get them corrected.

 

[hamilb]

I have the XXL550 and, unless it's hiding undert thr sticky label, there is no pin reset hole. To reset one uses the power button.

Also, tests using the same usb port with a USB 2.0 data fob and the XXL 550 indicate that the XXL550 is USB 1.1

 

[dhn]

Sorry, I must have been mistaken. Thanks for the clarification :thumb:

 

[agardk]

Also, tests using the same usb port with a USB 2.0 data fob and the XXL 550 indicate that the XXL550 is USB 1.1

Tested how? Speed measurements?

I know Windows will alert if you plug a 2.0 device into a 1.0/1.1 port but not the other way around so outside the specs, how can you tell?

 

[agardk]

Post those errors in a forum post or in a PM to one of the other mods and we'll get them corrected.

OK, The xls file states that the XXL 550 used MyTomTom but mine uses Home 2.

It also has "???" in the routing but it has IQ Route.

The USB 1 or 2 issue seems to be under some dispute here as well.

 

[agardk]

We went off on the hardware issues and I never really got an answer to my menu question. Other than the Itinerary, does anyone know what other functions does Easy Menu remove/hide?

 

[hamilb]

I used Sandra Lite to identify properties of the port when each was connected

 

[canderson]

Tested how? Speed measurements?

There are a number of tools available for fiddling and debugging USB devices that will indicate which speed/protocol is in use. On Windows, I recommend USBDeview for this sort of thing. Good stuff, and free. I'll attach a copy in zip format for you to look at. It's very tidy, requiring no Win install, and keeping all of its files in the directory in which you run it.

 

[agardk]

Tested how? Speed measurements?

There are a number of tools available for fiddling and debugging USB devices that will indicate which speed/protocol is in use. On Windows, I recommend USBDeview for this sort of thing. Good stuff, and free. I'll attach a copy in zip format for you to look at. It's very tidy, requiring no Win install, and keeping all of its files in the directory in which you run it.

Yes, I have a copy of USBDeview. I don't know enough about USB to understand most of it's results. There is no field that says "this device is running USB 1.1, 2.0 or 3.0." Can you advise which of these field yields this info ?

I've attached the report from my 550.

 

[hamilb]

In the third field from the end your report states the USB Version is 1.1

 

[agardk]

Wow, thanks. I guess my eyes glazed over before I got that far to the right.

Well, that's another error in that comparison xls file. It lists the 550 as being USB 2.0