Preloaded with maps of the US, Canada, and Mexico, complete with Map Share technology for easy modification and updates
More than 7 million points of interest in over 60 destination categories--gas stations, restaurants, hotels, ATMs and more
IQ Routes Technology calculates the fastest route possible based on time of day, saving you time, fuel and money
Advanced Lane Guidance indicates exactly which lane to use, so you can go confidently
Announces turn-by-turn directions aloud, including street and place names
This review is from: TomTom XL 350 4.3-Inch Portable GPS Navigator****Update****I changed my review of this GPS from five stars down to three stars for a few different reasons and I ended up taking the GPS unit back to the place I purchased it from (it was very hard to walk away from the $129 sale price) and purchased the TomTom XL340 TM.The main reason I traded this unit in for a new one was the user interface. I completely understand that TomTom wants to create a simple user interface geared towards the 80% of people who want a simple and easy to understand GPS unit. On this, the XL 350 TM performs exceptionally well. However, if you want to really customize the GPS to do things for you, then you are out of luck because you cannot update very manypreferences in the unit. I like to tinker with the GPS unit and in the end I want ultimate control over what is on the screen and what information I can or cannot get. The 350 TM does not give you ANY leeway to set up the GPS in the exact way you want. If you see the words "Easy Menu" on the box and you like to have control over everything the GPS displays then the unit will not be for you. If you want simple and easy-to-understand-out-of-the-box performance, then this GPS will work fine.The XL 340TM GPS uses the old menu system from TomTom. I ended up paying $60 more for this GPS but it was important to me to be able to customize the menu system. This unit also has lifetime maps and traffic and this was my main reason for buying a new GPS. Instead of two options on the main screen, I have ten. Under the preferences menu this unit lets me check seven different boxes under the Safety Preferences menu. Additionally there are two other sub-screens under this that let me set when I am driving on the wrong side of the road and to choose if I ever want the map display shut off. I can also change the information displayed on the status bar and on the 350 I could not. There was no compass function that I could see on the 350 that is available here. It also lets me set up different information on the Quick Menu preferences and this option was not available on the 350 at all. It also lets me check off about 15 different items under planning preferences including things like avoiding toll roads, avoiding ferries, plan routes by fastest times, shortest routes, avoiding freeways etc. Under Advanced Preferences it lets you select options like displaying street names, house numbers before street names, lane images etc. You can also prepare routes on this unit and also build an itinerary including waypoints.I also sent an email to the TomTom support team asking if there was anyway I could get and use the old menu system they used and was told that is was not possible. The problem with this response? It took TomTom over a week to answer my question. That seems like a very long response time and is another reason I took one more star off of my rating.Overall the 350 was a nice unit and easy to use, it simply did not allow me to customize the GPS like I wanted to. *****Update over*****I travel a lot for my job and have used an older model Mio GPS unit to get me to my destinations. The Mio worked fine for the most part, but the last time I went to a new city the maps were very old and out of date. I decided it was time to upgrade to a new GPS unit and researched Garmin and TomToms because they are the two biggest players in the market. In the end, the lifetime traffic and lifetime map upgrades pushed me towards the TomTom XL 350 TM, a model that just came out at the end of May 2010.In my research for a new GPS it seems that people either liked Garmin or the TomTom because of the interface. People usually had a strong bias for one or the other. The interface did not matter to me as much as what I could get for my money. I seriously looked at the Garmin nuvi 780 because this is a top-of-the-line Garmin, albeit a discontinued model, and Amazon is selling it for 74% off the original price. For the money it seemed like a fantastic deal except for two things. This unit uses MSN Direct content for traffic and you have to pay a subscription fee after the trial period ends, and MSN is discontinuing this service at the beginning of 2011. This unit did not include lifetime updated maps, which is a big deal for someone buying a new GPS unit simply because the old one had maps in it that are getting obsolete.Since lifetime maps we...
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