TomTom XXL 530-S 5-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator

TomTom GPS navigation with a five-inch, full-color, TFT LCD widescreen touch display
Preloaded maps of U.S. and Canada with millions of POIs
IQ Routes Technology gives you the fastest route every time by using actual average speeds of travel on your route to calculate your trip
With TomTom Map Share technology, you can instantly modify street names, street direction, POIs, road speeds, and turn restrictions on your own device
Award-winning Fold and Go EasyPort mount, folds flat against the device, making it easy for users to transport

The TomTom XXL 530·S is easy to use XXL widescreen navigation. TomTom’s award-winning software means effortless navigation from A to B. Switch on and go right out of the box. Just enter the address on the touchscreen and start driving anywhere in the US or Canada. TomTom guides you door-to-door with turn-by-turn spoken instructions including street names. 3D graphics help guide you to your destination. Easy to use XXL widescreen navigation. Click to enlarge. EasyPort mount folds neatly onto the back of your device. Click to enlarge. Click to enlarge. XXL Widescreen Navigation and Spoken Street Names IQ Routes
IQ Routes Technology* gives you the fastest route every time by using actual average speeds of travel on

Rating: (out of 29 reviews)

List Price: $ 189.00

Price: Too low to display

5 comments

Dr. Albert Alba says:

August 21, 2010 at 10:35 am (UTC -5)

Review by Dr. Albert Alba for TomTom XXL 530-S 5-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator
Rating:
I purchased the TOMTOM XXL 530-S at Staples on Black Friday after Thanksgiving for $134.00 including tax.

I feel the unit is a great deal for the price.

I tried to use the adhesive disk TOMTOM provides with the unit. The adhesive disk provided with the unit did not stick well. I then did research on monting devices. I first was told by TOMTOM to look into the [...], the Proclip init is not a good choice unless you want to spend an excessive amount of money to mount your device. The ProClip is also specific to your car model which is another joke. You get a different model car you need a new Proclip. I decided to purchase the Gilsson Universal Beanbag mount for $[...] from Amazon. I noticed it had a five star rating and the price was right. The center of the BeanBag mount has a shiney plexglass so the suction cup of your GPS will grip. The BeanBag can be placed on your dash, your seat, or in any open area in the car. The Bean Bag does not move on the dash or whereever you place it. Also, you are not sticking anything on your car. Also the Bean Bag is easily transportable, so your GPS can be used in all your cars. I placed mine in front of the gear shift where there is a recess storage area. Works Great. Obviously where you place the bean bag in a location that is best for your use is subjective.

The TOMTOM XXL530-S works great. The unit comes with a nice wide screen. The program reads out streets, interesections when needed, and has mulitple views. The unit will tell you how far you are from your destination when you are approaching and has a countdown on the unit. Therefore, it will announce you are 100 yards from your destination, then if you look at the display you can see the countdown meter. You do not have to look at your odometer. The unit also has a feature that can detect redlights that take pictures. I do not need this download option, but it is available. The unit has multiple sounds. You can download many voices free and comes preprogrammed with three voices. The loudness of the voice can be regulated. Most of the street names are clear, a few have been slightly distorted due to enunciation, although they are recognizable. The unit gives you advance notice of what lane to be in for an upcoming turn or exit and gives you ample warning to make the turn.

The unit also gives you a digital display of your speed. If you have a speedometer I guess you do not really need this feature. The unit also will tell you aloud your projected arrival time if for whatever reason there is a delay and the trip is longer than projected. You have the option of purchasing the software which will also notify you when there may be trafic jams and give you altermate routes. I have not used any of the extra features such as the alternate route program, but it is available.

I would recommend you download the software that allows you to upload your unit from the company’s website as soon as you get the unit so you can download the latest map updates. You have to dowload the latest map software within the first 30 days of buying the unit. You also have the option of downloading different voices and additional features you may need. Some of the additonal voices are free of charge, and some there are a fee. If you want to download revised maps after your first 30 days I beleive there is a nominal fee.

Overall the unit works great. The display is a very good size. There is some breaking in time to entering in data to the unit however, the learning curve is fast. After you program the unit a couple of times you will master putting the information into the unit. The unit memorizes your previous trips which makes entering in repeat information a breeze. Also, the unit recognizes the first several letters of a city, state, or street. Therefore, one does not have to spell out every single word. The screen is big enough to easily touch the screen and program the unit. The screen is has just the right amount of sensitivity to the touch.

I read the one negative review for this unit and I could understand his concern about mounting the unit with the adhesive disk they provide, but I could not understand the negative review on the unit itself. For the money and the quality I feel it is a good unit. Prices for these units are going down. You may want to wait afer Christmas since I was able to get a better deal after a holiday.
Cappachino says:

August 21, 2010 at 10:55 am (UTC -5)

Review by Cappachino for TomTom XXL 530-S 5-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator
Rating:
I purchased the XXL530S for $279, took it home and used it for one day. I found the screen size super, clear and easy to read, no glare. It hooked up nicely to the windshield, wobbly at first, but just needed to be tightened by turning the base. The voice was clear and loud, didn’t need to use a high volume setting. Lane Assist, Advance Notice worked well, sometimes maybe too far in advance, needed to check the actual distance from a turn, or I would have turned too soon. It didn’t find my home location; I live on a dirt road, but I was able to modify the Home direction and save. It did give one miss direction, but friends have told me, it just needs an update. I feel out of the box it should be accurate, but I liked it so much, that I am willing to give it another chance. The only reason I returned it was the price. Found it much cheaper somewhere else and am headed out to purchase it again.
Lord Marshal the 1st says:

August 21, 2010 at 10:59 am (UTC -5)

Review by Lord Marshal the 1st for TomTom XXL 530-S 5-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator
Rating:
The 530 picks up satellites very quickly, especially if you download gps fixes. It’s satellite sensitivity is also great. The iq routes are a godsend. The only bad thing is that it’s sound quality of the computer voices is horrible. It also constantly mispronounces English street names. It also as a very big defect, it mispronounces the 0 (I.e. the 105 freeway) to “west”. For example it will say merge left onto the one west five east freeway instead of one o five east or four hundred five east. You can see how this would be confusing.

Tom Tom senior tech support says this is a bug that affects all their models. They will not replaced the unit for this reason. They are working on the problem and are not able to give ANY estimate on when this will be resolved.

If you choose two voices, one computer voice and bart simpson for example. It will not speak any street signs in the computer voice. So you have to make a choice between text to speech and the celebrity voices. When you choose a non computer voice, it will also ask you to choose a computer voice. NO computer voice will be heard at this point.
M. Clark says:

August 21, 2010 at 11:06 am (UTC -5)

Review by M. Clark for TomTom XXL 530-S 5-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator
Rating:
OK, maybe I had low expectations for GPS units in general, so that’s why I was so pleasantly surprised, but I love this thing. For the very reasonable price of this unit on sale, I figure I’ll save the cost of the unit in printer ink by not having to print out all those google maps, seriously! It is so easy to use. Basically plug it in, listen to a quick tutorial and you are on your way. I have had to play around with it a little to figure out all of the features, but it is pretty intuitive. I don’t use the TTS, because I think that would be too much talking. It just says turn left ahead, etc, and I like to just glance at the screen. The screen, by the way, is great. Definitely get the biggest screen that you can. It is so easy to see exactly where you are and where you have to turn.

It is very good at finding restaurants, points of interest, etc. I find this very useful for soccer tournaments, etc.

I wish all of these GPS units did a better job with maps. I like to use the map feature, and getting to exactly the right spot at exactly the right zoom is sometimes cumbersome. It’s usable, but this just doesn’t seem to be the focus of GPS units in general. With this nice 5″ screen, they could display more street names on the maps. I wish they would do a better job of this, because that’s how I would like to analyze alternate routes.

The XXL 530s does tell you whether to get left or get right. I don’t know if that is what people mean by lane guidance, but it seems to be sufficient for my driving.

I don’t actually mount the unit, so I can’t comment on the mounting. I just sit it on my lap or the center console and pick it up once in a while. That way I just slip it in my purse when I leave the car. It is very slim, so it fits in a purse easily. All in all, I love this thing and find it very easy to use.
Dan S. says:

August 21, 2010 at 11:57 am (UTC -5)

Review by Dan S. for TomTom XXL 530-S 5-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator
Rating:
I don’t understand the reviews that say it can’t get them to their location. Perhaps they live in a very rural area or need to update their map. I live in LA and with only an hour to do errands in an unfamiliar part of town, I got this gps at Office Depot and was taken directly to the 3 stores I needed without error. While I haven’t used any other plug-in gps, I have used several built-in navi systems (we have an ’08 Honda Odyssey) and this blows them all away. It’s very intuitive and easy to use, while after 2 years I still have trouble with our Honda system. I’m very pleased & recommend the unit.