Thursday, September 27, 2012

TomTom START 55M 5-Inch GPS Navigator with Lifetime Maps and Roadside Assistance(TomTom 1EF0.017.03)


Product Features

Style Name: Lifetime Maps
  • 5-Inch Touchscreen
  • Lifetime Maps in US and Canada - Outsmart road changes
  • Fuel Prices - Find the lowest gas by location and price
  • TomTom Roadside Assistance - Reliable roadside assistance you can trust 24/7
  • Advanced Lane Guidance - highlights the correct lane


See Special Offers


Product Description

Style Name: Lifetime Maps

From the Manufacturer

TomTom Front
(Click to view larger).

Your journey…Easy.

Introducing the new easy-to-use TomTom Start - basic navigation at its best. Find the best daily fuel deals and drive with complete confidence thanks to TomTom Roadside Assistance - free, reliable cover whenever you need it. Trust TomTom to make navigation nice and easy. The START 55M includes the following:

TomTom Roadside Assistance
  • Reliable roadside assistance you can trust, 24/7.
  • TomTom Roadside Assistance Basic* (an additional $29.95) maintains a nationwide database of thousands of repair facilities and dealerships that are qualified to repair most any vehicle.
  • Virtually every type of emergency roadside assistance, including 24-hour, toll-free assistance, towing, jumpstarts, automobile lockout, flat tire assistance, winching, and fuel delivery.
  • One phone call to 1-800-708-1080 connects you to Cross Country Automotive Services, award winning response teams.
  • For more information please visit www.tomtom.com/roadsideassistance


* Basic Member includes a refund of 20% off the cost of your first tow event that is serviced in the United States for up to a $25 refund.

Fuel Prices
  • Find the lowest gas prices daily wherever you go.
  • TomTom's Fuel Prices feature helps you find and rank gas stations by price and location.
  • Find by distance to station, name of station, price, cheapest on route, cheapest nearby or cheapest in area.
  • Travelers can also choose which type of gas they would like tracked: regular, mid-grade, premium or diesel.
  • Simply touch the name of the station you wish to travel to, and TomTom will give you its standard turn-by-turn directions to get there.
Free Daily Map Changes
  • Free Daily Map Changes from the TomTom Map Share community.
  • Become part of a community of 21 million drivers and always drive with the latest map corrections.
  • Plug in to tomtom.com/getstarted and receive Free map changes every day.
Free Daily Map Changes
  • Outsmart road changes. Free Lifetime Map Updates guarantee you receive four new editions of your TomTom map each year to ensure that you are always navigating with the industry’s most up-to-date map.
  • Start fresh every few months by downloading TomTom's latest full map edition.

Product Description

TomTom START 55M 5-Inch GPS Navigator with Lifetime Maps and Roadside Assistance


Most Helpful Customer Reviews
49 of 53 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 starsSolid GPS Navigation DeviceMay 2, 2012
By Dr. Bojan TunguzHALL OF FAMETOP 50 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE
Style Name:Lifetime Maps|Amazon Vine™ Review(What's this?)
GPS navigation devices have come a long way. What used to be exclusive gadgets that only a few could afford has become nearly as ubiquitous as the car stereo. In recent years this trend has only accelerated with the introduction of GPS navigation capabilities to the smartphones. Some of these smartphone GPS solutions are really impressive and give the standalone GPS devices run for their money. However, there is something to be said for having a dedicated device that will do one thing and do it well. That's why I have continued to use the standalone GPS devices, and will likely do so for foreseeable future.

Over the years I've owned several different GPS navigators. Garmin continues to be my preferred brand, but I've also tested several Magellan devices. This is the first TomTom device that I've come across, and although I will probably continue using my Garmin Nuvi, in terms of most essential features TomTom gives it a run for its money.

The TomTom Start that I got comes with the lifetime map updates for US and Canada, so I naturally wanted to make sure that my maps are up to date before I start using it. It turns out that I needed to download the Mac desktop app since my unit did not come with one. Getting the app from the TomTom's website was not the smoothest process shall we say. They really need to make the connectivity and user experience more Mac friendly.

I like the large 5" screen. In my opinion that is an optimal size for a small vehicle GPS navigation unit. Anything larger would obstruct too much of the view through the windshield. The screen is fairly well illuminated even in the bright sunlight.

The screen uses the resistive touch technology, instead of the more expensive capacitive technology that is found in most today's tablets and smartphones. This means that the touch sensitivity is very low, and you have to press fairly firmly before the screen detects the contact. The touch response time is also not very good, nor is the precision. All of these things become very annoying when you are starting your trip and want to get going as fast as possible. If you've never used a GPS navigation unit and are familiar with smartphones, you may be very frustrated when you first start using it.

The device comes with a windshield mount, which is overall OK. I prefer mounting my GPS units to the dashboard instead of the windshield, but this mount will be useful in either case.

Unlike most other GPS navigators that I've tested TomTom only includes one standard voice for the turn-by-turn navigation. You can purchase additional voices online, but these are kind of expensive (about $13 per voice), and they don't include the street name annunciations. This is definitely a shortcoming in my book.

When it comes to navigation TomTom Start's performance was definitely comparable to the one that I've experienced from my Garmin Nuvi. There are a few subtle differences (I think that TomTom acquires satellites a bit faster than Garmin), but nothing in my experience thus far that would make either one of the units a clear winner. I liked all the speed limit indicators, traffic updates, and the exact lane navigation that this TomTom navigator offers, but most of those are only really useful if you drive a lot around bigger cities. If you use GPS navigation predominantly for long road trips, then all of these extra features are a nice add-on but not something that is all that crucial.

Overall I have been very pleased with this TomTom Start navigator. It has all the features that I'd expect from an up-to-date stand-alone GPS device, and it will probably be a solid choice for anyone looking to invest into one of these for a longish period of time. There are a few shortcomings that prevent me from giving it a five-star review, but overall it is as good of a GPS device as you'll come across.
Posted by Unknown at 8:13 AM

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