TomTom VIA 1405TM 4.3-Inch Portable GPS Navigator with Lifetime Traffic & Maps
February 9th, 2012 | 
Author: TomTom VIA 1405TM 4.3-Inch Portable GPS Navigator with Lifetime Traffic & Maps
- Get over 1 million more miles of mapped roads in the US
- Outsmart delays with Free Lifetime Traffic Updates, without advertising
- Stay up-to-date on road changes with Free Lifetime Map Updates
- Navigate with ease using premium maps of the US, Canada & Mexico
- Travel in style with the new, slim design and integrated Fold and Go EasyPort Mount
Hit the road street-smart and style savvy. The new, super-slim TomTom VIA series holds the latest navigation technology, in a fresh, sleek design including an integrated Fold and Go EasyPort Mount. Travel confidently with superior routing and the most accurate, dependable maps in the GPS industry. In fact, TomTom gives you one million more miles of mapped roads in the US. The VIA range offers a large array of unique features like Lifetime Traffic and Map Updates, Bluetooth hands-free calling and
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Compared to Garmin Nuvi,
I don’t have much to add to the overall evaluations of the other reviewers but I do have some opinions comparing this to the more expensive versions on the market.
A couple of years ago, I bought a top-of-the-line Garmin Nuvi for over $500, the model is discontinued but the equivalent one is about $400 today. I got this TomTom for a second car.
The Garmin is definitely a better piece of hardware. The entire device is more solid, the screen is larger and crisper, it finds satellites more quickly and shows location more precisely. It has better accessories for attaching to the dash and charging. But the TomTom is certainly good enough to get you where you’re going. At 1/3 the price, it’s a much better value for most people.
TomTom has overall better software, although some of that difference may be the two years in between purchases, perhaps Garmin has improved. I had none of the problems some early reviewers described in setting it up. Garmin was considerably more complicated, although it did have a lot more options. Someone interested in specialized features might prefer it, but I have never even thought about using any of them. I want a device that will direct me with minimal fuss, and it’s nice that it can find nearby businesses.
Not only is the TomTom simpler, but it detects its orientation, which is handy in a car. It always present the screen right side up to you. I find its menus more natural. It does some little things right. For example if your last trip was from A to B, and you’re still at B, a good guess to your next destination is back to A. TomTom makes this the first choice. Garmin puts it at the bottom of your favorites list. TomTom works best with a zip code, and is location-sensitive when making guesses. You type in a few letters and TomTom guesses the nearby place that starts with the letters, Garmin is apt to guess some tiny place far away. Garmin requires place names, which is sometimes hard to come up with. And if you do enter a place without a complete address, TomTom directs you to a better spot within the place.
Garmin thinks of the world in streets, TomTom in positions. Garmin says “take the entrance ramp on your right and follow route 80 eastbound,” TomTom says, “turn right and get on the freeway.” There are advantages and disadvantages to each. Garmin is annoying when it constantly tells you things like “bear left to remain on route 17,” when you are driving on a dual route (like routes 6 and 17) and the other route separates. As a driver, this just means, “don’t take the exit.” TomTom doesn’t do that, but it’s equally annoying telling you to turn right or turn left when you’re driving on a curvy road. “Don’t drive off the side of the road,” is all it means.
Another example is Garmin is silent sometimes on how to follow a road when it takes a jog. You’re driving on route 3, and it comes to an intersection with route 35. You have to go a few hundred yards to the right on route 35 to pick up route 3 again. But sitting at the intersection, it’s not obvious whether to go right or left. Garmin won’t help, in its brain there is an unbroken route 3. TomTom tells you to turn right, then left. But when I was driving north on South Plum Street, which turns into North Plum Street, TomTom told me to turn right, then left, even though there was no jog, nothing changed except the street name. TomTom is much better at knowing about smaller streets and dirt roads, and warning you about them. Garmin ignores them. TomTom directs me down a private road to my lake house, Garmin takes me the legal way on public roads.
In terms of personality and accent, TomTom reminds me of a kindergarten teacher from Oregon. It seems pleased and faintly surprised when you do things right, and warmly understanding when you disobey. Garmin is more like a hyper-efficient non-commmissioned officer from a German area of Pennsylvania. It is crisply precise in directions and when you screw up its total lack of reproof is a reproof. Garmin tells you to make a U-turn at the next “legal” place, TomTom at the next “safe” place.
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|Excellent Personal Navigation Device,
I bought this to replace my 2-year-old TomTom XL 340S, mainly because I wanted lifetime map updates which were not available when I bought my XL. I hooked both units up in my car and drove around for an hour to compare them. A couple obvious differences are that the VIA units are slightly thinner and lighter than the XL series, and the VIAs have a slightly better screen, although honestly I could barely tell the difference. Diagonal lines are a little less jaggy on the VIA if you look closely, but the increased resolution does not make much difference. The font size is slightly different as well. The font for the current street is a little larger on the VIA, but the font for the next street to turn onto is slightly smaller, which you can see in the screen image on this site. The street name is green and white and meant to look like a highway sign. The fonts were perfectly fine on my XL, and they are fine on the VIA as well. One thing that they changed, and I think this is new for the VIA line, is that when you are approaching your destination it will tell you if it’s on the right or the left. With previous generation TomToms you could see which side of the street your destination was on by looking at the screen, but it didn’t announce it audibly. It’s a slight improvement, but not a big deal in my opinion.
As far as navigation, the two units were pretty similar when giving directions. I noticed that in some places the Lane Guidance screen would kick in on the XL while it did not on the VIA. I think they have tweaked the software a little after realizing that there were times when Lane Guidance was coming on when it wasn’t really needed. Also, I noticed at one exit that the XL said to exit and “go straight on,” (although the screen showed a left turn with an arrow) when in fact it should have said exit and turn left. The XL got it wrong, the VIA got it right. Again, that was probably just the result of improvements that have been made to the software in the last two years. Also, the XL would say “take the exit toward Erie, PA” (spoken as “pa” as in “papa”), whereas the VIA just said take the exit toward Erie, and didn’t mention the state. It’s kind of pointless to say the state in that instance, so just saying a city and leaving it at that is fine.
And now for the best feature. The reason I would not consider any other brand of PND right now is because TomTom is the only brand with the excellent EasyPort Mount. I only use my PND when I travel by air and then rent a vehicle. In my opinion, having the mount built-in to the unit is great. It is much easier to pack and carry than it would otherwise be if the mount was a seperate piece of hardware. I’ve had no problems with the EasyPort Mounts on both of my TomToms. They work great!
I didn’t want the traffic or Bluetooth options, so I went with the “M” instead of the “TM” and the 1405 instead of the 1435.
Overall this is a great PND. I highly recommend it to anyone who takes along a PND for use in rental cars. The EasyPort Mount is excellent and makes for a compact and easy to transport device, and TomTom is the only company that offers it.
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|Wait…wait..Please wait before buying the Via1405TM.,
I purchased the Via1405TM from Staples on 6/14/11. As you can tell from the title please wait till the end of the year before purchasing this model. I have a TomTom one that I used for last several years and it has been a solid device. It functioned as promised right out the box. So I felt good about purchasing another TomTom. Still I read reviews of both TomTom and Garmin I felt the Via might serve my purpose even though the reviews indicated problems with new MY TomTom service and incomplete firmware/software. I can now verify that both problems are true.
Now the three factors that drove me to look for a new GPS, are my son has started driving and several of our trips coincided, I wanted spoken directions and street names and the final reason was a sale with coupon and rewards gave me $80 off the price.
So upon getting it home I want straight to the TomTom site to update device. This went smoothly right up to the device being plugged into the USB. The MY TomTom service replaces the TomTom home service but it is not fully functioning and is thrown haphazardly together so as it is not easy to use at all. The site does not yet recognize the different 1400 models, they are not a selectable option on drop down list and it does not recognize their firmware/software. It does however recognize them as generic 1400 but that will not get you your lifetime map updates. As a matter of fact it tells you that the software version on the device is wrong. My other big problem is the Via lacks password protection but it does show you a symbol of a man stealing to remind you to be cautious of it being stolen. Lastly side by side on my computer table my old TomTom found the satellites within 40 seconds of it being turned on the Via still had no signal after 5 mintues and 45 seconds I had to take outside and sit for 1 minute and 48 seconds longer to find the satellites. So you will not be able to just check trip times inside the house.
So on 6/15/11 I called tech support to see about map updates and how to set the password. Here are the highlights; you have to send proof of purchase via fax or scanner to TomTom to have them add map service to your account. They may add the password feature sometime this year because it is a huge request. They were presold before they were ready so they just released them unfinished and features will be added as they come. The website is unfinished and will be updated with time. They recommend buying the One or XXL because the bugs are worked out.
Oh yea it found my home and work place so it is a GPS. So there you are.
UPDATE: Well on 6/16/11 I decided to put the Via to the test side by side with my One. I drove 20 mins to a baseball game and 30 mins back to my house. Here is what I found.
Sound Loudness: Winner -The TomTom One.
The One is much louder and I can easily hear it with the radio going, family talking and the windows down. The Via is difficult to hear under those conditions both were at 100% volume.
Directions: Winner- Tie
They were both dead on within seconds of each other and agreed on directions.
Easy of Use: Winner-Tie
The same basic layout no real learning curve if you have owned a TomTom.
Finding Satellite: Winner TomTom One.
The One found the satellites hands down faster. The lag with the Via is noticeable and this is while in the car.
Traffic feature: Winner Via by default.
The feature works in my city as well as surrounding cities but they are small places and we don’t really experience traffic jams.
Spoken Routes: Winner Via by default.
I did enjoy this feature and it was a major reason for my purchase. The only thing that I found curious was on the way home it stopped talking unless I tapped the screen. The directions showed on the screen but no voice guidance.
Route assist: Winner by default.
It did work on my trip coming up just as shown directing me to the right lanes. I was impressed and my daughter was amazed and amused.
My impression so far is this is not a full price product. It is not at all worth almost $200.00 dollars. If you can get it with for about a $100.00 like I did it’s just about worth that. I probably will keep it. One more big trip this weekend will be the deciding factor.
Final Update: 6/27/11 Will not log on to computer anymore for updates says contact customer support. I am returning to store for a refund.
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