TomTom VIA 1605TM 6-Inch GPS Navigator with Lifetime Traffic & Maps

I chose TomTom because I saw a friend's TomTom in action last year. I chose the VIA 1605 TM because of the large screen size, the lifetime maps, and the traffic advisor function. After 2 weeks of use, I do love it. While traveling, it suddenly popped a traffic advisory (administrative road block) and offered an alternative route with same arrival time. A short time later, the screen flashed, and we were back on the original route -- never saw road block, never delayed. It also accurately warned of rush hour slowdown on freeway. Large screen is easy to read and voices are clear. Computer generated voice is fun to listen to and informative. Mute function also easy to use and handy for minor detours. I love the speed at which it adjusts the route when I insert a detour while driving based on personal preference. And I love the fact that it chose a route of which I was unaware, but which was fast and easy driving. I have not figured out all the features, so maybe I can explain to it that I would prefer to avoid hills -- go around, not over -- but that is the only issue I have.

I have a well used and much loved TomTom Via 1405 that began to show signs of a slow death. The search was on for a similar device with perhaps a larger screen. I never got past the rest of the Via line choosing the TomTom Via 1605TM with a 6" screen. I charged it, plugged into TomTom's website, down-loaded the latest items and headed out to the car. If you have or have had a Via of any model you will certainly be familiar with this unit. Aside from a much bigger and markedly brighter screen with sharper graphics it is identical in many respects to the other units in the Via line. Let me explain: I ran my dying 1405 alongside of the 1605TM. I'm not kidding when I say it sounded like an old stereo record with an echo in the recording! Exact same voice saying the exact same thing at very nearly the exact same moment! Now if all you want is a bigger screen with great directions and lots of flexibility then grab one of these things! It is as flawless as can be used in this way. The alternate routing is fast and easy to use on the fly. It is customizable from top to bottom and has everything you would want to get you from here to there. A really nice unit. Now for the negative: As soon as you switch to the supplied antenna cord used for traffic data, the overall performance drops. A LOT! The comments from others about sluggish refresh rates, slow screen navigating, etc... all true when using this feature. It's especially awful from initial startup until it finds and locks the fm signal and finishes loading the local traffic data. Punch the screen and 7 or 8 seconds go by before it responds. Once the process is done, (in the metro Philadelphia area it takes about 4 minutes), the screen response is better and the refresh rate improves but it's still slow. Unplug the antenna cord, wait two or three minutes for everything to clear and it's back to full and impressive speed. Bottom line: If you don't need to use the live traffic information, this is a fast, LARGE screened, exceptionally good GPS every bit the top of the Via line and it's not too expensive to boot. Am I a bit disappointed over the Live Traffic issue? Well, yeah... a little. Would it keep me from keeping this big screened beauty? Oh heck no! 4 Stars with the live traffic engaged, 5 stars without it. UPDATE: 05/13/2013 Downloaded the latest updates from TomTom about 10 days ago. The Live Traffic slow run has been entirely fixed! Boot up and operation are at full speed with the Live Traffic running. About the Live Traffic: It works as advertised and when combined with the option to automatically re-route for a faster route, it is also seamless. Very nice technology! Changed the rating to 5 Stars.

Big screen and all that... Plugged this baby in to download the difficult to find software and guess what...device not recognized. The web site does not list the 1605 in the pull down menu. Tomtom.. You suck! <Update July 5th 2013.> (read this while humming the theme song from The Beverly Hillbillies, helps me!) So the community manager suggested a couple of things to make it connect. DOES NOT WORK. Some dude named Frank offered some help, thank you Frank but it's still a no go. Glad you have it sorted out and working though. Tried calling the number provided, on hold for 34 minutes. Maybe you were busy updating maps or having a watergun fight or you went out for pizza..or maybe it's nappy time. You should think about the difficulties customers have simply trying to contact you. Also realize that when you inform callers that it is being recorded for "training purposes" that message tells me, you want the people that you are "training" to be aloof and all around un-helpful like the rest of you. You should have picked up, I'm pleasant and respectful when I'm asking for help. Really! Sent an e-mail, it requires you to list the device you have, guess what can't find the 1605 in the pull down menu..Hmmm this seems like dejavu all over again! Went to 1 star on the rating because you people are too difficult to contact. To anyone reading this: the device is nice, it's big but there are problems with getting questions answered. THINK TWICE BEFORE YOU BUY A tomtom! I will be posting the progress here, good or bad. Hopefully good.. I would really like to let everyone know how you resolved this problem and made the world all full of butterflies and daffodils, rainbows and lollipops. So how about getting off your...(well you know), and getting this resolved there tomtom'ers!!! Can ya help a brother out? Update<July 8th 2013> Well someone from tomtom sent me a message with a link to an update page for the trusty "Ol" 1605. As Frank had mentioned it took quite some time for the update process. Seems to be all set at this point. None of the questions I asked in my email to tomtom were addressed though. I will try to make them easier next time..I promise! Wouldn't it be easier just to have the update info for ALL of the gps units on the website..(easy to find. I'm not much on treasure hunts.) Anyway it's working and has been updated so I would maybe reccomend this unit....but tomtom has some very sketchy customer support so you might give that some thought before buying any tomtom..This will be my last! Update<July 17th 2013> As those of you that have been following this on-going diatribe should know I bought this to replace an older tomtom that was no longer supported with updates. After all the problems getting the trusty "Ol" 1605 to connect and updated I find that I was once again let down by this device and support from tomtom. The fact that it wanted me to go around in circles was funny at first. Since this was my first visit to Cali I tried to use this to go from Monterey, Ca. to Carmel Valley Ranch. Short drive actually..(really nice place!) FAIL! With the latest updates installed the trusty "Ol" 1605 wanted me to take a left at the next corner onto Ocean ave. Another left at the next corner. Another left at the next corner. Another left at the next corner..... Actually needed to go right onto Ocean ave. then straight, then left on Delores. This particular device is truly useless. (I can only hope it is just the unit I have and not all..) Couple that with the problems with updates and the wacky customer service I have had enough. Will now look into purchasing a Garmin. Would be nice if it's trouble free, easy to update, connect when I connect, guide me when I ask for guidance and just work as it is supposed to. If it doesn't well am I any worse off? Seriously, sometimes there are problems. Happens with anything you purchase. I get that..but to have so many problems? I'm going to back over this with my truck. Put it out of my misery. I know, deep, deep, deeeeep down that I will feel pretty good about it. Then I think I'll kick back with a cocktail and take a look at those Garmins..Hey! Have an awesome day! Update February 2014, wanted to load the latest maps for a trip this weekend....the software that was such a pain in the A$$ to find in the first place no longer supports this device. Absolute pos! DO NOT BUY THIS IT IS USELESS. Have purchased a different brand. TomTom is the worst, hands down the absolute worst that could ever be. Those that have had little or no problems.. I'm happy for you but me experience tells me TomTom is not for me. Just backed over it with my truck.. I feel so much better.. TomTom suck it!

Wow, I'm impressed; I've owned seven GPS units over the years starting with the old Street Pilot series and ended with the Nuvi 5000 which ended life when the dumb stand-alone power connector attachment broke and Garmin told me they didn't have a replacement part on a three year old machine. I also own a Magellan Maestro which is a piece of garbage. It's designed to get you to an address in Chicago from Chicago through Alaska. I've also owned two versions of the PC based Co Pilot. The 1605 is the machine I've been waiting for, but didn't know it. I'm getting old and the 6 inch screen is a life saver. It's so easy to read. The quick start manual is junk and I would like to see a REAL manual (paper) that comes with the machine, but that won't happen with today's push to cheapen products as much as possible. I won't go over all the features that have already been covered by many prior reviewers and mention one or two that I love. The Via 1605 shows you well in advance the cross streets that are coming up. You might think "so what", but you'd be wrong. There are many times that someone has given you verbal directions on the fly without an address and all you have is" turn at this street a mile or two down the road etc. It's night time and no there are no street lights, or you're in a city that has street signs the size of a postage stamps, it's the sign is missing, hidden, simply would miss it, or the name doesn't match the one given since street names often change from one suburb to the next or might be marked with a highway number. The 1605 will show you EACH street name BEFORE you approach. It won't show you just one name but ALL the names of this street including the Highway numbers. If there are two highway (local, versus county, versus state) numbers assigned it will give you All of them. This has saved me many time especially on rural routes or at night. Another wonderful feature is that it tells you well in ADVANCE the name of the turn points or exits and continues to do so right up until the time of the turn unlike the Garmin which announces the turn two seconds prior (a slight exaggeration, but not by much). It also has tons of information about what's happening at the bottom and top of the screen with speed, time to destination, time of destination and the wonderful feature of telling you when speed or red light cameras are coming up in plenty of time to slow down. All this WITHOUT interfering with the map. The fact that the speed box turns red when you're speeding is also a nice feature. It doesn't have Bluetooth and frankly, I could care less. My car has a build in blue tooth that is far superior to anything built into a GPS since it use the whole car audio system which works regardless of road noise. I bought the unit on Amazon for $199.00. I consider this a deal. The turn lane graphic is nice and allows me the time to get into the lane I need to be in BEFORE the turn or exit. I also love the feature that ALWAYS tells you where the next turn is even if 20 miles away with a name and a graphic showing you which way you will be turning. In short, I love this TOM TOM. No, I haven't tried updating the map and I'm in no hurry based on all the problems everyone seems to have with updates regardless of brand. At some point I will, but for now since this is a 2012 product how old can the map be. I have a feeling that it will work well based on what I see with the other feature of this unit. If you're a Garmin user it will take some getting used to since the interface is slightly different, but there are loads of options and features to try and play with.

I have owned a few and this is my new favorite. When my old GPS maps kept getting out of date it was costly to get new maps, not anymore with the lifetime maps, can update as often as I like. Another feature that I thought was awesome is the lifetime traffic that came with this one, I didn't understand how it worked but basically the plug is the traffic receiver antennae and the gps gets signals that tell you how fast traffic is moving, when the route is too slow the gps will automatically suggest a new route, tell you how much time you will be saving by choosing the alternate route, and with one touch your on your way, brilliant! The lane guidance is also sweet, just make that the primary view under settings rather than the split screen which can be confusing. This GPS is big and easy to read in any kind of lighting and the attachment suction is strong and works great. I am totally happy with this purchase.

So, We bought this as a gift for our parents - opened it and found that it only had two maps loaded - you guessed it Argentina and Uruguay. So, being fairly proficient at using a computer I went to the TomTom site to download the correct maps since it is supposed to have Canada, US and Mexico maps load and guess what, "Cannot connect to your device at this time - try again later." I'm not sure who messed this one up but it sure seems like TomTom has crossed wires here or the seller is repackaging the items, including new cellophane wrap and selling them as though they are US spec items.. Extremely Dissappointed in this transaction. Update (as of 4 Jan 2014) The day after I wrote this review I had an e-mail from TomTom asking me to contact them to fix the problem. It took a while to get through on the support telephone and when I did they asked the basic questions to ensure it was a legitimate unit. I provided a copy of my Amazon invoice and the next day they were able to clear out the old maps and after restarting a few times install the USA/Canada/Mexico maps. We used it for the first time today and it was great. Unlike a previous version it is quick to get the satellites and start directing you. One of the features we really like is the "your destination is ahead on the right" instead of the older "you have reached your destination" which could be on either side of the road. On an 8-lane road that makes it very hard to be in the correct lane for the turn. One other added feature is that you don't have to use the power button to turn it on or off. When you plug it in to the power outlet on the car it powers up and when you unplug it the unit powers down. It does the same thing when connecting to the computer and using MyDrive (which so far seems to be a great improvement over TomTom Home software). My in-laws really like that it warns them about going over the speed limit (4 mph seems to be the magic number) with a tone and the red indicator in the current speed tab of the display. Another feature that is nice is when you are using the system you can check on the timing, route, and get information like closest gas station with the simple press of button. Our old unit has begun stuttering when calling out directions and regardless of the updates to the software it doesn't get better. We may have to upgrade ourselves.

I got this unit from Amazon a day ago. While many reviewers are pleased with its operation in practice, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who desires an easy installation and complete and useful operation guidance. 1. No information on the need to charge the unit before starting the set-up process. My unit was created in Feb 2012 so the battery was low and the unit could not be recognized by my computer. Fortunately, I did find info on the need to charge it from various websites, but not from TomTom. Once charged (recommended times vary from 24 hours to 4 hours; mine took 2 hours. 2. No information on the fact the TomTom units marked TM do NOT need to go thru the activation process to update the unit's maps so you will waste time on TomTom's website trying to follow its guidance on how to activate your device. Nothing tells you that TM units activate automatically. 3.When you get to the TomTom activate site, it shows you a screen listing the costs of map upgrades. No information provided saying your TM-designated unit will upgrade for free. 4. No information on uses of a micro-sd card in your 1605TM unit. If you search around on the web you will find one or two user comments about how the micro-sd card is used, but nothing from TomTom. 5. Slow update process...If you wait long enough, your TomTom unit will actually connect to TomTom and first slowly download the free updated map and then slowly install the update...Many other reviewers have commented on the time-consuming update process. In my case working thru all the non-information and finally having TomTom go into its update process took 4 hours. The substantially user-unfriendly start up process is a real turn off. The lack of thorough and complete user instruction is enough to have me return the unit. But it may turn out to be as good a GPS tool as other reviewers and personal friends report, so I will give it a try now that I've invested 4 hours just trying to get it to work. It would still be nice to have a competent user's manual. This is a follow-up to my recent review of the TomTom 1605TM GPS unit. In that review I focused on my frustration with the start-up process and TomTom's failure to provide direct information and/or links to complete guidance on the unit's capabilities, features, and operations. Such information did exist in a complete, downloadable e-manual but that information was not provided with anything that came with the unit and referenced on TomTom's website. I said I would add to my review once I had some actual operational experience with the unit. That is the point of these comments. In actual use the TomTom 1605TM is first-rate in my experience. This past week I made a trip from Eugene, OR to Oakland, CA for a professional meeting. My wife wanted the trip down to go from I-5 south to US 101 south along the California coast thru the Redwoods and on to Oakland. The 1605TM handled the route south without an error. The only issue that arose was when we left US101 for a small parallel road that took us thru the old growth Redwood groves above and below Miranda, CA. The little lady who sits in the GPS unit with a microphone repeated from time to time--"when you can, please turn around!" She repeated this several times on our route but eventually understood that we were heading back to US 100 south and picked up the narrative of the original path. As we got nearer to the Oakland-SF area, my wife commented that our friend's directions said we should take the San Rafael Bridge over to the Oakland side of the bay rather than go into SF and cross over to Oakland; she noted that the Google map directions that I had printed sent us into SF rather than the more direct crossover via San Rafael. I said let's see what the TomTom lady tells us to do. Sure enough, as we approached the San Rafael turn-off from US 101, TomTom guided us to that turn-off and on over to I-580 on the Oakland side of the bay. It then correctly guided us thru the various street-level turns to our destination. Thus, I would give the operational capabilities of the TomTom 1605TM FIVE STARS stars and recommend it to other GPS buyers. You will buy this success with some pain given the setup and information shortcomings of TomTom's package, but, in the end, it is worth the pain. UPDATE REVIEW: Less Positive--October 11, 2013...I am having second thoughts about the TOMTOM unit. As indicated above, I have found it useful and accurate on road trips. BUT its ability to be updated is frustrating in the extreme. In the past the unit has connected to the internet and updated its software; that is no longer the case. I have a fully charged unit that continually gives an error message that it is not connected to my computer. When plugged into my Win7-PC, the computer beeps indicating the unit has been connected but it is not recognized. From time to time the computer beeps again and again indicating that it is connecting to the computer and the TomTom gives me a screen saying it is connecting to the computer, but it does not. So I now find it hard to recommend the TomTom Via 1505 since it is so frustrating to update and keep current. It does well as a navigator, but is not otherwise user-friendly. I recommend you consider other makers that combine good navigation with efficient program updating; the latter is not a TomTom strength.

Out of all the TomTom and Garmin devices, this model received the highest over all review. It's nearly as good as the Lexus GPS navigation system as far as features and options. Certainly cheaper, and the map updates are definitely a plus! You *might* need to add additional micro-USB memory if you chose to select lots of map options when updating your TomTom via the TomTom Map Update program. The cost of the micro-USB memory is cheap, so don't let that be a show stopper. Only users who want EVERYthing offered by the Updater might run into insufficient memory. Most users will be perfectly happy with the standard update options. Display size and brightness are excellent. Even in bright sunlight there isn't an issue has long as you angle the display towards you. The device's internal battery will only last about 30 minutes, so be sure to keep it plugged in. The ability to set exceeding speed limit warning (5 mph over assumed limit) is a great feature. Just remember that the TomTom's knowledge of speed limits is based on YOU updating the device on a regular basis. We ran into certain areas where speed limits had changed from 65 down to 55 and we could have received a speeding ticket if we had relied on the TomTom's out-of-date mappings. (That was my fault, but you should still pay attention to the signs even while using the TomTom's features). The TomTom's ability to automatically reroute us during traffic congestion saved us hours when we were visiting Charlotte, NC. Although the rerouting took us an extra 20 minutes, we avoided several hours of traffic congestion. That's a very nice feature to have when traveling! The Life-time map updates is also a good value. We update every 4 months or just before a major trip, whichever is first. This can be time consuming and is the worst part of owning any GPS device. The updates usually take anywhere from an hour to two hours. Once the update is under way, I just walk away and do something else.

Very good gps with rich features and large screen

Gave it a 5 star because it is very clear and informative. The 6 inch size is perfect for my aging eyes

I think this is another worst device I had ever bought! I bought this new from Amazon, spent over 10 hours couldn't get it started! Sending inquiries and received their advice, none worked! Will see how long does it take to just get it started! If none works will return!

Does everything I expected it would. Gets me to where I need to go with no issues. Love the graphics.

I bought this since I had this brand before, so familiar with the interface. The LMT feature and 6 inch is a big selling point. We took a long road trip on the east coat (1000 plus kilometer) and found the GPS to do its job. However, it does suffer from some quirks. While travelling on the various turnpikes along the east coast one feature repeatedly got me into trouble- the GPS always told us to keep in the EZ pass lane!!! The fact that we don't have the EZ pass and have to use the cash lanes did not matter. My logic was that it always calculated the fastest route and hence put us on the EZ pass lanes!!! While it was not an issue to spot it during the day time and correct it, it was hard at night. Also some toll stations (one I remember in New Hampshire) is bit different, the roads bifurcates one leading to the EZ pass and other cash etc. There being an actual divider between these two lanes makes it difficult to retrace your step in case you follow the GPS blindly which will land you in the EZ pass lanes. Tom tom should fix this rather than assuming that all vehicles have EZ passess!! There were few instances where it lost its connection and we were forced to take a wrong exit till it found its connectivity. I guess this is a universal issue with any mid priced GPS... overall it was not an issue and happy with the purchase.