Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I selected the XXL 550TM specifically for its lifetime map and traffic updates; if there's one thing I hate, it's being nickel and dimed to death to keep a map current. Setup was quick and easy, and I was using the unit within minutes of opening the box. I thought the interface was reasonably intuitive. It found satellites quickly, seemed to know all the addresses and locations I used it to locate on my first trip with it, and overall first impressions were favorable. However, by the end of the 1,000 mile, two-day trip, I'll be returning the unit for the following reasons: 1. The clever window mount is actually nice, but the TomTom itself keeps popping off the mount ring. It's spring-loaded, and too loose, while the universal joint on the mount itself is too stiff. Getting the thing oriented properly on the window is a chore unless you like it tilted at an angle, or happen to get it right the first time. 2. Points of interest were frequently well off-the-mark by 1/4 mile or more. In one case, a restaurant was depicted on the north side of a highway when it was on the south side of it. Corrections can be submitted, and 100% accuracy is probably unreasonable, but the POIs were "off" more than "on" for me. 3. The underlying GIS data, provided by TomTom subsidiary Tele Atlas, left much to be desired on numerous fronts. One of the most annoying is its insistence on identifying and depicting named railroad sidings as if they were small cities. It showed Buda, Maloy, and Sinnard, Colorado on I-25 north of Denver... Never heard of any of them, and only after searching GIS data online did I find out they were railroad sidings! Who but a railroad buff knows or cares? And what relevance do they have to driving? None! This is a case of just taking government GIS data and using it unfiltered. 4. Speaking of poor GIS data, the city of Denver, Colorado is not depicted on the map -- even at tight zoom levels. The largest city in the state; the state's capitol city; the name used in sports teams and cultural venues -- and it's nowhere to be found. Also gone is Aurora, Denver's largest suburb. At low zoom, Lakewood -- the 2nd largest Denver suburb -- is used to name the entire metropolitan area. You can see it yourself on the Tele Atlas web site. Amazing. Even my Denver home is "corrected" to exist in Englewood, another suburb, instead of Denver. Maybe this is what happens with the company digesting and providing the data is in a European country with no real national, regional and certainly no local knowledge. My bottom line is this -- if I can't trust this unit to properly identify the largest city in a US state, and if railroad sidings are brought to my attention as if they are cities, what exactly *can* I trust about the information provided by the TomTom? It's being returned. Maybe Garmin will be better. At least their GIS data, from NAVTEQ, knows there's a Denver -- and where it's located. And, based on queries on their web site, doesn't point out railroad sidings as if I'd care about them.