The TomTom GO LIVE 1535M carries a similar model name to the company’s earlier VIA 1535TM. But the GO LIVE 1535M is a connected GPS device, giving you access to numerous Internet-based services while on the road. That goes a long way in justifying the GO LIVE 1535M’s $249.95 list price. If you prefer standalone GPS devices to cell phone GPS apps, the GO LIVE 1535M makes plenty of sense.
Design, Mount, and POI SearchThe GO LIVE 1535M trades the VIA’s silver bezel for a darker, grained plastic one. It’s the same size, measuring 3.1 by 4.7 by 1.0 inches (HWD) and weighing 6.5 ounces. the 5-inch, plastic resistive LCD sports the industry-standard 480-by-272-pixel resolution; it’s reasonably bright, but still trails the 2535 M LIVE’s ($349.95, 4 stars) glass capacitive screen for touch sensitivity and vibrancy. as with other TomTom devices, the built-in mount is as simple as can be: fold it out, place it on your car’s windshield, and turn the grooved plastic wheel to lock it on. You don’t get the 2535 M LIVE’s nifty magnetic mount, but that’s okay at this price.
Since the GO LIVE 1535M uses a cellular GSM radio and not an FM receiver for traffic, it comes with a standard thickness microUSB-to-DC power cable, instead of the thicker one containing the antenna that the VIA 1535TM has. That makes it slightly less obtrusive in the car. One downside: You’ll hear the dreaded GSM buzz through your car stereo speakers periodically, which is a shielding problem that TomTom can’t do much about.
Navigating the icon-based menu system is as easy as usual. there are two big icons, Drive to and View Map, plus five smaller icons for changing settings, planning routes, and calling up Live services. Entering street addresses was easy; this unit seemed a bit more responsive than the VIA 1535TM, but a TomTom spokesperson confirmed that the processor is the same, so it might just be the subset of test addresses I used. Searching for POIs is a perennial TomTom weakness, as the categories don’t make much sense. For example, you get separate categories for mountain peaks and marinas—really, how many of these are there?—but restaurants of every kind (including food type, coffee shops, and delis) are all thrown under a single Restaurants heading. That means you’ll need plenty of scrolling to get to the Chinese takeout place 4.3 miles away.
On the other hand, the LIVE services alleviate a lot of this, since you can just head to the Internet. most useful is Google Local Search, which lets you key in search terms and then navigate to the results. You also get access to Expedia for hotel information and room availability, nearby fuel prices, Yelp and TripAdvisor for local reviews, and even Twitter access. this way you can tweet your estimated time of arrival and check-in to all of your followers, none of whom will care.
On the Road, Live Services, and ConclusionsOnce on the road, the TomTom GO LIVE 1535M performed like every other TomTom device I’ve tested recently—which is to say quite well. all test routes were accurate, and the informative display and map graphics were helpful as well. TomTom’s IQ Routes help refine the unit’s instructions to reflect actual, crowd-sourced travel times on different days, in order to ensure that it’s giving you directions that make sense in the real world. the 1535M displays plenty of useful trip data en route, including your current speed and the road speed limit. as needed, it also pops up a 3D graphic showing you which lanes to be in for complex highway interchanges.
TomTom’s HD Traffic feature continues to impress as well. HD Traffic debuted on the 2535 M LIVE, and is also available as a plug-in for TomTom 1.8 (for iPhone) ($59.99, 4 stars). the downside—and perhaps an unavoidable one, given that this is a standalone GPS device with its own cellular GSM radio—is that you only get the first year for free. After that, it costs $59.99 per year to renew your subscription; otherwise, HD Traffic and all of the Internet-based Live services stop working.
Other features include Bluetooth, so you can use the 1535M as a hands-free speakerphone in the car. the battery lasts for roughly two hours, which I confirmed in testing. But given the preponderance of cell phone GPS apps at this point, I doubt many people will take this unit out of the car and run it on battery power.
After looking at the TomTom GO LIVE 1535M’s price, plus the subscription fee, current iPhone owners may decide to skip it in favor of TomTom 1.8 for iPhone. That app costs $59.99 up front and just $19.99 per year for what amounts to the same feature set. Many consumers, myself included, react poorly to both subscription fees and ad-based services. That’s the bind companies like TomTom producing hardware find themselves in. But you’ll still see better GPS accuracy with a standalone unit, and having one in the car means you don’t have to fuss with your phone on every single trip.
So with that, the GO LIVE 1535M earns a solid recommendation from us in terms of performance, but our overall rating is slightly lower thanks to the price hike. the 2535 M LIVE offers a nicer, glass capacitive touch screen and a magnetic mount for slightly more money, while retaining the GO LIVE 1535M’s Internet-based features. Finally, our current Editors’ Choice for midrange GPS devices, the Garmin nüvi 2350LMT ($249.99, 4 stars), offers a more coherent POI database and overall interface, but lacks the GO LIVE 1535M’s granular traffic reporting and Internet services (as well as the requisite subscription fee).
more GPS Device Reviews:• TomTom GO LIVE 1535M• Garmin StreetPilot Onboard 1.0 (for iPhone)• OnStar FMV• TomTom 1.8 (for iPhone)• TeleNav GPS Plus (for iPhone)• more