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Hi All,
Looking at getting a new sat nav and fancy a TomTom but all the reviews focus on the problems of downloading the "latest map update" which sems to be impossible or results in killing the device
Reviews also slate TomToms customer service
Any views/recommendations
Regards Ray
I've got a TomTom Go 910. Its not new ! I've just downloaded updated maps for Europe, poi's etc with no problems. The device itself is available on e bay for about £90. Customer service has been very quick, honestly. There will be a posse of Garmin/Snooper fans on here next.
BUT, I've got the Homer Simpson voice! Happy Christmas.
I've got a TomTom Go 910. Its not new ! I've just downloaded updated maps for Europe, poi's etc with no problems. The device itself is available on e bay for about £90. Customer service has been very quick, honestly. There will be a posse of Garmin/Snooper fans on here next.
BUT, I've got the Homer Simpson voice! Happy Christmas.
I have that sat nav. Did your updated map go into various zones?
When I looked it seemed it would go into zones and that put me off updating as I didn't want to fiddle using a computer whilst away trying to get another zone loaded onto the sat nav.
Apparently the update is too large to fit on the sat nav hard drive.
Goodness knows Rita. I wanted updated maps for France especially and a list of aires and Auchan/Carrefour supermarkets. It appears to have done that with no problem. My machine says there's loads of space left. Anyway, have a Good Christmas, Mrs Adonisito is offering me a drink as we watch the carols on the telly. Off on Boxing Day though !!
I have had a number of Tomtoms and have only had problems downloading if the Broadband signal is poor say at a Campsite.
There are a couple of things you need to consider.
How much you want to spend.
How much memory is installed in the TomTom
Many of the original TT's had the facility to insert a memory card for extra memory but that is not readily available now.
I suggest you look at the TT website and note what the internal memory is for each model
They are either 2gb or 4gb.
If you buy a unit with 4gb memory £200+ I think in it then it will download the largest European map as a single file and you can also have on it other maps such as Morocco. If you look at the maps section on TT website you can see how big the files are and work out what you could have on a unit all at the same time. You can then cover the whole of Europe from Norway to Turkey and Portugal to Slovakia without needing to do any downloading.
You can purchase updates on a quarterly basis and provided you are connected to a good signal you should have no problem updating the machine. When you connect the TT to the computer and the Home software boots up and logs into your account then if an update is available it will offer kit and you can accept and let it download.
If you buy a unit that only has 2gb which are what mine are then the large European map will not fit on the TT.
Someone who did that only discovered that although the TT says it has 42 countries on it, that is not actually true. You have bought a map with 42 countries but the unit will only have part of it installed at time of purchase. Someone I know first discovered this when they got to the German border and found the TT would not go there.
The solution is quite simple but needs more effort from you. The map is divided into 5 sections, known as Mapzones, which if you download onto your computer before you go abroad then you can change to a new section if needed by connecting the TT to the Computer and asking it to change the section on the TT to cover the area you want. ie if in France and want to go to Germany or Denmark for example.
It takes me about 80 minutes to download each section of the map to the computer and you have to be logged into your account on TT's website to do it. Once you have downloaded all the 5 sections, and only then, you can switch between the 5 sections by connecting to your Computer without needing to be logged into your Account or even have the wireless connection working. The switching between sections takes about 10/15 minutes.
It all sounds complicated but once you have got into the swing quite easily..
I was amazed to see on another Topic here that on a Garmon you may have to select Wales in order to sort a route out there.
Long but I hope this helps .
Doug
Last edited by Dougaitken on Sat Dec 24, 2011 7:07 pm; edited 1 time in total
Hi,
Just been out to Halfords and bought a new Garmin 1695 lmu seems to have very high spec and their half price at Halfords at the moment plus halfords are giving an additional 10% off and theres £30 cash back from Garmin for the next month all in all £319.00 rrp down to £145.00 including lifetime map updates for all of europe it even has the live google search included. I thought it was a bargain?
The 910 has a large hard drive installed, plenty big enough for all of the Europe maps in one go.
I did have the dreaded X problem on mine whilst still under warranty and the company dealt with it (replaced with new unit) very quickly, efficiently and without charge (carriage or otherwise).
I've had TomToms for years now and always been very happy with the performance and when needed support from the company.
I will state that even the latest updates are not very up to date for France where there is still an extensive road improvement scheme underway, at least 2 years out of date!!.
I don't think that is a Tom Tom unique problem as they do not use their own exclusive mapping only a bought in version as do the others.
______________________________________________________________ John
Some duff advice posted in this thread so wanted to set the record straight from our perspective.
1.) The problems regarding map updates are usually prior to the latest version of the desktop software, the new version apparently doesn't have these problems.
2.) Make sure you buy a device with a 4Gb memory such was the Via Live. We bought our model in March for £150 from Halfords. Great bit of kit, 'full europe' maps take up 2.5Gb rather then partial Europe with 2Gb devices leaving 1.5Gb for extra maps or POI's. The other features such as Google Live Search (rendering POI sets almost redundant), live travel and live weather are fantastic resources to have on your dashboard - not to mention the inbuilt bluetooth handsfree for your phone. Not bad for £150.
3.) TomTom customer service has been second to none both when I called them before I left before the latest software was available (when I bought it in March it was not possible to update new maps, new software update in April fixed this known issue) and a couple of weeks ago when the unit refused to power on. I conversed via e-mail, with a reply coming in minutes with new suggestions and was told if the problem was not resolved they would extend my warranty to allow me to exchange the unit when I returned to the UK.
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