Tom Tom Go Maps Issue

Pinkpanther · Lifetime Member Joined: Oct 04, 2004 Posts: 78

It's about time Tom Tom came clean. They have a really great product in the Tom Tom Go unit, but they will continue to create a lot of dissatisfied customers if they continue to put their head in the sand over the old / new maps issue.

If they were to behave in an honest manner, the solution would surely be, to put the Map Issue / Version number on the outside of the packaging, in exactly the same way as other software suppliers do with their goods, thereby enabling the customer to make the choice of whether to buy, or not.

Would you buy a PC if the manufacturer refused to tell you which version of Windows was installed? Of course not! This is becoming a complete nonsense.

It would appear from recent threads, that older map versions are still being offered, and buying the newly issued SD cards is no guarantee of the lastest map.

Personally, I'm interested in purchasing the Maps Of Western Europe, but will most definitely not be doing so until there is honest and definitive statement on the maps issue, and would encourage other potential customers to think very carefully before making a purchase. Tom Tom run the very serious risk of losing the confidence of their customer base with this.

DavidW · Posted: Wed Dec 29, 2004 4:19 pm Post subject:

I want to remind people that we've had several extensive and, at times, heated threads on this issue already. I suggest it will do no good whatsoever to argue about the same points again here on Pocket GPS World, and I'm sure I speak for all the moderators in saying that we don't want to have to lock another thread because of people attacking each other.

By all means contact TomTom if you wish to comment on the current position, but I believe if they were going to act based on posts in these forums, they would have already done so.

Within the next few months, I expect there'll be a map upgrade available to buy. I'm not basing this any inside knowledge (which I don't have anyway - and if I did, I almost certainly wouldn't be allowed to talk about it publicly).

I think it's no surprise that Go and TomTom Navigator on the Pocket PC use similar maps. For the last two years, a new release of the various European TomTom Navigator products for the Pocket PC has appeared annually around March / April using the latest mapping available. I'm guessing TomTom may well do similar in 2005, so this could lead to a map upgrade being available to buy for Go within the next few months. Historically, TomTom's upgrade prices have been some of the cheapest in the industry, too.

Let's be clear - there is no promise here. I'm just putting together my product knowledge with experience of TomTom's past upgrade offers. If you don't need the extra maps at this time, it's probably worth waiting for a few months to see if a new release comes along.

David

sifi · Posted: Wed Dec 29, 2004 6:41 pm Post subject:

David - what has been the typical cost (range) for a map update?

If there is considerably more data on the new map will we have to buy a larger capacity card?

Thanks

DavidW · Posted: Wed Dec 29, 2004 8:03 pm Post subject:

The only product that has been upgraded so far was TomTom Navigator on the Pocket PC.

TomTom Navigator 1 -> Navigator 2 was 39 Euros.

TomTom Navigator 2 -> Navigator 3 was 49 Euros. There was also a P&P charge of something like EUR9.95. Those that bought and activated Navigator 2 shortly before the upgrade offer was announced only paid the P&P charge.

As TomTom are based in the Netherlands, and shipped upgrades from the Netherlands, the prices included VAT and there was no duty to pay for purchasers anywhere in the EU. You simply paid whatever your credit or debit card provider charged you. It worked out at about 40 pounds for UK users upgrading from Navigator 2 -> 3.

For the Navigator 2 -> 3 upgrade, one upgrade fee covered all your Navigator 2 products, so long as they were all different. That meant that if you had Navigator 2 UK and Navigator 2 Maps of Western Europe, you only paid one upgrade fee. However, if you wanted to upgrade two copies of Navigator 2 UK, you had to pay two upgrade fees.

Finally, the upgrade offer was only open for a limited time (it closed on 1 December 2004), and only covered upgrades from the immediately previous version. Anyone with Navigator 1 that wanted to upgrade to Navigator 3 had to pay full price.

The upgrade from TomTom Navigator 2 USA to TomTom Navigator 2004 (the new USA / Canada Pocket PC product) is US$53 fully inclusive.

Obviously, this is just me quoting what happened in the past, and some or all of this may not apply to future upgrades. However, it is the only information we have to give us an idea of what may happen in the future.

Maps have grown a little from version to version - but only usually by around 5 or 6MBytes for the Great_Britain map.

David

sifi · Posted: Thu Dec 30, 2004 9:53 am Post subject:

Thanks for the info. It will be interesting to see what changes/corrections Teleatlas have managed to incorporate.

DavidW · Posted: Fri Dec 31, 2004 6:44 pm Post subject:

Multimap uses TeleAtlas mapping at some zoom levels for most of the UK - and they tend to be pretty up to date.

If you try 1:10000 or 1:5000 zoom levels outside London (in London, you'll get the Collins Bartholomew street atlas), you'll probably be looking at TeleAtlas data. Check - if the copyright at the bottom of the map window says TeleAtlas NV, that's TeleAtlas data.

David

rkm_hm · Posted: Fri Dec 31, 2004 8:16 pm Post subject: Re: Tom Tom Go Maps Issue

DavidW · Posted: Fri Dec 31, 2004 9:21 pm Post subject:

That version number is the software version.

The map "version number" can be found in the .pna file in the map folder. If you open it in something like Notepad on a PC, you will find what people are calling the version number in the third line.

David

Pinkpanther · Lifetime Member Joined: Oct 04, 2004 Posts: 78

Hi,

The method provided by DavidW is valid, but a much simpler way to discover the map version, is to select "Change Preferences", scroll through the menu using the right arrow until you reach page 5, and then select "About Tom Tom Go".

Hope that this is of help.

Best regards,

rkm_hm · Posted: Sat Jan 01, 2005 2:11 pm Post subject:

jdatkinson · Regular Visitor Joined: Oct 29, 2004 Posts: 63

That's the latest UK map version.

DavidW · Posted: Sat Jan 01, 2005 6:55 pm Post subject:

There you go. There's often an easier way - but I'm "flying blind" in that I don't have a Go.

The method I posted will, I believe, work for any recent TomTom map, including those supplied with Navigator 3 on the Pocket PC.

David

gingernut777 · Posted: Sun Jan 02, 2005 8:43 am Post subject:

rkm_hm · Posted: Sun Jan 02, 2005 11:00 am Post subject:

Maybe it's time to review the criteria for the appointment of moderators for these forums?

It does seem a little odd that someone can get to moderate a group about a specific device like TTG without actually having access to one!

gingernut777 · Posted: Sun Jan 02, 2005 3:21 pm Post subject:

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