Map - inside story WE and W&CE

george57l · Posted: Thu Jul 19, 2007 1:14 pm Post subject: Map - inside story WE and W&CE

Here is the official line from TT - I just spoke to them about differences between Western Europe map and Western & Central Europe map (WE and W&CE).

Some of you may know that there is suspicion that the WE portions of these maps' latest versions have different data. One map is just under 1gb and the other is 1.7gb - which seems like a lot of extra data for just 4 extra countries. Other sites had posted pics of different detail levels for same location in each map and the allegation is that TT have removed data from WE map to keep it under 1gb. (Seeing what I say below re size of file and whether W&CE works on a non-hard-drive device, this may still be a suspicion - but read on...)

TomTom say that differences in detail between WE and W&CE are because
a) W&CE was slightly later so will have some small differences (about 100 roads/things) in the WE data, but TT did not consider the changes sufficient to justify a new version of the latest WE map (produced a few weeks earlier than the latest W&CE map)

b) W&CE is so much bigger in file size because as well as the additional 4 countries they have also put a lot of other central europe major roads detail (like roads to Moscow and like, for example, Ukraine which is not one of the 4 CE countries, but the W&CE map has major route level for Ukraine,and others)

c) Also the W&CE has a lot of extra text-to-speech data which also bloats the file size.

These are the reasons TT gave me to explain the larger increase in file size than you might have expected from just 4 extra countries.

However, TT also say that they cannot guarantee that W&CE will work on a TTGO500 - it may not be able to access the data fast enough for smooth navigation because of the file size/volume of data - they recommend a very fast SD card but even then cannot guarantee it. W&CE was designed for the hard-drive devices.

Which is strange, because whilst you cannot order W&CE on a TTGO500 from the website (it is not one of the map options available if you say you have a TTGO500) you CAN order it via TTHOME for the same machine!! I told them this and you can expect it to change soon.

SO...
i) if you want to buy W&CE for a non-hard-drive TT, do it via TTHOME and do it soon before they remove it

ii) PLEASE can anyone tell me if they are running W&CE on a SD card without any problems at present? I'd like to know before I commit to buying the W&CE as I would prefer to have the latest WE data (and I do very occasionally go to central europe too)

iii) has anyone got the latest versions of both WE and W&CE, PLEASE can they tell us if they see any glaring differences in levels of detail? IE are TomTom being honest here, or have they perhaps ALSO reduced data from WE to keep it under 1gb so it will not cause the performance problem alleged to possibly happen if one runs a W&CE on an SD card?

Phew! Hope that is all clear....

George

Andy_P

george57l · Posted: Thu Jul 19, 2007 2:10 pm Post subject:

Andy
As a cunning plan, that would also work! :-)

(But if the map does not work on an SD card - beware TT subsequently denying all responsibility, perhaps - I'm keen to know of people who have got this and if it works ok or if TT are being too cautious or 'scare-mongering')
George

46jimbo · Regular Visitor Joined: Apr 24, 2005 Posts: 185

m623d · Regular Visitor Joined: Apr 05, 2005 Posts: 191

The TTS files dont come with the maps, they are on the hard disk in a seperate folder.
All the tomtom maps work on the 910 perfectly (ie TTS works)
the Uk & ROI, W Europe and of course, W&C Europe definitely work Wink

_________________
Garmin Emap, Ipaq 2210 with TomTom Navigator 5, TomTom One, Pioneer AVIC-X1R, TomTom 910 (stolen). TomTom 520, TomTom 6100 (Faulty, replaced under warranty), Currently got a TomTom 6200

vroomfondel

george57l · Posted: Thu Jul 19, 2007 5:32 pm Post subject:

Vroomfondel
I've browsed the Forum and not found many explicit examples. Forgive me - please can you name the topic headings where the examples are given. I told the guy I spoke to at TT that if there were ANY differences, then they should make clear in the map descriptions what they are before people buy (especially as the subject of maps and their content is such a heated one - and TomTom are fully aware of this.)

I have told TT that if I find what they are saying is not true I will happily go to my local Trading Standards and raise it because not to tell people this before they buy is effectively mis-selling/misrepresentation. They clearly let people believe that the WE coverage in WE and in W&CE is the same. So if it is NOT the same, given some real evidence I certainly WILL raise a Trading Standards complaint. It may have no effect in practice but it might put some heat to TomTom's feet.

Also you say the W&CE latest version does work with SD card if it is big enough. I have a 2gb Sandisk Ultra II so that is fine - but can you confirm you are saying this from direct personal experience? Thanks very much. (Perhaps the forum mods could assemble all the examples into one thread?)

m623d
Text-to-speech (TTS) files may well be in a separate folder but this does not mean that TT cannot ship more when they ship a map (I guess ... but I do not know how these work - whether they can be separated and not installed to reduce total filesize for those who do not have TTS capablity.) I am sure all maps do work fine on a 910 - that is not the question. TT are saying that they cannot guarantee that W&CE will definitely work on an SD Card (for example on a TTGO500)

Hey-ho - much more distance to go on this topic, I feel somehow. :-)

George

vroomfondel · Posted: Thu Jul 19, 2007 8:19 pm Post subject:

george57l · Posted: Thu Jul 19, 2007 8:29 pm Post subject:

Thanks, vroomfondel

I'm going to get the new W&CE map. I can always buy a 4gb SD card if needed - they are not exactly expensive these days! (Though I vaguely remember someone somewhere commenting that 4gb cards were pushing it a bit for TT)

I will also phone my local trading standards and refer them to a few threads here and on yournav to see if they are interested...
Cheers
George

DennisN · Posted: Thu Jul 19, 2007 9:56 pm Post subject:

W&CE v675 works perfectly well on my GO710 with 2Gb Transcend 150x SD card. I can see no difference running alongside W&CE on my GO700 (Hard disk). But I do get occasional routing differences which I assume to be down to the slightly different os versions.
_________________
Dennis

If it tastes good - it's fattening.

Two of them are obesiting!!

m623d · Regular Visitor Joined: Apr 05, 2005 Posts: 191

sgould · Frequent Visitor Joined: Oct 05, 2004 Posts: 1320

If you find a 4GB SD card, some of them are "HC" (for High Capacity). Several people have found that these do not work in the GO. Although I think some HC brands may work.
_________________
TTGO 700 (dead)
iPhone 3GS + TT holder
iPhone 5 (hers!)
Western Europe Map
Eastern Europe Map
Kenwood DNX-4210DAB with Garmin maps

vroomfondel · Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2007 10:50 am Post subject:

acgale · Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2007 3:00 pm Post subject:

george57l · Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2007 4:34 pm Post subject:

acgale

Just to confirm - are you running the latest version of W&CE? (the 1.7gb one)

Thanks.

I'll try it on my Sandisk Ultra II, 2Gb card and hope it is man enough for the job...

George

PS I actually had bought the WE map but TT have agreed to refund. At first they agreed to refund after I bought W&CE but today they have decided to refund first, using "unable to install" as the reason. I was utterly unable to install WE anyway - failed every time at 64% with an error writing to cnode.dat - anyone else had this? Probably I'll have the same problem with W&CE but at least that will be a different fight! (Is there an emoticon for 'resigned to it never being simple'?)

	PocketGPS
	Web