USA and Canada map questions

phineus · Occasional Visitor Joined: May 21, 2006 Posts: 57

I have a Mio P350 loaded with Tomtom Navigator 5.21 and the GB map (and speed cameras) loaded on to an 1 Gb SD card.

Next month I'll be visiting the USA and the year after Canada. What I want is a mapping solution for both countries that will 'work out of the box'. I wont be taking my laptop abroad, so as I see it, I have two options:

(1) Upload from CD and activate the USA/Canada maps on to another SD card(s) before I leave.

(2) Buy USA/Canada maps preinstalled on an SD card. Then just insert them and use them when I get there.

I'm not totally sure these options are possible - are they? If so which option is best or the most economic?

As we all know not all information or advice given on these forums is correct and across the web many contradictions occur. For example, on this issue, I have picked up the following snippets:

Globalpositioningsystems tells me USA and Canada maps together are only available on CD, not on SD card. They go on to say "TTN5.21 should be compatable with the USA SD card they sell, which is version 5" Note the version is just a single integer, and the use of the word 'should'.

Other forums say that TTN5.21 will not recognise USA maps up to version 5.67. They therefore recommend downgrading and loading TTN5.0 and the USA maps to a single SD card.

Can this be done? Would you need to pay for TTN5.0 if you've already purchased TTN5.21?

I've also read that people have to change maps when going into other states (USA). I'll be going through 4 states. Can you change maps easily on a PDA? Or do you need a laptop?

I just want to run TTN5.21 and GB maps when in this country and to simply insert another SD card into my PDA when I get to the USA or Canada. What are my best options?

Thanks in advance.

lbendlin · Posted: Sat Aug 05, 2006 5:17 am Post subject:

quite a few questions here, ah?

- both option 1 and 2 are viable, and you can pick the cheapest at point of purchase

- TTN5.21 WILL work with maps that are newer than 380 and older than 572. (the exact opposite of what you heard in the other forums). Note that map versions do not have dots in the version number.

- you can still downgrade to 5.0 if you are so inclined. You do not purchase 5.21 or 5.0 - you always only purchase maps. The application is freely available for download

- the need to switch maps depends on the map cuts you are using. The extreme scenario is a complete map of US and Canada where no switching is required. Alas, this map version is newer than what 5.21 will read. the v5 maps of the US can be had by region (6 big chunks) or by a large number of state combinations down to single states. If you are lucky there's a map cut that includef your four states.

- switching maps is easy on the PDA, takes about 2.5 seconds. No laptop needed.

- note that you can also run the application from storage card. So theoretically you could have 5.21 and GB on one card and 5.0 and US/Canada on a different card.
_________________
Lutz

Report Map Errors here:
TomTom/TeleAtlas NAVTEQ

Mullet · Frequent Visitor Joined: Dec 12, 2005 Posts: 1051

lbendlin · Posted: Sat Aug 05, 2006 2:40 pm Post subject:

Fair point on the BT issue - WM5 indeed no longer permits the "other cable NMEA" workaround.

As for the maps - this is a moot point since only 562/567 were publicly available (if you ignore the maps bundled with the iPAQ 6515)
_________________
Lutz

Report Map Errors here:
TomTom/TeleAtlas NAVTEQ

phineus · Occasional Visitor Joined: May 21, 2006 Posts: 57

Mullet · Frequent Visitor Joined: Dec 12, 2005 Posts: 1051

phineus · Occasional Visitor Joined: May 21, 2006 Posts: 57

Thanks Mullet and Lutz.

I'm glad TTN5.21 is compatible; indeed it seems to be working fine on my P350. I would of course prefer to continue using TTN5.21 instead of downgrading to an older version.

So now the only question is which USA/Canada maps are compatible with TTN5.21. As you pointed out before, Tomtom don't advertise the version numbers (for some strange reasons). They must get fed up with idiots like me emailing and asking the same question.

I've seen North American (1.4Gb) maps on sale at Tomtom (http://www.tomtom.com/plus/services/mds.php). So I've emailed them to ask if the map is compatible iwth my system. No reply as yet.

As Lutz has pointed out, switching maps is fairly easy, so if my purchase is not seemless it won't matter.

phineus · Occasional Visitor Joined: May 21, 2006 Posts: 57

Hmmm, not only do TT support only partially answer my question, they seem to contradict themselves.

Firstly, they don't tell me what version the North American maps are, and secondly; they say my PDA is incompatible. But to according to Mullet "Tommtom support states of V5.21 'TomTom NAVIGATOR is now compatible with Microsoft Windows™ MOBILE 5.0 devices"

I shall of course point this out to Tomtom and re-submit the question.

Tomtom support replp:
The maps available in Plus Services are compatible with your system. However the Mio P350 you have indicated as having is not officially recognised as a compatible device. Therefore if anything goes wrong with your system running on Navigator version 5.2, then we are unable to provide support for you. Please check the compatibility list here below.

mikealder · Posted: Sun Aug 06, 2006 8:20 pm Post subject:

There is a diference between a generic statement "V5.21 'TomTom NAVIGATOR is now compatible with Microsoft Windows™ MOBILE 5.0 devices"
And a device specific statement, which would indicate the specific device has been tested, this doesn't mean to say your device won't work, it simply means they have not tested it and therefore if problems are encountered it could be difficult to support - I hope this clarifys the situation - Mike

phineus · Occasional Visitor Joined: May 21, 2006 Posts: 57

Thanks Mike.

Although to draw an analogy with the PC world; a piece of software is said to comaptible with say Windows XP. In other words the Operating System is the main criterion by which third party software is judged compatible.

I suppose that's because PC's are too numerous by type/model for software to judged device specific compatible. Whereas, in the PDA world (or at least Tomtom's world) they list specific devices.

I wonder when they'll get around to testing the P350.

phineus · Occasional Visitor Joined: May 21, 2006 Posts: 57

I think I rattled someone at Tomtom support. They replied to re-itterate that my device is not on the compatability list, and said other factors affect compatibility. I agree there are other factors, ports, the GPSr etc. But The OS must be the main factor.

Anyway, it's a moot point. If Tomtom say NAVIGATOR is now compatible with Microsoft Windows™ MOBILE 5.0 devices, then I'll assume the P350 will eventually become fully compatible.

Tomtom also tell me "The version of maps available currently on our website is version 6". It sounds like the lateset version. So, leaving aside the issue of compatibility, will version 6 maps work with TTN5.21.

Thanks

lbendlin · Posted: Mon Aug 07, 2006 8:29 pm Post subject:

version 6 maps will not work on 5.21 . TomTom really, really need to get their act together, and better synchronize between the subsidiaries on either side of the pond.

Let's hope TTN6 will be out soon.
_________________
Lutz

Report Map Errors here:
TomTom/TeleAtlas NAVTEQ

phineus · Occasional Visitor Joined: May 21, 2006 Posts: 57

lbendlin · Posted: Mon Aug 07, 2006 9:07 pm Post subject:

TomTom keep forgetting the Pocket PC users, and focus on AIO/PNDs exclusively.

All PLUS maps will run on the PNDs but I am not convinced the same is true for PDAs (hence my statement)

The "incompatibility" with the P350 is another indicator - TomTom are always having a hard time to accept devices with integrated GPS (even though TomTom is preinstalled on the GPS iPAQs!).

I am pretty sure TomTom would be most happy if all these Pocket PC users would just go away.
_________________
Lutz

Report Map Errors here:
TomTom/TeleAtlas NAVTEQ

phineus · Occasional Visitor Joined: May 21, 2006 Posts: 57

Yes, I see what you mean. Tomtom would much prefer it if we all bought THEIR AIO/PND's. Which means of course they are less likely to update the maps for PDA or TTN5 as a priority.

I'm now looking at buying USA (including Canada) maps on CD with a 2Gb SD card from Semsons (http://www.semsons.com/tona5usafpop.html).

It's version Navigator 5, so I'm assuming it will work with TTN5.21. What do you think?

	PocketGPS
	Web