TT5 French map - ROFLMAO!

[BrianA]

As I got European maps with my TT3 - TT5 upgrade, I thought I'd load the map of France and use it on my holiday. I'm sending this from a gite in the Auvergne, halfway through the hol and after just over a weeks exposure to TTN French style I can honestly say I wouldn't have come without it - the entertainment value has been fantatstic!

Remember all the fuss because TT3 hadn't got the 6 toll? Well, TeleAtlas in France have got this one well licked - put it on the product anyway, even if it's not quite there yet. Examples:

- A28 extension north from Alencon towards Rouen. TT tried its best to get me to go on this (and cost Euro 2.6 in unnecessary tolls in the process!) What you see on the ground is that the road is still being worked on - some bits all but finished others some way off - if it's all in service this time next year I'll be surprised.

- D753 west of Challans - TT has a road extension Southwards that just doesn't exist

- D948 East of La Roche sur Yon - they are still working on dualling some streches that TT says are dualled now!

Of course, if they are putting stuff in ahead of time you'd at least be confident they were up to date, right? Wrong! Lots of minor road changes eg new roundabouts, junctions changed, that weren't recorded. And the classic was the D948 above - while some stretches showed it dualled when it wasn't, other stretches that had been dualled were shown on TT as still being single-lane!

Or how about this: put a new road in but in the wrong position! We took the A89 (Brive to Clermont Ferrand) - this is a relatively new motorway. It was shown OK, but for the entire half hour we were on it TT had difficulty snapping to the road and positioned us most of the time in a field about 100 metres North! (the road runs broadly ENE). It wasn't poor reception, we were getting a steady 4 bars, 6-8 satellites. Maybe to do with the altitude, it runs at around 700 metres height? But no, I don't think so, as soon as we left the A89 and took another road (running ESE) it was spot on. I've never had this behaviour in England - sure, you get minor position diffs at times but never this much or over such a long distance ...

Add all the above to TTs known predeliction (reported in this forum previously) for sending you down farm tracks and the like which aren't really good for a normal car's paintwork or suspension, and overall TTN France is pretty useless for serious use, you just can't trust it enough. I know TTN UK maps sometimes have their glitches, but trust me they are not in the same league as this.

Still, overall it's been worth it at the price (£0.00) and considering the entertainment value (my wife has taken more interest in GPS than ever before - delights in telling me when 'that woman on your PDA' is wrong 'again' - which she's given up on in the UK!)

Cheers
_________________
Brian Abbott

Go 520 + Navcore 8
(was a happy PDA user until TT stopped updating the software)

[tomo1340]

Although I never used my french maps as extensively as you seem to have, I have nothing but praise for my tomtom for my recent trip to france including disneyland. My other half actually got rushed to hospital from disneyland and finding the hospital was a doddle, also the phone number was spot on so I could call ahead and check on her. Worth its wait in gold!

[pendlemac]

[BrianA]

[geraint]

I've just used the maps in Mallorca, and found them very useful. There's a new motorway being build from Palma eastwards that TTN5 didn't know about, and one or two really small roads too, but apart from those it worked like a dream.
_________________
Geraint

TomTom for iPhone v1.9
App version: 8.300 (777309)
Map: Western Europe v875.3668

[SteveW]

I have found the French maps invaluable over the past three years on holidays, although I have yet to try the TT5 version, TT2 and TT3 were certainly worth the cost, especially navigating in and around Reims!!

Steve

[Tydo]

I used the French Maps supplied with TT5 to navigate around the Alps and I found them invaluable, the only issue I had was being routed around the Inner Periphique in Paris on my way to the South!!

[Trevor1234]

Hi BrianA
I was surprised to read your adverse comments concerning your experience with your TT5 in France. I have just returned from a holiday touring that country and I have nothing but praise for the programme. I have an Ipaq 2210 and a BT338 running TT5 and covered over 2,000 miles on the holiday.
I can honestly say that TT5 did not once put a foot wrong from beginning to end. Paris was no problem at all and touring round the wine growing area of Bordeaux was a piece of cake. Every destination address that I tapped in was reached with uncanny precision. I dread to think how many cock-ups I would have made without TT5. I agree that if I had had your experience then I would too have been grieved. But in my case all went perfectly and I cant praise the programme enough. I wouldn’t dream of going back to TT3.

[Tom Symonds]

UK's mainly fine, except, unbelievably the sq km around my house in which all the street names are wrong! This is Muswell Hill North London. There must be two dozen wrong names in the area. Infuriating really.
Its a shame they don't let you edit the maps.

[tube]

Hi Brian,

You are correct with the French maps and the errors, I have just returned form the west coast (Saint-Jean-de-Monts) and indeed the D753 is a mess and not due for completion to 2010. TTN5 has road on it that don't exist so tries to direct you into a field, and then sends you off a good duel carriage way down back streets. Then when you get to Saint-Jean-de-Monts tries to send you up the main high street through a No Entry.

But in saying that it is good entertainment, even my eldest boy of 5 says 'stupid TomTom' as I curse now, and I just get that look from the wife, On the jouney back to Paris we used mainly A roads (N23) and had no problems apart from the odd new roundabout. In general not bad, you will always get there in the end, and you always now about what time.

[mw101]

just come back from a week with tt5 and a dell axim x50v in france normandy viewed the beaches the cemetery etc, and i must disagree with some of the comments without it wouldnt have had the 'guts' to set off into a different country without even buying a map dont get me wrong i drive appx 35 000 miles a year in the uk so driving is not a worry i thought tt5 was brill over there might not have picked the best routes but so what?
might put me in a field now and then but so?,
it cost's 60 for the upgrade my last car service for a straight 24000 cost me just shy of £500 and what did i get of any use for that? some numpty to check levels..
if tt5 gets it wrong now and again so what...work with it not against it..(a full setup can now be bought for what £300? 4 years ago you were looking at a min of £1500+..

now i did once blindy follow 'sheila'(tt5 pet name) around a reservoir,let me tell you that ford focus could go anywhere,but i learnt from that lesson so did hertz.

you've got the map feature to play with and spot the route you have to follow .if it looks wrong just check

..my 2p worth off back under my stone now

mark w.

[TazUk]

Having just used TTN5 to Navigate around Normandy for a couple of weeks I've come across a few of these missing roads 8O Just switched it from using Fastest route to Avoid motorways and it got to me to where I was going without problem :D Still it gave the other people in the car something to talk about

[Robin2]

Just returned from 4 weeks in France, and used TT5 for about 2000 miles of motoring. Very few errors (except for some newly installed roundabouts which were not shown, and a suggested route for the caravan in the village where we were staying which took us the wrong way down a narrow alley only about 6 feet wide! Fortunately we know the village well so resisted that one.
My wife saw a lot more of the countryside this year, and for the most part TT5 was a pleasure to use
Robin
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TomTom One v3 Europe, Navcore 7.903, Western Europe 835.2420
TomTom Go 720 Europe, Navcore 8.351, Western Europe 855.2884
Satmap Active 10
Plus a lot of other PDA GPS kit, seldom used

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