Maps, SD cards & other questions from aged novices. . .

Reynger · Occasional Visitor Joined: Mar 16, 2009 Posts: 6

Thankfully we have found this forum. Hopefully having done so we won't waste too many people's time. . .

Our son kindly bought us a TomTom One XL Europe in July of 2007. My wife and I are senior citizens but not entirely deranged. Yet.

We've come to depend on the TomTom but have also followed our son's advice that "if it isn't broke, don't fix it." So although we worked out how to install and use the TomTom Home software, we've never used it, nor made any upgrades to the device.

A few days ago we received an email from TomTom saying a new version of our map was available.

Our map is Western Europe v675.1409 and, until day, our device app was 7.162.

In a flurry of perhaps inadvised activity I have today upgraded our TomTom home application to the latest version and upgraded the device to v8.0.10. I also did a back-up.

The new map TomTom wants me to buy costs £59.95. However for £63.60 it says we can have the new map and a year's updates.

Our son says we can get stuff cheaper on eBay (oh really?) and we've found an "official product" from a vendor for £49.95. The product is said to be 9A00.118 serial code 636926017466. Which of course doesn't seem to relate to anything.

My wife and I are stumped re the following:

(1) Is it worth upgrading from our v675 map to the new one?
(2) Is it worth (as it seems to be, then) taking the £63.30 package?
(3) Should we leave eBay well alone?
(4) Do others here recommend going somewhere else for the same or better maps?
(5) Our XL Europe comes with an SD card slot. Should we buy a blank SD card to boost the XL's memory, seeing as how we've had to delete things today in order to install the TomTom recommended upgrades? (Not sure how we would operate the XL with an SD card anyway.) Our XL seems to have 1Gb and is full.

We're touring France for a month in June this year and then touring Germany for two weeks in September so we need to decide what we should be doing.

Apologies for long post but help from experienced users would be welcome! Very Happy

Darren

Andy_P · Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2009 11:14 pm Post subject:

Hi and welcome!

All good questions....

1. First of all, do you actually NEED a new map, unless you are finding errors a lot as you drive around, why spend the money? It's just like a paper map, you might occasionally find something wrong and you just busk it like you used to., but if it's annoying you or happening a lot then upgrade.

2. If you do upgrade the subscription offer is VERY good value. you pay not much more then the price of a single map and get four updates in a year. Be aware thet the subscription requires you to get up to date FIRST, that's part of the package price you are quoted.

3. I would avoid eBay like the plague. This forum is full of people who've bought a bargain from eBay and lived to regret it.

4. As far as I know, there are NO up to date maps available from anywhere except TomTom (by download).

5. Yes. Pick up a 2GB SD card and copy EVERYTHING from the Ones internal memory onto it. On the XL, when a card is in the slot the TT will boot from that and ignore the internal memory completely, so you aren't "boosting" the internal memory, you're replacing it.
Once you are using the SD card, then updates via Home etc all happen automatically to the card. You may have to choose the card slot when Home starts up, I can't remember...

EDIT: Gah! beaten by Darren... Usually it's Mike!

At least we agreed on just about every point. Smile

Darren · Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2009 11:16 pm Post subject:

Andy we could have compiled those replies in concert Very Happy

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Darren Griffin

Andy_P · Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2009 11:17 pm Post subject:

See my edit! Laughing

Malouff · Occasional Visitor Joined: Dec 15, 2008 Posts: 30

Calomax · Posted: Tue Mar 17, 2009 10:28 am Post subject:

When you backed up did you use HOME? if so you should make another backup using Windows Explorer. the instructions are in the FAQs http://www.pocketgpsworld.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=50045

The french have been building a lot of new roads over the last few years so you might find a new map worthwhile for your holiday. I know for sure that there have been a lot of changes in the Rennes area in the last 2 years.
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TT Go Essential

Robin2 · Posted: Tue Mar 17, 2009 10:35 am Post subject:

Reynger · Occasional Visitor Joined: Mar 16, 2009 Posts: 6

Wow, so much advice so quickly!!!!

MANY MANY THANKS to Darren, Andy, Malouff and Calomax and Robin for the responses, the kindness really is greatly appreciated.

I'll readily take all the advice given (including the back-up tip) and now try to decide if the £63 'package deal' is going to be worth it -- on balance, it seems to be, because if the new maps are a substantial revision of the "old" then I guess that can only be useful.

We used the XL in northern France last year without a single mis-direction but that doesn't mean that will be the same anywhere else.

As to the UK, we frequently travel between Northumberland and Norfolk and the XL's UK map is now truly out of date where the A1 is concerned, many of the former roundabouts have been replaced by underpasses but our XL still keeps telling us to turn left in so many yards and then when we don't, the screen shows us driving across a field.

Of course if after spending £63 on "new" maps we still find the A1 has all its roundabouts intact and not an underpass in sight, that's going to be somewhat annoying (understatement.)

Ach, decisions, decisions.

Thanks again to you all for the help -- and the sheer speed at which that help has been given! Surprised

Calomax · Posted: Tue Mar 17, 2009 1:07 pm Post subject:

Robin2 wrote

Pocketgps · Posted: Tue Mar 17, 2009 1:25 pm Post subject:

garcor · Posted: Tue Mar 17, 2009 2:14 pm Post subject:

Google Uses Tela Atlas for there map data the same as TomTom but they aren't always the same. Prior to 8.15 map Google maps was more up to date than TT for some areas but now that 8.25 is out there are some corrections on the 8.25 map that haven't yet been corrected on the google maps.
Or at least this is the case on the N/A map.

mikealder · Posted: Tue Mar 17, 2009 3:33 pm Post subject:

In the case of the A1 the maps were actually showing the new road layouts about 3 months before they had completed laying the tarmac!
Go for the update scheme and in 12 months when you renew it you will find it considerably cheaper, some of the total cost you pay is for updating you current map which in this case is very out of date. In 12 months time you will have the very latest map so you will be charged less - Mike

Reynger · Occasional Visitor Joined: Mar 16, 2009 Posts: 6

I've just said to Mrs R, how I'd ever have managed to understand the finer points of our TomTom if the Internet hadn't yet been invented, Gawd only knows.

She thinks there's some kind of flaw (factual, rhetorical or technological, I'm not sure which) in such musing.

ANYWAY. At risk of filling up this entire forum with thanks, here goes again: many, many thanks for the recent posts from pocketgps, garcor and mike -- all of which have decided us to go for the new map / 12 months' map update option.

Hopefully I won't need to trouble anyone again. . . unless, of course, the map doesn't load / the XL freezes / and the satnav, if not the Internet, is un-invented.

Sincere thanks again to everyone here for their kindness. Smile

mikealder · Posted: Tue Mar 17, 2009 9:53 pm Post subject:

Once you have got your new map perhaps it is time to consider some accurate POI files for the device, shops/ cash points/ petrol stations along with hundreds of other categories, see Here also don't forget the option of the Speed Camera database and full spoken alerts which are also offered by the site - Mike

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