TomTom britain-map version number
Discussion
Hello All,
I upgraded my trusty Palm to a T|X at Christmas, and got from Amazon the TomTom Navigator 5 bundle, with a bluetooth GPS.
Trouble is, the map is way, way out of date - there are new or changed roads from 18 months ago that are not on, or wrong on the mapping
. The included map was britain-map v562*; a colleague who upgraded to Navigator 5 six months ago has britain-map v571. The TomTom website is very coy about what actually is the latest version of each map.....
So, what map version has everyone else got? How out of date is my map? Am I expecting too much?
How's about people posting their map version number and date of purchase/upgrade.
*You can see your map version number my clicking on the signal bars on map view, and then again on the software version number in the bottom right corner of the green screen.
Cheers, Nick.
I upgraded my trusty Palm to a T|X at Christmas, and got from Amazon the TomTom Navigator 5 bundle, with a bluetooth GPS.
Trouble is, the map is way, way out of date - there are new or changed roads from 18 months ago that are not on, or wrong on the mapping
. The included map was britain-map v562*; a colleague who upgraded to Navigator 5 six months ago has britain-map v571. The TomTom website is very coy about what actually is the latest version of each map..... So, what map version has everyone else got? How out of date is my map? Am I expecting too much?
How's about people posting their map version number and date of purchase/upgrade.
*You can see your map version number my clicking on the signal bars on map view, and then again on the software version number in the bottom right corner of the green screen.
Cheers, Nick.
V605 on a TomTom One purchased 1st Dec 2005. Hopelessly out of date for 9-month-old main road updates in Scotland. When I went to Ayrshire at Christmas to see my family, the TomTom thought I was doing 60mph over a ploughed field between East Kilbride and Kilmarnock and kept giving me stupid instructions.
At the rate roads are built in this country it takes a lot of effort to miss one out, never mind two or three.
Not impressed. How do you get updates, and are they free?
J
PS I can't find a way to enter a postcode as a destination. Is it me?
At the rate roads are built in this country it takes a lot of effort to miss one out, never mind two or three.
Not impressed. How do you get updates, and are they free?
J
PS I can't find a way to enter a postcode as a destination. Is it me?
Nick_Chim said:
I've lodged a query with product support - will see what they say....
Postcode destination find on mine (Navigator 5) is Navigate to... / blue right arrow (next page) / Postcode.
Nick,
thanks, you're right about the postcode search. I must have speed-read the instructions.
Let us know what product support say about the maps. I'd better make clear (following my "not impressed" comment) that I think the TomTom One is a nice piece of kit. It's how non-up-to-date the maps are with which I'm unimpressed. Another thing is the POIs (points of interest) which are a bit on the lean side. Maybe there's a way to import more info (eg when I want a list of restaurants in an area, I'd rather it was a bit more extensive).
J
>> Edited by John_W on Sunday 22 January 19:04
Mines the PDA version and I have 5.62 I think. And yes the maps are "hopelessly out of date" as stated. But then again they are the most recent ones and to be honest the most accurate ones on the market at a reasonable price. Yes, you can pay a premium price for another product and get better maps, but you will be getting to £1k or more without even getting the kit.
So given the price, the TomTom is a steal (as is all of the others available at the moment).
Yes, its a common criticism of SatNav that the maps are not 100% accurate. But hey, imagine the work that needs to be put in for a mapping company to double check each and every mile of the roads in the UK? The common retort to that is that they should be able to just check what has changed - but again, that aint as easy as it sounds either. That is assuming that the councils actually fill in the correct forms, submit them in time and that all alterations or changes are actually reported in the first place..... It can take up to 2 years for some roads to appear on the printed maps - and they are offically mapped by the OS and they are supposed to have the most accurate data of the lot of em......
Perfect? Nah, far from it. Better than stopping every 5 minutes to read a map? Yes (of course no one would be reading a map while driving, that would be dangerous!).
So given the price, the TomTom is a steal (as is all of the others available at the moment).
Yes, its a common criticism of SatNav that the maps are not 100% accurate. But hey, imagine the work that needs to be put in for a mapping company to double check each and every mile of the roads in the UK? The common retort to that is that they should be able to just check what has changed - but again, that aint as easy as it sounds either. That is assuming that the councils actually fill in the correct forms, submit them in time and that all alterations or changes are actually reported in the first place..... It can take up to 2 years for some roads to appear on the printed maps - and they are offically mapped by the OS and they are supposed to have the most accurate data of the lot of em......
Perfect? Nah, far from it. Better than stopping every 5 minutes to read a map? Yes (of course no one would be reading a map while driving, that would be dangerous!).
Reply from TomTom "support"
All auto translated by Babelfish from the original dutch it would appear.
So, no updates, no answers just a fobbing off.
Ah well, at least I tried!
>> Edited by Nick_Chim on Wednesday 1st February 21:17
my original query said:
Customer 21/01/2006 06.43 PM
I bought the "Palm TX - PDA with TomTom 5 GPS Navigation System" from Amazon on 18th December, and I am finding that there are a large number of errors and missing / changed roads on it - so much so, that it is almost unusable. I would estimate that the map between 18 months and 2 years out of date.
I accept that the map will never be perfect, and that there is a lag between roads being built/changed and incorporated on the mapping, but I was disappointed to see my 'new' T|X has britain-map version v562 - whereas a colleague has britain-map v571 on his earlier Tungsten which he purchased some 6 months ago. What is the current britain-map version number, and is there any way that I can upgrade my map so that I can start with latest version as at the purchase date, rather than starting 18 mths out of date.
customer support's standard reply said:
Dear ,
We are sorry that you are not completely satisfied with the quality of our product. TomTom always attempts to provide the best quality to its customers. We, therefore, find it very important that you inform us about this and we will most definitely work with the information you supply.
TomTom and its map suppliers are dependent on local authorities and other organisations in the whole of Europe to obtain correct map data. These organisations provide TomTom and its map suppliers with the most recent information about millions of roads and streets.
On average, 5 % of the European road network changes at any given time. Our map suppliers have hundreds of persons in their employment who drive through Europe and analyse satellite images to register and implement these changes. This process takes up a lot of time and is challenging from a logistics point of view. There are but a few map suppliers in the world that offer good and qualitative digital map information.
The digital map data market is growing quickly. Thousands of kilometres of roads are being added each year as well as the information regarding the 5% of roads that change. The coverage of the map data, however, is more than 99% in most countries in Western Europe. Exceptions are, of course, possible, but the digital map information that is used by TomTom is the best data that is available on the market.
Our maps have a version number and a date. The date refers to the moment all changes are to be implemented that have been found up to this moment.
Once the changes have been implemented, the map data is compressed by TomTom to ensure it fits on an SD map. This complex process involving millions of changes and the compression of the data takes up time, which means that the maps will always be a few months' old when purchased by consumers.
Thanks to the unique compression process of TomTom and the quality of the software in combination with the map data, TomTom can now supply all countries/regions in combination with the main European roads. This means that our customers can navigate on a street level in the purchased region or country and have the option of navigating to another city in Europe without changing maps.
As already mentioned, we greatly appreciate being informed about errors in our map data through our website. We send these notifications to our map suppliers. They will deal with these notifications. This will mean in many cases that the relevant location will have to be visited to verify the error on site. We attempt to provide our customers with the best possible information in this quickly growing market segment thus ensuring we meet the high standard that we have set for ourselves.
• Follow the steps given below to make us aware of map errors:
1. Go to our web page (www.tomtom.com) and log in using your e-mail address and password.
2. Click "Support" at the top of the window.
3. Next, click "Report Map Feedback" in My Account.
4. Fill in the data in the form and, next, click "Submit".
Now you will have reported the map error and we will ensure that an investigation is started.
Many thanks for your feedback. Please do not hesitate in contacting us should you have more questions or suggestions.
Kind regards,
TomTom Customer Support Team
my follow-up said:
Customer 24/01/2006 09.55 PM
You have missed the point. A colleague has a newer map version and bought his unit before I did. How do I update my map to the latest version, or at least v571?
their reply implausibly said:
Dear ,
You have the same version of the map as your friend.
The difference in map numbers are not only based on map data but also dependent on which device the map is intended for as well as the region the map covers. Plus maps, regional maps, etc. There is no difference in the two numbers he has provided for us.
With best regards,
The TomTom Customer Support Team
All auto translated by Babelfish from the original dutch it would appear.
So, no updates, no answers just a fobbing off.
Ah well, at least I tried!
>> Edited by Nick_Chim on Wednesday 1st February 21:17
Likewise; I've taken to following my nose again, and listening out for the camera warnings (not that I need them of course 
), rather than using it to take me to a destination - otherwise it just gets frustrating!
The Dutch take on version control is certainly interesting....
>> Edited by Nick_Chim on Wednesday 1st February 22:50
), rather than using it to take me to a destination - otherwise it just gets frustrating! The Dutch take on version control is certainly interesting....
>> Edited by Nick_Chim on Wednesday 1st February 22:50
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