Tom Tom maps

[DonB]

We bought the long awaited Tom Tom maps for GB and Europe and have found them very disappointing. So much has been removed in the way of minor roads and street names, it is often impossible to get to a destination exactly. Tom Tom will announce that a destination is reached when you have simply reached the edge of a large postcode area. Or you can be leaving a place that is not on a major road and you have to guess which way to turn. Is anyone else having the same problems or have I done something wrong?

[Way2Go]

Which map do you have?  Which version is it?

The new Western Europe Map v6.75 has been 'streamlined' so that it will fit on a 1GB SD card.  However, the Western and Central Map v6.75 is much better and still has a high degree of detail.

[derek500]

DonB - 2007-05-19 1:45 PM

 

We bought the long awaited Tom Tom maps for GB and Europe and have found them very disappointing. So much has been removed in the way of minor roads and street names, it is often impossible to get to a destination exactly. Tom Tom will announce that a destination is reached when you have simply reached the edge of a large postcode area. Or you can be leaving a place that is not on a major road and you have to guess which way to turn. Is anyone else having the same problems or have I done something wrong?

 

Can you give an example and I'll check it with the 'Western Europe' map and the individual country map. If you try 'Browse Map' and then 'find', can you find the exact location?

[maggyd]

We have a Tom Tom 710 and have found it very unreliable using postcodes, at Ayr we ended up in the bus station twice!! we had put in the postcode for the caravan C site. And at York first time it took us under a low bridge and we had to back up onto a main road the second time it was telling us to take a left when we new we had to go right, and at Windermere it was directing us to go off main road which would of took us into the no entry road.

 

You have to use your own judgement it is better if you consult the road maps and use in conjunction with T.T.

[derek500]

maggyd - 2007-05-19 9:27 PM

 

We have a Tom Tom 710 and have found it very unreliable using postcodes, at Ayr we ended up in the bus station twice!! we had put in the postcode for the caravan C site. And at York first time it took us under a low bridge and we had to back up onto a main road the second time it was telling us to take a left when we new we had to go right, and at Windermere it was directing us to go off main road which would of took us into the no entry road.

 

You have to use your own judgement it is better if you consult the road maps and use in conjunction with T.T.

 

Unless you're in a reasonably densely populated area, postcodes are not going to be that accurate.

 

On my Tomtom the CC site Craigie Gardens is included in the built in POIs.

 

Also, the CC site's co-ordinates are on the CC website.

 

 

[Way2Go]

Oh for goodness sake.

Maggyd, you seem to be confusing your £249.99 TomTom with the billion dollar laser-guided range finder accuracy of placing a cruise missile down a chimney in Baghdad.

When you want to navigate to a location you have a choice of fastest or shortest.  It doesn't know you are driving a 9ft tall motorhome so it will plot a course accordingly.  If you want to avoid something then you have to tell it.

The considerations of driving a 23ft long by 9ft high motorhome compared with those of a car are huge.  Come on Maggyd, work with it.  A bit of work on your part will yield good results!

Derek is perfectly correct in his answer about the accuracy of using Post Codes as indeed the benefit of using the POIs.

If it helps, this is what I do:-

I have a complete set of CC and C&CC POIs on my SatNav.

I also have a set of Low Bridge POIs for bridges below 10ft and have associated a LOUD warning siren with it.  The first warning is set at 5 miles and the second is set at 1/2 mile.

When I navigate to a CC or C&CC site I plot the course then check to see which way it's taking me.  I NEVER use shortest in my motorhome.

I also check the accuracy of the POI position on the map with the written instructions in the book.  They often vary.

If we're going to be touring, I use AutoRoute to plan the itinerary (point A, then B, then C via this park, that coastal route etc) then convert it into TomTom.

I don't know about you but I see this as part of the trip in the same way I'd do some research into what was available in the area I was visiting.

So my advice is to work with your system and help it plan the best route particularly if you're driving a motorhome.

W2G

[Dave Newell]

Full post code searching is a useful feature but in the case of my workshop the full post code will only get you to within a quarter mile as my postcode covers four trading estates, two pubs and a campsite. As my trading estate is tucked away behind another one I always advise people to download the directions from my website, there are still a few who believe their satnav can do it from post code though. :-S

 

D.

[Way2Go]

Out of interest I've checked the location of the Ayr site on the CC web site.  The Post Code and Latitude and Longitude co-ordinates take you to the identical spot in TomTom as can be seen below

[John H]

Hi Dave,

 

I used your postcode on my Tom Tom to find you but used your directions for the last bit. I still managed to have a tour round Court 2000 first though. Mind you, I forget my way home from work some nights. :$

 

John

[Way2Go]

I've found the Bus Station in Ayr which is KA7 1DD whilst the CC site is at KA8 0SS.  The difference is shown below.  Apart from 'KA' the Post Codes are not even close and some distance apart.  Are you sure you typed in the right thing?

[derek500]

My built in Tomtom POI and the CC custom made POIs that I downloaded both show the CC Campsite in Ayr in the same place, but not where your map shows it. My POIs show it on a short unnamed road off Craigie Road just north of the junction with Fotheringham Road.

 

I entered the co-ordinates from the CC website and it locates it in the middle of an open area east of my two and west of yours.

 

I am wondering if they have take the readings in the middle of the campsite and not at the entrance.

 

I wish I knew how to do screen dumps from my Tomtom!!

[Way2Go]

derek500 - 2007-05-20 9:26 AM  I wish I knew how to do screen dumps from my Tomtom!!

As far as I can remember you have to:-

1. On the root of your SD card create a folder called screen.

2. Inside that folder create a document called capture (without an extension).

3. To use, go to a screen of your choice and press the top left of your screen.

4. A .BMP file will then appear in the screen folder.

5. I found the .BMP file was too big to post here so I had to convert it to a .JPG file.

Let me know how you get on.

Regarding the accuracy, I'm using TomTom UK and Ireland 6.75.  As I say the Post Code and Lat/Long both took me to the point shown above.

[Way2Go]

Derek,

I've just tried the Western & Central Europe 6.75 map and it's in an identical spot to the UK & Ireland map.

Are you using the CC co-ordinates

Latitude  55.45847277   Longitude  -4.61163722

[derek500]

Way2Go - 2007-05-20 10:51 AM

Derek,

I've just tried the Western & Central Europe 6.75 map and it's in an identical spot to the UK & Ireland map.

Are you using the CC co-ordinates

Latitude  55.45847277   Longitude  -4.61163722

Yes, but the location is in the middle of a field and Tomtom finds the nearest road, which is to the east.I think that reading has been taken in the middle of the site, not at the entrance. It appears that the Tomtom POI is at the entrance which concurs with the address 'Craigie Road'

[derek500]

Here's the Tomtom POI and the CC custom made.

 

I've checked the directions on the CC website and these appear to be correct.

 

 

 

[derek500]

Way2Go - 2007-05-20 10:39 AM

derek500 - 2007-05-20 9:26 AM  I wish I knew how to do screen dumps from my Tomtom!!

As far as I can remember you have to:-

1. On the root of your SD card create a folder called screen.

2. Inside that folder create a document called capture (without an extension).

3. To use, go to a screen of your choice and press the top left of your screen.

4. A .BMP file will then appear in the screen folder.

5. I found the .BMP file was too big to post here so I had to convert it to a .JPG file.

Let me know how you get on.

Regarding the accuracy, I'm using TomTom UK and Ireland 6.75.  As I say the Post Code and Lat/Long both took me to the point shown above.

Tried it but couldn't get it to work. I did a Google search and all your instructions were spot on.In the end I downloaded a programme called 'Capture Screen Utility'http://www.freewarepocketpc.net/ppc-download-capture-screen-utility-v1-0-0007.htmlThanks for your help.

[Way2Go]

How bizarre . . . .

Gone a bit quiet.  Are we the only one's here?

[Miami]

We only use ours as a guide as Tom Tom does not have the best maps. Autoroute with the Navteq maps is much better.

If you can get the Lattitude and Longtitude co-ordinates then it works extremely well. The post code feature is the same on all the satnavs as it is designed round the Post Office maps. Some post codes cover a large area and only gets you to the area if you are lucky.

[derek500]

Miami - 2007-05-21 8:46 AM

 

If you can get the Lattitude and Longtitude co-ordinates then it works extremely well.

 

The above example of Craigie Gardes CC Site, proves the opposite. If the co-ordinates are off-road, as they are in the CC handbook, satnavs will take you to the nearest road and possibly not to the entrance.

 

In this example the co-ordinates location (nearest road as plotted by Tomtom) is 'Go' and the Tomtom POI 'tent' are 1.3 kms apart.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[maggyd]

Way2Go - 2007-05-20 6:46 AM

Oh for goodness sake.

Maggyd, you seem to be confusing your £249.99 TomTom with the billion dollar laser-guided range finder accuracy of placing a cruise missile down a chimney in Baghdad.

When you want to navigate to a location you have a choice of fastest or shortest.  It doesn't know you are driving a 9ft tall motorhome so it will plot a course accordingly.  If you want to avoid something then you have to tell it.

The considerations of driving a 23ft long by 9ft high motorhome compared with those of a car are huge.  Come on Maggyd, work with it.  A bit of work on your part will yield good results!

Derek is perfectly correct in his answer about the accuracy of using Post Codes as indeed the benefit of using the POIs.

If it helps, this is what I do:-

I have a complete set of CC and C&CC POIs on my SatNav.

I also have a set of Low Bridge POIs for bridges below 10ft and have associated a LOUD warning siren with it.  The first warning is set at 5 miles and the second is set at 1/2 mile.

When I navigate to a CC or C&CC site I plot the course then check to see which way it's taking me.  I NEVER use shortest in my motorhome.

I also check the accuracy of the POI position on the map with the written instructions in the book.  They often vary.

If we're going to be touring, I use AutoRoute to plan the itinerary (point A, then B, then C via this park, that coastal route etc) then convert it into TomTom.

I don't know about you but I see this as part of the trip in the same way I'd do some research into what was available in the area I was visiting.

So my advice is to work with your system and help it plan the best route particularly if you're driving a motorhome.

W2G

Id like to know where you shop WTG Our TomTom 710 cost us £399.99 last september. My hubby says that he did put in the right co-ordinates but he has been known to make mistakes!! *-) Anyway Tom Tom isnt in my good books at the moment as the new dock that they supplied us with wasnt charging and the battery was slowly running down until it suddenly went off just when we were relying on it to take us through Glasgow on our way to Loch Lomond from Windermere which is where it stopped working. We rang them and they sent us everything we needed to send it back (so far so good) a couple of days later it was returned No faults found with either the TT dock or charger!! plugged it in at home Red battery indicator showing! which continued to run down till just a red dot was showing! took it off that dock and used the old dock that still works but has a slack arm, and lo and behold it charged up (^) so So much for the Tom Tom service dept; we are now awaiting reply to our e.mail .when we tried to put in some of the extras that you surgested last time I wrote on here, we didnt have any luck just kept getting messages card currupted. And TT says that for a charge of 100 euros we can update our 8 month old TT.

[DonB]

To go back to my original point, it is that the new maps are worse than the old ones. We visited Alderbury in Wiltshire recently. It's a village very near Salisbury. Apart from a name printed in a blank space, there are no roads on Tom Tom. We had to find our way off the A36 and back on again with no help from a system that we paid over £500 for, in just the situation we bought it for. My son visits Central London frequently. On our old map he was able to get to an exact point on a minor road. Tom Tom now dumps him on a nearby main road and announces that he has reached his destination. No help to find his way on the minor roads. this is far inferior to our old map. These are just two examples of many.

[Randonneur]

DonB - 2007-05-21 3:11 PM

 

To go back to my original point, it is that the new maps are worse than the old ones. We visited Alderbury in Wiltshire recently. It's a village very near Salisbury. Apart from a name printed in a blank space, there are no roads on Tom Tom. We had to find our way off the A36 and back on again with no help from a system that we paid over £500 for, in just the situation we bought it for. My son visits Central London frequently. On our old map he was able to get to an exact point on a minor road. Tom Tom now dumps him on a nearby main road and announces that he has reached his destination. No help to find his way on the minor roads. this is far inferior to our old map. These are just two examples of many.

 

Which mapping does Tom Tom use?

[arturus]

A good place to ask this question (the original question) would be at

http://www.pocketgpsworld.com/ On the Tom Tom Forum.

Regards

BrianM

[John Keats]

Whilst sitting here doing little I've just checked my Navman N60i for the CC Craigie Gardens site number 217

 

The post code puts me just off the site entrance into the short 'no through road' and the POi puts me right into the site itself

 

I've not looked at any surrounding details as some of you describe as I dont need to.

 

JK

[Nobby]

Hi,

 

Most TomTom devices use TeleAtlas maps but some recent devices have had Navtech maps on board.

 

DonB, notwithstanding what you say, your description sounds remarkably like the TomTom 'Maps of Western Europe' map that at various stages has come as a 'gimme' with a standard country map or as part of a TomTom 'Plus' map for any of the European countries. Of course, it has also been possible to buy MOWE which simply consists of major routes in Europe.

 

It defies belief that a detailed part of London would not be featured on a standard GB map as TomTom would hardly expect to sell many (if any) copies once word got around that detail was so paltry.

 

In the map data folder on your device (or card), there is a PNA file that will be named 'Great Britain Map.pna' or similar as applicable. Open this using Wordpad or Notepad making sure that you untick the box that says 'Always use this program etc' and read the details in the document and report back on here. The details in this box will go some way towards definitively showing the map type and version. Close the document without changing any of it's contents.

More simply, you could check the 'Map Version' page in your 'Preferences' which should give you the map name and version acurately, assuming that your map is a genuine licensed version.

 

I apologise if you have already been through these things but having used TomTom maps since version 2, I find it hard to believe that they would expect to produce and sell a 'full' UK map with such paucity of detail as you describe.

 

Nobby

 

Edited - (forgot to say) Version 6.75 map of the UK and the Western Europe map has (as ever) street level mapping to 99% of the UK. So something is clearly not quite right with your map which SHOULD be showing the areas you described in detail.

 

Nobby