We have a couple of TomTom SatNavs for the our cars/motorhome. Both have
'lifetime' free map updates- one for UK/Western Europe, the other 'Whole
World', although we tend to just update UK/West Europe unless we are
visiting the USA.

All in all, the update process is 'less than impressive'. It is slow,
the software is unreliable when it comes to 'finding' the unit is
connected (I use a Mac). Previously, I needed two IDs as you couldn't
have two units on one ID, although that has changed. The process seems
very 'picky' re the cable- I've tried several which show continuity but
just don't work with the software. They are fine for other- none TomTom-
applications.

I have a fast internet connection (40MHz, checked and reliable) but it
takes 'ages' to even download the files from TomTom, before it starts
trying to transfer them to the device. By ages I mean an hour or more,
sometimes two. Other, large files from elsewhere are much, much, quicker.

The transfer to the device is, likewise, slow in my view.

I've tried another machine (dreaded Windows), the speed is no better,
nor is another Mac. The Macs are modern, decent spec MacBook Pros etc.

I've ensured there is nothing else active on my network and used a wired
(rather that Wifi) connection for the computers.


Admittedly, I don't update the units that often, maybe twice per year,
usually around now and January. The exception would be if, for example,
we were planning a trip to the US and didn't have the map in the unit-
we had an extra card for that.


Is this typical of what others find, please?

On Mon, 07 Aug 2017 12:44:41 +0100, Brian Reay wrote:

We have a couple of TomTom SatNavs for the our cars/motorhome. Both have
'lifetime' free map updates- one for UK/Western Europe, the other 'Whole
World', although we tend to just update UK/West Europe unless we are
visiting the USA.

All in all, the update process is 'less than impressive'. It is slow,
the software is unreliable when it comes to 'finding' the unit is
connected (I use a Mac). Previously, I needed two IDs as you couldn't
have two units on one ID, although that has changed. The process seems
very 'picky' re the cable- I've tried several which show continuity but
just don't work with the software. They are fine for other- none TomTom-
applications.

I have a fast internet connection (40MHz, checked and reliable) but it
takes 'ages' to even download the files from TomTom, before it starts
trying to transfer them to the device. By ages I mean an hour or more,
sometimes two. Other, large files from elsewhere are much, much,
quicker.

The transfer to the device is, likewise, slow in my view.

I've tried another machine (dreaded Windows), the speed is no better,
nor is another Mac. The Macs are modern, decent spec MacBook Pros etc.

I've ensured there is nothing else active on my network and used a wired
(rather that Wifi) connection for the computers.


Admittedly, I don't update the units that often, maybe twice per year,
usually around now and January. The exception would be if, for example,
we were planning a trip to the US and didn't have the map in the unit-
we had an extra card for that.


Is this typical of what others find, please?

Downloads from the TomTom server are always slow.

Copying across USB2 also seems very slow; presumably because of the slow
processor in the TomTom.

I have found that it is advisable to copy the TomTom and SD card contents
to the PC because the TomTom backup is not that reliable and if there are
a couple of downloads then the last good backup gets overwritten then you
are screwed.

So, yes, it isn't just you.


Cheers



Dave R

--
AMD FX-6300 in GA-990X-Gaming SLI-CF running Windows 7 Pro x64

---
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
https://www.avast.com/antivirus

On 07/08/2017 12:44, Brian Reay wrote:
We have a couple of TomTom SatNavs for the our cars/motorhome. Both have
'lifetime' free map updates- one for UK/Western Europe, the other 'Whole
World', although we tend to just update UK/West Europe unless we are
visiting the USA.

All in all, the update process is 'less than impressive'. It is slow,
the software is unreliable when it comes to 'finding' the unit is
connected (I use a Mac). Previously, I needed two IDs as you couldn't
have two units on one ID, although that has changed. The process seems
very 'picky' re the cable- I've tried several which show continuity but
just don't work with the software. They are fine for other- none TomTom-
applications.



Is this typical of what others find, please?

I had a TomTom satnav a while back. I found it a pain in the proverbial
so chucked it in favour of Google Maps on my phone.



--
Old Codger
e-mail use reply to field

What matters in politics is not what happens, but what you can make
people believe has happened. [Janet Daley 27/8/2003]

"Brian Reay" wrote in message
news
We have a couple of TomTom SatNavs for the our cars/motorhome. Both have
'lifetime' free map updates- one for UK/Western Europe, the other 'Whole
World', although we tend to just update UK/West Europe unless we are
visiting the USA.

All in all, the update process is 'less than impressive'. It is slow, the
software is unreliable when it comes to 'finding' the unit is connected (I
use a Mac). Previously, I needed two IDs as you couldn't have two units on
one ID, although that has changed. The process seems very 'picky' re the
cable- I've tried several which show continuity but just don't work with
the software. They are fine for other- none TomTom- applications.

I have a fast internet connection (40MHz, checked and reliable) but it
takes 'ages' to even download the files from TomTom, before it starts
trying to transfer them to the device. By ages I mean an hour or more,
sometimes two. Other, large files from elsewhere are much, much, quicker.

The transfer to the device is, likewise, slow in my view.

I've tried another machine (dreaded Windows), the speed is no better, nor
is another Mac. The Macs are modern, decent spec MacBook Pros etc.

I've ensured there is nothing else active on my network and used a wired
(rather that Wifi) connection for the computers.


Admittedly, I don't update the units that often, maybe twice per year,
usually around now and January. The exception would be if, for example, we
were planning a trip to the US and didn't have the map in the unit- we had
an extra card for that.


Is this typical of what others find, please?

Yes it is. The TomTom update process has always been ****ed.

(sorry sent this by mistake to the original poster, I meant to make a follow-up to the group):

I've just updated maps on my TomTom 5100 and it took in total about six hours to download the maps from their server and then upload and install them on the device. This is indeed ridiculously slow. It also insisted on installing updated system software which has had some bad effects, e.g. the voice instructions are much slower than before.

Sample: "In 100" long pause "yards" long pause "cross the roundabout" pause "taking the second exit". These pauses are much longer than before and it means that the whole sentence takes so long you sometimes get there before hearing the end of it. I've tried changing to alternative voices, but they all suffer from the same problem.

TomTom used to be company with good products, sadly no more.

I suppose it might be worth complaining - sometimes you can get a response from a human and I've complained before about long download times but got the response that this should not happen but they don't know why. So helpful.


--
Clive Page

On 07/08/2017 22:31, Clive Page wrote:
(sorry sent this by mistake to the original poster, I meant to make a
follow-up to the group):

I've just updated maps on my TomTom 5100 and it took in total about six
hours to download the maps from their server and then upload and install
them on the device. This is indeed ridiculously slow. It also
insisted on installing updated system software which has had some bad
effects, e.g. the voice instructions are much slower than before.

Sample: "In 100" long pause "yards" long pause "cross the roundabout"
pause "taking the second exit". These pauses are much longer than
before and it means that the whole sentence takes so long you sometimes
get there before hearing the end of it. I've tried changing to
alternative voices, but they all suffer from the same problem.

TomTom used to be company with good products, sadly no more.

I suppose it might be worth complaining - sometimes you can get a
response from a human and I've complained before about long download
times but got the response that this should not happen but they don't
know why. So helpful.



It takes me about 50 minutes to download the western europe maps with
the DSL maxed out 100%.
It takes about as long to install them.
The second device (daughters) doesn't need to do the download but takes
as long to do the transfer.

The latest tomtoms use wifi for their downloads so they may be faster or
slower.

"Old Codger" wrote in message
news
On 07/08/2017 12:44, Brian Reay wrote:
We have a couple of TomTom SatNavs for the our cars/motorhome. Both have
'lifetime' free map updates- one for UK/Western Europe, the other 'Whole
World', although we tend to just update UK/West Europe unless we are
visiting the USA.

All in all, the update process is 'less than impressive'. It is slow, the
software is unreliable when it comes to 'finding' the unit is connected
(I use a Mac). Previously, I needed two IDs as you couldn't have two
units on one ID, although that has changed. The process seems very
'picky' re the cable- I've tried several which show continuity but just
don't work with the software. They are fine for other- none TomTom-
applications.



Is this typical of what others find, please?

I had a TomTom satnav a while back. I found it a pain in the proverbial
so chucked it in favour of Google Maps on my phone.

Yeah, me too, tho I still have the TomTom, just dont use it anymore.

Google Maps leaves it for dead quite apart from the updates.

On 07/08/2017 23:20, Rod Speed wrote:


"Old Codger" wrote in message
news
On 07/08/2017 12:44, Brian Reay wrote:
We have a couple of TomTom SatNavs for the our cars/motorhome. Both
have 'lifetime' free map updates- one for UK/Western Europe, the
other 'Whole World', although we tend to just update UK/West Europe
unless we are visiting the USA.

All in all, the update process is 'less than impressive'. It is slow,
the software is unreliable when it comes to 'finding' the unit is
connected (I use a Mac). Previously, I needed two IDs as you couldn't
have two units on one ID, although that has changed. The process
seems very 'picky' re the cable- I've tried several which show
continuity but just don't work with the software. They are fine for
other- none TomTom- applications.



Is this typical of what others find, please?

I had a TomTom satnav a while back. I found it a pain in the
proverbial so chucked it in favour of Google Maps on my phone.

Yeah, me too, tho I still have the TomTom, just dont use it anymore.

Google Maps leaves it for dead quite apart from the updates.


Generally, we find the actual performance 'on the road' pretty good. We
drive a motorhome, towing a trailer with a car on it in Europe, for fun
so navigation and clear directions in 'strange places' are important to
us, especially as we sometimes prefer the scenic routes. While we carry
an internet 'dongle' with free roaming etc, we often find we don't have
3G (let alone 4G) coverage, even with an external antenna on the vehicle.

Plus, with a trailer and a 3.5 tonne vehicle, you tend not to be popular
if you try to 'change your mind' at junctions etc. - even though the
French especially are more tolerant of motorhomes etc than the English.



--

Suspect someone is claiming a benefit under false pretences? Incapacity
Benefit or Personal Independence Payment when they don't need it? They
are depriving those in real need!

https://www.gov.uk/report-benefit-fraud

"Brian Reay" wrote in message
news
On 07/08/2017 23:20, Rod Speed wrote:


"Old Codger" wrote in message
news
On 07/08/2017 12:44, Brian Reay wrote:
We have a couple of TomTom SatNavs for the our cars/motorhome. Both
have 'lifetime' free map updates- one for UK/Western Europe, the
other 'Whole World', although we tend to just update UK/West Europe
unless we are visiting the USA.

All in all, the update process is 'less than impressive'. It is slow,
the software is unreliable when it comes to 'finding' the unit is
connected (I use a Mac). Previously, I needed two IDs as you couldn't
have two units on one ID, although that has changed. The process
seems very 'picky' re the cable- I've tried several which show
continuity but just don't work with the software. They are fine for
other- none TomTom- applications.



Is this typical of what others find, please?

I had a TomTom satnav a while back. I found it a pain in the
proverbial so chucked it in favour of Google Maps on my phone.

Yeah, me too, tho I still have the TomTom, just dont use it anymore.

Google Maps leaves it for dead quite apart from the updates.


Generally, we find the actual performance 'on the road' pretty good.

The most obvious difference is the vastly better real time traffic updates
with google maps, and the complete lack of street view with TomTom.

Google Maps is vastly quicker with reports of map errors too. I have had
some
fixes done so quickly that its happened before I check if it has happened.

And Google Maps is always completely up to date too.

We drive a motorhome, towing a trailer with a car on it in Europe, for fun
so navigation and clear directions in 'strange places' are important to
us, especially as we sometimes prefer the scenic routes.

And google maps is vastly better for that too because you
can use the street view to see exactly what each alternative
is like before telling it which one you want to use.

While we carry an internet 'dongle' with free roaming etc, we often find
we don't have 3G (let alone 4G) coverage, even with an external antenna on
the vehicle.

You are free to download the maps into the
phone where you have that, for free with wifi too.

Plus, with a trailer and a 3.5 tonne vehicle, you tend not to be popular
if you try to 'change your mind' at junctions etc.

Which is why the lane by lane guidance with google maps
is so much better than what you get with a TomTom.

- even though the French especially are more tolerant of motorhomes etc
than the English.

On 07/08/2017 12:44, Brian Reay wrote:
We have a couple of TomTom SatNavs for the our cars/motorhome. Both have
'lifetime' free map updates- one for UK/Western Europe, the other 'Whole
World', although we tend to just update UK/West Europe unless we are
visiting the USA.

I currently have TT Go on my Android smart phone and the downloads of
the App or UK map updates are relatively fast over Wi-fi from my home
Internet connection (Less than 10 minutes for the UK map). Although the
App works well it is cut down version of what they marketed before. An
annoyance was that I paid £30+ for the App with a promise of free map
updates for life. 18 months later the free updates for life stopped when
they introduced their updated App. I did get to change to the new App
with 3 years of map updates for 1 dollar but had to jump through some
hoops before TT recognised that I was an existing user of the original App.

Before that I had one of the top of range TT dedicated units which
supported a SD card. Updates for this were a PITA and very slow.

The map they supplied with this unit plus the TT operating system
occupied 99% of the internal hard disk/memory. The first update map plus
the OS would have occupied 102% of the internal memory and the TT
software on the PC talking to the TT unit and the TT site refused to see
that I had a further 32G of memory on a card so refused to download the
update.

I resorted to what has already been suggested in this thread. I plugged
my TT unit into my PC and treated it like an external USB disk and
copied the entire contents of its internal hard disk/memory to the 32G
SD card. This SD card then became my TT unit with masses of spare
memory capacity which the TT site allowed to be updated. The download
used to take hours. The TT unit then had the option of using the old
map in its internal memory or the new map on the SD card.

The user forums on the TT site were full of complaints about map updates
not downloading or worse. An old map had to be deleted before a new map
could use the internal storage. When something failed - no maps! Soon
after TT introduced smaller size 'regional maps'.

I gave up on the dedicated unit because of the cost of the maps. After
the first year I declined the offer for the latest quarterly update at
£15 a pop (buy 4 updates in advance). After around two years they
offered a full map update at half price - the catch was that you
couldn't get it from the TT site without the TT plugged in to check that
you had installed the previous update(s).

It is at this point I tried many of the other Sat Nav Apps on my mobile
phone and unfortunately _at_ _the_ _time_ found the TT App to be one of
one of the better ones. One consideration was having the full usable UK
map on the SD card and not relying on mobile data reception to download
map sections for the next part of the journey. When I was checking out
various alternatives I was travelling on roads unfamiliar to me in Wales
and the borders with England where mobile reception could best be
described as patchy.

I see that TT made a loss in the last financial year mainly trying to
flog wearable sports ware (fitness bands etc.) at IMO inflated prices.
Having experience of TT as rip-off merchants I wouldn't touch their
sports ware and associated software with a barge pole. I suspect that
probably having p****d off millions of other users of their Sat Nav
products at some time they haven't got a receptive user base when it
comes to new products.


--
mailto: news {at} admac {dot] myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

On 07/08/2017 12:44, Brian Reay wrote:
We have a couple of TomTom SatNavs for the our cars/motorhome. Both have
'lifetime' free map updates- one for UK/Western Europe, the other 'Whole
World', although we tend to just update UK/West Europe unless we are
visiting the USA.

[snip]

Is this typical of what others find, please?

I had noticed a while back that the updates seemed to take ages, but the
most recent one I did seemed pretty slick (I came back with cup of
coffee and it was already done).

I'm relatively happy with my TomTom Start 50. It does what it says on
the tin. I'm not doing a huge amount of driving at the moment, though.

On 07/08/2017 22:56, dennis@home wrote:
On 07/08/2017 22:31, Clive Page wrote:
(sorry sent this by mistake to the original poster, I meant to make a
follow-up to the group):

I've just updated maps on my TomTom 5100 and it took in total about
six hours to download the maps from their server and then upload and
install them on the device. This is indeed ridiculously slow. It
also insisted on installing updated system software which has had some
bad effects, e.g. the voice instructions are much slower than before.

Sample: "In 100" long pause "yards" long pause "cross the roundabout"
pause "taking the second exit". These pauses are much longer than
before and it means that the whole sentence takes so long you
sometimes get there before hearing the end of it. I've tried
changing to alternative voices, but they all suffer from the same
problem.

TomTom used to be company with good products, sadly no more.

I suppose it might be worth complaining - sometimes you can get a
response from a human and I've complained before about long download
times but got the response that this should not happen but they don't
know why. So helpful.



It takes me about 50 minutes to download the western europe maps with
the DSL maxed out 100%.
It takes about as long to install them.
The second device (daughters) doesn't need to do the download but takes
as long to do the transfer.

The latest tomtoms use wifi for their downloads so they may be faster or
slower.

Part of the difficulty is the size of the maps... IIRC the last time I
did a western europe map update on my old go700, it was a 2gig download.
Even on fast broadband that's going to take some time.


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On 08/08/2017 14:17, Huge wrote:
On 2017-08-08, John Rumm wrote:

[35 lines snipped]

Part of the difficulty is the size of the maps... IIRC the last time I
did a western europe map update on my old go700, it was a 2gig download.
Even on fast broadband that's going to take some time.

I recently got an email from Tomtom saying that my one year access to map
updates was about to end (I bought new maps when we were house hunting)
closely followed by another email telling me they were dropping support
for the ONE XL because the maps would no longer fit on it. Bloody good
job I didn't bother buying another year of updates!

I fell into the trap years ago of getting the 700 since it had an
internal 2G HDD, and that was *way* bigger than any SD card you could
get at the time (largest was probably 128M).

I thought that would give it a longer future for updates. Of course now
you would be hard pressed to find a SD card smaller than 4G!


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On 08/08/17 17:04, Jethro_uk wrote:
JOOI, are you fscked if you use Linux ?

Actually quite the reverse..


http://vps.templar.co.uk/Cartoons%20...itics/unix.jpg



--
"If you dont read the news paper, you are un-informed. If you read the
news paper, you are mis-informed."

Mark Twain

On 08/08/2017 07:43, alan_m wrote:
On 07/08/2017 12:44, Brian Reay wrote:
We have a couple of TomTom SatNavs for the our cars/motorhome. Both
have 'lifetime' free map updates- one for UK/Western Europe, the other
'Whole World', although we tend to just update UK/West Europe unless
we are visiting the USA.

I currently have TT Go on my Android smart phone and the downloads of
the App or UK map updates are relatively fast over Wi-fi from my home
Internet connection (Less than 10 minutes for the UK map). Although the
App works well it is cut down version of what they marketed before. An
annoyance was that I paid £30+ for the App with a promise of free map
updates for life. 18 months later the free updates for life stopped when
they introduced their updated App. I did get to change to the new App
with 3 years of map updates for 1 dollar but had to jump through some
hoops before TT recognised that I was an existing user of the original App.


I have this problem with the TomTom app on my iPhone. I chose it despite
being the most expensive because of the lifetime updates!

How did you contact TomTom I can't find an email address for them.

Mike