Tom Tom ripoff map update costs

vinylmusic

I have a 3 year old tomtom Go 910 which I am very happy with
I find the cost of map updates a complete ripoff (my opinion). it comes to more than 50% of the cost of a new satnav
Rather than ditch a perfectly good satnav or pay such a high price for updates I'd like to know if there are any alternatives.
I know about bit torrent freebees but too afraid to use one in case it messes up my system.
If anyone has advice on this it would be much apreciated

4743hudsonj

buy the sd cards from newer models off ebay?

i wouldn't mention torrents again as it is forbidden on this site.

kwikbreaks

TBH 3 year old maps won't be a complete disaster - lets face it how many ancient paper maps have people used. The odd roundabout may be missing but 99.9% of the time the roads you are using won't have changed in 3 years.

Out of interest do you mean complete updates or the mini updates which users upload. I expected the mini updates to stop after a year but I'm still getting tham almost 2 years after buying mine. Also what were they asking for them?

vinylmusic

4743hudsonj wrote: »

buy the sd cards from newer models off ebay?

i wouldn't mention torrents again as it is forbidden on this site.

Thanks
Unfortunately mine doesnt have an sd card slot, only usb

DatabaseError

if your is only USB...either stick with what you have, or pay the £...
As Kwikbreaks suggested, most roads from 3 years ago are unchanged...

ukjoel

I have a tomtom one GB (think its a version 2) but its 3 years old and its fine. I am a regional sales manager and probably average 15 customers a week that are prebooked for me and 10-12 of those will be places I have never been to before.

I havent bothered updating my maps (and its not down to money as could claim it as a business expense) because I havent needed to.

Its very rare that I struggle as long as i have a postcode or streetname.

Maybe once every 3 months I need to phone for help but in fairness only once has that been due to a new street. Often the issue is a company keeps its postcode but moves address (I didnt think this was possible but apparently it is - postcodes are not tied to buildings and can be taken if companys are big enough) or I visit somewhere in Wales or Cornwall where the postcode covers 4 square miles (but in these situations just head for high ground and look for the nearest building - usually the only building and thats the one.

Cheers

M4RKM

sometimes it is worth just buying brand new maps,

bear in mind that the TT910 covered the UK, Europe and USA, Canada, so, if you're "updating" through the tomtom store, you're actually updating all of them!!! ..

in 3 years, that whole area has probably gone through a lot of changes..

however, you can probably just buy, brand new maps of the UK, (not an upgrade, just new maps) and this probably costs less than £80

i had a 520, which i upgraded the software, and bought new maps for UK and Europe last october, I paid £80 for that....

don't look at upgrading the maps on the tomtom home software, look for the new maps option, and how much it is to buy and download the new UK maps..


and IMO, yes, it is worth buying new maps, my satnav now knows all the new roads around sheffield.. which 3 year old maps won't have a clue!

M

sillygoose

Its worth signing up for TomTom email mailings, even if its just to a spare email account you don't check too often because they often have sales with a substantial reduction.

Maps tend to lose value fairly quickly when new ones come out, even though they are not that much out of date. I got a legit. original copy of all the UK & western europe maps on a DVD that was only a little out of date but fine compared to the 6 year old data on mine for £17.25.

http://cpc.farnell.com/jsp/search/productdetail.jsp?sku=AV1360161&N=0

also worth having a hunt around amazon sellers.

Andy230262

I would not bother to up date just make do for 3-4 years then buy a new one.

I spent 70 pounds up grading then had problems loading on to my 3 year old sat nav only to be told by there help line that i had wasted my money because my systems could not take the new up grade.
Why do they send out e mails with links saying down load new maps.

DatabaseError

kwikbreaks

I hope that piccy isn't copyright - I've just stolen it. I promise not to use it more than 10 times a week so you'll have plenty of opportunity to use it too going on past experience of this board :money: