Help with ONE XL

[Albertaguy]

I have had my Tom Tom one XL for about 3 years or less and I thought I had read the instructions but it seems I have not or else I just don't get it. My problem is that when I use the GPS to go from say Calgary to Edmonton which is a fairly straight road this unit wants me to leave the highway at an overpass only to go back onto the highway within a few feet. I know that I am not going to do this but when I went to Yuma AZ last Jan. the GPS took me into downtown Las Vegas and I ended up on Freemont St. where I should have been routed from the I15 to highway 95. It also tried to get me to turn off a main highway in the US only to have me get back onto this highway within a few short feet. I also tried to program my trip down south last night and then decided to display the trip. The GPS took me on a roundabout way out of Calgary (not the shortest way) and then after leaving the city the GPS then turned me around and brought me back to my house. I find it very frustrating.

Is it me or is there a gremlin in this unit? Thx.

 

[dhn]

How old is your application and how old is your map?

 

[Albertaguy]

How old is your application and how old is your map?

I'm not sure what you mean. Where would I find this info?

 

[dhn]

Tap the satellite bars and the next screen shows the application version installed. Now tap the version number and the next screen shows the map installed and its version number.

 

[Albertaguy]

The unit says USA-Canada v710.1575. By the way ,thanks for your help.

 

[dhn]

That map is over two years old. Latest is 840 .Maybe time to pay for an upgrade? (and an updated applicated, I bet).

 

[Albertaguy]

Thank you for your help.

 

[mvl]

You're probably better off buying a XL 335 or XL 340 than paying for a map upgrade.

The ONE XL (from 2007) doesn't have IQroutes, and the lack of IQroutes is known to cause the get off the highway / get on the highway routing. With pre-IQroutes devices like yours, Tomtom sometimes interprets road speeds based on road width, and if an offramp has more lanes than the highway it sometimes thinks the offramp is faster and takes it.

All that is fixed with IQroutes on the XL335 or XL340.

 

[Albertaguy]

Thanks MVL. These GPS's are quite the mystery aren't they? Which one is best, which one is worst. I received my Tom Tom as a Christmas present from my wife, so I guess it would have been in 2007, I downloaded all the new free downloads that I could and only used it for trips to Yuma last Jan. and then around areas that I was not really familiar with. I did notice that it had a tendency to take me in a roundabout way when I would use it in familiar areas, but thought it was just the way I programmed it. I agree that it would not be worth buying upgraded maps for it if it would still cause problems with straight roads etc. I hate to say this but Tom Tom has left a bitter taste in my mouth and feel that they should be able to upgrade my existing ONE XL to a more user friendly unit. I know maps change and have I no problem with paying for an upgraded map but my problem seems to go beyond that.

 

[dhn]

I think you will find SIGNIFICANT improvements in the routing for new maps over a 2-year old map.

 

[Albertaguy]

Sorry dhn but I have to disagree with you and believe that mvl hit the nail on the head. My unit does not have the proper inputs and this unit is only 2 years old according to what dhn said. I am not talking about upgraded maps because I do get it. My concern is that I was given a unit that is lacking and has since it was new. My neighbourhood has not changed in 40 years so I guess I don't understand why this unit would route me in a longer way rather than the shorter, but my main concern was on highway trips in areas that I am unfamiliar with. The best solution would be for Tom Tom to offer an upgrade to IQroutes for existing customers, but then I understand that they are in it for the long haul and want to sell new units but this is crazy.

Sorry for the rant but I think you can see that I am disappointed and am yet to tell my wife that she may have wasted her money for this present.

 

[mikealder]

Your hardware simply isn't up to running the IQ Routes software/ maps because it was created prior to IQ Routes had even been thought about. I guess its all in the name of progress, but from time to time hardware simply goes past the point of being able to support the latest innovation from the suppliers - Think yourself lucky you even get new maps being made available to you as most other manufacturers wouldn't give two hoots to devices once they have sold them!

Your device doesn't have adequate memory to run IQ Routes and this memory isn't user upgradable as its in the form of chips soldered to the PCB within the device, BUT TomTom do still support your hardware with the latest maps even if they don't contain the IQ Routes data - If the mapping content is wrong then thats a seperate issue all together.

As for the device not knowing the best route through your local area, you have the option to ignore it where you know better, if you are in an area you don't know at all and the device still takes you to the destination then its done its job correctly - Mike

 

[Albertaguy]

Mikealder, I do appreciate your input but I still can't figure out why a manufacturer would sell a product that is essentially outdated before it hits the consumer, but that is my bad for listening to others when I first started looking at GPS's and passing it onto my wife who bought me this one. I know I am starting to sound like a broken record but Tom Tom has probably lost a customer because of this. You may be right about other manufacturers not supplying updated mapping but this is not what I have heard, so I guess the hunt is on for another GPS and my wife wasted 250 bucks or thereabouts.

Anyway, thanks for all your input.

 

[sab]

I also got my XL in 2007. Most of my travel with it has been from Montreal to the US including a LONG trip down to Florida. It has done the odd strange thing but never to that point.

Don't know if your aware but the Canada map store site is finally open and you can get a new Canada/USA map for your device for $46 tax in. It might be worth a shot. I have updated my map a few times and do feel the routing has gotten better.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

[eldorado]

I have to say that I also have the OneXL, mine is either a 07 or 08 model and I live in a rural area where you pretty much better know where you are going or it will lead you astray sometimes, out on the highway and cities it does ok, I signed up last year for the 4 quartely map upgrades at what I thought was a very reasonable price, now I don't have IQ Routing per say but with the two new map upgrades that I've gotten so far I have been quite impressed with how much better the TT has picked up new road/street info, now not 100% but much much better, I also use mine on the motorcycle and it works quite well here also, now the other thing that works is routing via Tyre and Google to get the exact route I want to run, this does work especially when I want to run back roads to a certain location, it is tricky but with practice you will find this does work................