Map Updates, one for free?

[crgator]

But........the real issue here is how many users get screwed when Home says they have the latest maps when they don't and they just accept it and never get their freebee. Hundreds? Thousands?

That's what I was thinking. Had I not found these forums, I would never have thought to call. I know when I told my son about it (I got him his for Christmas) he said he just assumed that he had the newest map, based on Tomtom Home. A gal in my office has a Tomtom, not sure which model, and she always assumed she had the newest map, because Tomtom home said so. Unfortunately for her, if she didn't, it's way past the time as she's had it for several months.

But, yes, I'm assuming there are a lot of folks out there who lost their free update because they never knew it was available.

 

[sageuvagony]

I am happy that TomTom at least offers LMG. I bought my Magellan Maestro the same day I bought my TomTom. I get a fresh new map with my TomTom, but with the Magellan, I'm stuck using a August 2006 map. If I want to update the map, I have to pay $79.99 for a map update DVD.

 

[raiderdanny]

raidrdanny to dhn

At best, you'll have 30 days from the date of purchase. In your example, that would be Feb 1st. I would NOT count on what another user was told. Remember, it's your free map at stake.

hi i was thinking about the voice reconation cant spell when my tomtom comes this week and i get everything set up can the maps be newer than 7.10 and do they have to be na or can they be us maps on gps also when you put the 1 in suppor_asr.dat can it be anywhere in the file also i was reading to go in factory setting and change to get better directions not 500 feet from your house exact directions sorry for so many questions just hoping i can learn

thanks danny

 

[dhn]

First, Danny........a friendly suggestion.

Try to make separate sentencces with your questions so that we can follow what is being asked.

The map for a 720 is a North America map; it is better than just a US map.

The support_asr.dat file is linked in Pedro's post but you can make one yourself. It is a text file so use Notepad. Put just a 1 in it, no blanks, no carriage returns, nothing else. Save the file as support_asr.dat, NOT support_asr.dat.txt. In Windows' control Panel, Folder Options, View, Advanced.... make sure: hidden folders/files are showing and make sure 'hide extensions for known file types is UNCHECKED.

Now, put the file you've created in the asr folder that you created.

 

[sageuvagony]

hi i was thinking about the voice reconation cant spell when my tomtom comes this week and i get everything set up can the maps be newer than 7.10 and do they have to be na or can they be us maps on gps also when you put the 1 in suppor_asr.dat can it be anywhere in the file also i was reading to go in factory setting and change to get better directions not 500 feet from your house exact directions sorry for so many questions just hoping i can learn

thanks danny

I would not worry about this until you receive the device. I was the same way and was worrying too much about voice recognition before I had even received the device. Many people here just told me to wait until I receive the device before going any further. They were right. I remember asking dhn for the files in advance, and he told me to just wait for the device first. He was very right I worried for nothing. As soon as I receievd my device and powered it on, voice recognition worked right out of the box. I didn't have to do a single thing to get it activated.

Remember that before you can use voice recognition, you will first need to plan a route to any address you want, then "clear route" because voice recognition will not work untill you select a state. Once you have selected a state, and if VR does not work, then follow dhn's instructions.

VR will work just fine, as long as you have enough space on your device. Some people lose VR after updating to a newer map because they don't have enough room for the VR files. If Home is installing your new map, and sees that space is low, it will only copy the map over and won't install the VR files.


Here's a thread I made a few months back explaining VR and why sometimes it doesn't work without people without a hack.

http://tomtomforums.com/showthread.php?t=12319

 

[canderson]

I'm wondering if this is really a "bug" or more of a "scam" by TomTom, so users don't have to get new maps. Back then when TomTom didn't own TeleAtlas, they used to have to pay TeleAtlas a license fee for each map, correct?

Although it would be "funny money", they may still have to do so depending upon how they structured the buy of TeleAtlas. If TeleAtlas is still operating as a separate business unit, for tax purposes, they may still have to pay TeleAtlas to keep the books straight. Even if they got swallowed whole, the transfers still may exist to correctly indicate revenue/sales against costs in the mapping unit.

It would be interesting to know how the deal between TomTom and TeleAtlas was really structured and whether it helps or hurts us out here in the real world of GPS. Does it, for example, get us updates any more quickly than before? Doesn't seem to so far.

As for the WD-40 avatar, that's a REALLY long story from another forum that I no longer frequent having to do with cruising the high seas. Had to do with another member there, a real nutcase, who used WD-40 as her "mace of preference" when she got busted for using the real thing on somebody in Ohio. Like I say, long story.