Memory Upgrade? I'm new so please be gentle.

[kampnnut]

I just got a GO720 with 2G of memory. Is this built-in memory or is there an SD card that stores all of the 720's memory. I see on the back there is a label over what appears to be a SD slot.

I just up loaded the latest US map (710). That eat up alot of my space. I had to remove all of my MP3 files to do it. I could only put a few of them back on because of the lack of space.

I'd like to get a 4G chip to put in. Can I just tear off the label and insert a 4G chip in the slot? I searched FAQ and didn't find anything.

Thanks

 

[Trip2Oz]

Extra Memory

Here's something I can answer as a newbie also. I got a Sandisk 4GB High Capacity card at BestBuy for a good price and put in my new 720 after removing that pesky tag. At first it did not like the SDHC card but after loading all the updates it is now quite happy. Last night (following advice I had seen here) I created a 'photos' and a 'mp3' folder with Explorer on that card and copy a photo. Worked great and maybe tonight I try an MP3 file.

So bottom line is yes you can add an SD card and was suggested to me, get a bigger card.

 

[joey301]

Using SD memory

I got a Sandisk 4GB High Capacity card at BestBuy for a good price and put in my new 720 after removing that pesky tag. At first it did not like the SDHC card but after loading all the updates it is now quite happy. Last night (following advice I had seen here) and maybe tonight I try an MP3 file.

So bottom line is yes you can add an SD card and was suggested to me, get a bigger card.

The fact that an SDHC card will work is news to me. I was going to post a question about SD cards today, so this is a good spot to do so.

How can an SD card be used? Is it totally limited to use independent of the main memory? So, I could not put a 2gb card into my TT and have 4gb of usable space?

What I want to do is load European maps into my TT. Will this require that all of the operating system software be duplicated on the SD card? How would I do that? If 4gb cards can be used, that may help the situation a lot. Is it possible to correct this memory arrangement with a firmware change?

Can you play your MP3 on the SD card and still use the TT main memory for directions? If so, there must be some overlap between the memories.

Joey

 

[fcoliver]

Here's what TomTom says:

The email I got from TT CSR says the operating system (application) must be in the same place as the map(s).

If there's a map in internal (flash) memory, the app must be there, too. If there's a map in the SD card, there must also be a copy of the app on the SD card.

I mentioned that seemed a waste of memory and asked if a (future) firmware upgrade would address this. I was told the CSR knew of no plans for such a change.

 

[SouthPaw]

It is an engineering dedcision. The SD card replaces the internal memory in the device boot up. You could load the internal memory with one setup and the SD card with another. And just pull the card to switch configs.

 

[kampnnut]

I have been doing alot of searching on the fourm and got some great information from the users. I think I'm getting a handle on this.

Now correct me if I'm wrong on these points:

1. I can install a SD card and use it to store music and photo files.
2. I can navigate and enter POI from the internal memory while listening to music on the SD.
3. SDHC will work on the GO 720

I was doing a search for SD cards and I found a place that has 2 G SD (non-hc) for $20 and 4 G SDHC for $65. I'm still searching and won't buy until I understand this thing better. With all the information here, it won't take long.

 

[joey301]

I think I'm getting a handle on this.

Now correct me if I'm wrong on these points:

1. I can install a SD card and use it to store music and photo files.
2. I can navigate and enter POI from the internal memory while listening to music on the SD.
3. SDHC will work on the GO 720

Thanks,
I am looking forward to comments to your posting.
j

 

[Robm]

So can the internal memory be upgraded...

 

[doublee5]

Is there a maximum memory that the 720 can handle. At www.buymemory.com you can get an 8 GB SDHC card for $46. This seems like a great deal, but will it work? Thanks

 

[muskie]

I would also like to know how to use the sd card. I have put a small sd card into the slot but I don't know what the TT does with it. Initial research says that you need to copy the files used by the TT ( which are normally in it's flash memory) to the card, and then use the card data to run the TT. You could then add mp3s etc to the (larger) sd card and have the TT access them....

but I am only guessing as i haven't found specific info yet on how to use the sd card is used in the TT...........

c/p: The internal memory on the TT and the SD card slot are independant of one another. You can only boot from one or the other. Generally, users insert a 2Gb card or bigger into the slot and have more detailed maps and custom poi's, addtional software funtionability, etc., on the card. The TT will boot from the SD card when properly formatted, and the TT application plus maps are loaded to the card via either windows explorer or TTHome. To recap, you use one or the other and the SD card has to be big enough to hold the application and the desired maps.(At least 1Gb.) Hope this helps

 

[katko]

And don't forget the $100 Rebate on TomTom.com

Hello! You guys are asking the same thing I wish to know, but I am still struggling with the 8 GB SDHC.

Just a friendly reminder for those who have recently bought the device in North America. It seems both USA and Canada can make use of the rebate coupon. Choose your "country" on tomtom.com and you will see the rebate promotion. However, upon closer reading, it excludes most of the retailers that sell such thing. I think that rebate is just for online tomtom.com customers.

 

[katko]

8GB SDHC works in 720 GO device but not in TomTom HOME 2.1

After a night of fun and frustration, I now understand how the 8GB SDHC is working with the 720 GO device and TomTom HOME 2.1.

TomTom HOME 2.1 (the software on your home computer) simply can't pick up and won't download stuff directly to a High Capacity SD card. It only likes ordinary SD cards. I guess if you need to stuff in more maps, get a SD card but NOT SDHC.

However, after "some setup", the 720 GO device itself can actually read from the 8GB SDHC card. There will be a blue icon flashing when the card is there during the boot or whenever you insert it into the device. It will load from the SDHC card mp3s, audio books and photos without problem.

Here is what I did for that "some setup":

1. Get a card reader. Staff in both Best Buy and Future Shop will tell you none of the packages says the card reader might work on 8GB SDHC because HC is still a new technology. Therefore, grab the cheapest one as you must have a card reader, or get some card reading device (such as a digital camera that lets you write back to the card) to begin with.

2. Hook up the device without the SDHC card to the computer, and put the SDHC card in the card reader and hook that up to the computer also. Since I have 8 GB, I simply copy all the content from the 720 GO hard disk to the SDHC card. So I will get the same folders and system files on the card. If you are an expert of GO, you can filter out what is not necessary, but to me all of them are just 1.5 GB and I still have at least 6 GB to play with.

3. Load your mp3, photos and audio books to the corresponding folders IN THE SDHC CARD. You may now empty these folders in the GO's hard drive, but don't delete the splash photo and that system file in the "photos" folder. That is for the startup splash screen.

4. Take the gadgets apart. Put the SDHC card into the 720 GO. Take a deep breath. Switch it on and you should see a blue icon at the bottom flashing. After the system boots up, you can check if you have access to all the media files in the SDHC card. The GO will load everything it can find on both its hard drive and the SDHC card.

5. When you need to add or delete songs and pics, just use the card reader again to modify the content of the SDHC card.

If you are using an ordinary SD card, you would not have to go through all this trouble. Just insert the SD card and it will work with GO and HOME. Yet most SD cards have less than 8GB. I believe 4GB won't be enough for a multimedia device nowadays, that's why I would rather spend more to buy a 8GB instead. Even my camera can still use it for shooting movies.

At this moment, if the GO device can read SDHC up to 8GB, I really hope TomTom would give us a new version of HOME so that we can directly work with more types of memory cards.

I see many cheap 8GB SDHC cards online, but I bought one in Future Shop because I want to play with my 720 GO NOW. Strangely, PNY Class 4 8GB SDHC (Best Buy $169.99 CAD*) works, but Panasonic Class 6 8GB SDHC (Future Shop $199.99 CAD) can't be read by my newly bought card reader. That's why I recommend to go for the cheapest stuff. High price and great brand don't always guarantee compatibility.

*Future Shop is selling PNY 8GB SDHC now for $64.35 CAD web only! I ordered that AND get a price adjust of $107 from Best Buy. So I get 2 for less than the price of 1, and still keep the one I already bought for my GPS. This is what they call the real boxing day shopping.

And I switched on Speech Recognition following the instruction in the following link!
http://mutovkin.com/blog/2007/12/05/best-budget-gps-tomtom-go-720/
Entering addresses has become a lot easier and fun. I wonder why they hide that function from North American customers. Perhaps it will affect the sales of the new GO 920?

Hope everyone enjoys his/her TomTom 720 GO as much as I do. Wish you all have a great holiday and happy new year!

 

[katko]

Further on GO 720 - Maps & Audio Books

Today I tried removing the maps from GO's hard drive while I already have the copy on the SDHC hard, and the device still function properly by reading on the SDHC card. Therefore, for those of you who would want to download more maps using GO, that can save 1.7 GB of space on GO's hard drive.

I am already a Audible.com member, so I tried downloading some audio books today. Here is how to get the GO 720 happily reading the files:

1. Suppose you have an Audible.com account (costs about $9 per year), you need to download the AudibleManager from the site and install it. You will need also the TomTom GPS device add-ons.

2. In AudibleManager, go to Edit > Activate to activate GO using your audible login ID and password. Choose "Internal" or "External (only works with SD cards)" on the right of the screen to decide where you want the audio books go on your device before you continue. (For SDHC, only Internal can be chosen, but you can always copy the files from GO's hard drive using a card reader on your computer.)

3. Get some audio books. There are actually some free ghost stories on the site for member download. These will save somewhere in your computer by the file extension ".aa". Don't think about copying directly these files to your GO. They will cause errors when you play them on the GO.

4. The correct way to download audio books to your GO is using the AudibleManager. On your internet browser such as IE, after you have purchased the books, go to "My Library" and set up your device (internet connection, TomTom, GO 720, and Format 4). Then go back to "My Library" and you can download the audio books by clicking the "Download" button.

5. IE will download the file and then put it in the AudibleManager and then convert the file and then place that in your GO's hard drive under "audiobooks". This is a non-stop, fully automatic process. You can then play the audio books in your GO. SDHC user just have to copy the files manually from GO's hard drive back to the card, and delete the hard drive copy.

The "audiobooks" folder must be placed where your maps folders are. If your maps are on your external memory card, you must place the audio book files on that card too. You will get playback error otherwise.

I have trouble doing a Audible download using FireFox. The .pl simply won't give me the download popup in FireFox, so I switch to IE to save my trouble fixing this problem.

 

[canderson]

And I switched on Speech Recognition following the instruction in the following link!
http://mutovkin.com/blog/2007/12/05/best-budget-gps-tomtom-go-720/
Entering addresses has become a lot easier and fun.

I can verify that this little tweak absolutely works! I had wondered why the 720 came with a full ASR subdirectory and yet had no ASR ability. At first blush, the recognition accuracy is pretty astounding given that NO training has been performed. I've rattled off several city and street names and had a hit on the right text every time! Thanks -- both to you for pointing this out and to Sergei Mutovkin for taking the time to do the necessary comparision between the 720 and the 920 and noticing this little 1 byte file.

 

[katko]

You are very welcome! I also love the speech recognition feature as it saves a lot of entering time. However, perhaps my car is a bit noisy when I drive, I have difficulty getting the correct recognition on the road... which we are not supposed to do that for safety reasons. Better use it for route planning off the road or in a stopped car, but use "Navigate to..." to select a stored Favorite address if necessary when driving.

 

[F22]

Thanks for the extensive write up about the 8gig cards. Unfortunately, I don't think I can get a price match from Best Buy but the card works as long as it is loaded while in a card reader.

 

[Crossbow]

I had no problems with my 8 GB SDHC Card..

 

[F22]

I had no problems with my 8 GB SDHC Card..

Can you see ALL of the card when your TT is connected to the computer and you browse it under Windows Explorer?

I can ONLY see my full 8 gig card when using a card reader. I also canNOT copy/move stuff to the Card while it is in the TomTom920 now that I have added over 5gigs of stuff.

 

[kampnnut]

Thanks everyone for their inputs. I got a 2G standard SD card. I just removed the plastic SD plug and inserted the 2G card. I created a folder called mp3 on the card and loaded all of my music on it and it works fine.

Thanks again for all the help.

 

[ajnitti]

Is there a maximum memory that the 720 can handle. At www.buymemory.com you can get an 8 GB SDHC card for $46. This seems like a great deal, but will it work? Thanks

The information above saved me a great deal of money. I ordered (2) 2.0 GB SD cards and (1) 4.0 GB SD card with delivery it came to $55.00 dollars. The company calls to verify the order and I received it in 2 business days. Thank you, to the above member for the great information.