Actually, it is new to me.
I don't just believe that.
How could it possibly be downloaded if you not even login?
You do log in, on the PC via the home software. The Home software knows what TomTom it is and who the owner is by the files stored on the device or SD card. It is so much quicker to use an SD card reader then to use the SD card through the tomtom.
Normally when you plug in your tomtom, Home automatically opens up (if you have it set that way.) Well, if you take that SD card out of the device, put it in a card reader, the Home software will still auto launch because the Home software assumes the device was connected (plus the fact that the SD card has an autorun.inf on it)
If home doesn't auto open, then open it up yourself and see how it starts to update (login if you have to, I have mine set to auto-login) and once you put the updated SD card back in the device, your device is ready with the new updates. Because of this I now know that Home only looks for a drive letter that contains the TomTom device software.
TomTom Home is FULLY functional while using the SD card through a reader. You can download maps, add voices, whatever and I tested it and it works. You can even operate your tomtom device as well (again, because it only uses the files, not the device to simulate the tomtom)
Edit : I just tested the backup feature using the Home software using the SD card and SD reader, and the ENTIRE backup (1.27 GB worth of files) took no more than 4 min (using a 2GB 60x sd card) compared to the really long time it takes for the backup directly from the TomTom device. This test was done with a CLEAN backup, meaning the entire backup folder on my PC was erased by me before I did the backup speed test.