A couple of questions from a Newbie

[DrivingBlind]

Hi,

We got our TT one 130 last week and it works great.

The graphics are reminiscent of a 600 x 400 DPI computer screen..but it is an entry level device.

I have two questions:

My wife is afraid of draining the car battery when the TT is plugged into the car for an extended period of time. I told her that as long as the car is running it's no problem and besides the device's energy consumption is insignificant relative to other systems in the car. Am I correct?

The TT comes preloaded with POI, but there were a number of free POI's available on the TT site that I loaded onto my device. Will the downloads over-write the preloaded data, or add to it? (e.g. assuming that a preloaded POI is an exact duplicate of the one I downloaded.)

When I configured the device for the first time, the initial update was free. Will I have to pay for future updates? How much are the updates?

Sorry for the "roll your eyes questions"...

Thanks!

DB.

 

[cputrdoc]

What? You don't take your TomTom with you to avoid theft? (that's what the weird yellow screen is supposed to be warning you about)

Answer to the question about leaving it in your car is, the charger that ships with most TomTom units is enough to run the unit, but (supposedly) not enough to charge its battery. Some cars leave the cigarette lighter plug active when the car is off, some don't. Probably isn't enough to deplete your battery overnight, but if something happens and you can't drive for a couple of days, it's easy to forget. Just to be on the safe side, unplug it. If your car's like mine and shuts off the outlets when the car's off, there's no need.

Downloaded POIs are stored seperately from the built-in POIs in .ov2 files. They add to the POI database. Only time a POI disappears from the builtin database is if you delete it, or a MapShare update deletes it. (which reminds me, I need to re-delete the Bennigan's near here in my 810 map)


You get unlimited updates to your TomTom HOME software, but unless you have a special coupon in the box, you get only one map update, and you have to take that within 30 days of the date on your receipt -- use it or lose it. TomTom recently released the 810 maps for most devices, so there's little chance that they would release a newer map in the next 30 days. (you can check your map version by following the instructions here)

In the past, you could buy a map update for the region of the world you were interested in, but rumor has it that TomTom is switching to a subscription model. So you pay, and you get all the map updates for that region released over a certain period of time. This reduces the chance that you buy a map that's out-of-date a week later.

As long as your map isn't more than a year old (and provided the server is up, which is about 3/4 of the time), you'll be able to download community-submitted edits to the map through the MapShare service at no extra charge. You can download those updates through your computer or through your Bluetooth phone (your cell phone provider may need you to add something to your plan before you can do this).

Oh, but there's a tradeoff here -- you can make changes to your map to reflect POI corrections, incorrect road names, etc. Among TomTom owners it's considered good manners to share corrections you make to your map, unless they're not accurate (e.g. I told my unit it was illegal to turn left at a certain intersection because the traffic almost never stops long enough to make the turn during rush hour... so I didn't share that correction). That way, you're both giving and receiving map updates (and as the addage goes, "better to give than to receive..." yadda yadda)

 

[rcacs]

I have a TT Rider2 on my motorcycle. I left it on for 3 days without running my engine. It started up no problem. Extremely small draw on the battery.

If you have it wired in, or are plugging into a cig lighter it will charge up your unit no problem.

Mapshare seems to be down right now, and they are supposedly working on a solution.

Plug your device into your puter running HOME and you will (should) recieve Mapshare updates daily. HOME will also update any application versions as well when they become available.

Cheers and welcome to the TT world,

 

[DrivingBlind]

What? You don't take your TomTom with you to avoid theft? (

Thanks for the info guys. I didn't mean to imply that I left the device in the car overnight. My wife is concerned that the device will drain the car battery while we're driving.

I saw a Northeast map on the TT site for $60. Is that for a single update, or a year of updates? I'm afraid to see how much a subscription would cost...

Is there a way to edit the setting on the device (e.g. changing the voice or color scheme) when it's plugged into the computer, instead of doing it in the car?

Thanks!

DB

 

[Thom]

Is there a way to edit the setting on the device (e.g. changing the voice or color scheme) when it's plugged into the computer, instead of doing it in the car?

Thanks!

DB

As for draining in the car. Unless your alternator is dead, there is not a chance that the TomTom will drain the battery (it would be the least of your worries) when the car is running. Most alternators will put out extra voltage to run lights, accessories, etc while charging the battery.

Yes, you can "operate My Device" from the pc (running TomTom Home application) and make changes at that time so you don't have to do it in the car.

 

[Buddharay]

Thanks for the info guys. I didn't mean to imply that I left the device in the car overnight. My wife is concerned that the device will drain the car battery while we're driving.

I saw a Northeast map on the TT site for $60. Is that for a single update, or a year of updates? I'm afraid to see how much a subscription would cost...

Is there a way to edit the setting on the device (e.g. changing the voice or color scheme) when it's plugged into the computer, instead of doing it in the car?

Thanks!

DB

The Northeast map is for a single map update. As for the battery, I wouldn't worry. While the car is running, the TomTom is a minor drain. Good luck with the 130.

 

[DrivingBlind]

Thanks again for the info guys!

DB

 

[Gary]

I know we're beating the power drain thing to death, but just to put it into perspective:

The One-130 asks for a 5V, 1.2A supply, so for sure it's less than 7W.
If a 3.7V, 1150 mAh battery will give 3h of run time, it's more like 1.5W
(it may not actually give 3h, but you probably can't use all 1150mAh, either).

By comparison, a single halogen headlamp is burning something like 50W, so you're putting 100W into your lights when they're on. And that doesn't tax your car's electrical system in the least (when the motor's running).

-Gary