purchasing new maps?

[bruno428]

i couldn't find a thread on this already... so i apologize if one exists already.

i have a vacation to Italy coming up and i wanted to buy the Italy map for my TomTom One 2nd Edition but the US TomTom.com site Map Store is down and "should be up within 30 days". I live in the US and I was trying to buy the map through the website because the HOME software store lists prices in euros. is there a problem if i purchase the Italy map through HOME? or can i purchase it from the UK TomTom.com Map Store? are there other options?

i asked support all of these questions through the My Questions feature on the site but only got this:

"I regret to inform you that the US web store has been unavailable, as you are aware, and that we have been advised that it will re-open within the next 30 days."

thanks in advance.

 

[Pedro2NR]

If you go to tomtom.com and login through there, select the country on the top right from 'United States' to 'United Kingdom'
With the switch, a few users reported that they purchased maps through this method.

 

[bruno428]

thanks Pedro2NR. i also noticed that i could buy the maps through the UK site... i guess i was wondering if that was better than buying the map through HOME. and are the maps offered on the UK site the exact same maps that are on the US site?

 

[bruno428]

well, i tried the UK site. during checkout, it asks for a billing address. zipcode and country are required... and since its the UK site, the US is not an option for the country and the zipcode has to be in UK format. so i'm not sure how to purchase a map from the UK site with a US credit card (billing address).

any ideas?
is there anything wrong with buying the map through the HOME software?

 

[Pedro2NR]

Someone claim to have done it.
Hopefully they can chim in.

 

[46jimbo]

is there anything wrong with buying the map through the HOME software?

Give it a try. They are the same maps.

 

[digital-flex]

Yeah, I believe Wiley was one who purchased it through the UK site using a US credit card.

I don't even think it checks even if you place US info but wait till someone can verify that.

 

[bruno428]

thanks for the info and help everyone. i went ahead and bought the Italy map through HOME v2. everything seems fine so far. the prices in HOME were still in euro so i assume i'll have a conversion fee on my credit card.

thanks again

 

[digital-flex]

That's great to hear!

 

[Pedro2NR]

Im glad it worked out.

 

[bruno428]

well, i got back from my 10 day italy vacation yesterday. once my TomTom got a signal, the Italy maps worked perfectly. the problem was that it took 4 days and a boat ride in the middle of the Venice lagoon to get a signal. we started our trip in Rome and for 3 days in Rome, my tomtom was useless. i left it on all night during the overnight train from Rome to Venice and still nothing. while walking through Venice, nothing. we took a boat from Venice to one of the smaller islands in the lagoon and that's when TomTom finally received enough of a signal to tell me where i was. after that, it worked perfectly in Venice, Florence, the Cinque Terre area, and then back in Rome again. any ideas why it took so long to get a signal?

 

[digital-flex]

Wow 4 days to get a signal!!! I would have just reset the unit to see if that would've helped. As for why, not to sure.

 

[46jimbo]

Strange! I've never had problems when I take my One to France. Several minutes being perfectly still with a clear view of the sky always works.

I'm sure that travelling by train didn't help it get a fix, though.

Anyway, I'm sure you were delighted with how it can guide you through a strange country. Really takes the stress off you so you can enjoy a holiday.

 

[bruno428]

oh yeah... well worth the $80 for the italy map even though the GPS location part of TomTom wasn't working for almost half the trip. my wife was a little hesitant to spend the money initially... espeically in the beginning when TomTom wasn't working. but she came around. we still relied heavily on paper maps but it was nice having TomTom to quickly tell me where exactly i was, what direction i was facing, or how long it might take to walk somewhere. it also helped while on some of the trains because i could see how close we were to the stop we planned to get off at.

 

[Pedro2NR]

Sorry to hear it took 4 days. Did you download the latest quick fix before you left?

 

[bruno428]

yes i had downloaded the latest fix. and i used my TomTom around my home with the NA maps before we left but after the update without any problems. i even turned on TomTom here at home before i left with the Italy maps installed. of course it had problems locating me on the Italy map since i wasnt there yet... but it received a signal within a few seconds.

i wasn't sure if the problem i experienced was a random fluke or if others have had this happen as well. so far it seems like a random fluke.