TomTom 910 has both .bmp identifier for POI and the database .ov2 file but Essentials only has a few colours fordiffering POI's

[tomtom4me]

Here I am again with the same question I have been asking since 2016

My TomTom 910 ( of which I have 4 but have to renew the gps fix every 7 days) allow both .bmp identifier for POI and the database .ov2 file but the
new model Tom Tom essentials only allows a colour for the identifier
EG for Heritage sites in the UK the 910 has a little castle by each POI
The Go essentials does update the gps fix but only allows a colour ( I use green) but it is very confusing with blue that I use for all LPG/GPL sites and there are only a few differnet colours for all POI

1) I think that the 910 was a fantastic True Navigation product limited by its rollover week GPS update that has to be manually updated every 7 days so Is there ever going to be
2) a TomTom that has the up to date better software of the 910 but with the flat screen that gives the flexibility that the .bmp files allow to distinguisg between POI.
3) The map detail on the 910 was far superior with more detail that we used in the USA, Europe, Canada, New Zealand and Australia.
4) The route logging of the 910 allowed both waypoints and destinations to be edited in the route list and moved up or down more easily as opposed to the cumbersome reorder software on the essentials
5) being able to copy, store and swap the TomTom files on your laptop rather than the remote server made updating our 910's very easy
6) The Go Essentials just seems to be a local get from A-B with a cumbersome route planning software system that is not so easy to edit once the route is set excep by adding many additional points wherever you want to go

What is needed is a revolutionary true navigation instrumment that TomTom once was but that though is useable seems lack luster by comparison and after several years of use not a patch on the 910.

Anyone got any ideas about a better TomTom / software which we seem to be at a dead end or how to modify the go essentaials software to incorporate bmp files or better to move 910 software to a go essentials system?

Any help would be welcome

Kevin

 

[Willy875]

On GO essential and on all new Tomtom GPS you can only add files in Ov2.

Forgetting the GO 910, it should have happened.

 

[canderson]

The 910 (what we call a Nav2 device) is built on an entirely different platform (hardware and operating system) vs. the Go Essential (what we call a Nav4 device). As you can see, there was yet another entire generation of device in between. Porting the code from one to the other would be a major engineering project.

I don't disagree that TomTom has regressed with regard to many features, and it would certainly be nice to have custom POI icons (the *.bmp files), but talking about moving code around is a non-starter.

As for map detail, I beg to differ with your item #3. The map detail available now is far greater than what the 910 offers, only because a great deal of geometry has been added since those days, and the 910 maps are no longer getting the benefit of those detailed updates. These days, it seems even most parking lot aisles is metro areas can be found in the map data. That's why today's maps are 4X+ the size in GB of the older ones for the same area.

 

[tomtom4me]

I used the 910 in USA, Canada, Australia and Newzealand and it had W Europe and N america and Guam built in so navigated to Greece no prob.
The essentails only has Europe and you have to pay for everything else.
The Map colours on the 910 were much better
The voice synths were better on the 910 and the Kate one was perfect but the Essentails sounds a poor tinny comparison with tonal ranges and intonation not a patch on the 910
The speaker clarity was better on the 910 but in the 2 essentials we have its more muffled
I take it that its the end of the line for tomtom as they havnt made any major changes to the essentials softwar for ages and its impossible to get any sense out of them now so maybe move to Magellan or some other might be the answer

Tom tom should have stuck with and modernised the 910 everyone says so in Holland where we have family awhere they havegiven up with tomtom for other satnavs

Meanwhile I will persevere with essentails but hope that Tom Tom brings out a better thought out navigational instrumment as the the essentials is a bit of a toy and only really good for an A to B itinery so I always have a couple of 910 TomToms as a fall back especially for the bmp ikons

 

[canderson]

... so maybe move to Magellan or some other might be the answer

"some other" since Magellan no longer makes automotive satnav devices, either. They quit making the RoadMate. Now it's only fleet and off-road units.
Garmin is still in the business for a while, it would seem. Their DriveSmart series still looks pretty nice. Shame their traffic data isn't nearly as good as TT, though.