TomTom Home bypass please.

Joined
Feb 2, 2013
Messages
7
Location
uk
TomTom Model(s)
xxl, One 3rd edition
Is there another way to continue recieving gpx and mapshare updates without the installation of the "TomTom Home"?
I have been a TomTom "CUSTOMER!" since before they became TomTom, (Palmtop) a time when there were no restrictions whatsoever in what you could do with their software. For example, unlimited POI. I started creating macros to link POIs with databases, abandoned since TomTom took over. I have, long ago realized that once I was a Palmtop customer, I am now just a tomtom consumer. When my XXL needs to be replaced I shall do so with a product that is made by a company that respects and values its CUSTOMERS.
 
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Only Home has the ability to determine what's on the unit vs. the current version of things on the server and determine whether or not a specific file needs to be downloaded and installed.

Back to some of your other comments, though...

No 'unlimited' POI? I'd be curious to know what wall you have hit with POI. I keep several lists on both my old and newer TomTom units that include at least 10,000 locations at a time without issue. Can you elaborate?
 
Limited Poi

Thanks Canderson

I suppose if I am desperate for updates (mapshare, GPX or switch map region) I will just have to install tomtom home from device and hopefully conclude actions before home forces its update and then uninstall it again.

I agree, there is no limit to poi locations. The limitations are with the number of catagories that can be accessed by the device (about 40 I think) despite the device actually being perfectly able to store many more. You must delete those poi catagories that you can access to be able to access those that you could not. :roll:

During the Palmtop bv era I had Route Planner and Street Planner installed on a Psion series 5mx running on symbian Epoch OS with an external Palmtop receiver and I was developing macro programs in colaboration with another who had created an excellent database file of tourist attractions in the uk. The macro would fully automate interaction between database and poi across any poi or database catagory (from abbatior to zoo)
Unfortunately Psion ran away from handheld computer market like a cocker spaniel with tail between legs when microsoft announced an intrest in this market. Palmtop became tomtom. customers became consumers. I abandoned hours of work and the project was never released. I only use tomtom now because it works in a inner city environment better than a garmin. However, when tomtom home last updated my xxl would not calculate a route from anywhere in and around Herne Bay. Device restored and tomtom home uninstalled appears to be the only thing I can do to remedy the problem.:(
Smartphones with GPS and Google maps have also successfully replaced what my project was about anyway:rolleyes:
At this rate Smartphones with GPS are becoming, not only more useful than a tomtom, but more reliable and cheaper. (It was my Samsung Galaxy Y that saved the day at Herne Bay.:confused:)
 
when tomtom home last updated my xxl would not calculate a route from anywhere in and around Herne Bay
One wonders what happened there. I've been in the area N of Canterbury with my old unit, though it's been a while, and had no problems with mapping there. When you day "would not calculate", can you be more explicit about what happened? Did it not accept one or the other of your start/end points, or claimed "No route possible", or ???
 
Error calculating route

Error calculating route or some such message was all i could get from the device until i got near Chatham. The device had no problems coming up with a route to Herne Bay, just could not calculate from anywhere around that area. I can only conclude that the problem was caused by tomtom's infernal critical updates as an update had been performed the day before.
I have read through the sticky thread at the top re changing the version number in the ini file using wordpad without success, which is why I have uninstalled tomtom home permanently.
There are now so many reasons to distance myself from tomtom. As mentioned earlier, even an entry level smartphone provides more functions (Satalite position updates over wifi or 3g every time you turn on gps. Datalogging. Up to date maps of anywhere in the world, free with far more info, topographic, arial images. nautical and even footpaths. Traffic info costing you just data connection tarif only. Bluetooth that actually connects to my crash helmet, allowing me even to control every aspect of my phones functions by voice.) I still have a tomtom one 3rd edition which had bluetooth that would not connect to anything, which is why I was not in the least bit concerned that the xxl dosn't have bt. The only third party software that works on the xxl is Tripmaster (a datalogging app) that even an entry level Garmin has as a standard part of its functions.
To sum up, I am becoming increasingly impressed with my smartphone and increasingly hacked off with tomtom, to the point where I am tempted just to throw it in the bin, its just such a one trick dinosaur now.
 
For those who can handle the screen size and info layout on a smart phone, it may well be the easier approach vs. a standalone PND. I've not been overly impressed by the features of any of the smartphone software apart from TomTom where I am able to continue to benefit from IQRoutes and HD traffic, but I'm not overly impressed by the screen layout they're using for their application, nor the quality of sound through the speaker (no 'connected' audio out yet). I believe that at some point, they'll straighten out the UI for their app, and complete adding the features to which we've grown accustomed, and perhaps then I'll be looking at it again as a solution. Meanwhile, it's hard to give up the 5" and 6" screens of the units on my dash when it comes to sorting out where I'm going.
 
Multi vehicle type use

Granted, the large screen is good on xxl, it is easily seen when driving a car. However, on my Hayabusa motorcycle its at the limit of usability (where it can fit and how risky it is to glance at) The voice is switched off on both bike and in car, as it is not reliable enough to trust in car and can't be heard on the bike. Traffic and iq routes are utterly pointless on a bike and the constant invasive nagging screen trying to bully me into alowing tomtom to collect data from my device so as to improve my navigational experience in future.:lol: How?
I have not yet had the oppertunity to extensively road test the smart phone on the bike due to seasonal conditions, though I have excellent sound from my bluetooth enabled crash helmet paired to a sony ericsson phone right up to really silly speeds and not experiencing the slightest problem in communication during a phone call in either direction.
I will hang on to the xxl until i am properly satisfied that it has no more use though, or that a back to back in car test with various smartphone nav apps makes it an obvious choice to bin or not to bin. My navigational requirements may differ to other peoples, so I don't honestly hold out much hope for tomtom, as they have not really met my needs anyway.
 
:lol: How?
By anonymously collecting average speed data for bazillions of separate road segments, all sliced and diced by day of week and time of day in (we think) about 15 minute increments. That's been where IQRoutes data has come from that is embedded in the map info.

Understand that use on a bike is different that in-vehicle. Had you ever looked at the Rider series? I think the price is a bit high, but they do handle water better than a smart phone :p
 
Misleading data

Precisely why collecting data from my perspective would only serve to mislead data collection.
Tomtom rider is far too expensive and can not be mounted on my bike anyway.
If a device dosn't require to be viewed it won't require mounting and therefore won't need to be waterproof. The xxl, one and the Psion are not waterproof, yet all have survived monsoon like downpoors on long journeys across europe on the same bike.
Basicaly, my needs are simple navigation instructions by accurate voice and/or basic symbols, like tulip style symbols would be fine. multiple waypoint or itinery planning. Datalogging or tracking. Bonuses would include as much information from locations as possible from poi and map detail, not having to mount/unmount device in or on the vehicle, communication, music.
Things I can live without include traffic, speed camara locations. scrolling map, ETA and lane guidance (WTF, who the hell needs lane guidance shouldn't be allowed out, never mind hold a driving licence).
Tomtom has a fight on its hands, if it can lose the fat and gain some muscle and give me some choice in how i use their gadget i wouldn't be thinking of going elsware.
It is supposed to be a navigation aid, not a driving aid. There is enough of that crap built into modern cars, which is why i can only enjoy travelling by bike.:rant:
 
I agree, there is no limit to poi locations. The limitations are with the number of catagories that can be accessed by the device (about 40 I think) despite the device actually being perfectly able to store many more. You must delete those poi catagories that you can access to be able to access those that you could not. :roll:)

Not true... I regularly have around 65 to 70 POI categories on my TomToms.

The limit is actually 250 categories for all NAV 2 devices on recent software.
To prove it I have a numbered set of 300+ .ov2 POI files which I can add to any unit and then count the number of categories that appear on screen.
I just repeated the experiment on my XL (functionally identical to your XXL) and can see and access 250 of them.


Error calculating route or some such message was all i could get from the device until i got near Chatham. The device had no problems coming up with a route to Herne Bay, just could not calculate from anywhere around that area.

The must be particular issue with a particular destination or a very odd glitch on your device.
My mother owns a cottage near Herne Bay which I visit regularily and I have absolutely no problems getting any TomTom to navigate to anywhere around East Kent (or anywhere else for that matter).

I think before you criticise the brand in general we would need to investigate your particular problems much more closely.
 
I've also edited the title of this topic as the word "virus" is not correct or appropriate, so could be confusing.
 
Rant ended

I have started road testing an open source navigational app on my android phone and first impressions are very promising for my particular needs, so much so, that I am willing to part company with the five pounds that it costs. Not a great loss if it dosn't satisfy. At present, the xxl will serve as a backup unit on demanding journeys only, due to the phone out performing the tomtom on most levels. So far the xxl only seems to out perform the phone on the speed of initial route calculation. More extensive testing will see a more accurate comparison between the two.
Don't get me all wrong, I haven't been using tomtoms for the last 10 years or more because I think they're rubbish. I just haven't looked at alternatives until now. Basic curiousity when replacing an nackered old mobile with an entry level smartphone lead to some realisations that there are much better navigational aids out there. Even then, I had not even considered that the phone could actually replace the tomtom. BUT, with tomtom home critical updates and the problems with Herne Bay and the need to go and log on to a forum, AND being lazy and tight fisted and greedy for more functionality has lead me towards abbandoning tomtom.

The main problem I have with my xxl is that without tomtom home I can not download gps fix or mapshare or, and most importantly switch to another map region.
I don't quite understand the need for any of these things to require that damned tth installation demand to know what version of these file are on the device, they will always be somwhat older than! Thats another area where the smartphone trumps tomtom, it can do all that, apart from mapshare, from within the app over a wifi connection and without having to connect to, log on to or register anything.

As far as the Herne Bay glitch is concerned it has not happened before the critical update, only after, and this issue has been resolved by restoring the device from an external drive type backup.

And finaly, you may be right about the poi catagory number being higher than whatever on the xxl, it was with a tomtom one 3rd edition that the restrictions forced me to swear under my breath and naturaly I would have assumed the same would have aplied to the xxl, sorry.:(
 
TomTom is good for commuting by car, sadly that's it and why I have binned them. There is far more going on in my life where a navigation aid has a use. I have found what I need and have tested it thoroughly and am well satisfied. So, fare well TomTom.
 

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