Update worthwhile?

[cheyenne]

Just found your site doing research for new gps-(have a One now). Enjoying the info very much! But it raises the question-are map upgrades worthwhile? Sounds like they are more trouble than benefit!! Are the maps that out of date to be necessary? Thanks again for the great site, Bob

 

[dhn]

Welcome to TTF!

It's like anything else........if what you have serves your purposes, then is there the need for the 'latest and greatest'? Each succeeding map update for an area contains new roads, corrections for old mistakes, newer pois and often new features (Advanced Lane Guidance, etc.)

Is there a significant different between, say, a version 820 map and a version 830 map for a specific area? Perhaps, not so much. But for a version 7x map and the same version 830 map, probably a great deal.

You hear about people who have issues with a product in forums such as this much more than the multitude of people who don't have problems. That's the nature of places like this.

 

[paspossible]

Personally, I don't see a point of updating my map more than once a year, or even 2 years.

The goal of a GPS for me is to go from point A to point B without getting lost. Having a newer map might make the trip a bit faster but that's about it. If I need to go to some place that's not on the current map I have, I'll use the good'ol phone and ask where it is in relation to the map I have. It's way cheaper than even the "scam" (in my opinion) Tomtom implemented with the 1 year "discounted" update program.

Really, unless you work in public safety, who need a new map every 3 months? And public safety don't use Tomtom gps either, what they use is way better. (and expensive...)

For new POI and such, I have an internet-enabled phone and Google searches are free and usually, chances are what I'll get on the net is more up to date than what TomTom could ever provide.

 

[mvl]

I would agree with you on a 1-2 year timeframe with Navteq maps. Navteq maps are generally accurate (at least in my neighborhood), so it's overkill to update them so frequently.

Tomtom is just starting to reap the benefits of Mapshare and anonymous data, so their maps are improving dramatically with each map release. Teleatlas maps were pretty bad in my area, but have been improving very quickly in the last few releases. More accurate roads, much better IQroutes, much better Lane Guidance. For me it's well worth the subscription. If the maps finally catch up to Navteq in accuracy, I may reconsider going back to less frequent map updates.

 

[doctormstein1]

Just found your site doing research for new gps-(have a One now). Enjoying the info very much! But it raises the question-are map upgrades worthwhile? Sounds like they are more trouble than benefit!! Are the maps that out of date to be necessary? Thanks again for the great site, Bob

I would disagree with just about everyone answering this question. I feel that if even if one road was corrected on a trip, this small update fee is definately worth the price. Plus you have the bonus's of better Lane Guidance and POI's So yes its definately worth while.

 

[TheBorg]

Updates also will give you more speed camera data - not running through even one of these will save so much money in fines that it would cover many upgrade fees. Not to mention all the related hassle of points and insurance implications...

 

[brian_m]

If you have a unit with Advanced Lane Guidance there is definitely a difference between the 810 and 830 maps. I drive 30 miles each way to work on the 805 in San Diego. With the 810 map there were no 3D views with lane guidance, but with the 830 map you probably see it 5 or 6 times on the 30 mile stretch I drive.

I've also noticed that many POIs I couldn't find on the 810 map are there on the 830.

 

[eldorado]

I just recently updated my USA map (2 yrs) since I bought the unit, it was an assest to get better map and information, I live in kinda a rural area and the new map has really impressed me with this updated info, I also thought since I got the new map a such a good price I would try the 1 yr update service and see how that does, sometime down the road I'll make a post about whether it was worth the $35.80 or not, so far I'm a satisfied TT user............