Owners of the TomTom Goin-carGPS navigation system will be used to it's sleek design, ease of use, and variety of useful features. The TomTom Go comes with Major Roads of Europe already installed on the memory card included in the box. However, if you'd like to navigate Europe at street level, you'll need to purchase the Maps of Western Europe package for an additional price - usually just over £100.
This package comes with all of the street level maps for Western Europe including France, Spain and Germany on 4 CD-ROMs. These maps can be transferred onto SD (Secure Digital) memory cards for use with the TomTom Go Navigator via your home computer. The SD card that comes with the unit can be used, but you'll obviously need to remove the maps of the UK before you upload the European ones.
Each map can either be uploaded in full, or in sections of 64Mb. Spain - one of the biggest maps - is over 200Mb in size, and will not fit on the 128Mb card that comes with the TomTom Go. What most people decide to do, is purchase an additional, larger capacity SD card. This will mean that they can fit any country on it at any one time, with additional room to spare for other countries, or areas of other countries.
512Mb SD memory cards can be bought for around £30. This will allow you to install a good combination of countries. The capacity of each individual map area is listed on the package, so you can plan on what maps you want to install simultaneously on a new card. You must remember to add about 4Mb to each card you want to use for application and voice data files.
The process of getting the maps onto the memory cards is both straightforward and intuitive with easy to follow instructions. You simply plug in your TomTom Go and insert your ORIGINAL CD which will allow you to transfer the application data files onto your new memory card that your TomTom Go needs to read the maps and plan your routes. It will also install the female voice prompt, and give you the option of installing the male prompt.
Once you have installed the application, you can transfer the maps of your choice onto the card. When you're done, you'll need to activate the Maps of Western Europe for use on your device. You'll use the product key, from inside the CD-ROM box, and the device ID on the device's screen. Enter these codes at the website given and you'll be given another code to type in to your TomTom Go. This will activate the package and allow you to use it, but make sure you make a note of all the codes, you will need them if you wipe the card and start again, or if you buy another card and use that as well.
Remember that if you have installed a number of maps onto a single card, you will need to switch map on the unit manually. To do this, tap the screen to bring up the menu, then choose (I think) preferences > switch map > followed by the map you want to switch to.
It's a great package for a traveller who wants to know exactly where they are, and knows exactly where they're going!
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
(+) Large clear menu for touchscreen. Quick setup to navigate to postcodes. Clear driving instruction. (-) Poor POIs, Lack of route preview. Missing villages. No cam preview found.
very helpful by (86%):
helpful by (14%):
