Satnav getting lost!

[andygo]

My satnav (Tom Tom one XL)seems to be displaying with greater and greater frequency that I am effectively driving through a field - eg no roads displayed. If it was out in the sticks I could maybe understand it, but the M40 has been around a while now.

After a varying amount of time it sorts itself out, but am I facing the imminent death of Tom?

[Podie]

How old are your maps?

[andygo]

Couple of years

[J500ANT]

Is it in one specific area? My Garmin doesn't like the M25 section from M40 to M1 - 9 times out of 10 it thinks i'm in a field. I'm guessing there must be areas that are hidden from satellites.

[andygo]

Its in open countryside. I have just got back from France and it did it with the French map as well when its a clearly very well established road.

[Podie]

Map data is often a year or two old when its sold... so if your maps are a couple of years old, the data could be as much as five years old.

[TorqueVR]

My Garmin Nuvi did that when I was getting poor reception. (see my post about does position affect reception?)

[andygo]

The uk map was recently updated. And when it goes a bit potty, its generally in clear countryside. Having said that, my wife generally holds the unit on her lap, so maybe its not getting perfect reception after all. Can't be doing with it stuck on the windscreen as I feel it obscures my vision.

[Conian]

andygo said:

The uk map was recently updated. And when it goes a bit potty, its generally in clear countryside. Having said that, my wife generally holds the unit on her lap, so maybe its not getting perfect reception after all. Can't be doing with it stuck on the windscreen as I feel it obscures my vision.

if it cant see the sky then it's getting lousy reception

[andygo]

Next time we are out, I will check to see what reception we are typically getting.

[Deva Link]

We have a TomTom Go530 in the family and that's acted up for a while then stopped working completely. Turns out the internal memory has died.

Scouring forums, it seems that such events are not unusual for TomTom's and we've done well to get 18mths out if it.

[andygo]

If it has a memory card slot, you could put your map on that and bypass the internal memory.

[CooperD]

My Tomtom One XL doesn't seem to recognise that the Haughley Bends on the A14 have now been straightened out. The road has been like that for 18 months now but the satnav still has me driving in a field in that area then getting back onto the road again after about 2 miles. I plug the device into my computer every two months to upload any new updates.

[Deva Link]

andygo said:

If it has a memory card slot, you could put your map on that and bypass the internal memory.

Yes, I could. If my daughter, whose machine it nominally is, had backed it up! I did get it working like that (without the map) and the the time it takes to boot isn't really practicable.

[HellDiver]

Dropkick the TomTom and get a Garmin.

[Deva Link]

HellDiver said:

Dropkick the TomTom and get a Garmin.

I would have bought a Garmin instead but I just couldn't get my head around their confusing model range - I couldn't tell which model was new, which was old etc, and the prices varied widely for what appeared to be very similar units.

[Tafia]

andygo said:

The uk map was recently updated. And when it goes a bit potty, its generally in clear countryside. Having said that, my wife generally holds the unit on her lap, so maybe its not getting perfect reception after all. Can't be doing with it stuck on the windscreen as I feel it obscures my vision.

I have seen a dash mat which is designed to hold the sat nav on the dashboard clear of the screen.

Example here http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NAV-MAT-DASH-MOUNT-PORTABLE-...

Edited by Tafia on Sunday 4th July 10:40

[Petrolhead_Rich]

I have this with the new A1, between M62 and A64, on most sat nav's it is down where it should have been built i.e. from proposed plans, but it was rerouted in a couple of places when built which totally confuses the sat nav....