Lloyd and all,
I have had a TomTom 300 for 18 months which I selected after much
research.
IMHO they have the best interface and while they weren't really Mac
friendly to
start with (applications were Windows only) they are now ! This was
a issue
when new OS software became available (there have been a number of
updates
- free - that have added features and so on) but I got around it by
manually
copying the files across (using a card reader).
There now is a program "TomTom Home" which your run on your Mac and from
that you can backup your data and upload new programs, voices and
maps etc.
It isn't the best program but it does the job... Connect via the
miniUSB port that
is the same one as in my Blackberry and Digital Camera.
Basically most of the units available use the same whereis.com AU
data and
errors in mapping will show up whatever device you use. I still
can't believe
that there is still a phantom roundabout near to Binninup (between
Bunbury
and Perth on the Old Coast Road) that is still present in the latest
TomTom
maps as well as being in the prior version and the CDROM's in both BMW
and Mercedes I had with built in systems which were inbuilt (the TomTom
is better in most respects than those very expensive options).
If you have the AU maps, you can still buy and download maps for many
places
in the world online via the store built in to TomTom Home.
eg. UK and Ireland plus major roads of Western Europe - 59.99 Euros
Detailed Western Europe (street level coverage) - 99.99 Euros
Detailed USA and Canada (street level coverage) - 99.99 Euros
Dependent on the size of the memory (and/or card) you can have all
installed and
switch between the map databases depending on where you are...
The good thing is that you can look at the maps before you go, add in
destinations
and even be able to work out roughly how long it will take you to get
from one
place to another. This is great when you arrive at a unknown airport
and
put your unit in a rentaracer and set off to places unknown !
There are also some freeware programs you can install on the TomTom
that are
quite a bit of fun to play with. One is "Tripmaster" that you can
set to log your
co-ordinates every so often and then you can import these into google
maps
so you can see where you have been !
http://www.webazar.org/tomtom/plugins.php?lang=uk
http://www.yournav.com is also good resource to check out.
Funny as it seems, the TomTom actually uses a custom version of Linux...
Hope this helps !
Regards
Mark
On 15/01/2007, at 3:18 PM, Lloyd White wrote:
I have read today's SMH review of GPS which rates the TomTom very
highly. I
know nothing of such things but I guess you have to download
software and
upgrade through a computer. I would also like to take one to Europe
so I
guess that also needs a computer download.
Are these things Mac friendly? Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Lloyd
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