I have an HP Travel Companion with TomTom software. TomTom's website says it's $55 for an updated map of USA/Canada.

How in the hell can they get away with charging that much for new maps, when I can just sell my GPS on eBay and buy a new one? Looks to me like it would generally cost about the same.

7/6/2009 10:22:35 AM

Good luck selling your GPS with an outdated map when someone else can buy the same one with an updated map for the the same price.

7/6/2009 10:27:39 AM

I You can just sell my your GPS on eBay and buy a new one

7/6/2009 10:28:39 AM

what year is your gps? Ill give you 10 for it

7/6/2009 10:45:30 AM

maphax

7/6/2009 10:48:07 AM

Quote :

"How in the hell can they get away with charging that much for new maps"

LMFAO. The stock NAV in my '07 Civic uses a DVD. An updated DVD costs $185

7/6/2009 11:41:41 AM

^it gets even more expensive on pricier cars. they wanted like $300 to update the maps on my moms lexus sc430. and they included like $50 worth of labor. basically went like this:

-so what does that labor involve?
-well, they put the dvd in...
-why can't i do that myself?
-i'll see if we can reduce the labor cost for you...

7/6/2009 2:00:57 PM

This is why free map upgrades should be a primary feature you search for when choosing a GPS device.

7/6/2009 2:06:44 PM

^^ Yeah I can't remember exactly, but I could swear back when I got my car you had to order the DVDs through the dealer (now you can just buy them online) and they were something retarded like $400.

7/6/2009 4:00:14 PM

^^ I'm not aware of any make that features free map updates. If you know of one, I'm all ears.

7/7/2009 5:46:39 PM

TIGER data should be tight after the Address Canvassing updates.
http://www.census.gov/geo/www/tiger/

7/7/2009 5:53:31 PM

TomTom isn't getting away with anything. If you want to bitch and moan, you need to go call up NavTeq as they supply the map data for almost every gps device in the world.

And that's how they make their money, by updating maps and selling the updates... 55 bucks is a pittance to pay for having accurate maps of the whole damn country.

7/7/2009 6:17:23 PM

yeah, I'm familar with Navteq and Teleatlas. I own stock in Navteq. That's why I don't understand how any GPS could have free map updates.

What I don't get is how they get away with pricing the updates at the point where it's more cost effective, at least in the entry-level market, to just sell your GPS and buy a new one.

7/7/2009 11:13:42 PM

I hope I don't hijack this thread...

But I have a Magellan device (a roadmate 800) they no longer sell map updates for, that runs on PocketPC and I can get to the file system. It uses Navteq software. Is there anyway to route out this software and put something 3rd party that has updated maps? Or perhaps a way to convert other map formats to ones the Navteq sw will read?

The HW is excellent and otherwise surpasses most of the entry level stuff... it's just the maps are REALLY old (maybe 6 years it seems like)

[Edited on July 7, 2009 at 11:27 PM. Reason : ]

7/7/2009 11:27:12 PM

aren't these updates on the torrent networks?



[omg plz don't crucify me for mentioning torrents]

7/7/2009 11:40:27 PM

this would seem like the sort of business that google could get in. some sort of freely updated open source gps device. or maybe i don't know what i'm talking about at all.

7/8/2009 1:02:52 AM

yay for the free mio map update for moov 300 owners

just downloaded mine today

7/8/2009 1:22:26 AM

^^it's called the iPhone.

And google licenses a shit ton of data from TeleAtlas and Navteq, where do you think google maps comes from?

Quote :

"What I don't get is how they get away with pricing the updates at the point where it's more cost effective, at least in the entry-level market, to just sell your GPS and buy a new one. "

It's because your average GPS consumer doesn't even realize the maps are updated, or doesn't care. The only people I know who even care about the updates are 20 something tech kids. All the baby boomers and older are just amazed to have digital maps.

I love how every time digital IP comes up, everyone always assumes "why doesn't google make it free", or "waaa, I have to pay money for something I find useful" (not targeted toward theDuke, who is being sane about this)

[Edited on July 8, 2009 at 1:23 AM. Reason : .]

7/8/2009 1:23:36 AM

i don't think everything should be free. just that google already offers this data for free. why not make a buck off of a gps device that offers this with access to updates for free. but i guess it makes sense that they get their data from the same place that charges for the updates.

i didn't even think of all the phones with gps. i guess the difference with the phones is that you have to pay the data plan whereas with the gps you pay whenever you want an update to the map data.

7/8/2009 1:42:43 AM

the difference is, the data to display roads and maps, is completely different from the data to ROUTE between destinations. And being that it all comes from the same place, they would be retarded to grant an open license to anyone, much less google.

That data aint cheap either.

7/8/2009 1:45:40 AM

Quote :

"the difference is, the data to display roads and maps, is completely different from the data to ROUTE between destinations."

you're going to have to explain this to me.

^and yeah i understanding the licensing issue completely if i didn't make that point clear with my previous point.

[Edited on July 8, 2009 at 1:47 AM. Reason : .]

7/8/2009 1:46:48 AM

^speed limits, traffic directionality, stop lights, congestion times, construction, traffic are the big ones. That's all supplementary to the actual gps coordinates of the roads, to provide directional routing. Even a basic system requires the first three.

7/8/2009 2:26:07 AM

it seems to me that most mapping software online has the first three (and maybe the fourth) to make their routes from one place to another.

7/8/2009 2:35:28 AM

this is why i use google maps on my phone. Free updates ftw!

7/8/2009 3:11:53 AM

^^by that you mean Google and Microsoft? What other online mapping software is there?

I use the hell out of Google Maps on my iPhone, especially for bus routes and walking. But it doesn't hold a candle to the GPS nav in the car (although I am really excited to try out the TomTom app for the 3GS). The reason that Google doesn't have realtime GPS navigation is (my guess) because they aren't licensed for it.

Microsoft is (my guess), but only for their mapping software (Streets & Trips, MapPoint) not for the freebee virtual earth.

7/8/2009 4:39:29 AM

google maps uses the teleatlas maps database.
most other consumer GPS units also use the teleatlas database.

7/8/2009 9:41:08 AM