TomTom Rider 2nd edition

[spain]

Hi all
Just a question about the tomtom.I have searched here for threads relating to it but can't seem to find the answer to my Q ...which is are they good for Africa.
I've been given a TomTom rider Europe 2nd edition as an early xmas present as i had mentioned to family members i was interested in getting a GPS (really not dropping hints as to what i want for xmas),although not specifically a tomtom...i was looking at getting a Garmin as i hear they are better for off-roading downloads and such like.I know the tomtom is great for European cities and general tarmac/motorway riding but i want to know if i can get tracks/off-road routes loaded onto it,or can i buy map-cards for Morocco or get downloads...!The TomTom Home page only has South Africa as a download.
Anyway,now i am ze proud,but confused owner of a tomtom rider.To be honest i (obviously)haven't got a clue about gps and am not too hot on computers either.
Any info would be appreciated.

[Lumiya]

Unless you have a mappable GPS that can take scanned maps/Calibration files then all you;re going to get is main road information on even the garmin models. Maps4africa project is one of the best for the garmin that Jen and I founf, but realised that it has a lot of errors.

Jen and I moved onto paper maps (IGN/Russian) and scanned them in, couple together with Ozi/Explorer or Fugawi running on a PPC is probably the best that anyones gonna get.....

Kymmy

[Zenarchy]

Not sure if this would be any help but I bookmarked this recently:

http://www.hanimorsi.com/blog/index....-google-earth/

Probably not so useful as an on-bike gps that you could use when riding, but perhaps might be helpful if you know the routes you're planning to take, then to use the satelite imagery to get your position now and again. I haven't tried it out yet myself so not sure how well it works, but I think you can download all the images that you need for a particular area and store them in a cache so you don't need an internet connection to use the software.

I was thinking something like this with one of those new eee pc's might be helpful for traveling off the beaten track:

http://www.trustedreviews.com/notebo...e-PC-4G-701/p1

(cheap little laptop that's just come out that doesn't use any moving parts and flash memory instead of a hard disk so should make it quite rugged and it's nice and small - about the size of a book).

I remember seeing a project that someone was running where they were trying to map the world including all the off-road routes and lesser roads that aren't included in the off-the-shelf gps systems. My memory is a bit sketchy about it but I'll see if I can find a link. It might be one of those Kymmy is talking about but I'm not completely sure. I'll see if I can dig out the link.

[Lumiya]

http://www.tracks4africa.com/

Kymmy

[spain]

Thanks Kymmy and Zen.I will have a look at those links abit later today.
Cheers

[Lumiya]

I wouldn't thank us too fast...

The problem with tomtom is that they are a stickler against others using thier map format, where as Garmin has a much wider viewpoint. Hence software like Fugawi and Oziexplorer are fully compatible with garmin.

Your main hope is to find some third party bit of software that'll either convert or import maps over to the TOMTOM system. Not sure if any exists but if you want to keep with tomtom then probably your best hope.

[spain]

Hi Kymmy
I found this site: http://www.janboersma.nl/gett/index.php

[Dee Duble Yuh]

I think the Janboersma.nl site only allows you to copy via points from Google Maps/Earth to your Tom Tom. It doesn't allow you to copy whole maps (roads, towns, features). Because the Tom Tom doesn't have any roads for Africa, all you'd have are a set of via points apparently taking you across the middle of nowhere (no roads shown on-screen). Maybe better than nothing but probably not what you hoped for.

Tracks4Africa should be better, but the maps aren't all that comprehensive yet. Also the Morocco map is already way out of date - many important roads are missing and it tags loads of roads as "gravel track" even though recent satellite images clearly show they are asphalted two-lane "black tops".

You can see the Tracks4Africa coverage on Google Earth. Try before you buy!!! Home in on the area you're interested in, does the screen say "Data (c) 2007 Tracks4Africa"? If not expand the "Gallery" layer and tick the Tracks4Africa box.

The best vector map for Morocco is in Garmin format only, sorry:
http://www.island-olaf.de/travel/marokko/gps.html
Does anyone know if it's possible to convert it to Tom Tom format?

[EDIT]
Just thought... you could try these libraries of vector maps to see if they have what you want:
http://mapcenter.cgpsmapper.com/
http://www.openstreetmap.org/
[/EDIT]

[Dee Duble Yuh]

Kymmy, do you know if Fugawi maps will transfer to a Zumo?

[spain]

Thanks for the help.I wished i hadn't taken it out of the box now.I will take it back to the shop to see if i can exchange it for a Garmin.The Garmin does seem to be a better gps for off roading in Africa.
Cheers