-
SalesTeam
  - Joined on 08-04-2004
- California, USA.
- Posts 2,927
- Points 2,950
|
Part 1 of 3: Installing and Using TomTom HOME on your PC (Including TT6 Installation on your PDA)
Part 1: Geek Speak.
Below I’ve outlined the hardware that was used during the review.
Hardware: - Desktop: AMD FX-55 w/4GB RAM running Windows XP Professional x64. - PDA: Qtek 2020i running WM2003 Second Edition. ROM was flashed with O2 ROM. TomTom (including Voices) was running from Persistent Storage (onboard 64 MB ROM available to user). Available RAM was approximately 80 MB. All maps were stored on SD Card. Initial card used was an A-DATA 4 GB SD card. During the review, I switched to a San Disk Ultra II 1 GB (plus USB) SD Card (I’ll explain later why I switched). The packaging is quite nice (see below). The left-hand side contains a graphical TomTom Installation Guide and a TomTom Quick Start Guide. The right-hand side holds the TomTom Software DVD, the Product Code card and a TomTom PLUS Quick Start Guide. I really like the way TomTom provided an insert for the Product Code card in the DVD case (see picture below).
Overview of TomTom Navigator 6 Product. Part 2: Installation of TomTom HOME
TT6 has a slightly different installation process than previous releases. TT6 for PDAs now incorporates the “TomTom HOME” application. TomTom HOME is an application which connects your computer, your TomTom device and you. TomTom HOME is designed to help you manage the contents of your TomTom device, as well as to prepare for trips in advance. TomTom HOME resides on your PC (Desktop/Laptop) and provides a very easy interface to communicate with your TomTom device (i.e. your PDA). TomTom HOME is the center-piece for all TomTom devices (including TomTom’s All-In-One (AIO) devices). Some of TomTom AIOs allow for the user to listen to MP3s/audiobooks, communicate with their iPOD or even view pictures.
When you insert the DVD into your computer, TT6 will “Auto Launch” and begin installing TomTom HOME. I’ve enclosed the screen shots you’ll see when you install the application. Pretty basic stuff.
Step 1: Select your default language.
Step 2: Installation information
Step 3: Confirmation on where you live. I chose "Yes".
Step 4: Agree the EULA. Note that TT6 is licensed to a DEVICE, not an owner. Consequently, if you own 5 devices but you only purchased one Product Code (i.e., one software package), you will only be able to activate TomTom 6 on ONE of your devices. I’ll talk more about this in a future blog (Part 6: Installation of TomTom on your PDA).
Step 5: Chose an installation directory. I used the default.
Step 6: Install TomTom HOME.
Step 7: Installing...
Step 8: Ok. Now we’re finished installing the program. Let’s launch TomTom HOME!
Part 3: Launch TomTom HOME Not sure why, but when you launch TomTom HOME for the first time, it asks you again to select your native language. You would think that it would remember the language you selected during the installation. 
Anyway, after you select your language, you’re taken to the main screen of TomTom HOME. As you can see from looking in the system tray, my device is already connected (via Active Sync). Even though I read the manual, I wasn’t sure what to do next (to Manual doesn’t say much about how to use TomTom HOME). All of the sudden I got a pop up window in the Main Screen of TomTom HOME (picture below) asking if I would like to download and install an update for TomTom HOME. While I was sitting there trying to figure out what to do next, TomTom HOME already connected to the main servers at TomTom.com via the internet and found that an update for the TomTom HOME application was available. Pretty slick! This is very similar to the “Automatic Update” feature found in the Windows XP Service Pack 2 operating systems.
I wanted the latest and greatest, so I selected “Yes”.
TomTom HOME begins downloading the update (see lower right-hand side of the screen shot below).
When the update is ready for install, you will be prompted to begin the installation.
Step 1 (Update): Choose “Next”
Step 2 (Update): Update installs.
Step 3 (Update): Click “Finish” and re-launch the TomTom HOME application.
The main screen of TomTom HOME pops up again (this time showing that no updates are available). 
Part 4: Using TomTom HOME The TomTom HOME application can be broken down into three main areas (see picture below): 1) Main Menu 2) Options 3) Manage Your TomTom
1) Main Menu - The Main Menu has three pull-down menus:
a) File – Chose this menu option to Login into your TomTom PLUS account (more on this in a bit) or if you want to change any of your TomTom HOME Preferences. b) Device – Chose this if you want to Disconnect your device, look for Updates for your TomTom device, or Change your TomTom Device (i.e. you want to change your target device to a Secure Digital (SD) Card reader. c) Help – Self explanatory.
2) Options – This portion of TomTom HOME will connect you to the TomTom Online Store. Once you have created a TomTom PLUS account, you will be able to buy additional maps online (i.e. European Maps), Traffic information, additional Points of Interests (POIs), or additional Voices.
3) Manage Your TomTom – This is the core of the TomTom HOME application. From here you can Install/Uninstall TomTom, view the CD Manual, Explore your TomTom Device, or Back-up/Restore your TomTom Device. NOTE: Three options are greyed out (Manage Photos, Manage Music, and Buy Audiobooks). These options are for user who are using TomTom AIOs (i.e. TomTom GO series).
Part 5: Installing TomTom Navigator 6 to your PDA
Before installing TT6 onto your PDA, I would recommend removing any previous version(s) of TomTom Navigator (i.e. TomTom Navigator 5, etc). When you connect your PDA to your computer, TomTom HOME should automatically recognize your device (PDA) and begin looking for previous installations of TomTom Navigator 6.
In the center portion of the TomTom HOME application, you’ll see the various items you can install on your PDA: 1) Application – The TT6 Application (required) 2) Maps – You can select one or more of the maps to install (At least one is required). HINT: If you double click on the name of a map, a pop-up will appear that shows you the region the map covers. This is handy if you’re loading a regional map and you’re not sure what States/Provinces are within that regional map. 3) Voices – You can select one or more voices to install (at least one is required for voice navigation). Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a way to “preview” the voices before installing. This would be a nice feature to add in future releases of TomTom HOME. 4) Satellite imagery – You can install a satellite photo of North America onto your device. When you are using TT6 on your PDA and your are viewing a large portion of the Map, TT6 will load a satellite image of the map region in lieu of displaying a “traditional map view” (i.e. a map displaying streets).
When your device (PDA) is connected, the right portion of the TomTom HOME screen will show you what device is connected and what TomTom products have been installed (if any). If you have a PDA connected, you will see tabs at the top indicating various places where TomTom products can be (have been) installed. For example, TomTom has identified three storage areas (volumes) for my device (PDA). The tabs correspond to my Storage Card (it’s an SD Card), my internal memory (i.e. RAM for WM2003se devices and earlier) and my internal “Storage” (i.e. part of my persistent ROM that can be used to store applications). As long as there is sufficient “free space” available, you can install TomTom products on any of these storage areas. For example, you could install the Application to the “Internal Memory”, then chose to install the voices to the volume labeled “Storage” and finally you could install your maps to the volume labeled “Storage Card”. The choice is yours.
I chose to install the TomTom Application for Pocket PC, Richard (for my Voice) and my Map (USA and Canada). See the screenshots below.
Step 1: With the installation DVD in my DVD drive, I selected “TomTom Application for Pocket PC” under “Application” and clicked the “Install” button. TomTom HOME will ask you if you want to make a back-up of your device. I chose “No” since this was my initial set up.
Side Note: If you ask TomTom HOME to do a back up of your TomTom Device, it will back up your entire Storage Card (I mean everything; even non-TomTom products). I’m going to play around with this feature more and post my findings in a future blog.
Step 2: The files unpack and get installed the volume “Storage Card”.
Step 3: Upon successful completion of the Application installation, you will be prompted to eject your storage card and re-insert it into your PDA. WAIT! Don’t eject it quite yet. We’re not quite done yet. We still need to install at least one Voice and a Map.
Also note that the pop says “the TomTom Application will be installed to the Internal Memory of your Pocket PC”. This isn’t what I wanted. I wanted it installed to my Storage Card not to the Internal Memory. Don’t worry. We’ll fix that later. It’s actually a very simple fix. Click “OK”.
Step 4: Click “Done”.
Step 5: Now select one of the Voices. I chose “Richard”. Chose where you want the “Voice” to be installed and click the “Install” button.
Step 6: Chose a map to install.
Hint: Double-Click on the name of the map to see what areas the map covers.
Step 7: Select the Map(s) you wish to install. Chose the storage volume you want to install it to and then click on the “Install” button. You will then be prompted to enter your product code (This can be found on the card on the inside of your Software DVD Case). Type in the code and press “OK”.
Step 8: Wait for the map to install.
HINT: Transferring data to a storage card in your PDA via an ActiveSync connection is painfully slow. When installing maps, I would recommend that you install them when your storage card is inserted into a card reader on your PC (You will need to change your device (i.e. “Device -> Change Device” and select your card reader)).
Step 9: (Optional) I also chose to install the ‘Satellite imagery’ of North America to my Storage Card.
Now that you’ve installed all the components. Disconnect your device from your PC. Once your PDA has been disconnect from your PC, eject your Storage Card and then re-insert it. Your TomTom Application will then begin installing to your Internal Memory. Hint: To ease installation, I would recommend the following: 1) Plug your storage card into a media card reader on your PC. TomTom HOME should automatically switch to it. If it doesn’t, select “Device -> Change Device”. Select your media card reader. Select your appropriate device (i.e. Pocket PC). (NOTE: Do not connect your PDA to your computer.)
2) Under “Manage Your TomTom”, select “Install to TomTom”.
3) Check “TomTom Application for Pocket PC” under “Application”, then check and appropriate map you wish to install (i.e. New York) under “Maps” and finally check an appropriate voice under “Voices”. You should have selected three items. Additionally, you could select USA (Basic) under “Satellite imagery” as a forth install option.
4) Now click on the arrow-button labeled “Install” and the 3 (or 4) items you selected in the previous step will be installed.
5) Once the installation is complete, eject your card from your PC and insert it into your PDA. The software will automatically begin to install. Soon after the install begins on your PDA, you will be prompted to activate your product.
Even though we've got TT6 on our PC and our PDA, we're not quite finished with the installation. We still need to activate TT6 on our PDA. Although the installation process may seem long and tedious, it's actually quite simple and fast. The whole process should take less than 10 minutes.
Next Blog Entry: Activation and Use of TomTom on your PDA
|
|