It’s 10 O’Clock. Does Your TomTom Know Where It Is?
GPS manufacturer TomTom revealed this week that a “leap year” bug in a number of models prevented the units from finding their locations. Starting on Sunday, 1 April 2012 (ouch!), the glitch left some users stranded in unfamiliar locations without navigation assistance. TomTom’s support page lists affected models (including several Go, Via, and Start models) and provides instructions for using the MyTomTom desktop software to install a fix for the problem.
We were 400 km from home on the outbound journey of a 2600 km round trip when this hit our almost new TomTom. The first TomTom dealer we found diagnosed a failed GPS antenna. We had two choices: buy another GPS, or buy maps for Canberra, Sydney, and all points between there and Brisbane.
We now own and use a Garmin GPS.
Ouch! I can commiserate. My iPhone 4 recently stopped getting good GPS locks during a long car trip and it was surprising just how frustrating it was to lose reliable directions.