Let's say I have the latest maps for a number of given States but missing others. Can I for example mix, in igo8.3.5, 2011_Q2.fbl maps and say 2011_Q3.fbl? And ditto for the POI files? TIA

siberian

Yes. But routing between those different-date states (or countries in the case of Europe, for example) might be an issue if connecting roads have changed on the newer one, but changes not reflected on the older one. Probably a rare case, but possible. POIs may be a similar issue if say you are looking for a gas station, and it no longer exists on the newer POI set.
It is always recommended to use same-release-date map data.

Any idea as to what would happen in the case you mention of connecting roads being updated in one and not the other? Would the program abort or simply enter whatever name is stored for the State you're now in (whether new or old)?

Reason I ask is that sometimes there's a lag in updates or updates are incomplete. So you have a full version of the old but only partial of the new.

siberian

The not-connected-roads thing is nothing more than a compression issue. One mapset using a slightly different compression. The roads are there but one end just don't fit the the other beginning.
What happens? That can be a major detour (where roads do connect on the mapset) or a program crash like a freeze.
Setting up a route and calculating will show you. I haven't had any problem myself, but it could depend on the mapmaker or (age of) mapset, I suppose.
Mixing TT-TA and NT maps will show the same issues.

So I guess the safest is to take a complete set as a backup on a separate card. Use a mix if you must (meaning there are some gaps in coverage - Q3 for some States and Q2 for others, for example) and if you get in a bind, reload the complete older one and start again.

Thank you.

siberian

siberian wrote:So I guess the safest is to take a complete set as a backup on a separate card.

OR just obtain a complete Q3 2011 set and be done with it with no worries.

TomTom-Teleatlas Q3 2011 USA-Canada

Navteq-USA-Canada-2011-Q3

Just want to add that here in NA, you want Navteq maps AND TA POIs. TA POIs are much better than Navteq POIs.

You can mix and match buildings and pois.
For example, you can include both Navteq and Tomtom pois at the same time. You may see a lot of duplication though.

Thanx. As I said, it was more in case you had missing parts of the US or say Europe where you could take the new parts you had with the old parts you're currently missing. I would agree that if you mix the POIs for Alaska from TomTom and Navteq you're going to get the department of redundant redundancy department :)

siberian