The question is pretty much in the title ... A week after my Panda arrived, my dealer had the TomTom 2 ready (as part of the Techno Pack). He explained it wouldn't work until I got home, plugged it into a computer and registered it online, but of course it slotted into my dash and started working straightaway.

So is registration absolutely necessary? Am I already benefiting from the promised one year of TomTom Live, or does that only kick in in registration? And if I do register, what happens in twelve months time? Does the unit lock down or just continue without further updates?

Many thanks for answers to these newbie-shaped queries.

when you buy any new Tomtom you get a free download of the most current map (which is worth about £45) plus in your case the tomtom live and all the recent software updates map corrections and service. yes you have to plug it into a PC and you'll need to install the Tomtom Home Program however this is by far the best way to get the most from your device.

yes it may work for now but the map is probably out of date by a good 6 months as well as the map corrections. when the years live service expires you can still use the devices as a satnav with no problems you just lose the live services

When I got my Tom Tom Live 2 from a 'Fiat' Dealer in a sealed box it worked straight away without having to hook it up to a PC and registering an account on-line. Once the Tom Tom is turned on - the year for the Live services starts - there's no way of trying to 'fudge' that one. IIRC you can get free updates for up to 3 months (which I missed). At the 6 months stage the Tom Tom shuts down and you have to do a hard reset and hook it up to a PC/Laptop. Any updates have to be paid for (which I haven't done). Dreading the costs at the year stage but will probably just go for the Live update service. Road changes have 'slowed down' since the boom a few moons back. Have found the Live services very useful and gives a realistic ETA. If you're doing a lot of travelling it's a great piece of mind. Have had to 'supplement' the safety camera spots with an iphone app.