MapMyIndia Navigation - Review

[Ironhide]

Originally Posted by PatienceWins

I have been using MMI for the last couple of months. I am extremely unhappy with it:

1. It took me through a narrow one-way in Aluva, Kerala, and I almost got hit from other vehicles. I could not back off as the road was narrow and I was already into it for some distance. Please note that the maps are recent as I bought the gadget recently.

2. The user interface is bad. I find google maps good.

3.It does not give an option to select from multiple routes routes, unlike google maps.

4. Even if you ignore the MMI route and take a different route, the MMI route does not get updated with the new location. For e.g. While coming from Coorg to Bangalore, MMI wanted me to take the shortcut to Srirangapatanam. I chose to come via Mysore, even after getting into Mysore ring road it directed me to the road from Hunsur to Srirangapatanam. The same happened while going to Coorg when I wanted to come via Mysore city instead of Ring Road. It directed me to ring road from eventhough I chose to go inside the city.

5. The worst: no option to add via routes by searching. Adding via routes manually by pointing on the map is extremely difficult, considering the screen size. It is a breeze using google maps.

The navigation devices market in India is flourishing and Garmin has taken the competition a notch higher in the GPS devices market by :-

(a) Offering a competitively priced unit, and
(b) Bundling it with an irresistible offer of free lifetime upgrades for their maps.

Garmin nuvi40LM & nuvi50LM sat-nav units launched| Zigwheels.com

Now what remains to be seen is that whether they can lure prospective customers away from MMI? Until now MMI had cashed in on being the first mover in this space but I'm confident that other reputable companies like Garmin and Satnav and even Navteq (which has recently tied up with Nokia to provide maps in their smartphones) will catch up. They'll have to improve the quality of their maps and I'm sanguine they're working very hard at it. We should see Garmin maps as good as, if not better than the MMI ones in the times to come. And the competition should be a good thing for the customers. Maybe even google will step in with their own dedicated In Car navigation device - they have all the reason to. They have an excellent map database which they can supplement with satellite imagery to be extrapolated on top of the maps (as an option). Google maps and navigation in Android based phones is already being used by many.

[ramkya1]

Originally Posted by drive_factor

Thanks.

I had this unit in mind 6" LCD Windows CE 6.0 Core 500MHz GPS Navigator w/FM Transmitter + Built-in 4GB Memory USA Map - Free Shipping - DealExtreme

Pretty discouraging if MMI restricts its map comparability. Is there a way around this?

I am one of the early users of GPS in India, ordered a Window based GPS + phone from Satguide in 2003, they had just launched maps, used it for 5 years, was OK but Satguide did not upgrade, fell way behind MMI which reached out to customers. When I went to Satguide office in HYD I also configed my laptop that time to work with the GPS receiver which connected to my phone and laptop through Blue tooth.

In 2007 I got the same 6" gizmo you have ordered, 47 USD, through DealExtreme and so did 3 of my friends, somebody gave me the MMI maps free of cost which I loaded. Any card with MMI maps can be loaded into this with a little tweaking. This worked great for 4 years, used it all over India, was pretty accurate, the li-ion battery gave up the ghost and the touch screen lost all sensitivity and konked off, I used it rough, was worth the money, these Chinese gigs are not sturdy.

Need to be careful with Deal Extreme, I had 3 trouble free buying events with them, form the 4th onwards small items were getting pilfered, envelopes being opened, cartoons intact with contents missing. Lost about 35 USD worth of goods in one consignment, was constantly complaining to DX, they made me run around with many mails, requests for photos etc., no refund or result, stopped buying form them in 2010.

Bought a MMI 4" kit in 2010 December, works well, looks sturdy though the touch screen has a mind of its own. Went for MMI as I would get local support and they are very responsive.

Hope this helps.

--Ramky
====

[drive_factor]

Thanks Ramky ji

I'm getting anxious on my dealextreme delivery. Its been 20 days since I placed order but no signs yet of the device.

On the positive side I received my TomTom VIA 100 yesterday ( yes on a Sunday!). First impressions:

• The device feels nice to hold compared to the MMI devices I have seen before.
• Touch screen is more responsive. You don’t need to repeatedly poke it unlike some older smart phones.
• As of now I am impressed with its map detailing. From my home I plotted some itinerary to nearby places I know very well. At demo/simulation mode Via 100 was able to offer correct routing to all the destination. It did offer alternative routing based on user preference (rco, shortest, quickest, etc) criteria, but 8 out 0f 10 the default option was good to go. Recalculating the routing is very quick as well.
• The My TomTom feature is a nifty idea. At first connection it updated the device automatically and asked for a reboot. The India map version is dated February 2012.
• GPS satellite acquisition is about 2 min for the 1st instance and almost immediately for subsequent instances. This compares very favorably with my the older HP Ipaq which took anything between 5 to 10 minutes. GPS lock is pretty steady.
• I was able able to get GPS lock from indoors but needed to remain near a window.
• The help screen is quite intuitive.

Con:

• The integrated mount. It increases the bulk of device. You cant just slip it inside a shirt pocket.
• The mount and its suction cap look quite iffy, although the vacuum hold is very tight at the moment.
• I cant figure out how to download your GPS logs to a PC. If there is an option then I am not able to find out even after poring all over.
• It does t inform you that Altimeter height. I am still trying to figure out if such an option exists.
• Battery life seems to be on the lower side. A fully charged device was half way within an hour down while I was fiddling with it.

At this moment I am sorely feeling the need of 3rd party software that will allow me to create offline itinerary (from Google Maps etc) and transfer the same to TomTom. Creating maps within the device and from the supplied map seems a PITA. Any suggestions from the gurus?


I bought it from www.letsbuy.com and frankly wasn’t very positive on them after reading reviews at mouthshut.com. However they did a very good job this time and delivered the devices before the promised day. The packing was also top notch and looked set to tackle any abuse en route.


I am off to a 500km driving vacation to north India this weekend and will test its effectiveness. Till then I am giving a 7/10 grade to this device.

Attaching some pics.

[benu9714]

I bought a Garmin Nuvi 1450 in the US recently. I had rented a car for a month and I needed a GPS. Hertz/Avis charges you $ 12 per day (including tax) for a GPS, and hence renting GPS with the car would have cost $ 360 for a month. So my daughter got me a garmin (thru the Net) for $ 120.

I must say I was very pleased with it. It has some new features, such as showing you what lane to be in - very useful when cruising at 75 mph. It also tells you when traffic is heavy ahead. Once it made me leave US 101 and take a side road because traffic was slow ahead.

A very useful accessory - a base which can be placed above the dashboard. It is essentially a heavy base which stays in place without being fixed to anything. The garmin locks on to this base and can be adjusted to be in the sight of the driver. It allows the front passenger to pick up the garmin and search for, say, food, which is very difficult to do if the garmin is attached to a hook on the driver's corner of the windscreen.

Going forward I should be able to use this device whenever I travel abroad, and save on renting a GPS.

[kirantp]

Folks,

I got my MMI SD maps upgraded to Ver 7.0 for INR 1.8K. However, I had to struggle copying the new data back to SD since the write-protect notch broke off. I had to tape notch it before successfully completing this task. Finally everything went well and I am on the latest version of MMI showing house # in the maps.

Thanks,
Kiran

[lateshnair]

All,

Today much awaited google navigation launched in India.

Reference: Official Blog Google Navigation now available in India

Cheers!

[Autocop]

Came across 2 DIN Navigation System from MMI. Checkout link below,

http://www.mapmyindia.com/in-dash-avn/universal-2-din

Would like to know if this device can replace the stock HU in my Linea or for that matter any car.

Has anyone installed this device? or a device similar to this from some other manufacturer?

[rsjaurr]

Originally Posted by drive_factor

Thanks.

I had this unit in mind 6" LCD Windows CE 6.0 Core 500MHz GPS Navigator w/FM Transmitter + Built-in 4GB Memory USA Map - Free Shipping - DealExtreme

Pretty discouraging if MMI restricts its map comparability. Is there a way around this?

Did you get this unit? If yes what is your feedback for this unit and which maps you installed in it?The one sold by satguide has software+maps for these type of devices on SD card for 1900Rs.
Did anyone else has some experience with this or similar type of GPS device?

[Kaboooooom]

mdsaab, only you can answer this question (or any other MMI HU user). I have been using a Garmin PND for several years (put in MMI maps in it) and it works nice. However, it pauses the music when it voices the directions. Its okay when the routes are long and the directions come rarely but it really irritates the passengers when it pauses one song 15 times when driving in the city. I am thinking about getting a MMI HU for a new car, so please tell me does that also pauses the music as it gives out the instructions. Or does it have settings to let me control the behaviour (as in perhaps, play instructions along with music or play instruction only on the driver side speaker).
Many thanks in advance.

[ron1989]

I have bought a MMI ZX250, but when I switch on navigation, it just opens the delhi map and then says inadequate signal for navigation. It does not show my location even. Can someone please help me with regard to this issue. Is there any setup to be followed before it gets configured for use?

[swarnava.m]

Originally Posted by ron1989

I have bought a MMI ZX250, but when I switch on navigation, it just opens the delhi map and then says inadequate signal for navigation. It does not show my location even. Can someone please help me with regard to this issue. Is there any setup to be followed before it gets configured for use?

I don't know this fact specific to your device, but in my MMI navigator, it requires strong connection to 4 GPS satellites to be able to work properly. It takes around a couple of minutes to establish this connection, so please be patient. Also, this connection is established best under open sky. If you are indoors, the connection may not be established at all, or may take an extremely long time to get established.

[nitnab]

I have just bought a chinese HU with 7" touchscreen and GPS (looks like WINCE based) with IGO preloaded having All-India map. The maps just don't seem to match up with the actual locations and I plan to go for MMI but am not getting any response from them regarding the purchase of the MMI SD card suitable for WINCE. I have gone through their website but can't find anything on WINCE based software for sale (looks like they are now interested in selling only costly PNDs and HUs). Can anyone point out from where I can buy the latest MMI for an SD card for my HU? A local accessories dealer said he can load it for Rs 5000 but am not sure he will load the genuine version nor am I sure of the cost that he has quoted.

[Kaboooooom]

You can try ebay where you might get a latest but USED version quite cheap or you can also try some local dealerships because as I have seen all of them give you MMI SD cards along with their costly double din music systems all of which are WIN CE based. You can ask local dealerships to give you just the MMI Kit.

[tharian]

Hi,
i am looking for a service center in Blore were i can get my map
my india device serviced. it has lines on display. hoping a software update. will resolve it. Amy input on where i couuld get it done would be appreciated. also is installing a India map on a non Indian map a costly affair?

[ebonho]

I have been researching on the net, with conflicting reviews, and am confused between MMI (supposedly the most detailed India specific maps, especially for out of the way places) and the new entrants Garmin and Tom Tom.

I am looking for something in the 10K range (or thereabouts) please.

The models are MMI Vx140s / Vx140s Premium, Garmin NUVI 40LM / 50LM, and Tom Tom Tom Via 100 / 120.

The Garmin loks the best (quality and finsih wise) while the Tom Tom has a Plan My Route function and supposedly slightly better maps than the Navteq ones of Garmin.

As I said, confused! Please help.