[arnabchak]

I recently got the Mapmyindia LX 345 installed in my car.
I got the device online and ordered it via snapdeal.
The delivery was before time and though the cardboard packing was a bit bent, device arrived in good condition.

Before I start the review, lets see what we have in the box:

• Lx345 GPS device hardware
• Car charger
• Windshield Mount
• USB cable
• Owner's Kit- Includes Quick Start Guide, User's Manual, Hardware manual Customer's warranty card and Terms of Use.

(Pls. note that the car charger provided in not the universal charger but the mini USB which was in earlier mobiles.)


In The box:



Features:

1)Screen:
It has a 4.3 inch resistive screen. The touch interface cannot be compared to the current crop of smart phones and is of a bygone era.
That said, it is not very difficult to punch in the limited data required.
The screen resolution is adequate for viewing under direct sunlight.

2) GPS
It uses GPS signals and incorporates voice directions.
The GPS signals took approx. 3 minutes to latch on at the place I stay.
however, it did not show the name of my building though it showed a SBI ATM and ironically even my paper mart wallah shop!!

The useful section of find locations includes options like:
1) Take me Home
2) Find a location
3) POIs(Places of Interest)
4) Favorite places
and so on.

The places of interest is a good touch and will ensure that most of the places of interest at your visiting location is covered.

Main GPS Interface Screen

Find Locations Screen:


Understanding the Interface



Review of the Device:

I went for a drive to Shirdi on Saturday and fed in the details before starting.

It was a breeze as it read the details quickly and charted a route which I knew well. The route charted was through Sinnar.

DTG was quite accurate. I would like to state here that I read that this column calculates on the basis of a 50 kmph.
However, when the speed is faster(say on highways) at an average of 80 kmph, this DTG would vary by almost 15-20 minutes.

Hence, would say that the DTG and Driving time seems accurate.

1) Highway Directions

Many a times, I got a false alert on the highway saying "Take a Right turn" on a seemingly straight highway.
Was pretty bugged when the device continued to say take right on tne Nasik NH3.
However, later on, wifey pointed out that in all the places where the device made the"Keep right" instruct, there was invariably another small road/service road.

I would have simply preferred a "keep straight" or even a silence here.
Other directions seemed spot on though.

On my return, took a small de tour via my son's to be school- Universal High, Brahmhand.
Here, the device took note of the de tour and was adamant to keep me on track.
Take a u turn was the only main instruct.
Overall, other than the "Take a right turn" on the highway, found the instructs to be ok.

Rating: 3.5/5

2) Ease of Operations

Feed the directions once and you are set. You can set you home as your home co-ordinates and in the menu, on your return, just press "Take me Home".
You are now on your way.

Rating: 4/5
(Marks deducted on the resistive screen).

3) Sound Instructions

The female voice is a tad irritating though the volume is adequate even with the music and the road noise.

Rating:4.5/5

4) Battery Life

The charger is not the universal USB type but rather the old Mini USB models. I had the Moto Razr and the charger was similar.
Would have preferred the universal car charger and the hassle of keeping two separate chargers would have been negated.

Charging time on AC took about 2.5 hours.
I guess the charging time using the car charger would take about 5 hours or so.

I did check the battery life without the charger and like the other reviews, 2 hours and the device is low on battery.
The battery is 950 MaH Li-Ion.

Rating: 2.5/5

5) Multimedia

Though i have not used them, the device is capable of multi media and mass storage.
It has a 2 GB in built memory and additionally, can be extended to 8GB using a micro SD card.

You can store:
1) Songs
2) Movies
3) E Book
4) Photos

Nice and nifty feature. However, please note that the earphone slot is 2.5 mm and not the 3.5 mm.
You will need to buy a converter for using the pin.

Rating: 4.5/5

Conclusions and Disclaimer

-Pls. note I have used the pictures from MapmyIndia website for representation purpose only

I found the MMI to be a nifty device at a reasonable price.
However, considering the high temperature during summers in India, it would be advisable to keep the device indoors.

Overall, though early days, but have been satisfied using the device till now.

[ghodlur]

@arnab

Thanks for the review. Except for the battery, I guess the device does seem to be VFM. Mind sharing the cost and the buying process? What guarantee does the unit come with and how is the process of maps auto updating?.

Would be interested to see the unit in person, how about meeting in Thane sometime (Hypercity???)?

[arnabchak]

Originally Posted by ghodlur

@arnab

Thanks for the review. Except for the battery, I guess the device does seem to be VFM. Mind sharing the cost and the buying process? What guarantee does the unit come with and how is the process of maps auto updating?.

Would be interested to see the unit in person, how about meeting in Thane sometime (Hypercity???)?

Dear Girish

You are most welcome!!
I purchased it from Snapdeal online for Rs. 4799/- including transportation.
It has a 6 month warranty by MMI though I think will have to register.

In the warranty sheet that came with the box, it was stamped 3 months warranty though. Will need to check on the validity.
Buying process was pretty simple.
Just logged on to snapdeal and ordered it online.

The shipping too about 3 days from Delhi and was delivered by ecom express. This is the E commerce delivery partners for MMI.
The package was a bit damaged though the device was spot on.

Map updatation: The device is loaded with the latest version 9.1. Each update will cost Rs. 500/-.

Hypercity seems absolutely fine. Just suggest a time and we will meet!!
Look forward to that for sure!!

[saket77]

Nice review Arnab. I am using MMI VX140s for last 2-3 years and I can say that it is one good 'support'. I find the main drawbacks as:

1. Poor hardware quality, the case at least with my device generation . Even the Chinese phones these days fare better. The device back then cost about a whopping 11k or 12K!

2. Fires incorrect voice instructions at times, that you have faced yourself.

3. Battery life of max 1-1.5 hrs.

4.The irritating sound of punching every letter cannot be turned off.

Apart from the above, I find the map accuracy good. Though, I am using some 7.XX version. Will update once there is a substantial update (as it is a paid update).

Will wait for your future experiences with the device. Thanks for the impressions.

Regards,
Saket

Originally Posted by arnabchak

Many a times, I got a false alert on the highway saying "Take a Right turn" on a seemingly straight highway.

You can select 'the fastest' option in the settings from the main menu as compared to 'optimal' and 'the shortest' and try. If already done, you have to bear with this nuisance from MMI!

The female voice is a tad irritating though the volume is adequate even with the music and the road noise.

You can select the male voice in US English or try 'Sangeetha' the female voice in Indian English.

[arnabchak]

Originally Posted by saket77

Nice review Arnab.

Will wait for your future experiences with the device. Thanks for the impressions.

Regards,
Saket

Thanks Saket!!
You have correctly summed it up as "support"
You need to keep your discretion while travelling and cannot rely solely on the GPS.
Pls. update only once you have substantial upgrades not only in maps but also in the interface.

Originally Posted by J.Ravi

You can select 'the fastest' option in the settings from the main menu as compared to 'optimal' and 'the shortest' and try. If already done, you have to bear with this nuisance from MMI!



You can select the male voice in US English or try 'Sangeetha' the female voice in Indian English.

Thanks Ravi. I did try the earlier option but am not sure of the "Sangeetha" option though. Will try it in the evening.

[DerAlte]

Originally Posted by arnabchak

... Many a times, I got a false alert on the highway saying "Take a Right turn" on a seemingly straight highway.

Was pretty bugged when the device continued to say take right on tne Nasik NH3.
However, later on, wifey pointed out that in all the places where the device made the"Keep right" instruct, there was invariably another small road/service road. ...

Great review, @arnabchak.

That problem usually happens in places where, during the construction of the highway or during major repairs, traffic would have been diverted in the past to the service road. That announcement is the "get back on to highway from service road" - have faced this in many places in National Highways, and even good state highways in Bihar, Rajasthan and Karnataka. The route indicator then shows a clear right-left-straight arrow on the map, as would be expected when getting back from deviation.

The glitch / funny behavior is due to discontinuity in vector descriptions in the map. The map guys would have removed the "get on to service road" point, and not removed the "get back to highway" point.

When large roads join a major highway, the announcement would / should say "Keep right ..." or "Keep straight ...", if the junction is confusing or both the roads have equal status. Smaller roads joining are usually ignored. This is UI functionality, so the behaviour may differ between MMI, Garmin, TomTom, etc.

[embee]

Guys,
What about TOMTOM Navigation? Is it good for India? Is it worth it? Or people are just buying for its brand value?

Any reviews on the same?

[arnabchak]

Originally Posted by DerAlte

Great review, @arnabchak.

That problem usually happens in places where, during the construction of the highway or during major repairs, traffic would have been diverted in the past to the service road. That announcement is the "get back on to highway from service road" - have faced this in many places in National Highways, and even good state highways in Bihar, Rajasthan and Karnataka. The route indicator then shows a clear right-left-straight arrow on the map, as would be expected when getting back from deviation.

The glitch / funny behavior is due to discontinuity in vector descriptions in the map. The map guys would have removed the "get on to service road" point, and not removed the "get back to highway" point.

When large roads join a major highway, the announcement would / should say "Keep right ..." or "Keep straight ...", if the junction is confusing or both the roads have equal status. Smaller roads joining are usually ignored. This is UI functionality, so the behaviour may differ between MMI, Garmin, TomTom, etc.
[/left]

Thanks Der Alte
Removes a big confusion and the explanation seems quite spot on!!
Probably is a case of "get back on highway" not being altered here!!

Any way to bypass the glitches?

[gearhead_mait]

Originally Posted by saket77

The irritating sound of punching every letter cannot be turned off..

Have you tried by minimizing the volume to the lowest level? (mind it - don't mute directly).

[saket77]

Originally Posted by gearhead_mait

Have you tried by minimizing the volume to the lowest level? (mind it - don't mute directly).

Yes Saumyajit. That helps, but then the volume level of voice guidance also goes down.

Technically, it is not a problem with the device, but that is just plain irritating to hear 'tak-tak' kind of sound at every letter you key in the device.

Thanks!

[DCEite]

Originally Posted by embee

Guys,
What about TOMTOM Navigation? Is it good for India? Is it worth it? Or people are just buying for its brand value?

Any reviews on the same?

Don't know about TOMTOM but i have found that for Indian roads, GARMIN works brilliantly. It uses NOKIA HERE maps and has semi annual updates.

Using the Nuvi L45M for last one year and has never let me down so far - including highways and remote places.

[gearhead_mait]

Originally Posted by saket77

Yes Saumyajit. That helps, but then the volume level of voice guidance also goes down.

Technically, it is not a problem with the device, but that is just plain irritating to hear 'tak-tak' kind of sound at every letter you key in the device.

Thanks!

I agree! My model is LX340 which can play video. You wouldn't believe the loudness (rather harshness) of the video being played. I played one video while driving, and almost rammed into a vehicle which stopped suddenly. From then on, the video functionality of the device is never used

[arnabchak]

Originally Posted by embee

Guys,
What about TOMTOM Navigation? Is it good for India? Is it worth it? Or people are just buying for its brand value?

Any reviews on the same?

A friend of mine was using Tom Tom and was not too happy as the maps were not really updated and the customer support was sort of non existent. He was located in Pune.

Originally Posted by gearhead_mait

I agree! My model is LX340 which can play video. You wouldn't believe the loudness (rather harshness) of the video being played. I played one video while driving, and almost rammed into a vehicle which stopped suddenly. From then on, the video functionality of the device is never used

Drive safe mate!!

[saket77]

Originally Posted by gearhead_mait

I agree! My model is LX340 which can play video. You wouldn't believe the loudness (rather harshness) of the video being played. I played one video while driving, and almost rammed into a vehicle which stopped suddenly. From then on, the video functionality of the device is never used

Does the LX340 also has blue-tooth pairing functionality with a cell-phone? If it has, then I have to wonder that why did I spend 12K on VX140S premium. Probably, had no choice back then.
The VX140s Premium can function as a blue-tooth device/hands free from where you can call, answer or even dial a number (of course, not recommended while driving). It even shows the phonebook when paired. Apart from this, it can play videos and audio through the micro-SD card.

Thanks!