[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by deky

Guys, I got the following mail from satguide. Maybe it will help someone here on this forum

Regards

This is the buddy video on you tube

YouTube - satguide's Channel

Thanks @deky. I just sent them a comment! Let me see what happens. i'd have referred your name in the email had I known it however.

[vnabhi]

Guys,
Here is an update on the discout Sat nav offers----it is valid only for the PNDs and not for the mapware. I got the discount email but was told that it does not apply to the all India map software that comes on an SD card.

No big deal if you ask me, as the PNDs are atrociously priced.

As regards my Garmin, I put if to good use in my trip to Philadelphia on Xmas eve. I could track my path in the bus I was traveling in and inform my host when I was 30 miles from Philadelphia so that she could start driving to pick me up (whe lives 30 miles beyond Philly).

The maps are so good and precise, that on reaching my host's house, I merely had to click on 'Where am I' to get the precise address with zip code. The only glitch was that it showed the place as 'Washingon Place, NJ' instead of its new name of 'Robbinsville, NJ'

[Neilguy]

Originally Posted by vnabhi

Guys,
Here is an update on the discout Sat nav offers----it is valid only for the PNDs and not for the mapware. I got the discount email but was told that it does not apply to the all India map software that comes on an SD card.

No big deal if you ask me, as the PNDs are atrociously priced.

As regards my Garmin, I put if to good use in my trip to Philadelphia on Xmas eve. I could track my path in the bus I was traveling in and inform my host when I was 30 miles from Philadelphia so that she could start driving to pick me up (whe lives 30 miles beyond Philly).

The maps are so good and precise, that on reaching my host's house, I merely had to click on 'Where am I' to get the precise address with zip code. The only glitch was that it showed the place as 'Washingon Place, NJ' instead of its new name of 'Robbinsville, NJ'

Pardon me for asking, but don't you have a smartphone which will do this and much more (google maps, anyone) including voice based turn-by-turn navigation without the extra bulk of a PND.

[Newpunter]

On my visit to Chikmagalur-Belur-Halebid over the weekend, I got the chance to use my MMI 5.0 maps a lot. I was surprised with the amount of detail provided even in smaller towns like Belur and Chikmagalur and even Hiremagalur. However, the route calculation was very bad. For instance, the software calculated a 17 kms route for a place that was only 5 Kms away. I checked the route summary and found that it ignored a much shorter route. However, it did help us a lot on our trip.

[NetfreakBombay]

Originally Posted by Neilguy

Pardon me for asking, but don't you have a smartphone which will do this and much more (google maps, anyone) including voice based turn-by-turn navigation without the extra bulk of a PND.

I have both, Garmin PND and Smartphone. Smartphone (Nokia 5230 and N82) is not as accurate and fast as Garmin PND.

[sgiitk]

Just did a 1000km trip to Haryana & back. had taken the map from Google Maps. Advised me to take the KMP expressway from NH2. The highway is still under construction.

Also, had my SatNav in Garmin (maps from May 2009). Two major hiccups - i. was not aware of the completed Etawah byepass on NH2 (has been up for over a year). Signposting took care of it but for a small part it was showing me going cross country. ii. On SH71b in Haryana there is a chord from just before Taoru linking back to the highway before Sohna. This again not on the maps. Looking at the lay of the land we asked a local and took it with no sweat.

These in my view are far less serious that Google trying to send me on a non-existent road.

[shankar.balan]

my Garmin Nuvi 205W loaded with MMI v5 maps works just fine all over the place.
it is easy because it is mounted on the windscreen, has a large screen and a loud enough voice guidance system and good quality 3D map resolution. Very easy to use while driving.

even in the slightly quieter, less known bits of the nilgiris it had info. plus it is certainly faster than trying to achieve the same thing with a smart phone.

I had the N82 and the maps function on it was quite slow. I now use an N8 which is faster than the N82 but still not as fast as the Garmin.

My belief is that if you are driving and needing a Sat Nav it is better to invest in and have a proper dedicated Sat Nav machine rather than fiddle with the smart phone applications, unless of course you have a competent navigator with you who doesnt mind investing the time.

[jassi]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

These in my view are far less serious that Google trying to send me on a non-existent road.

agreed. i would not rely on google maps for outside city driving in India. I did use google for my bangalore to pune drive but then thats not a very complicated trip Quite contrary i found google to be really accurate in places outside India - have used it extensively in US and Aussie and now with the offline feature, its just perfect

@Shankar.balan - to your point, smartphones especially android, will be way faster now and require very little offline storage, as google introduced vector 3d maps, which is just using mathematical calculations to generate 3d map tiles vs actual stored tiles. The dual core processors, fast graphics processors and large screens on upcoming android smartphones and tablets, make them a perfect replacement for any dedicated satnav device. Note though that my comment on google maps being not so accurate for india still stands.

[Neilguy]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

I had the N82 and the maps function on it was quite slow. I now use an N8 which is faster than the N82 but still not as fast as the Garmin.

Originally Posted by NetfreakBombay

I have both, Garmin PND and Smartphone. Smartphone (Nokia 5230 and N82) is not as accurate and fast as Garmin PND.

I think you guys should move away from Nokias and check out navigation on some Androids, BlackBerrys or iPhones! I have used BB and iPhone on many occasions for navigation, and I found it more intuitive, accurate and easier to use than any PND.

[shankar.balan]

I vastly prefer using a dedicated sat nav while driving.
and prefer Nokia mainly on account of its point and shoot camera capabilities.

Originally Posted by Neilguy

I think you guys should move away from Nokias and check out navigation on some Androids, BlackBerrys or iPhones! I have used BB and iPhone on many occasions for navigation, and I found it more intuitive, accurate and easier to use than any PND.

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by Neilguy

Pardon me for asking, but don't you have a smartphone which will do this and much more (google maps, anyone) including voice based turn-by-turn navigation without the extra bulk of a PND.

Good question, but to the wrong guy ! I don't own a smart phone yet.

Others have already responded to your question. Further to what they've said, one also gets to keep trip logs on a dedicated device, apart from voice-guides. One also gets to know the speed of travel, distance to destination, direction of travel, total distance covered, etc using a dedicated device.

[jassi]

Originally Posted by vnabhi

Others have already responded to your question. Further to what they've said, one also gets to keep trip logs on a dedicated device, apart from voice-guides. One also gets to know the speed of travel, distance to destination, direction of travel, total distance covered, etc using a dedicated device.

you can easily get all of this on a smartphone - and by smartphone i mean a google android device
i think the lines are blurring between dedicated satnav vs gps smartphone and google mobile maps 5.0 which brings in offline maps/navigation and 3d vector maps on android devices has changed a lot. Even though 3d maps are not yet possible for india, vector maps itself is a major jump.
I think i have mentioned all this before multiple times on this thread.

maybe its time for this thread to be renamed to "The GPS/Maps Discussion Thread (Dedicated Satnav, Smartphones, Tablets, etc)"

[MX6]

@jassi.
I'd like to keep my phone small and my PND big. Hence settled for a Xperia mini pro and a Garmin 265WT.

Also, when I drive in to areas where there's absolutely no network, google maps won't load as gprs is not available. That's when a dedicated PND is very handy. Is there any way one can access google maps in smartphone without gprs/ 3g?

Last couple of trips in karnataka, I found that latitude was showing me still in Maharashtra when I crossed over to Karnataka. GPRS on roaming had me baffled about location on a map. It happened to HVK as well. He was stranded in the middle of NH7 for over 26 hours as per latitude in Bangalore when he was actually a couple of 100 kms away.
Finally I also read somewhere that Capacitive screens have a shorter life. So why keep the maps showing on the screen for very long drives and reduce the life of the phone screen, virtually reducing the life of the phone?

[jassi]

Originally Posted by MX6

@jassi.
I'd like to keep my phone small and my PND big. Hence settled for a Xperia mini pro and a Garmin 265WT.

Also, when I drive in to areas where there's absolutely no network, google maps won't load as gprs is not available. That's when a dedicated PND is very handy. Is there any way one can access google maps in smartphone without gprs/ 3g?

Last couple of trips in karnataka, I found that latitude was showing me still in Maharashtra when I crossed over to Karnataka. GPRS on roaming had me baffled about location on a map. It happened to HVK as well. He was stranded in the middle of NH7 for over 26 hours as per latitude in Bangalore when he was actually a couple of 100 kms away.
Finally I also read somewhere that Capacitive screens have a shorter life. So why keep the maps showing on the screen for very long drives and reduce the life of the phone screen, virtually reducing the life of the phone?

yes google mobile maps 5.0 has offline capability and as per my understanding it does not need to store the entire map tiles as it uses vector mapping which is basically math formulas to calculate the tiles, hence needs very less space.
As far as latitude, that updates your status using data connection, so yeah that won't work with offline maps. When it sees a data signal it should update your status online.

Agreed on some people's preference for very basic phones - i am more on the side of '1 device does everything' - don't like carry separate phone, camera, email device, gps device, etc etc.
As for the capacitive screens, they are defacto in all phones and tablets these days and used extensively for maps - so i doubt if they have any issues. Infact soon garmin and others may incorporate capacitive screens (amoled or s-amoled) as they are better touch screens (sure sun visibility has to be worked on)

Mods - thanks for changing the thread name

[PlaneMad]

For those not rich enough to buy pnd's, there are always free alternatives

Offline gps maps on your java phone using openstreetmap - IndiaMike.com