[adroit_91]

Originally Posted by adimicra

I see that many people are using their smartphones for GPS navigation.
Where do you fix your mobile? Dhasboard/windscreen?
Is there a good mount available for the same? Please suggest!

Looking for the same! I plan to mount my iPhone 4 in my Jazz. Still not sure where should I put it up!

[Nicky]

Originally Posted by adroit_91

Looking for the same! I plan to mount my iPhone 4 in my Jazz. Still not sure where should I put it up!

I mount my Iphone4 on windscreen, right side of steering wheel (Vento). really comfortable place and no hindrance to road view.
using Sygic mapmyindia navigation maps in iphone.
here is one i bought:
Capdase Car Mount Holder Racer for iPhone & iPod Series / Smart Phones / Mobiles | eBay

[adroit_91]

Originally Posted by Nicky

I mount my Iphone4 on windscreen, right side of steering wheel (Vento). really comfortable place and no hindrance to road view.

Thanks Nicky! Even I would want to place it there, specially because the oncoming traffic would also be on the same side of my view, but the problem with this is that there are too many "uthaai-gire" (cannot think of any word close to this in English right now, but people who pick your stuff and run) on Bangalore's roads (per news articles and tbhp forum posts), so my phone may not be safe there! :(

[born_free]

My Android phone is not fast enough to use sygic app, had tried it once, though liked the interface and navigation. The voice clarity was good and you could navigate easily without even looking at screen.

I had also tried brute maps to enable Google navigation, but the voice guidance was poor since it relied on internet for text to speech conversion. This can have delays if the connection is lost.

So I am now looking for dedicated navigation system, MMI maps looks great and has most detailed maps. The problem with MMI is their upgrade policy and inferior hardware.

Now since Garrmin has also launched, their PND based on Navteq maps, with free life time upgrades I am now inclined to get one of these.

Garmin models NUVI 40LM and 50LM are value for money and can give MMI run for their money.

There are two minor issues though with Garmin.
(1) They are not readily available in Gurgaon, and not available online too.
(2) Since they are not supplying USB cables, how I am supposed to update the maps?. I would have to purchase the cable independently. The cost of this cable would decide whether I get gamin or not.

Can some one help me on availability of Garmin 40LM in NCR preferably in Gurgaon and cost of USB cable.

[sgiitk]

Originally Posted by born_free

There are two minor issues though with Garmin.
(1) They are not readily available in Gurgaon, and not available online too.
(2) Since they are not supplying USB cables, how I am supposed to update the maps?. I would have to purchase the cable independently. The cost of this cable would decide whether I get gamin or not.

Can some one help me on availability of Garmin 40LM in NCR preferably in Gurgaon and cost of USB cable.

They have a distributor in Delhi who can courier it to you. They are at info@autoconnections.in. I was referred to them by Garmin India. At least my 2465LM came with a USB cable. So no issues there either. The newer ones use a standard uUSB connector (as used by Samsung and htc phones) so it is easily available. The connector for the cigarette lighter is the older one (as was with Blackberry phones, as in my 8330 - Curve). On the 40LM from the picture it does not seem to be the case, so you have have to check. Mr Himanshu at autoconnections should be able to help you.

[adimicra]

Originally Posted by Nicky

I mount my Iphone4 on windscreen, right side of steering wheel (Vento). really comfortable place and no hindrance to road view.
using Sygic mapmyindia navigation maps in iphone.
here is one i bought:
Capdase Car Mount Holder Racer for iPhone & iPod Series / Smart Phones / Mobiles | eBay

Originally Posted by adroit_91

Thanks Nicky! Even I would want to place it there, specially because the oncoming traffic would also be on the same side of my view, but the problem with this is that there are too many "uthaai-gire" (cannot think of any word close to this in English right now, but people who pick your stuff and run) on Bangalore's roads (per news articles and tbhp forum posts), so my phone may not be safe there! :(

Thanks for the link.
It is available on flipkart as well... I have almost decided to go for it.

One question I have -
GPS really eats up the batteries ..so a car charger is essential for long drives.
If you place on the right side of the steering wheel, won't you need a charger cable long enough to connect? Is that available?
Even if it is available, won't it be cumbersome to take it all the way from the 12V socket to this place?
My current Nokia car charger is not long enough for that. So, I was thinking if it will be a good idea to mount it just below the RVM.
What do you guys think?

[adroit_91]

Originally Posted by adimicra

One question I have -
GPS really eats up the batteries ..so a car charger is essential for long drives.
If you place on the right side of the steering wheel, won't you need a charger cable long enough to connect? Is that available?
Even if it is available, won't it be cumbersome to take it all the way from the 12V socket to this place?
My current Nokia car charger is not long enough for that. So, I was thinking if it will be a good idea to mount it just below the RVM.
What do you guys think?

Good question! Not just the cable length, but would the connector be available on the phone to connect the cable (a wide Apple iPhone connection in my case)? Could you provide a picture for reference from your setup?

[Nicky]

Originally Posted by adimicra

Thanks for the link.
It is available on flipkart as well... I have almost decided to go for it.

One question I have -
If you place on the right side of the steering wheel, won't you need a charger cable long enough to connect? Is that available?
GPS really eats up the batteries ..so a car charger is essential for long drives. What do you guys think?

i bought 2 types (Belkin one is socket with USB port + normal iphone cable & another one is typical with spiral kind of cable) of iphone 4 car charger and both were of more than sufficient length.
I just route it from upper side of the steering wheel and it's done. no inconvenience caused in driving whatsoever.

[ynot]

born_free, i had a garmin and faced the same predicament when registering my device. fortunately the USB cable required is the same that external HDDs use, and so i didn't have a problem anymore.

you can get the cable at any computer shop in case u need to buy one

[born_free]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

They have a distributor in Delhi who can courier it to you. They are at info@autoconnections.in. I was referred to them by Garmin India. At least my 2465LM came with a USB cable. So no issues there either. The newer ones use a standard uUSB connector (as used by Samsung and htc phones) so it is easily available.

Thanks, will try to contact the distributor. Rewarding connector, I guess you are taking about Micro USB cable, if that the case then I am good to go as I alreday have that came with Samsung Android phone.

Originally Posted by ynot

fortunately the USB cable required is the same that external HDDs use, and so i didn't have a problem anymore.

SGIITK talked about something similar to Micro USB cable, that is being used in latest Garmin devices. What model are you using?.
Even if cable is same as what you are saying, then also it should be fine as I also own two seagate portable USB HDD. Would that work?

[ynot]

SGIITK talked about something similar to Micro USB cable, that is being used in latest Garmin devices. What model are you using?.
Even if cable is same as what you are saying, then also it should be fine as I also own two seagate portable USB HDD. Would that work?[/quote]

It is the micro USB at the garmin connection end. I owned the Garmin Nuvi 2200
(bought in south africa) and was using the cable from the transcend & seagate (both are the same type of cable, except for the length) to connect it to my laptop.

[S_U_N]

Originally Posted by born_free

My Android phone is not fast enough to use sygic app, had tried it once, though liked the interface and navigation. The voice clarity was good and you could navigate easily without even looking at screen.

Which phone? What is the CPU speed? If it is 600 MHz, then overclocking it to 800 MHz can do the trick?
Also, there are settings in Sygic app where you can tweak power management options (e.g. best performance even on battery, instead of optimized or balanced - sorry, I don't remember the exact terms used there).

All in all, if you don't use maps too much, then you could still manage with the phone.

[sgiitk]

Originally Posted by born_free

Thanks, will try to contact the distributor. Rewarding connector, I guess you are taking about Micro USB cable, if that the case then I am good to go as I alreday have that came with Samsung Android phone.

Yes, it is the same. I am not too sure it is kosher for the cheaper units. The pics on TBHP (I think another thread) looked a bit suspicious to me.

The distributor will be able to help you. One reason I may avoid Flipkart etc. I saw an advt on eBay about LM models. I wrote to the guy to confirm that they were India specific models (LM is only for the country of for which the unit is intended). No reply, and a couple of days later the listing vanished.

They were pretty prompt, it was dispatched the same day as the bank transfer was made. So please check with them and then order.

There was a question about battery life. The newer(and thinner)ones have batteries which last for 1-1/2 hours or so. So a connection to the lighter is a must. There is a cigarette lighter adapter included with the unit.There are two cables - one USB and one power.Of course you can charge through the USB as well. In fact I sometimes use my mobile charger (Samsung which I now use for htc) to charge it.

[born_free]

Originally Posted by S_U_N

Which phone? What is the CPU speed? If it is 600 MHz, then overclocking it to 800 MHz can do the trick?

Its Samsung galaxy Spica with 800 Mhz processor, even if CPU is good enough, the memory is so low that Sygic app will itself eat away half of available memory. This would still make it slow.

Moreover, the GPS sometimes takes forever to lock, have suffered once because of this

Originally Posted by sgiitk

Yes, it is the same. I am not too sure it is kosher for the cheaper units. The pics on TBHP (I think another thread) looked a bit suspicious to me.
Thanks a lot for detailed advice, much appreciated.

[adimicra]

Originally Posted by Nicky

i bought 2 types (Belkin one is socket with USB port + normal iphone cable & another one is typical with spiral kind of cable) of iphone 4 car charger and both were of more than sufficient length.
I just route it from upper side of the steering wheel and it's done. no inconvenience caused in driving whatsoever.

The belkin one is ruled out for me...the cable which came with the phone charger is too short. Also, the 12V socket in Jazz is located quite low which adds to the problem.
I will probably go for a spiral micro-usb one.. let me have a look at some shops and see. It's difficult to understand these stuff on the internet.