[ampere]

Originally Posted by dezrskb

Thanks ampere for the suggestion!
I wanted opinion on the navigation unit. Regarding maps as you said I think MMI is my choice. Now if Garmin's hardware unit is decisively better than MMI's own navigation units, then I thought I would go for a Garmin unit and install MMI maps in that (but this will turn out more expensive I guess).
So now browsing through MMI website to choose a device.
Thanks again

Anyday Garmin is better. MMI devices are the Chinese OEM ones.
A good 4 inch Garmin is very good device to have.

[dezrskb]

Originally Posted by ampere

Anyday Garmin is better.
A good 4 inch Garmin is very good device to have.

Thanks ampere for opinion
Will go for Garmin Nuvi LM50 which costs about 9.5K in total (dont want other bells and whistles). Has lifetime free maps. May be I will purchase MMI maps later. Some more doubts -
1. What is the expected life of these devices?
2. As they say, is it necessary to remove them from the vehicle when you leave your car in sunlight? Car gets quite hot even in south India here too. Wherever I put it in a hot car, battery is going to suffer I suppose. May be a small box made of thermocol and put in the storage below the driver armrest will keep it slightly cooler.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by dezrskb

Thanks ampere for opinion
Will go for Garmin Nuvi LM50 which costs about 9.5K in total (dont want other bells and whistles). Has lifetime free maps. May be I will purchase MMI maps later. Some more doubts -
1. What is the expected life of these devices?

I have a Nuvi 205W which is now running for almost 4-5 years.

2. As they say, is it necessary to remove them from the vehicle when you leave your car in sunlight? Car gets quite hot even in south India here too. Wherever I put it in a hot car, battery is going to suffer I suppose. May be a small box made of thermocol and put in the storage below the driver armrest will keep it slightly cooler.

Its more important to remove it from a theft point of view I guess! I got a stand alone mount ( amazon link).
And this mount is placed on the dash. (I have a flat dash region in the car, where I can keep it) When ever I need, I can mount the GPS device there.
When leaving the car, I take the device out, keep it in a pouch and walk along with it. The mount stays on the dash. The power cable lies in the glove box.

[dezrskb]

Originally Posted by ampere

Its more important to remove it from a theft point of view I guess! I got a stand alone mount ( amazon link).
And this mount is placed on the dash.

But is the GPS theft common in India? I don't think even 15% of car owners use GPS in first place and probably a secondhand market is not very huge for these. But while browsing for the various GPS units and mounts, I see that most of the US users appear to be concerned with the theft in the first place as you have mentioned rather than battery degradation in a hot car!!

Well, I thought I would accumulate all the gadgets I need for my Skoda Laura. I have bought a Garmin Nuvi LM50 online (will reach me in 2days) and also a Garmin dashboard friction mount (one which seems to be having 4 legs). Now only thing that remains to be done is going on a long drive to unknown place so that I can test my GPS !!

[ampere]

Originally Posted by dezrskb

But is the GPS theft common in India? I don't think even 15% of car owners use GPS in first place and probably a secondhand market is not very huge for these. But while browsing for the various GPS units and mounts, I see that most of the US users appear to be concerned with the theft in the first place as you have mentioned rather than battery degradation in a hot car!!

I would not say GPS theft explicitly, but of any gadget which is visible from outside!
In fact I am more worried about the glass that would be broken to steal the gadget.
We would be paying much more for that glass!

Just to be safe, I just make sure, there is nothing visible from outside !

[vharihar]

I have a SX4. I also have a Garmin Nuvi 1300 GPS. 4 mths ago, I bought maps on a SD card from mapmyindia.com. I was looking for a good way to mount my Garmin in my SX4. My parameters were:
1) I didnt want to mount it in a way that is very obviously visible from outside. Theft/glass-breakage concern.
2) At the same time, I dont want to be overburdened with carrying it on my person or hiding in glove box every time I parked my car and went out. Thus, I had to strike a balance bween #1 and #2.
3) Must be easily removable and reinstallable so that when giving car for service, it can by removed.
4) As regards mounting location: I can afford to look slightly away (ie. away from dirn of driving) to look occasionally at GPS (most often, voice dirns are good enough; only occasionally one needs to actually look).

I finally found what I think fits these: I bought the "Bracketron UCH-101-BL". Its a cupholder mount. Pretty nice. Its got raving reviews on amazon.com. See http://www.amazon.com/Bracketron-UCH...rip-iT+for+GPS
The only downside is that my GPS is a 4.3" wide. So then the grip is not as strong as it should be. But it'll pass. I have it mounted in my cup holder. Took 10 minutes max, no tools needed.
Now its not openly visible by some outsider unless he comes close to within 3 feet of the car and peers inside. I am hoping this is safe enough. Or can anyone suggest any more ideas to hide it? Put a cloth over it perhaps?

[LithiumSunset]

I too would wholeheartedly recommend the Bracketron. I homed in on it after looking at several options. I use it for my htc sensation and find it a perfect solution for my SX4's front cup holder. Away from prying eyes and within easy reach for that call that I make or take. Is it available in India? I got mine from the US.

[NetfreakBombay]

Finally I saw phones that are better than dedicated SatNav PNDs.

Testing Galaxy S3 and iPhone 5. Both beat Garmin PNDs in terms of fast lock ins. This is in absence of any network (WiFi or cellular).

From inside my office, these phones are able to see and track 8 satellites through a window. Calculated accuracy is around 20 meters.

Garmin 3950 can only see 4.

[for_cars1]

Originally Posted by NetfreakBombay

Finally I saw phones that are better than dedicated SatNav PNDs.

Testing Galaxy S3 and iPhone 5. Both beat Garmin PNDs in terms of fast lock ins. This is in absence of any network (WiFi or cellular).

From inside my office, these phones are able to see and track 8 satellites through a window. Calculated accuracy is around 20 meters.

Garmin 3950 can only see 4.

Very True, the newer phones like Note and S3 come with Russian GNONASS satellite hardware receiver in addition to the usual American GPS receiver. So I regularly see these phones lock upto 17 Satellites and around 8 meter resolution/accuracy and with very fast Lock time (a few seconds).
So these phones are much better than the dedicated GPS devices.

[pjbiju]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

I have a GPS (Nuvi 2465LM) and had a 265WT (since May 2010) before that. My Dinc2 is also pretty good at navigation and GPS.
...

Hi sgiitk, since you are using Nuvi 2465LM, wanted to ask you the following:

1. Can a route have multiple way points i.e., travel from Pune to Bangalore and include a few additional way points/places in between?
2. Can a route be saved and used again?
3. Can it record an off-map route (like when going to an unmapped area) and then track the way back?
4. Does it allow exporting of routes/tracks to SD card and if so, in what format(s)?

I was planning to buy this one although I can use my phone for the same purpose. The issue with the phone is that I need to keep the phone connected to the battery outlet and the continuous use of GPS & charging makes it hot and the phone sometimes reboots. It is also a hassle if I have to attend calls in between.

[sgiitk]

1. I think it is possible.
2. Again I hear this can be done.
3. Why not? It may not give you much till you are back where it knows!!
4. No officially but has been done using the GMapTool etc. With this you can export the map to your PC, do the routing and then save the route on the SD card! So 1 & 2 the Gurus should know. I am a simple casual user.

[shankar.balan]

I have given away my Garmin Nuvi 215W to my Dad who is happily using it.

I want to buy a new GPS now which also has bluetooth so I can use my phone with it.

Which one do I buy?

This one will primarily be for India use. On holidays abroad I shall simply rent a GPS machine from the Car Rental fellows.

I also wish to buy a new Bluetooth headset. Is it worth it or should I simply buy that Bluetooth GPS machine?

I want a phone holder to stick the iPhone into when I am in the car. What sort of holder should I buy?

Lastly, is it possible to just substitute all this GPS stuff with my iPhone and its map app?

Inputs on this would be greatly appreciated.

[S_U_N]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

I have given away my Garmin Nuvi 215W to my Dad who is happily using it.

I want to buy a new GPS now which also has bluetooth so I can use my phone with it.

This one will primarily be for India use. On holidays abroad I shall simply rent a GPS machine from the Car Rental fellows.

I also wish to buy a new Bluetooth headset. Is it worth it or should I simply buy that Bluetooth GPS machine?

@Shankar.Balan: I would suggest have a look at Parrot Minikit + which is available around 6500-7000 INR in India for the hands free calling needs. It supports two mobiles concurrently (which I assume you have).

Note: This will be like a car speakerphone - so this is not good if you want privacy of calls (there is an option to turn off the speakerphone and continue talking via the handset as well).

That eliminates the need of bluetooth for your GPS.
I will leave the GPS part for other experts to reply.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by S_U_N

@Shankar.Balan: I would suggest have a look at Parrot Minikit + which is available around 6500-7000 INR in India for the hands free calling needs. It supports two mobiles concurrently (which I assume you have).

Note: This will be like a car speakerphone - so this is not good if you want privacy of calls (there is an option to turn off the speakerphone and continue talking via the handset as well).

That eliminates the need of bluetooth for your GPS.
I will leave the GPS part for other experts to reply.

Thanks. I have seen parrot but dont want to mount it using screws etc inside the vehicle. Would prefer a clip on type of unit like the jabra freeway or similar. But this is precisely why I want the two in one capability of gps and bluetooth.

[smsrini]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

I have given away my Garmin Nuvi 215W to my Dad who is happily using it.

I want to buy a new GPS now which also has bluetooth so I can use my phone with it.

Which one do I buy?

This one will primarily be for India use. On holidays abroad I shall simply rent a GPS machine from the Car Rental fellows.

I also wish to buy a new Bluetooth headset. Is it worth it or should I simply buy that Bluetooth GPS machine?

I want a phone holder to stick the iPhone into when I am in the car. What sort of holder should I buy?

Lastly, is it possible to just substitute all this GPS stuff with my iPhone and its map app?

Inputs on this would be greatly appreciated.

MapmyIndia seems to have some good options for GPS + Bluetooth speaker phone in their PNDs. They also have some good InDash 2DIN Units if you want to go that route.... which essentially will require you to change your current OEM HU in the Yeti.

for indash units, you may want to buy it outside India during any of your travels.

cheers!