[sgiitk]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

My son bought a City AVN last July. To his surprise when he wanted to update his MMI maps the device was not registered on the MMI database. He is stuck, he has contacted Honda but so far no joy. Most likely it is a Caska unit.

Honda asked him to contact the nearest Honda delaer which is Pearl in Gurgaon in his case. The lacal dealer had a lady call, stating that they got the MMI uSD from the local MMI outlet, and basically asked him to sort of the matter. I advised him to mail/call Honda the Kanpur GM that it is your baby and not mine, so you have to fix it.

[antariksh]

Originally Posted by R_R

Any additional comments, now that you've had it a couple of weeks? Are you liking it or are there any issues with it?

R_R

I will be making a review soon.
Initial observations are,
Pros:
1. MMI GPS is good guides you properly.
2. Fitment with Dash is good. No unnecessary gaps here.
3. You can enjoy music as well as navigation at a time.

Cons:
1. Touchscreen is a bit clumsy.It takes some time to get used to.
2. Navigation volume is low. So if you are someone who likes to listen music at low volume, you might not understand the turn-by-turn directions. As like in my case i like to listen to music/radio at mail volume set at 12-13 but at that level, navigation volume is low.
3. I could not find a Connector which would connect vehicle AUX to the System AUX. Hunting for the same as i don't want to void the vehicle warranty here.

I think better than mapmyindia, I should have bought Witson W2-9009 Android system at 390$ including shipping. and then get sygic for android for free.

[R_R]

Originally Posted by antariksh

I will be making a review soon.
Initial observations are,
Pros:
1. MMI GPS is good guides you properly.
2. Fitment with Dash is good. No unnecessary gaps here.
3. You can enjoy music as well as navigation at a time.


I think better than mapmyindia, I should have bought Witson W2-9009 Android system at 390$ including shipping. and then get sygic for android for free.

Thanks. Very useful.

Hmmm. . . . Buying directly from a Chinese source . . . a bit risky, no? Of course, the MMI device is also sourced from China!! But still, I would think MMI is slightly safer.

Also, does the MMI device come with any warranty, perchance?

R_R

[antariksh]

Originally Posted by R_R

Thanks. Very useful.

Hmmm. . . . Buying directly from a Chinese source . . . a bit risky, no? Of course, the MMI device is also sourced from China!! But still, I would think MMI is slightly safer.

Also, does the MMI device come with any warranty, perchance?

R_R

sir,

MMI device comes with a 1 year warranty.
But, looking at the device and after talking to the support guys, i don't think they have a facility to repair the device. I don't know how are they going to handle the support.
MMI is buying from a company called Schezhen Roadrover Technology,China.

I still think Buying directly from witson would be a better idea. If i find a buyer for my current mapmyindia system, i would definitely buy the witson one.

-Antariksh

[ZedMae]

Need some advise: Planning to get a used Garmin Nuvi 1350 and get it through a friend coming from the US. It is a 2009 model.
Wanted to know -
1. How durable are these devices in general. Is 5 years a significant period in the lifecycle of these products. Though it may ultimately boil down to how one has used it, still would like to get a rough idea.
2. I am guessing that the battery might be in its last stages. How easy is it to get a replacement battery here in India and what would be the ball park cost of the same.

cheers

[ampere]

Originally Posted by ZedMae

Need some advise: Planning to get a used Garmin Nuvi 1350 and get it through a friend coming from the US. It is a 2009 model.
Wanted to know -

5 Years = Jurassic!

I would say move on to a 24XX series to begin with.

[ZedMae]

Originally Posted by ampere

5 Years = Jurassic!

I would say move on to a 24XX series to begin with.

Hi ampere, Appreciate your reply. But would like to know the reason behind your statement. Is it because of added features in the 24xx or is it because the 5 year old device might be at the end of its functional life.

I am not keen on lot of features, just want a basic device which can serve the purpose of navigation.
Moreover I am on a budget. Hence the reason to go for an used one.

cheers

[ampere]

Originally Posted by ZedMae

Hi ampere, Appreciate your reply. But would like to know the reason behind your statement. Is it because of added features in the 24xx or is it because the 5 year old device might be at the end of its functional life.

Only reason I suggested to move to 24XX is because, you get routes and trip planner. If you want to take the effort and make it work, it would be a great value add. If not, then you can look at the 4X or 5X series.

I bought a 205W 5 years. Its still solid. From that point of view no issues.

[ZedMae]

Originally Posted by ampere

Only reason I suggested to move to 24XX is because, you get routes and trip planner. ----

I bought a 205W 5 years. Its still solid. From that point of view no issues.

Thanks for the inputs. Will probably expand my search to the 4x and 5x series.

[R_R]

Bought myself an MMI in-dash navigation system for my Grand Vitara. It looks good. Just a couple of days now, so can't yet give a full review but so far I like it. Makes the dashboard look much neater, to begin with. A few before and after photos below. I had to place the rear-view camera on the number plate because of the tyre on the back door.

[sgiitk]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

Honda asked him to contact the nearest Honda delaer which is Pearl in Gurgaon in his case. The local dealer had a lady call, stating that they got the MMI uSD from the local MMI outlet, and basically asked him to sort of the matter. I advised him to mail/call Honda the Kanpur GM that it is your baby and not mine, so you have to fix it.

Yesterday, he talked to some chap in Pearl Honda. He asked for the details and is escalating to the top incl Honda. Also, some interesting information, the new City is also using Caska. Further MMI have not yet refunded the money and are trying to get him the updates. So let us see.

Their Amaze (used by his wife) goes in for the three month service today, so he will again get a chance to interact with Pearl.

[sgiitk]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

My son bought a City AVN last July. To his surprise when he wanted to update his MMI maps the device was not registered on the MMI database. He uis tuck, he has contacted Honda but so far no joy. Most likely it is a Caska unit.

Finally fixed. The local dealer here (Pushp Honda) who sold us the car was (and still is) giving a run around. Pearl Honda, Gurgaon (where the car is) were nice and helpful, they took it up with Honda and Caska. He got a call from Caska, and also the update DVD from MMI. Confirmed that Caska is standard on Honda cars for Multifunction screens..

[DerAlte]

Of late, I have been finding locations by searching on Google Maps extremely irritating. Google Maps is trying to be so helpful that it seems to be tying it's shoelaces together and running - with obvious results. One feels one is carrying a small baby. If you don't know, small accidents can happen when doing so - milk reflux, supersonic snot from a sneeze, and other such ...

* One problem seems to be primarily because Google database doesn't like GPS coordinates for defining start / end points.

Whenever one gives GPS coordinates, it immediately searches for the nearest address(es) / POI(s) in it's database that are in the general vicinity of that geolocation! The results are sometimes in the vicinity - which you may or may not know, and sometimes ludicrously unrelated to what you wanted - which again you may or may not know. If you are looking at that area for the first time, and know nothing about the vicinity, you will be stumped - stranded far away from your crease by a googly bowled wide by Google!

Why give GPS coordinates? Well, in some situations, one is trying to reach a destination with no road names, but visual clues and "take 1st left then 3rd right" type of guidance. One can easily find out the place by looking at the map, and then find the GPS coordinate of that location by selecting "What's here". Today, I had to go to a place for which the instructions given to me were "Come to the MEG Centre main gate, take the small lane beside it, turn left at the dead end, and the place is near the dead end on that road"! Found the place on the laptop, noted the GPS coordinates, entered the same on the Google Maps mobile app - and it took me ... to the other side of a cemetry about a Km away. Didn't find no "MEG Centre main gate", so had to revert to PGPS (thank God I am in India).

* Another problem is procedures and quality control, or rather complete lack of it, on the Google Address / PoI data base. About an year back, I had complained to Google about my home location being incorrectly marked (X Main, Y Cross, Z Layout, ABC Colony, Bangalore). It took them 4-5 months to actually implement the correction. Good, so now I specified my Home location in my Google Maps profile as a GPS coordinate. Used to show up with a Home icon on the map whenever that area was visible. Now it shows up as a yellow star - like any other saved entry against my profile. Buttttt ... one just can't do anything with that anymore with these yellow stars. Google Maps changed!!!

- If one right-clicks on the star and Selects "Directions" (to / from), it very authoratively uses the only the street name - which is marked a Km away approximately on the map!

- I tried to Edit the profile location for Home (not a straightforward intuitive operation), it recognized my previously entered Home location (which was absolutely correct after the change last year) - and promptly showed it at a completely location some 2.5Km away! WHAT? HOW? WHY? Simple error by Google: X Main, Y Cross, Z Layout, ABC Colony, Bangalore had become X Main, Y Cross, DEF Layout, ABC Colony, Bangalore! Whaaaaat? Just because DEF Society in ABC Colony ALSO HAS an X Main, Y Cross like Z Layout has? Goodness gracious!

* I used to think the howlers, that exist in Garmin, MMI and other databases, are not present in Google database. I was wrong, and how! I search for Kalahalli, it shows me Kallahalli as it doesn't find Kalahalli anywhere. These two places are about 12 Km from each other. Based on other clues, I zoomed at the approximate area I should be looking at. Lo and behold - Kalahalli shows up at one zoom level. Quite prominently and unmistakeably Kalahalli, not Kallahalli. But no, it is not present in their address database. The map shows a road marked Kalahalli Road (bang in the middle of Kalahalli) - which appears in search result when I search for "Kalahalli Road". Eh? Funny, so "Kalahalli, Bangalore" is not searchable, but "Kalahalli Road" is???

I don't know what to trust any more. Hail PGPS - the only almost-guaranteed-to-work system in India.

[sgiitk]

Got a mail from Garmin today. Map upgrade 2014.20 has been released and is available.

[sgiitk]

Updated the maps on my 2465 to 2012.20. The operation is now smooth and correct, as compared to the mess it was earlier. Only Firefox ws blocking so I used Chrome. The download is 862MB, and the img file is 1.3GB. Now for the 2465 and 2565 the installation is on the uSD card. I have a 2GB card and had the MMI maps there is well. This was removed by the Install, and not enough space is left. I may get an 8GB card (maximum supported) and then move the filed across. I guess the license is based on the Device No. and should not have any issues in the port.

One very pleasant experience - my Tata Photon Plus got the file in one shot (was unsuccessful last evening). I started at about 4:445am and too about 1:15 in all.