[Thad E Ginathom]

Retail outlets... I have seen GPS units on sale at Odyssey in Adyar and at Haut Car Zone. I can't say for sure what makes or systems: I don't dare spend too long looking, in case I find myself with bank card in hand!

[roadracer]

Originally Posted by ampere

Can you get your hands on Garmin device from Amazon and get some one to carry it for you? If yes, that is the best!

By the way today I saw MMI and Satguide devices being sold at Landmark in Bangalore. You can call them up in Chennai and ask.

But how do we load the India maps onto it? I believe that the Garmin devices,that we get from Amazon, would come pre-loaded with US/UK/Europe maps based on where you buy it?

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by roadracer

But how do we load the India maps onto it? I believe that the Garmin devices,that we get from Amazon, would come pre-loaded with US/UK/Europe maps based on where you buy it?

I did precisely that! I got a unit over. Registered it at the Garmin site. Bought the india map online from garmin and downloaded directly. Initial impressions.

Bangalore Map is a bit confusing - 5 different maps for Bangalore, not all complete. Road names are screwed up.

However, I used it for Delhi to Agra and back to Delhi airport and it worked well

[aks_karthik]

Originally Posted by mail4ajo

I am planning to get a GPS unit from MMI. Is the TravelPilot Lucca a good choice over the Road Pilot which looks basic and is smaller? Price difference is 2K, but comes with larger screen and some fancy music and pics options. Is 2K additional, worth it?

Hope the maps will be identical.

Yesterday i went to Xenos to check MMI Navi.
Personally i checked Road Pilot(3.5'') and Vx140(4.3''),Vx240(4.3'') and Zx150(5'')
Raod Pilot is very small compared to Vx140.some of the map are not visible.
I chose a same POI in both Navi's and vx140 has more visibility than Road pilot being a 3.5'' and not a wide screen.
Any navigator having wide screen is more suitable for the purpose why we buy it.

VX240 is now come with 800+ cities map and Win CE6.0 and SIRF4 and a new Interface.

[roadracer]

Originally Posted by ajmat

I did precisely that! I got a unit over. Registered it at the Garmin site. Bought the india map online from garmin and downloaded directly. Initial impressions.

Bangalore Map is a bit confusing - 5 different maps for Bangalore, not all complete. Road names are screwed up.

However, I used it for Delhi to Agra and back to Delhi airport and it worked well

@ajmat, If I understand it correctly, what you are saying is that we can get the Garmin device from somebody in US/UK. And then download the India map after registering the device in the Garmin website.

One thing which I understand is that if we get MMI device, we will be locked into MMI and cannot use any other maps. But what about Garmin? Can we upload any other maps(say MMI) to a Garmin device.

[vasoo]

Originally Posted by roadracer

@ajmat, If I understand it correctly, what you are saying is that we can get the Garmin device from somebody in US/UK. And then download the India map after registering the device in the Garmin website.

One thing which I understand is that if we get MMI device, we will be locked into MMI and cannot use any other maps. But what about Garmin? Can we upload any other maps(say MMI) to a Garmin device.

I also bought the Garmin India maps online for my Nuvi 260WT device bought from US. The problem as ajmat said, is that the Garmin India maps are too basic. It is almost unusable in south India. Was a complete waste of money for me. I think it costs somewhere around US$80, if I remember correctly. I purchased Satguide maps in addition to that and found them far better value at Rs990. You can also purchase MMI maps, even though it is much more expensive.

[ruchirtnt]

i would request you to check with satguide as well, havent used them but in my opinion, they are more VFM rather than MMI, personal opinion though

[Twiny]

Originally Posted by vasoo

The problem as ajmat said, is that the Garmin India maps are too basic. It is almost unusable in south India. Was a complete waste of money for me.

So the MMI maps for garmin are different from the maps that comes with MMI navigators(Road Pilot, VX140, ZX150..etc) ?

Is anybody have comparisons of (Garmin vs MMI navigators) there performance wrt route recalculation/time for hooking onto satellite..etc

[vasoo]

Originally Posted by Twiny

So the MMI maps for garmin are different from the maps that comes with MMI navigators(VX14, ZX150..etc) ?

Content must be the same. File formats may be different.

Edit: I think there is a confusion here. Garmin India maps are different from MMI which is again different from Satguide. Both MMI and Satguide offers maps for Garmin devices. If you want to buy MMI maps, it is better to buy it along with an MMI device which is more VFM than buying A Garmin device and then buying MMI maps separately. The best VFM GPS option however is to get a Germin device from US and then buy Satguide Garmin map from India.

[speedsatya]

Originally Posted by aks_karthik

Raod Pilot is very small compared to Vx140.some of the map are not visible.
I chose a same POI in both Navi's and vx140 has more visibility than Road pilot being a 3.5'' and not a wide screen.
Any navigator having wide screen is more suitable for the purpose why we buy it.

I too had the same concerns abt the RoadPilot ,but then I wanted something that wasnt too flashy with only navigation as my purpose of buying it.I decided to take a risk and bought the RoadPilot .

I would say ,the maps are more than accurate and the RP is just superb.

Its been a well spent 8k .

[roadracer]

Originally Posted by vasoo

I also bought the Garmin India maps online for my Nuvi 260WT device bought from US. The problem as ajmat said, is that the Garmin India maps are too basic. It is almost unusable in south India. Was a complete waste of money for me. I think it costs somewhere around US$80, if I remember correctly. I purchased Satguide maps in addition to that and found them far better value at Rs990. You can also purchase MMI maps, even though it is much more expensive.

MMI maps for Garmin is way too expensive. It' about INR 7000.00 and I have heard that MMI maps are much better than Satguide maps. I am inclined towards Road-Pilot. I don't need functionalities(read GPS,Audio/Video) other the navigation functionality.

[roadracer]

Originally Posted by roadracer

MMI maps for Garmin is way too expensive. It' about INR 7000.00 and I have heard that MMI maps are much better than Satguide maps. I am inclined towards Road-Pilot. I don't need functionalities(read GPS,Audio/Video) other the navigation functionality.

On the other hand, the Garmin seems to be a much better device. If I get a Garmin 255W or 265W, I have to get the maps from Satguide.

Any recommendation on the above two?

[sgiitk]

With Garmin you get the maps on a SD Card (or micro SD card, if so desired). Plug it in and off you go. Garmin maps are available from almost all vendors.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by aks_karthik

Any navigator having wide screen is more suitable for the purpose why we buy it.

Is it? I feel that what is ahead is more important than what is to left/right, and that a vertical format screen would be best for navigation. This is how I use my phone when using the Nokia Maps. Of course, navigation manufacturers haven't thought of this --- or maybe I'm the only one to think so!

[aks_karthik]

Originally Posted by speedsatya

I too had the same concerns abt the RoadPilot ,but then I wanted something that wasnt too flashy with only navigation as my purpose of buying it.I decided to take a risk and bought the RoadPilot .

I would say ,the maps are more than accurate and the RP is just superb.

Its been a well spent 8k .

I first planned to buy zx150 as family members used to watch movies while long drives.it has FM transmitter too so they can enjoy hearing sound from the car speakers once you use tuner to play the FM transmitted datas.
But the display is not as good as i wanted.

I have seen a Philips Portable DVD player
Philips - Portable DVD Player PET727/94 - Portable DVD players - Blu-ray and DVD - Sound and vision
so i decided to buy for entertainment and for navigation i planned to by Road pilot.
But now i am little confused on choosing Vx140 or Roadpilot