[NetfreakBombay]

Called up Satguide last week. They quoted 2.1k.

There is some festival offer that brings down price by ~200 Rs for 2 weeks.

[dhir_d]

Siva,

How much you paid for the device?

Originally Posted by Siva

Recently got a Garmin Nuvi 215 with MapMyIndia maps pre-loaded. Used it for a weeklong out-of-state trip. It was truly a lifesaver. Saved a lot of unwanted stops for directions. The technology (GPS i.e.) is amazing, the device is great and the maps not bad at all.

Noteworthy points -


-Quick satellite fixes (in the order of few seconds)
-Intuitive Garmin user interface
-Huge list of pre-loaded POIs (almost all my hotels, tourist spots were included)


-Can do with more road coverage. e.g. some of the state highways & mountain routes in Tamilnadu were missing
-Coverage of new developments on NH routes like NS corridor needs improvement. e.g. some of the new bypasses are missing so it tries to take you through the old route through the town/city.
-More map detail i.e. road names, town/village names, nearby POIs would be useful

Would definitey recommend Garmin & MapMyIndia.

[SkyWalker]

I ordered Garmin nüvi 205W 4.3-Inch Widescreen from Amazon. Its priced well at 127$+free shipping (~6100Rs.)

Haven't decided on the map yet, still confused between MapMyIndia & SatNav. I got about a month to decide as i wont be getting the device immediately.

Feedback on which maps folks? This thread's somehow not seeing much action

[NetfreakBombay]

I would suggest that you go for maps from SatGuide. It costs 2k and now has coverage for 400 cities.

[SkyWalker]

thanks Netfreak. I called up SatGuide and they mentioned 2.1K for the maps with 1 update. Quarterly updates are priced at ~900. Sounds good, i will probably pick choose this one by next week.

Btw, anything else i need to think about while having this in the car?

[trrk]

Hi,

Originally Posted by SkyWalker

thanks Netfreak. I called up SatGuide and they mentioned 2.1K for the maps with 1 update.

I am not sure about the Satguide interface with the 400 city map, but these are screenshots of the one with the 200 city

The Menu:


The map:


The following are the ones of Map My India offering with 400 cities:

The Menu:


The Map:


All taken with the help of my HTC P34001 Winmobile phone. It does not have an inbuilt GPS and works fine with an external Bluetooth GPS receiver.

[NetfreakBombay]

Originally Posted by trrk

Satguide interface with the 400 city map

He would not be using Satguide interface at all.

Satguide sells maps data for Garmin units. You just need to copy this data to your unit and call them for activation key.

Satguide released map data for 400 cities few weeks back.

MMI sells map data (for Garmin units) for 7k. I think satGuide is a better choice due to HUGE price difference (2k vs 7k).

[ampere]

There has to be something different between MMI and SatGuide, which should explain the price difference. Having seen this thread, I see there are folks on both the sides with claims that both these S/Ws work well.

Hence cannot close on a decision.

Please explain.

[SkyWalker]

Originally Posted by NetfreakBombay

He would not be using Satguide interface at all.

MMI sells map data (for Garmin units) for 7k. I think satGuide is a better choice due to HUGE price difference (2k vs 7k).

thats correct. Thanks Netfreak.

Originally Posted by ampere

There has to be something different between MMI and SatGuide, which should explain the price difference. Having seen this thread, I see there are folks on both the sides with claims that both these S/Ws work well.

Hence cannot close on a decision.
.

Same here. I searched for some comaprisons between the two on web - nada.

Originally Posted by trrk

Hi,
All taken with the help of my HTC P34001 Winmobile phone. It does not have an inbuilt GPS and works fine with an external Bluetooth GPS receiver.

thanks trrk. How do you find navigation with the mobile? I have used google maps on my mobile with GPS (Blackberry 9000), not very impressed.

[trrk]

Hi,

@netfreakbombay: Sorry about that, did not realise that interface would be different.

Originally Posted by SkyWalker

thanks trrk. How do you find navigation with the mobile? I have used google maps on my mobile with GPS (Blackberry 9000), not very impressed.

The same MMI software which is running in the HTC, works on a Holux Navigator and that is what has been used extensively.

Essentially, the navigating part works equally well in the HTC too the few times I have tried it. The main reason for not using it more is that with Bluetooth and GPS running, it runs out of battery power soon.

I have used Google Maps too in the HTC for just seeing how well the mapping is, but since it does not have navigation, I have not used it much.

[ampere]

Experts,

The question on the price difference between MMI and Satguide still remains open. Can some one please throw some light on this?

[NetfreakBombay]

There are three areas where we need to compare:

1. Map Data
2. Software's ease of use and functionality
3. Hardware device

Map Data:
MMI covers 400+ cities. Satguide covers 400+ cities.
Both are similar in this manner.

Till a month back, MMI used to lead in this area. Satguide cought up by expanding it map.

Software:
MMI wins hands down. Its software looks better and is easier to use.
MMI uses Miero VisGPS software. Satguide uses Destinator Software.

Hardware Device:
Both offer wide range of devices.



Which one is better:

If you want to pick up a device and use it as it is, get MMI. That is because Satguide's software is not as good.

If you are okay with "tweaking", get a Garmin's Unit or Chinese Unit and add maps From Satguide.

Garmin's UI + Satguide's maps give you easy to use app + good data.

[ampere]

Thanks for the update. Thats what I was also hoping. Get the Garmin 205W and add Satguide maps. That should be about 140$ + 2K (INR) which is totally less than 8K. Price wise also its pretty effective as against 15K of MMI(Garmin).

So if you are saying that Satguide guys have caught up with MMI, they may hiking their prices very soon!

[SkyWalker]

thanks Netfreak - this helps.
You mentioned Chineese Units. Are they substantially cheaper than Garmin?

Btw, when you mean tweaking - i hope its not very complicated and you wont be hit by incompatibilities.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by SkyWalker

thanks Netfreak - this helps.
You mentioned Chineese Units. Are they substantially cheaper than Garmin?

Btw, when you mean tweaking - i hope its not very complicated and you wont be hit by incompatibilities.

I think the tweeking that he mentions is legal .

Satguide supports Garmin devices, which can be bought separately.