[pragya]

Maymyindia is offering End of year discounts.
I am interested in the bluetooth GPS and currently its price is 2490.
Can someone give its review, i am planning to use it with my Moto Q smartphone, is it real time, and does anyone know how many channels is it.
Also plz tell me do i need to buy software and maps from these people or are there any freewares etc.

[fergus]

Originally Posted by NetfreakBombay

Yes tried it on N82. Software (Destinator) has a poor UI.

Better to get Garmin XT and use Satguide's map with that.

So much information so difficult to decide.If i had to decide between Satguide x350 and MMI LX 130 (both entry level models) which is better in terms of reliability after sales service and coverage.I require it for Goa,hyderabad and bangalore areas only

[Thad E Ginathom]

At the moment, I am thinking UK-bought Garmin device with added MMI maps. That way I'll get the UK/Europe maps "free" with it and be able to use it there too.

But my next visit to UK won't be until 2011 --- so I have plenty of time for changing my mind, or even impulse buying.

[fergus]

hi ramky,
since you have a lot of hands on experience with the navigators if i had to chose between 2 entry level models-MMI lx350 or satguide x350 which should i go for.I do not need bluetooth or a music player and will use it in Goa,Hyderabad and bangalore only and enroute to these destinations,I guess they can be connected to a charger in the car.

Originally Posted by ramkya1

@ Unni ak: My anwers in Bold.

========

I've been bitten by the GPS bug and am looking for a GPS device for use in my car. ...........................offering maps for download, for mobiles and stand-alone solutions.

To say the truth,I'm sort of inclined towards stand-alone GPS than one integrated with a mobile, purely cause I wont be able to use a camera mobile (almost all PDAs and GPS enabled mobiles have camera) in office. The websites I looked into are:

I've been using the HTC PDA + GPS receiver combo with Satnav Destinator and One India map for the past 3+ years, very satisfied. Back then I paid 22 K for the bundle; including their innacurate maps which had only main roads tracked.

Over the years, they improved, I have upgraded, cost me 2.5 k for this year; 4 upgrades and got the One India Map which is good, has maps of 36 cities, Ahmedabad map is a great upgrade.

Would suggest the stand alone box with a 3.5" display, the PDA is too small to be reading from the driver's seat, my son does the navigation now and reads out the display. Feel the PDA size is pigmy, tough to read when you are concentrating on the road, a bigger screen is what you need.

The upgrade is pretty accurate with streets, roads and POI (points of interest) clear and increased numbers, compared to One India Map, the old one was a relic.

The GPS has been a great source of comfort to me and family in my many drives , specially recent drive through MP. We could save locations of hotels, tourist spots and landmarks, in POI and navigatge cleanly back from wherever we are. The many landmarks of these 36 cities are clear the navigation and routing has alternatives, a little bit of handling, you'd be able to master it. When you are in secondary roads and need to take directional calls, the gizmo is very useful.

When I had to drive on fog on the Mumbai Bangalore GQ & Ahmedabad - Delhi, GPS was my third eye to indicate road crossings, busy towns and turns on roads, I could average higher speeds. You have to experience this to see how comfortiang it is when you have to reach daily targets before sundown and you start loosing time.

Just search the net for Destinator and SatNav you'd get the website and talk to them and also research here on the user experiences on other systems.

Sat Nav has promised to upgrade to 100 cities, don't know when that's coming.


Personal Navigation Device | PND | India

MapmyIndia Navigator - India's choice in In-car GPS navigation

I need advice on the following:

1. Which is better in terms of map coverage and accuracy?
2. What about map upgrades? How much do they cost?
3. Are there any other service providers?

In addition, it would be great if users could pen-down (type!!) your experience with GPS. MapmyIndia and SatGuide claim to cover 200+ Cities and all road-ways, so utterly confused!!

Mods: Hope this is the right section to post this query, if not please do the needful.
=======

---Ramky

[fergus]

Originally Posted by hvkumar

MapMyIndia is terrible, to say the least

hi hvk,
would you advise against MMI lx 130 .i was thinking of either this one or satguide x350.I need only for hyderabad goa and bangalore and enroute.What do you advise

[NetfreakBombay]

I would advice you to buy a Garmin device form US and Garmin maps for India. Total cost would be around 10,000.

That would give you the best hardware + most accurate maps.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by NetfreakBombay

That would give you the best hardware + most accurate maps.

But what is the point of being the most accurate when most of the page is blank?

Although GPS is handy in my home city, it is when I venture out that I need it --- and Garmin maps is just not going to cover me.


.

[shamanth]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

But what is the point of being the most accurate when most of the page is blank?

Although GPS is handy in my home city, it is when I venture out that I need it --- and Garmin maps is just not going to cover me.


.

+1

wasting 5k for a map which don't have any national/state highway information is just a waste of money. Cities you can somehow manage, GPS is most useful when you go out of your city. maybe due to language barrier or empty road with junction with no road sign, which is most common in india.

[NetfreakBombay]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

But what is the point of being the most accurate when most of the page is blank?

It has coverage for 100 cities in detail and has intra-city roads for another 80. Did you see this blank page in any major city?

fergus mentioned he needs this in Hyderabad Goa and Bangalore. In these cities, Garmin maps should be detailed.

Originally Posted by shamanth

wasting 5k for a map which don't have any national/state highway information is just a waste of money. Cities you can somehow manage, GPS is most useful when you go out of your city. maybe due to language barrier or empty road with junction with no road sign, which is most common in india.

Garmin has mapped all NH. As far as state highways are concerned, I tested those in central India. All providers (Navteq/MapMyIndia/Satguide/Tele Atlas/Europa) were Hit or Miss. With Navteq and Tele Atlas if something is covered it is done properly. With MMI/Satguide quite a few roads were mapped wrong. And some roads were covered by none.

For example. take this road in Bombay. Superimposed MMI map with satellite image.



As per MMI this road flies over two buildings. Road is correct upto black arrow. Then it turns East to fly over a building. That point is marked as red arrow.

Basically somebody created this map by sitting in Office by looking at satellite image. OTOH. Navteq Maps are created by actual surveys.

[wildon]

Well the Salem -> Coimbatore stretch is out of date in MMI. When i looked at the GPS screen i could see my car is going through rivers and Paddy fields with No road visible in the screen.

P.S using V3.0 MMI

[Wind]

Originally Posted by wildon

Well the Salem -> Coimbatore stretch is out of date in MMI. When i looked at the GPS screen i could see my car is going through rivers and Paddy fields with No road visible in the screen.

P.S using V3.0 MMI

Same is the cast with Google Maps. This could be because the new bypass alignments have not yet been updated in the maps. Given below is the Gpsed screen shot from the Perundurai sector. The blue line indicate the actual GPS trace.

-- Wind

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by NetfreakBombay

It has coverage for 100 cities in detail and has intra-city roads for another 80. Did you see this blank page in any major city?

Looking at the coverage for Chennai on the Navtech site, it runs out at a southern line through Tambaram. This barely covers the full extent of the Southern suburbs. Of course, I get all this for "free" on my Nokia phone, otherwise I might just as well use the Eicher City Map, which is both cheap and simple to use (With position fixing by enquiry of nearby auto drivers ).

My acid test is Alleppey, as this is an area I may want to drive around within the next year or two. On the Navtech site (and Nokia phone) --- almost nothing. Doesn't matter at all to me that there may be a hundred other places in India covered!

Originally Posted by wildon

P.S using V3.0 MMI

@wildon,

MMI offers free upgrade to maps v4.0. I am using MMI Lx130 v 4.0. It shows the newly opened Gopalan Arch Mall, NICE Road, etc., in Bangalore. Please visit their website for more details.

Map upgrades : MapmyIndia Navigator : GPS Navigation in India | Portable Navigation Device (PND) with India's best maps

[trrk]

Hi,

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

My acid test is Alleppey, as this is an area I may want to drive around within the next year or two.

The town area is quite decently covered in the MapMyIndia map.

[Thad E Ginathom]

I'd noted that from the on-line maps, yes. All this came about when we nearly bought a house near there. MMI would have covered us, navtech showed hardly anything.