[cool_dube]

Originally Posted by sajo

Has anybody bought a GPS PND from them ?

I bought my Garmin Nuvi 205W from 20North.com. I was impressed with the whole purchse/delivery process - very smooth and I got the package (as packed by AMAZON.COM, not touched) within 15 days of my placing the order.

[DerAlte]

Originally Posted by ampere

... (Just for example, lets say if I want to have both Satguide and MMI in the same SD card, how it should be done?)

Not sure, must try this out on my 260W! I think it should work by naming one of them (and it's UNL file) gmapsupp and the other gmapprom.

Must take care to switch off one of them in the map list, otherwise the piece of software that goes looking for which is the relevant map based on the first coordinate received when the unit is switched on will either
* use the first map in the list that matches the coordinate or
* get totally confused and go bonkers!

@Maneesh, where you have mounted the unit is certainly not the right place. You do glance at the unit periodically while driving, right? The correct place, for safe driving, is at the dash level or slightly higher. That way you don't lose sight of the road when looking at the display.

* How much did the device cost (without the MMI map)?
* Did you install just the MMI map (a few files) or the complete MMI software (since you did not like the map UI that came with the device)?

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by cool_dube

I bought my Garmin Nuvi 205W from 20North.com. I was impressed with the whole purchse/delivery process - very smooth and I got the package (as packed by AMAZON.COM, not touched) within 15 days of my placing the order.

I assume you got this shipped from US to India. Care to share the details of cost and what about the maps? You bought it separately and for what price?

@Vnabhi, thanks! I am not even sure if they will select me. This survey is for 6 months begining Jan-2011 and yes, i get to keep the device

[sajo]

Originally Posted by cool_dube

I bought my Garmin Nuvi 205W from 20North.com. I was impressed with the whole purchse/delivery process - very smooth and I got the package (as packed by AMAZON.COM, not touched) within 15 days of my placing the order.

Thanks cooldube!
I think I will go ahead and order one (if possible, as a gift) sometime soon.

This is the one I am eyeing :

Garmin nüvi 265W 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator (without Traffic) < GPS & Navigation < Car Electronics < Electronics : Electronics - Shop in the US from India @ 20North

It retails for Rs 7794 , which is still cheaper than the cheapest MMI Device.
If sent as a gift, it comes for Rs 6458.

[patron]

Originally Posted by sajo

Thanks cooldube!
I think I will go ahead and order one (if possible, as a gift) sometime soon.

This is the one I am eyeing :

Garmin nüvi 265W 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator (without Traffic) < GPS & Navigation < Car Electronics < Electronics : Electronics - Shop in the US from India @ 20North

It retails for Rs 7794 , which is still cheaper than the cheapest MMI Device.
If sent as a gift, it comes for Rs 6458.

I have seen people go with Garmin. Any reason why? Garmin is no doubt a top piece of hardware. I own a 260W myself. But the Garmin India maps suck, even the latest 2010 August Maps. IMO MMI maps are better but MMI Garmin maps are not cheap.

I would rather you go for a decent WinCE device which comes cheaper and have better MMI maps support.

[cool_dube]

Originally Posted by mobike008

I assume you got this shipped from US to India. Care to share the details of cost and what about the maps? You bought it separately and for what price?

Yes, you are correct. 20North.com guys are nothing but middlemen who take care of shipping and customs of US products for online buyers in India. They themselves get the stuff from US retailers like AMAZON.COM and ship it to India. If I remember correctly, the unit cost me ~ INR 6K and ~ 1.2K for shipping and customs. My Garmin unit came with NAVTEQ maps, very detailed for US but very pathetic (understandably, since the unit was manufactured to be used in US) for India. As far as I know, there are two providers for Garmin compatible maps of India - MapMyIndia and SatNav. The former costs around 7K and the latter around 1K!! Yes - you read it right, MMI costs 7 times as much as SN, definitely being a tad better in terms of details and POIs but not enough to justify the price factor. I picked up SatNav for my Garmin and have been largely satisfied.

Originally Posted by sajo

Thanks cooldube!
I think I will go ahead and order one (if possible, as a gift) sometime soon...

It retails for Rs 7794 , which is still cheaper than the cheapest MMI Device.
If sent as a gift, it comes for Rs 6458.

Go ahead... you won't regret. However, be aware that for getting it shipped as gift you would need a US billing address.

Originally Posted by patron

I have seen people go with Garmin. Any reason why? Garmin is no doubt a top piece of hardware. I own a 260W myself. But the Garmin India maps suck, even the latest 2010 August Maps. IMO MMI maps are better but MMI Garmin maps are not cheap.

I would rather you go for a decent WinCE device which comes cheaper and have better MMI maps support.

No other device comes even close to a Garmin when it comes to PNDs. As for maps, I assume that you are talking about the default NAVTEQ maps that Garmin provides. Of course they would suck... Garmin does not manufacture its units (not yet) for India. For using your Garmin device in India, you have a cheaper option (compared to MMI) as well, SatNav. Please refer to the above response of mine for details on the pricing.

[patron]

Originally Posted by cool_dube

No other device comes even close to a Garmin when it comes to PNDs. As for maps, I assume that you are talking about the default NAVTEQ maps that Garmin provides. Of course they would suck... Garmin does not manufacture its units (not yet) for India. For using your Garmin device in India, you have a cheaper option (compared to MMI) as well, SatNav. Please refer to the above response of mine for details on the pricing.

I agree no other PND comes close to Garmin. That said, a PND is only as good as it's maps. MMI maps for Garmin are as expensive as the unit itself. Not worth it. The other option is Satnav. For a little over 1/10th of the price of MMI you get SatNav but I am not a fan of SatNav. Now what's the option? I have a Navigon (WinCE device) with MMI maps (I also own a Garmin with MMI and NavTeq maps). The maps being the same, I find the functionality more or less the same.
Currently both my PND's are under lock and key. The reason, I have Sygic 10 + MMI 4.1 on my Nexus one. Works absolutely flawlessly. I am just loving it. No more switching between devices. I now always carry a GPS device in my pocket.

IMO, getting any cheap (Read Chinese) PND for now is good enough till Garmin comes up with it's own maps for India. I have to add that I a BIG fan of Garmin but the lack of maps is makes it less attractive.

[cool_dube]

Originally Posted by patron

I agree no other PND comes close to Garmin. That said, a PND is only as good as it's maps.

Completely agree with you on this.

Originally Posted by patron

MMI maps for Garmin are as expensive as the unit itself. Not worth it.

Completely agree with you on this as well

Originally Posted by patron

The other option is Satnav. For a little over 1/10th of the price of MMI you get SatNav but I am not a fan of SatNav.

Neither am I but given the options we have (when it comes to detailed maps of India for a Garmin device) and the price diff between the two options, I can live with SatNav AND they are improving with every release.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by cool_dube

No other device comes even close to a Garmin when it comes to PNDs.

I would have said so too, possibly because having sailed, Garmin is a name I have associated with navigation since before it came ashore and hit the roads.

However, I'd hazard a guess that, before I left UK six years ago, Tom Tom had surpassed them in popularity.

[bj96]

I have a Nuvi 760 + Satguide August ~28, 2010 India map. Last week I went out to Harihareshwar/Shrivardhan in Konkan. Route taken was:

Pune (Mundhwa) -> exp way -> khalapur exit -> Pali ->Mangaon (NH17) ->Mhasla-> Harihareshwar -> Mhasla-> Mangaon ->Velhe (new MIDC road) ->Tamhini -> Paud -> Chandni Chowk ->Mundhwa (Pune).

I am familiar with these routes, however, wanted to test the map performance. Total one way travel, while going, per Google Maps is ~228kms. My Nuvi showed trip log of about 221kms while Safari's odo showed ~239kms.

The interesting thing was, between Mhasla and Harihareshwar, for about 20kms from the T junction where you turn left for Harihareshwar (and right to Shrivardhan), up to MTDC resort, the Nuvi screen didn't refresh. When I hit the zoom/magnify icon it went blank and showed I was driving on a no road. While returning back too, this happened exactly at the same place! However, the map showed/redrew itself on the Garmin screen when I stopped at MTDC and latter is also a POI in the satguide map.

Felt like screen was not refreshing and map was not advancing. Garmin didn't warn that it lost satellite signals (which it normally does e.g. while traveling through Bhatan tunnel). Does anyone face this issue with Satguide-Garmin combo?

-BJ

[sgiitk]

I have used my Garmin-SatNav combo on many trips. Never an issue. I hope you have registered/logged on the Garmin. Check and upgrade the firmware if advised. Takes a bit of time but is painless. It may fix the problem.

[Samurai]

I have used both satguide and MMI with Garmin 260W. The performance is similarly pathetic, while MMI having a slight edge. May be this is Karnataka only situation. But in the routes I travel regularly, you can't depend on GPS, you simply cannot. You have to be ready to override the GPS if you get the slightest whiff that it is about to take you for a ride.

Both maps will ask you jump off the bridges and cliffs, climb vertical walls, and go offroading in paddy fields and rivers. Both will show you straight roads while the actual road is winding like a telephone set wire.

Let's take the case from yesterday. As I was leaving CCD at Chennarayapattana at 9:15PM, I input my home location, and the GPS predicted the 1AM as the ETA. I was quite disheartened, but was hoping to improve upon it since it was night. Until I reached 3kms to Nelamangala junction, I could only improve it to 12:45AM. Then, it asked me to turn into an alley, I was incredulous since I knew the correct way, so ignored it. Then it re-calculated and suggested the next alley, and the next, and the next, as I kept ignoring the stupid guidance. Many of those alleys didn't even exist. As I reached the Nelamangala junction, it promptly asked me to turn left, but I turned right because I knew Bangalore was on the right side. It again re-calculated using the direction I was going and suddenly the ETA jumped from 12:45AM to 12AM. Since the flyover is now fully open, I managed to reach home by 11:50AM.

So the damn GPS was planning to delay me by 45 minutes by driving in some convoluted alleys and wrong directions.

I use GPS only to confirm my sense of direction. If it doesn't agree with mine, I ignore it and go with my instinct.

[Neilguy]

I have found that a combination of Waze and Google maps on my smartphone is the best option for navigation and driving. You get the latest updated maps and also voice guided navigation.

[Ragul]

I half burnt my fingers buying the MMI RoadPilot. I was extremely reluctant to buy one with a resistive touch screen because I knew it would not match the experience of a capacitive one like iPod Touch. But when I saw it at almost half price (4500/-) on ebay used 3 months, picked it up last month. I was searching for this device because of the good reviews of the AtlasIV firmware running on SirfStar III chipset. The device came with MMI version 4.1.

To my great dismay I found he search capability menu and functions are not half as good or convenient as google maps online. I thought this would be a device I can substitute and use in place of a browser and an Internet connection to search any location in India and quickly get directions for. My mistake in not demanding a demo anywhere although I walked into a few Croma stores window shopping for it. The UI is a kludge and the Linux/OpenSource geek in me can immediately "spot" the "idiot" windoze programmer behind it (My apologies if this label fits anybody here - I just feel that way in an impersonal sense)

Ver4.1 maps have no clue about a famous landmark like Bull Temple in Bangalore!! I tried multiple times over a week, till date I have not succeeded. Now I have dumped it and it is lying useless on my table since a week.

I will probably use it when going long distance, but only just because I spent money on it or it is good to check where I am. I find it too kludgy and time wasting to setup and use for turn-by-turn directions. I ended up using it more productively in conjunction with my iPoD touch and GPRS with Google maps after stopping by the wayside a few times - to really get a sense of direction.

I am picking up a bluetooth GPS receiver next to pair with my iPod Touch.

PS: If anybody still wants the RoadPilot from me let me know

Cheers

[MX6]

I've used satguide extensively on my garmin on all my drives. I've noticed that there's no difference in Odo reading and what the garmin logs. The routes suggested have been pathetic many a times. But then, I love my garmin. Satguide maps surprised me by showing the exact location and route to every temple I wanted to visit in Nasik in last trip.
I always suggest people not to buy discontinued models of garmin for the same reason that sometimes there might be firmware issues or sometimes the chipset isn't good enough.
In my almost 20K kms of drive with the garmin, I've never lost satellites except when in long tunnels. And Hotfix helps by latching on to the sattelites the moment I get off the tunnel!
Garmin rocks.