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Thread ID: 106432	2010-01-08 04:02:00	Navman any good?	toonttm (14853)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
846916	2010-01-08 04:02:00	Looking at buying a Navman MY-55 GPS. Problem is I keep finding bad reviews. Anyone want to enter into the debate? for Navman MY-55, MY-500XT or any other gps? thanks	toonttm (14853)
846917	2010-01-08 04:50:00	I had a navman albeit an old one and the company wouldnt reply to my emails for an update. Found out later the update cost more than what I paid for the gps. Bought a tom tom absolutely fantasical. The dutchies do tulips, clogs, canals,windmills and gps brill.	prefect (6291)
846918	2010-01-08 05:29:00	I would have to agree, when I worked at Dick Smith ( up until just before this last christmas ), I got to play with all the various GPS brands. Navman units always seemed to be slower, less responsive and less intuitive than their TomTom and Garmin rivals	lagbort (5041)
846919	2010-01-08 05:45:00	My new MY30 didn't show my mates motel,which his 2 year old Garmin did. I am going to look into it as it is supposed to be 100% up todate.	Cicero (40)
846920	2010-01-08 06:39:00	I have 3x GPS devices. Navman (car), Garmin (hiking) and a Nokia (phone). I also do quite a bit of international travel backpacking style, maybe 2x trips a year. My Navman is in service because it lost its signal but then came back a few days after but now and then it would think you are on the wrong street and tells you to do stupid things like a u turn on SH1. I have read and I agree myself personally that Navman have a preferred user interface. I found the Garmin the a bit too zoomed in and too colorful - there might be settings to change it however. I tried the MY Series Navman and the NUVI Series for the Garmin and going via the menu does seem quicker with the Navman. The MY series does have a more matte screen than the older Navmans ie., too shiney. I am not going to dwell into much about my broken Navman, anything breaks and that's what warranties are for. I will assume you are after a car GPS device, as Navman are car only, they don't do hiking GPS. From first glance it appears the Navman are the more expensive option. Navman's options are also more expensive. After going to stores (after Christmas) Garmin are provided with Australia maps and TomTom I think it is from Trademe but not certain at shops. Navman also has the least amount of maps available even if you want to buy them. They are also from what I seen, the more expensively priced. TomTom does have it the least cheapest. Garmin is priced in between. Both TomTom and Garmin have more country support. Navman only have maps for NZ, AU, North America and EU. The other two have Asia support, South America and even Africa and Middle East. AFAIK the 2 brands provide map updates of maps you already have bought (like NZ map). Navman charges you for that, like a $250 usual price to a special (when available) for $99. Given the small world exposure for Navman products, there is a lack of 3rd party support. Navman is / was a NZ brand. The other 2 are better but Garmin still better in that regard. TomTom have what they call "Share Maps" which I think is you can make updates to the maps you bought and share them with others but you will have to own the original map first. There might be work arounds or hacks but I am not sure about that. Garmin I was told the only of the few brands that supported 3rd party maps. That is, you can buy Garmin maps, other brand maps and get free maps that individual create themselves. Also Navman does not let you transfer maps onto other Navman devices. Navman can also be fussy when you install a new map, you use the PC software and you go online to authenticate the serial number before it works. So there is no way to use the map on your friends or relative's Navman. I know Garmin allow you to use the map on someone else's Garmin. They also sell maps in the form of DVD and SD Card, with the SD version, you plug it in and that's it. Pretty much most people in NZ need is a car GPS. You find the address or you find a carpark and then you walk out, handheld GPS as you walk should not be a requirement unless you are into outdoor activities. For that get a handheld GPS or both a car unit as well. My Navman when it was not faulty, never had a problem finding an address nor should any brand for that matter, sometimes you need to excercise commonsense it does give you a less ideal way. Don't use the advanced features but many people do find out the hard way, that is you buy a high end one and find out you only use the basic features. Re: free maps this would be if you go overseas. That is handheld GPS because they use disposable batteries and they last longer than the 1hr or 2hr (car GPS). Free maps are available out there for many countries esp for Garmin but free comes with a caution. They are created by individuals like you and I who find map creating a hobby and willing to work for free and then let people around the world download it for free. For example there is one free Australia map, the author(s) stopped working on it (for 2yrs now) and no one has taken over, so ... when roads change they won't be reflected, the maps are also non routable (see later), the search function may not be great. The NZ free map is terrific, people argue it is better than the Garmin map. For the other countries you expectation should be greatly discounted. Your expectation should be you should have the main highways and main streets but not all the streets. In otherwords, if you wanna see the main shopping mall or the main tourist attractions it should be ok but finding a specific restaurant address or your hostel or your small hotel probably won't work. Half the free maps are also non routable, that means you cannot say "Auckland Sky Tower" and press "Goto", because the author(s) have not developed that. Some of them may have the main street names on the map itself but no search function has been developed. So all it is, is a blind map that just show your current location. You will need to continually zoom out and in and determine for yourself which road you wanna use to get to your destination. I think unless you into them or like the technical nature. If you want something that just works when you turn it on, it means you are buying a commercial map. If you want it for overseas as well, I think a mobile phone is the easiest method and get a CAR GPS for NZ. With a mobile phone you pay mobile data - get a local simcard overseas and all you pay is maybe $50NZ a month (cheaper than $100-300 true GPS map) for turn by turn navigation which really is nothing in terms of a overseas spending account. You can avoid paying navigation, pay only mobile data but you have to suss out yourself which street you need to walk / drive on to get to your destination. Ie., it does not draw a green line up for you and tell you how to get there (speech or words). This is Nokia, not sure if other brands are much different. True GPS devices make money via selling maps. Mobile phones make money via selling subscription. The only one I know that is cheaper is the new Google mobile phone. You pay mobile data, free maps worldwide, free turn by turn navigation.	Nomad (952)
846921	2010-01-08 09:01:00	Looking at buying a Navman MY-55 GPS. Problem is I keep finding bad reviews. Anyone want to enter into the debate? for Navman MY-55, MY-500XT or any other gps? thanks I would say avoid Navman.It actually used to be a NZ company, but since it was sold, their competitors have overtaken them. Tomtom is really the best, and Garmin is a pretty close second. The reason I would recommend Tomtom over Garmin, is becuase you can download other country maps, such as UK maps in realtime. With Garmin they have to send the maps on a memory card.	robbyp (2751)
846922	2010-01-08 11:20:00	Navman has gone downhill. Tomtom is probably way to go, although google are supposed to be launching a free sat nav service for cell phones soon. Anyone heard about this?	valerie2 (15549)
846923	2010-01-08 13:51:00	That happened when the announcement came out and you can already use it on Android phones	beeswax34 (63)
846924	2010-01-08 18:14:00	Navman has gone downhill. Tomtom is probably way to go, although google are supposed to be launching a free sat nav service for cell phones soon. Anyone heard about this? Google has them yep but they are a more $$ phone, free maps, free turn by turn navigation with headphones I guess but you pay mobile data to get this over the waves - a local simcard is cheaper than a international roaming cellphone. But a normal mobile phone is not bad if you are paying $50NZ more for a month for navigation instead of a $500US Google phone or how much they are...... If Google uses POIs that individuals upload be wary unless they are cross referenced. B/c my accom was actually 5km off the mark. Well, most people who upload them are Joe and Jane who do a guestimate, not much people go overseas and walk out everyday with a GPS turned on tracking their own movements :) At the time I used GPS coordinates and didn't download the map, more fussy and less ideal way thou .... navigating narrow asian streets is not as easy as a open ocean with GPS coordinates .....	Nomad (952)
846925	2010-01-08 19:47:00	I have an MY-30, and it's been very good so far. It seems to be reasonably up to date, although there are some quirks like identifying sections of SH2 and SH1 as having 50k speed limits.	somebody (208)
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