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Need advice for a GPS device

Hi everyone, it has been a long time.

I am thinking of getting my Dad a portable GPS device for his car. Any to recommend?

-need to be portable (so i can borrow it, hehe...)
-simple to use
-accurate (i had a BT GPS for my PPC and it sucks)

Thanks in advance.

I'm happy with the TomTom Go 510. Amazing what it can do for only $350.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Emperor (Post 1918830)

Me too was using PPC with BT GPS and Mapking for Singapore and Malaysia
But had to change due to the Mapking coverage for malaysia.

When u said PPC sucks do u mean the Maps or the Speed of your BT GPS?

Theres 2 choices

1) Buy a Garmin and download Maps from Malsingmap.com

or

2)Buy GoNav GPS from Eastgear.com for $599 (with 12mts installment)
It includes the latests Mapking and Malsingmaps for East and West malaysia and singapore, a total of 5 maps.

I just tested my GoNav in Malaysia yesterday, it was great. The Malsing Maps has more better coverage for Malaysia. While the Mapkings does not indicate and Roads in desaru area.

Go for the Garmin. They're the best out there. The Tomtom is good as well, but is unvailable in our region. You can try the Gramin Nuvi 310 or 610 depending on your needs. The Nuvi series are easy to use and they take very short time to accquire the satellites...unlike using PPC and BT GPS. The best part is you can buy a blank unit like I did and download maps from www.Malsingmaps.com like what bro morganoh has mentioned. You can go Perfect Watch in SLS or Allbright in textile center to ask for quote.

I recently got the Garmin Nuvi 610 with Singapore and malaysia maps. From what I've read, the tom tom and Garmin are the two most popular brands and have worldwide maps available. I am not sure if the tom tom have Singapore maps though.

Pros
1.) Portable (4.3 inch screen)

2.) Very user friendly

3.) Can select routing via faster time or shortest distance. Take note, If you route by shorter distance it will really take you though all the small roads and may end up taking really ridiculous turns just because it may be a little shorter than just taking the main road. But its also good to find out new routes.

4.) It can sync via bluetooth with your phone and become a handsfree kit + sms too

5) It's useful for finding houses and buildings as it can search out all addresses via house number all block numbers.

6.) Nice sweet voice to tell you where to turn, not get angry when you make a wrong turn and immediately recalculate the next route unlike my other half.

Cons
1.) Pricier than most available GPS

2.) slow startup in the mornings 2-5mins

3.) Does not have TTS which reads out street names (can be a pro too. You might get a headache hearing a ang moh voice over malay street names). You can always purchase the even more expensive 660 if u must have street names.

4.) You have to purchase maps for different countries and they are $$$$$ ( you can try the free maps from www.malsingmaps.com)

Prices I know of when I was scouting for my set:

From Perfect Watch in SLS( I bought mine here) or a shop in textile centre called Allbright or something like that

1 year warranty Nuvi 610 = $770 without original maps and $990 with
1 year warranty Nuvi 660 = $1270 with Europe and singapore maps

Export set from Tecomart sim lim tower B1 Nuvi 610 = $650 without maps no warranty. There'a a few other shops at sim lim tower also selling Garmin.

Hope this helps.

I'm currently using packard bell.. so far so good. its small and portable. it has full SG and malaysia map.

Functions:

Mp3 player.
photo viewer.
What's nearby.
easy search.
etc..

Quote:

Originally Posted by pyro (Post 1919618)

Some in Malsingmaps state that some of the Garmin GPS can't used Malsingmaps any more. dont know how true and I forgot which model it is.

Just go to the website and check 1st before buying Garmin, or else will be spending more money on maps ..

Quote:

Originally Posted by xacidx (Post 1919667)

I'm currently using packard bell.. so far so good. its small and portable. it has full SG and malaysia map.

Functions:

Mp3 player.
photo viewer.
What's nearby.
easy search.
etc..

Most of the GPS sold in Singapore give both malaysia and singapore maps, but none of the Malaysia maps given has better coverage than Malsingmaps.

But if u are driving on the main highway and major towns. than the maps given by packard bell should be ok

I've recently purchased a Holux M-1000 GPSR and paired it with Mapking. It comes with all SGP and Malaysia maps as well as the Malsing maps.

I've only tested it thus far in Singapore and my vehicle does not have vkool or anything like that.

This combo cost me a mere $179 dollars (inclusive GPS Receiver and Mapking...excluding PDA!!)

I must say that I am well impressed with it thus far. It is faster and more accurate that a lot of more expensive GPSR who are still on the SIRFIII chipset.

An example of its effectiveness:

CoupeM and I were driving down the AYE, using the GPS when my PDA 'hanged'. No amount of button mashing or even holding down the off button would get my PDA to respond or shut off. So I asked CoupeM to pull out the battery, put it back in and restart the PDA.

When the PDA finally rebooted, we started the Mapking program again and was amazed to see that it tracked INSTANTLY where we were at that moment and still had the original destination locked in. We were able to continue moving on like nothing had ever happened before.

This GPSR also has amazing battery life. I use it on average an hour or two everyday and its lasted me for an entire week. It also comes with an in-car charger.

Part of the reason why this little gem is able to track so fast is due to the fact that it is dialled into no less than 32 Satellites.

I'd highly recommend it to anyone looking for a portable, yet powerful solution to your GPS needs.

Cheers,
Merv.

Quote:

Holux M1000 Bluetooth GPS with MTK 32 GPS engine. The advantages of the Holux M-1000 include best tracking and most importantly affordable.

With the advanced technology, the HOlux M-1000 tracks up to 32 satellites at a time, re-acquires satellite signals in 100 ns and updates position data every second. Trickle-Power allows the unit operates a fraction of the time and Push-to-Fix permits user to have a quick position fix even though the receiver usually stays off.

The Holux M-1000 comes with integrated rechargeable Li-Ion battery with 850mAh capacity that lasts up to 17 hours.

Features:

Built in MTK MT3318 Low power consumption GPS chipset.
32 parallel satellite-tracking channels for fast acquisition and reacquisition.
Superior sensitivity up to -159 dBm.
Built-in WAAS/EGNOS Demodulator without any additional hardware. Or use the high-sensitive software to get the fast acquisition and reacquisition in the urban, canyon and foliage environments.
Compatible with Bluetooth Serial Port Profile (SPP) completely.
Low power consumption. Built-in rechargeable and changeable Lithium-ion battery, the working time can last 23 hours maximum.
Provide expand terminal contact to other system without Bluetooth device.
Support NMEA0183 V 3.01 data protocol
3 color-LEDs indicate to show the status of device.
FLASH based program memory. New software revisions upgradeable through serial interface.
Small, sleek, and lightweight design easily fits in your hand.
Over-Temperature protection
Enhanced algorithms -SnapLock and SnapStart provide superior navigation, performance in urban, canyon and foliage environments.
For Car navigation, Marine navigation, Fleet management, AVL, Personal navigation, and Mapping device application.

Basic Specification

◇ Chipset：MTK MT3318 chipset.

◇ Channels： 32 parallel satellite-tracking channels.

◇ Frequency： 1575.42 MHz

◇ Receiver： L1, C/A code.

■Acquisition Time (refer to MTK chip specification)

◇ Reacquisition： 0.1 second.

◇ Cold start： < 36 seconds.

◇ Warm start：< 33 seconds .

◇ Hot start： < 1 second

■Receiver Accuracy

◇ Normal： < 3 meters CEP without SA.

◇ Enable EGNOS or WAAS：

◇ Position：< 2.2 meters, horizontal 95% of time

< 5 meters, Vertical 95% of time

◇ Velocity： within 0.1 meters / second

◇ Time： 0.1 microsecond synchronized GPS time

■Use Limitation

◇ Altitude： < 18,000 meters (60,000 feet)

◇ Velocity: ：< 515 meters/ second (1000Knots)

◇ Acceleration： 4 G.

◇ Jerk： 20 meters / second3, max

■Power Supply

◇ External Voltage: 5VDC +/-5%

◇ Batteries：

Main Power: Built-in rechargeable Lithium-ion for system power.

Backup Power: Rechargeable Lithium-ion battery for memory backup.

◇ Working voltage: 40~50mA (Normal mode).

35mA (Power Saving).

◇ Auto Power Saving mode.

◇ Circuit protection on M-1000 when over-temperature condition - 50 occurs.

■Output and Interface

◇ Output

I. Output protocol

Baud Rate： 38400 bps

Data bit： 8

Parity： No

Stop bit： 1

II. Format. NMEA0183 V3.01： GPGGA (1time/1 sec), GPGSA (1 time/5 sec.), GPGSV (1time /5 sec.), GPRMC (1time /1 sec.), GPVTG (1 time/1 sec), (GLL, or MTK NMEA Command for optional).

III.Datum： WGS84.

◇ Input/ Output Interface:

I. Compatible Bluetooth Serial Port Profile (SPP), Version1.2 and class 2(up to 10 meter range).

II. In/Out Port. GPS signal (Out)/Command(In) with CMOS Level。Mini USB Type B Connector and Cable option：

(a) GR230-A2 (USB data cable)

■Physical

◇ Size： 65 × 43 × 17.6 mm

◇ Weight： < 53 g

◇ Operating Temperature：-10 to + 60 (under the un-charging condition); Charging Temperature： 0 to + 45

◇ Storage Temperature：-20 to + 60

◇ Operating humidity： 5% to 95% No condensing

■Other Functions

◇ Bluetooth frequency: 2.4 ~2.48GHz

◇ Bluetooth Input Sensitivity: -85dBm

Selling my Holux GPSmile 60 integrated 6" system with Mapking. Interested, SMS me at 81331132

Its confusing as i am not really into GPS.

My BT GPS sucks because it takes so long to start up, not so accurate and loses connection easily. But thats about 2 years back already.

Buying for my dad so have to get standalones and simple to use.

What about the TIBO units?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Swerve76 (Post 1919724)

Part of the reason why this little gem is able to track so fast is due to the fact that it is dialled into no less than 32 Satellites.

Merv, it just has 32 channels to track satellites, but at any given time, you can't see 32 satellites in the sky.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Emperor (Post 1919924)

Have not personally use a TIBO before...but read in many forums that its a waste of time...you can do a search on mazda forum...there are also many post on this.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sqflyer (Post 1920043)

Merv, it just has 32 channels to track satellites, but at any given time, you can't see 32 satellites in the sky.

I agree with SQflyer...if I'm not wrong..at any time, only 4 satellites is connected to our GPS devices.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sqflyer (Post 1920043)

Merv, it just has 32 channels to track satellites, but at any given time, you can't see 32 satellites in the sky.

Yup Flyer - you are right about that bud. Did not mean to convey that but I guess I did.

There is a Satellite tracking page inclusive in the software that shows you how many are connected at a go and what the signal strength is at that given moment in time.

The GPSr has 32 satellites that it can use - which in itself is already more than the SIRFIII units. I'd love to post one of my screenshots but its not limited to 4 satellites at any one time - I've had 8 the one time that I did bother to check.

Make no mistake folks - I'm not affiliated to Holux or own a shop that sells it lol! Just wanted to share the news so more members could enjoy the benefits that I do at the relatively cheap price of $179 (provided you alr have a PDA!).

Disclaimer - I do NOT have Vkool or solar film, etc installed in the car. I've heard/read conflicting reports that it does hamper the performance and some say that it does not.

hi guys

I am in the business of GPS. my opinion is buy the Garmin. accuracy of the unit is only half the story. without good and updated maps, your unit is next to useless. with Garmin you get free updated maps from malsing. for the BT combo, the hassle comes when you have to charge both units and make sure all is ok. rather use a all in one combo which works everytime.

Having said that the MTK chipset is as good as that from sirf, so no worries with accuracy. and for the almost instant fix after you power off and then on? all chipsets should be able to do that, unless the implementation is crap and then you get problems. i would say that for general automotic navigation use, the most important is the maps. accuracy and time to first fix is approx the same nowadays.

Should i get the gramin with or without maps? malsin maps; no catch right?

If i plan to use it in Australia (at least in dec) or some other countries. Am i able to get the maps? If yes, how?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Emperor (Post 1923470)

Should i get the gramin with or without maps? malsin maps; no catch right?

If i plan to use it in Australia (at least in dec) or some other countries. Am i able to get the maps? If yes, how?

Malsingmaps no catch...if you need aussie maps, can find on the malsingmap site as well...just that i think not routable ones...or you can also try google to see if there are maps for you to download....the one I bought also no map....just GPS unit itself...and I'm using their maps without issues...I suggest you go to their site and do some research before buying any unit so you'll know what suits and not suits you...