GPS Navigation System [merged threads]

[woohoo]

CLARIFICATION:

Garmin units bought abroad usually have no Philippine map loaded so THEY ARE not usable here, i.e., until a Philippine map is loaded onto them.

One can possibly buy a Garmin unit with pre-loaded Philippine map ONLINE, especially if the selling entity is Philippine-based.

My 2 cents.

[wavecxs]

Philippine map is free and can be had here:

http://roadguide.ph/forums/index.php

For now it only work on garmin units.

What this means is that it doesn't matter where you get you garmin unit, it should be usable here because there is now a 'usable' philippine map. Visit the garmin website, you will have an idea how much the unit cost. If the one selling the unit says it is expensive because there is a philippine map in it, that should not be, because the map is FREE.

The only time the Philippine map will cost something is if comes from garmin (the map, not the device). But for now there is not yet an official RP map from garmin. So the next best alternative is the FREE map.

Note that there are 2 versions of the roadguide map (a.k.a. philippine map). The standard edition and the contributor edition. The standard edition is perfectly usable and accurate but the contributor edition offers better routing algorithm and updated POI and roads. Go over to the road guide forum and read... whether you are already a gps user or just planning to buy one.

happy g-p-s-ing!

[testament11]

i used my gps all the way to nasugbu batangas. may napansin lang akong flaw dito. instead na direstuhin namin ang startoll, it always recommend an alternate route. since hindi pa namin alam pumunta ng nasugbu (acutally the original route was lemery), so sunod lang ako sa gps. so ayun, to my surprise, ang route namin is parallel sa startoll! so in that case, dapat nag startoll kami all the way to lipa at hindi kami dumaan sa looban. yun lang napansin ko

[testament11]

double post po

[straker]

Can the GPS unit be able to plug add'l info, such as one-way roads or bad traffic or road closures?

[ghosthunter]

Can the GPS unit be able to plug add'l info, such as one-way roads or bad traffic or road closures?

In other countries, yes. In the philippines... nope. No such service.

[testament11]

Can the GPS unit be able to plug add'l info, such as one-way roads or bad traffic or road closures?

nope, wala pa daw ganito service dito sa atin

[straker]

GH, Testament, thanks for the not-so-good news.

Will these gadgets be able to recieve such details, if in the near future outfits like Trapik.com sends info?

[oj88]

I did not say that if you buy Garmin units directly from U.S. you have no way to make it useful.

But it is implied in your statement: "Garmin units bought online have no Philippine map loaded so it is not usable here".

My point is, it would've helped if you used better semantics. ie. Rewording it to "it will not readily work here" instead of "it is not usable here".

Woohoo probably said it best. Newbies could get confused and buy your GPS instead, just because it has the map and depriving them the option to possibly find a better deal from abroad. The MM map install is a simple task that it shouldn't be a big deal to anyone buying a Garmin GPS.

[ghosthunter]

GH, Testament, thanks for the not-so-good news.

Will these gadgets be able to recieve such details, if in the near future outfits like Trapik.com sends info?

Depends on the device and how it can be updated (manual or online). Chances are, nope.

From what I see about those types of devices like warning devices for speed-cameras, traffic reports, etc... those are pretty much dedicated devices which are closely tied in with those services which update them (via web, 3G, email, etc).

So, at the end of the day, having a portable PC (netbook, laptop, tablet-pc) with 3.5G broadband connection in your car linked to trapik.com would be your best way to get up-to-date and up-to-the-minute traffic reports.