Garmin Nuvi 200 Vs Mio 520 Gps

[jingjingna]

The Nuvi seems to be the most popular choice but the Mio C520 appears to offer a bit more. Which one would you choose, I can't seem to make up my mind and as this will be my first GPS gadget, would like to hear from those of you who have knowledge of both of these.

Cheers guys

[ignis]

Give all the details in Thai and English

http://www.gadgetrend.com/gps_nav.php

Also for a good idea what the item is like do a search, something like this 'Review nuvi 200 UK' find out in detail what useres think about any item

I do not have one, I first find out from Thaies how they would get to a given place........ Thaies use landmarks, so up to a point is good to follow..... one problem is everyone appears to have there own route to get to a place...... in 4years of driving here have only got lost once

[sfokevin]

I just ordered the Garmin 200w (w signifies the wide screen which is comparable in size to the Mio) for $213USD - The thing that sold me on the Garmin is the recent availability of more maps on sd cards... They now sell Thailand as a stand alone plug and play item...

http://www8.garmin.com/cartography/mapSour...vntThailand.jsp

[ignis]

I just ordered the Garmin 200w (w signifies the wide screen which is comparable in size to the Mio) for $213USD - The thing that sold me on the Garmin is the recent availability of more maps on sd cards... They now sell Thailand as a stand alone plug and play item...

http://www8.garmin.com/cartography/mapSour...vntThailand.jsp

from http://www.gadgetrend.com/gps_spi2.php

the 200w cost 4,000 baht more than the 200

[sfokevin]

I just ordered the Garmin 200w (w signifies the wide screen which is comparable in size to the Mio) for $213USD - The thing that sold me on the Garmin is the recent availability of more maps on sd cards... They now sell Thailand as a stand alone plug and play item...

http://www8.garmin.com/cartography/mapSour...vntThailand.jsp

from http://www.gadgetrend.com/gps_spi2.php

the 200w cost 4,000 baht more than the 200

Yikes!!! what price gouging.... Here's where I got mine... it translates to about 7,000 baht!!

http://www.compuplus.com/i-Garmin-Nuvi-200...73y4ou0d08h33tw

[jingjingna]

Sfokevin,

How much for shipping?

[sfokevin]

Sfokevin,

How much for shipping?

I am here in the US so it was $15... They do state they ship anywhere in the world - you could email them and ask shipping to where you are at (They also seem to let you go thru the purchase entry form - giving your address info and should give you shipping cost before you buy)

I will bring mine to BKK when I move to BKK in the summer...

I also plan on buying the Australia sd map for a road trip out to Aires Rock

[mikethevigoman]

The Nuvi seems to be the most popular choice but the Mio C520 appears to offer a bit more. Which one would you choose, I can't seem to make up my mind and as this will be my first GPS gadget, would like to hear from those of you who have knowledge of both of these.

Cheers guys

if you are talking to use in thailand, Garmin has the better map,.

[jingjingna]

Okay, checked out shipping costs, total USD 297 Inclusive but then I'll need to buy the SD card here..not a huge saving in the end, so might as well buy locally.

Svokefin, thanks for the info though, most appreciated!

[mikethevigoman]

I just ordered the Garmin 200w (w signifies the wide screen which is comparable in size to the Mio) for $213USD - The thing that sold me on the Garmin is the recent availability of more maps on sd cards... They now sell Thailand as a stand alone plug and play item...

http://www8.garmin.com/cartography/mapSour...vntThailand.jsp

from http://www.gadgetrend.com/gps_spi2.php

the 200w cost 4,000 baht more than the 200

Yikes!!! what price gouging.... Here's where I got mine... it translates to about 7,000 baht!!

http://www.compuplus.com/i-Garmin-Nuvi-200...73y4ou0d08h33tw

i dont think you can load another countries map into the 200, only has country of purchase, please tell me if i am wrong,.

[sfokevin]

i dont think you can load another countries map into the 200, only has country of purchase, please tell me if i am wrong,.

Both the Nuvi 200 and 200w come with a base map of the county you buy it from and accept an additional Sd Card that has other maps... garmin has a wide selection of additional maps...

North America Europe Middle East Brazil (cards only) Singapore/Malaysia Thailand Austrailia Mexico

http://www8.garmin.com/cartography/ontheRoad/

[mikethevigoman]

i dont think you can load another countries map into the 200, only has country of purchase, please tell me if i am wrong,.

Both the Nuvi 200 and 200w come with a base map of the county you buy it from and accept an additional Sd Card that has other maps... garmin has a wide selection of additional maps...

North America Europe Middle East Brazil (cards only) Singapore/Malaysia Thailand Austrailia Mexico

http://www8.garmin.com/cartography/ontheRoad/

Thanks for that, i have used the thai maps and cambodia in my zumo550,i beleive now that garmin are aware of rotweiler that they have dropped the map prices which makes that nuvi 200 a good buy,.

[jingjingna]

I think I am sold on the Nuvi 200w BUT would still like to hear from Mio users, if there are any out there??

[Firefoxx]

It's been discussed before. Both the Garmin and Mio use the same ESRI Thailand maps. My friend got a Nuvi 200W, but only because it's price dropped to below 14k (which is still a ripoff compared to the US). If you buy from the US and are intending to use it in Thailand, you need to buy the Thai maps too, so factor that into the cost.

[jingjingna]

Firefoxx,

Where did you friend get the Nuvi 200W for 14,000? Everywhere it's being advertised for 18,700. The Nuvi 200 is around the 14,000 mark.

[Firefoxx]

It's been recently discounted at Powerbuy, from the orignal price of 18k. It's been this price for around a month, I think.

[jingjingna]

Power Buy...well they don't know know their ass from their elbows...Your mate did well but obviously he knew what he what he wanted! Wish him all the best as after sales servive is non-existent!

If you want a 'particular' brand ...go straight to the source!..Alternatively, check out this forum!

[mikethevigoman]

Firefoxx,

Where did you friend get the Nuvi 200W for 14,000? Everywhere it's being advertised for 18,700. The Nuvi 200 is around the 14,000 mark.

Edited January 15, 2008 by mikethevigoman

[Theyreallrubbish]

Firefoxx,

Where did you friend get the Nuvi 200W for 14,000? Everywhere it's being advertised for 18,700. The Nuvi 200 is around the 14,000 mark.

How does satnav work in thailand? Do you type in a transliteration of the Thai name? With the screwy address system I presume it can't take you door to door?

[Firefoxx]

My friend likes to buy stuff from powerbuy, it's just the way he is. Anyways, the support seems to come from Garmin's distributor here, or ESRI.

The one sold here has full Thai capabilities, including Thai voice, Thai maps, and Thai keyboard for searching. We got to try it out on a trip to the north, and it works well, taking us to the correct destination. Of course sometimes it would choose the shortest route, but not take into account the fastest route (bypasses and such).

[LivinLOS]

I just ordered the Garmin 200w (w signifies the wide screen which is comparable in size to the Mio) for $213USD - The thing that sold me on the Garmin is the recent availability of more maps on sd cards... They now sell Thailand as a stand alone plug and play item...

http://www8.garmin.com/cartography/mapSour...vntThailand.jsp

from http://www.gadgetrend.com/gps_spi2.php

the 200w cost 4,000 baht more than the 200

Yikes!!! what price gouging.... Here's where I got mine... it translates to about 7,000 baht!!

http://www.compuplus.com/i-Garmin-Nuvi-200...73y4ou0d08h33tw

Plus I understand that the gadget trend one comes with the ERSI thai map that costs 12k on its own !!

So now add shipping.. Add import duty (if you get caught possibly 30% luxury goods and 7% sales compounded on the item + shipping!!).. Plus the SD card.. Plus a Thai map.

[Gary A]

Gadget Trend has lowered the Thailand map price from 12,000 to 7,000 baht. I bought a new Street Pilot 2610 off eBay for about $220. Unfortunately the 2610 interprets maps differently than the Nuvi series and according to Garmin, there is no fix. (?) That means that the Thailand map from Garmin US will not work in my unit nor does the Rotweiler map work correctly. I paid Gadget Trend 7,500 baht for a new one gig CF card with the ESRI map on the card. It works great. The 2610 has many options built in to change routing. Shortest, fastest, best route, better route, quick route, avoidances and road conditions. It also allows multiple destinations. It is a GREAT unit. The Rotweiler map works OK on my little hand held eTrex unit but it doesn't route near as well as the bigger unit with the ESRI map. The best thing about the Rotweiler map is that I can use it on my PC and transfer data back and forth from the PC to the GPS.

The Street Pilot 2610 cost 35,900 baht from Gadget Trend here in Thailand. The eTrex stays in my glove box and if I get lost, it does a great job of getting me back home or where ever I want to go.

Going to an address does not work well. I suspect the biggest problem is spelling differences and the poor Thai address system. I often find places and get the coordinates off Google Earth. I have a friend who lives in Udon Thani. He lives in a VERY hard to find area, lots of dead end and one way streets. I had him mark on a map from Rotweiler exactly where he lives. He marked the map quite well because when the GPS told me I was there, he was standing in his yard looking at me. I must say that I was amazed. If you have the coordinates, it is VERY accurate and easy to get anywhere. I think my sense of direction is pretty good but Thailand roads do NOT go north and south and east and west. Sometimes they even go in a big circle. In the past, I have been lost many times and spent hours finding my way. No more. I am now a firm believer in GPS.

Edited January 16, 2008 by Gary A

[Dave the Dude]

I think I am sold on the Nuvi 200w BUT would still like to hear from Mio users, if there are any out there??

Hi jingjingna

I have a Mio 520 and have contributed/read many previous posts here. My GPS is a very good item with wide screen/blue tooth plus many other facilities. ESRI maps are provided and a huge database of POI including schools/banks/shopping centres/Govt buildings. It has a nice 3D screen option which I find easier 'on the eye' AND is simple to switch the spoken language between Thai&English (Don't think competitors can do this?). The price was much cheaper than COMPARABLE w/screen/B'tooth items plus you get 1000b Caltex fuel vouchers free.

Bad points - It was very confusing to register the item in-line/over phone.

Dave

[LivinLOS]

Looking at the Nuvi 250 with Euro maps.. 155 GBP on amazon and my Bro needs Euro coverage for a month.. Then get it from him and load Thai maps at USA 120 USD prices.. 2 Birds with one stone..

[pattayapip]

Gadget Trend has lowered the Thailand map price from 12,000 to 7,000 baht. I bought a new Street Pilot 2610 off eBay for about $220. Unfortunately the 2610 interprets maps differently than the Nuvi series and according to Garmin, there is no fix. (?) That means that the Thailand map from Garmin US will not work in my unit nor does the Rotweiler map work correctly. I paid Gadget Trend 7,500 baht for a new one gig CF card with the ESRI map on the card. It works great. The 2610 has many options built in to change routing. Shortest, fastest, best route, better route, quick route, avoidances and road conditions. It also allows multiple destinations. It is a GREAT unit. The Rotweiler map works OK on my little hand held eTrex unit but it doesn't route near as well as the bigger unit with the ESRI map. The best thing about the Rotweiler map is that I can use it on my PC and transfer data back and forth from the PC to the GPS.

The Street Pilot 2610 cost 35,900 baht from Gadget Trend here in Thailand. The eTrex stays in my glove box and if I get lost, it does a great job of getting me back home or where ever I want to go.

Going to an address does not work well. I suspect the biggest problem is spelling differences and the poor Thai address system. I often find places and get the coordinates off Google Earth. I have a friend who lives in Udon Thani. He lives in a VERY hard to find area, lots of dead end and one way streets. I had him mark on a map from Rotweiler exactly where he lives. He marked the map quite well because when the GPS told me I was there, he was standing in his yard looking at me. I must say that I was amazed. If you have the coordinates, it is VERY accurate and easy to get anywhere. I think my sense of direction is pretty good but Thailand roads do NOT go north and south and east and west. Sometimes they even go in a big circle. In the past, I have been lost many times and spent hours finding my way. No more. I am now a firm believer in GPS.

I have the Garmin 770 and the Thai software from Garmin Themselves (albeit from ESRI) will not reference correctly, when you try to search "Near" it will not recognise cities or anything other than immediate surrounding places, It recognises you are in Thailand, but will not reference correctly!! The only way around this is to actually set "Bangkok, Udon Thani etc etc as favourites, select go to, then search near Destination, have contacted Garmin who replied with this:

There is an issue that has come up with the 7xx, though, in searching for addresses and points outside the US and Europe. The software engineers are at work on a unit Operating Software update. When available it will be offered through the Web Updater:

http://www8.garmin.com/products/webupdater/howtoinstall.jsp

Thank you again for your interest in Garmin GPS. Have you seen our online Map Viewer? Preview the basic data in many of the MapSource products firsthand

[mikethevigoman]

Firefoxx,

Where did you friend get the Nuvi 200W for 14,000? Everywhere it's being advertised for 18,700. The Nuvi 200 is around the 14,000 mark.

How does satnav work in thailand? Do you type in a transliteration of the Thai name? With the screwy address system I presume it can't take you door to door?

its tricky, even thais spell the same street in many different ways, they should provide a street index in the correct spelling, i have loads of trouble with it!

[Gary A]

Gadget Trend has lowered the Thailand map price from 12,000 to 7,000 baht. I bought a new Street Pilot 2610 off eBay for about $220. Unfortunately the 2610 interprets maps differently than the Nuvi series and according to Garmin, there is no fix. (?) That means that the Thailand map from Garmin US will not work in my unit nor does the Rotweiler map work correctly. I paid Gadget Trend 7,500 baht for a new one gig CF card with the ESRI map on the card. It works great. The 2610 has many options built in to change routing. Shortest, fastest, best route, better route, quick route, avoidances and road conditions. It also allows multiple destinations. It is a GREAT unit. The Rotweiler map works OK on my little hand held eTrex unit but it doesn't route near as well as the bigger unit with the ESRI map. The best thing about the Rotweiler map is that I can use it on my PC and transfer data back and forth from the PC to the GPS.

The Street Pilot 2610 cost 35,900 baht from Gadget Trend here in Thailand. The eTrex stays in my glove box and if I get lost, it does a great job of getting me back home or where ever I want to go.

Going to an address does not work well. I suspect the biggest problem is spelling differences and the poor Thai address system. I often find places and get the coordinates off Google Earth. I have a friend who lives in Udon Thani. He lives in a VERY hard to find area, lots of dead end and one way streets. I had him mark on a map from Rotweiler exactly where he lives. He marked the map quite well because when the GPS told me I was there, he was standing in his yard looking at me. I must say that I was amazed. If you have the coordinates, it is VERY accurate and easy to get anywhere. I think my sense of direction is pretty good but Thailand roads do NOT go north and south and east and west. Sometimes they even go in a big circle. In the past, I have been lost many times and spent hours finding my way. No more. I am now a firm believer in GPS.

I have the Garmin 770 and the Thai software from Garmin Themselves (albeit from ESRI) will not reference correctly, when you try to search "Near" it will not recognise cities or anything other than immediate surrounding places, It recognises you are in Thailand, but will not reference correctly!! The only way around this is to actually set "Bangkok, Udon Thani etc etc as favourites, select go to, then search near Destination, have contacted Garmin who replied with this:

There is an issue that has come up with the 7xx, though, in searching for addresses and points outside the US and Europe. The software engineers are at work on a unit Operating Software update. When available it will be offered through the Web Updater:

http://www8.garmin.com/products/webupdater/howtoinstall.jsp

Thank you again for your interest in Garmin GPS. Have you seen our online Map Viewer? Preview the basic data in many of the MapSource products firsthand

I was told by Garmin that their ESRI Thailand map would not work in my 2610 Street pilot. They said it interprets maps differently from the compatible units and that there was no fix. The 2610 is also not listed on their compatibility guide. The ESRI map from Gadget Trend works perfectly with my 2610. For cities, I press "find", then "cities", then it displays "near here" by default so you have to press that and specify "by name" then enter the name. It helps you with the spelling by only displaying letters that are in the actual cities names.

Did you have to furnish a unit ID number and serial number to Garmin? The Gadget Trend card will NOT work in any other unit than the one it was sold for. If the Garmin ESRI Thailand map is plug and play I'll buy it from you to use in my eTrex Legend CX. The eTrex is listed as compatible. PM me if interested.