I'm a full-time Thailand resident, and I visit the USA twice each year. I'm thinking about replacing my current USA-purchased Garmin Nuvi 750 (it has some problems with sound; no beeps/speech/music from it anymore, both from the speaker and from the jack.)

I use the GPS both in the USA and Thailand, but mostly in Thailand. I have an old Thai map (Thailand Streeet Map Ver. 8.0) in it now, along with the North America map. It serves my needs pretty well, but a few of the problems I have are:

No Thai character set (not a problem for me, but is for the Thai wife.)

Different phonetic spellings of Thai places and addresses makes it difficult to find places sometimes.

Can not handle "slashes" in address numbers.

I know there's a difference (firmware?) in the Thailand-sold models, so that might help solve some of these problems. But are there any cons to the Thai firmware for an English-speaking person? Can anyone elaborate on these issues?

Overall, I think there is more choice of models and lower cost to purchasing in USA. What are the benefits to purchasing in Thailand?

I think with a USA model, I'll have to purchase a Thailand map. And for a Thai model, purchase a USA map.

One last question: Is anybody doing reasonably priced repairs here? (I don't think my nuvi 750 was ever sold in Thailand.)

I'm a full-time Thailand resident, and I visit the USA twice each year. I'm thinking about replacing my current USA-purchased Garmin Nuvi 750........

Purchase a Garmin nuvi in Thailand, with included ESRI Thailand Street Map V11.1dual language map, unless you have money issues with the price. You have to pay for one Thai or US map either way. Search function spelling and address is always a problem unless you know exactly how it is listed in the map data base. Last I heard Garmin Thailand repairs their GPS units in Taiwan.

Edited November 9, 201114 yr by InterestedObserver