An Experiment With The Garmin Street Pilot

[corkscrew]

This afternoon I drove toward a section of Bangkok where I have never been before....I made a number of arbitrary turns and wound up in a place that was God only knows where.

I asked the Garmin to route me "home". And it worked perfectly!

What would I have done if for some reason the Garmin went on the fritz? I guess I'd pay a taxi to lead me home.

It was a fun experiment.

[Meerkat]

I'm generally happy with the Garmin, but it does seem to slip up fairly often.

It seems to have an aversion to elevated highways - even on the "Faster" rather than "Shorter" setting. Driving south along the Don Muang tollway causes all sorts of hilarious situations - go to the outside lane and it suddenly thinks you're driving on the frontage road down below...but on the northern lane! Of course then it yells "Recalculating" at you every few seconds for the next 20 km until you hit the Din Daeng tollbooth. That of course might be the fault of the ESRI data rather than the machine itself. The transliteration is pretty awful as well - absolutely no consistency whatsoever, so searching for place names always requires a bit of guesswork and thinking "outside the box".

All in all though it's certainly a worthwhile toy, and trips into the city no longer fill me with dread. I have also been impressed with its coverage outside of the BKK area.

Reminds me of British Rail back in the '70s "It gets you there. Eventually."

[Jai Dee]

How much are these toys and where do you get them?

Also, what kind of coverage is there beyond the BKK metropolitan area?

[corkscrew]

How much are these toys and where do you get them?

Also, what kind of coverage is there beyond the BKK metropolitan area?

I think it covers all of Thailand.....though I have used it just in greater BKK and the drive to Ayutthaya.

I bought mine at Pantip Plaza....at a store called Platinium (on the 3rd floor). This shop has a whole range of GPSs.

[Jai Dee]

How much are these toys and where do you get them?

Also, what kind of coverage is there beyond the BKK metropolitan area?

I think it covers all of Thailand.....though I have used it just in greater BKK and the drive to Ayutthaya.

I bought mine at Pantip Plaza....at a store called Platinium (on the 3rd floor). This shop has a whole range of GPSs.

Cost?

As a former boat owner I used to have a GPS, and you could add new maps/charts chips depending on your location.

Does anyone know if these are also available here in Thailand?

[corkscrew]

I'm generally happy with the Garmin, but it does seem to slip up fairly often.

It seems to have an aversion to elevated highways - even on the "Faster" rather than "Shorter" setting. Driving south along the Don Muang tollway causes all sorts of hilarious situations - go to the outside lane and it suddenly thinks you're driving on the frontage road down below...but on the northern lane! Of course then it yells "Recalculating" at you every few seconds for the next 20 km until you hit the Din Daeng tollbooth. That of course might be the fault of the ESRI data rather than the machine itself. The transliteration is pretty awful as well - absolutely no consistency whatsoever, so searching for place names always requires a bit of guesswork and thinking "outside the box".

All in all though it's certainly a worthwhile toy, and trips into the city no longer fill me with dread. I have also been impressed with its coverage outside of the BKK area.

Reminds me of British Rail back in the '70s "It gets you there. Eventually."

I agree with the transliteration thing. Sometimes I 'drag' the icon to about where I think the place is located on the map. Then I look at the 'what's near' sites and it usually finds what I want.

I like the voice of the Aussie girl.

[Jai Dee]

I've just done a search through the Garmin website.

Which model are you guys using?

[corkscrew]

How much are these toys and where do you get them?

Also, what kind of coverage is there beyond the BKK metropolitan area?

I think it covers all of Thailand.....though I have used it just in greater BKK and the drive to Ayutthaya.

I bought mine at Pantip Plaza....at a store called Platinium (on the 3rd floor). This shop has a whole range of GPSs.

Cost?

As a former boat owner I used to have a GPS, and you could add new maps/charts chips depending on your location.

Does anyone know if these are also available here in Thailand?

The Garmin Street Pilot 2720 is the latest model. It costs 42,000 baht.

I do not know if you can add Thai maps to older GPS units. You would have to contact ESRI (the softwear maker of the Thai maps).

[Jai Dee]

Thanks corkscew.

Next time I'm in bangers I'll have a look at them.

A boy's gotta have toys...

[corkscrew]

Thanks corkscew.

Next time I'm in bangers I'll have a look at them.

A boy's gotta have toys...

I think that you will really like it. It is so helpful here in BKK where the streets go every which way and where the signage is not very helpful. With many of the streets being so narrow and with buildings so close to the street it is even hard to see a distant landmark (e.g., State Tower) for direction guidance.

Once the Garmin makes contact with the sky it does a pretty good job of staying connected. If it loses a signal (e.g., under motorway) it recptures it pretty quickly.

In its memory it stores a lot of places (hotels, restaurants, museums, parks, stores, etc.) And you can always store your favorite places (e.g., your home).

And if you are lazy you can just drag the icon to anywhere on the map and tell it to take you there. It is very user friendly.

Sure, it is not perfect (e.g., it doesn't know that I CAN make a right turn onto Silom after exiting the motorway). And another poster pointed out that it confused a parallel road from the airport with the motorway.

The software is pretty current: it took me directly to the departure terminal at the new airport.

You'll enjoy it.

[Jalla]

Thanks corkscew.

Next time I'm in bangers I'll have a look at them.

A boy's gotta have toys...

Jai Dee, you don`t have to go all the way to BKK for it. Most Garmin models are sold in TukCom, South Pattaya. Look for the shop straight ahead as you come of the escalator on the 4th floor(me thinks..)

Got the Ique M5 myself, very satisfied as its a PDA as well.

Jalla

[skippybangkok]

I think it covers all of Thailand.....though I have used it just in greater BKK and the drive to Ayutthaya.

I bought mine at Pantip Plaza....at a store called Platinium (on the 3rd floor). This shop has a whole range of GPSs.

OK...think we have a Troll here. You have mentioned umpteen times about there being a "shop on the 3rd floor". Let me guess, you own the shop, or have nominee's controlling it on your behalf?

You seem very eager to promote them and where to buy them. By the way guy, they also have them in Fortune tower 3rd floor. !!!! . I suspected this months back, and here you are again promoting the "platinum" shop.

Looks like a pretty open and shut case to me.

Edited June 29, 2006 by skippybangkok

[lost_in_isaan]

I hope your kidding skippy.. Corky loves to talk about his toys, check out all his posts on his MB's.

Anyway, another poster did ask him where he bought it and how much. Why should Corky know of other dealers that sell these things.

Defence rests.

[skippybangkok]

Ok.... appologies then ! ( take my foot out of my mouth ). Just seemed sus so many posts about the same thing and where to buy. Maybe he is just neurotic.

[Thaidit]

If I were to bring a Garmin 2720 to Th from the US would I be able to download Th maps onto it.

[Jai Dee]

Jai Dee, you don`t have to go all the way to BKK for it. Most Garmin models are sold in TukCom, South Pattaya. Look for the shop straight ahead as you come of the escalator on the 4th floor(me thinks..)

Thanks for the tip Jalla.

I'll do that.

[corkscrew]

Ok.... appologies then ! ( take my foot out of my mouth ). Just seemed sus so many posts about the same thing and where to buy. Maybe he is just neurotic.

I had been looking for a GPS with Thai maps for a long time and I wasn't able to find one. Then one day I just saw this place that had several models in the display case...so I bought it on the spot. The place is NOT that friendly to customers so I would not buy anything else from them.

I know that I am a little bit obsessive about the Garmin....but since it has given me a lot of 'freedom' to drive I can hardly stop talking about it.

[corkscrew]

If I were to bring a Garmin 2720 to Th from the US would I be able to download Th maps onto it.

I think an earlier poster said "yes" to that question.

But I don't think there is a big difference in price (US versus Thailand).