Will Garmin 510/520/810 etc from overseas work in Thailand

[Pdaz]

Seen some reasonable deals on these while overseas. Is mapping included only for the country of purchase ? Or is it just a case of downloading maps of Thailand.

Any info appreciated. Thanks.

[moonoi]

Yes, however 510/520 don't have mapping.

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[TheCruncher]

What I understand is that the important thing is the basemap, which is divided in geographical areas.

You can easily install an updated basemap in case your unit would only have the one from 1 specific geographical area installed.

[Pdaz]

Thanks.. yes it was 810 I was mostly interested in..

[bobfish]

I have a 510 and an 800 [kind of a poor man's 810].

Base maps in the 800 are, well, basic. Area specific maps can be bought via Garmin or 3rd party. Ride with GPS charges around $25 for SD micro regional maps.

My take: the 800 maps are okay for road riding [and found my hotel again in Tokyo!! phew] but the small screen means that you're probably better to cache the maps into your phone - battery life permitting. Any scratches on the screen protector look like roads to my failing eyesight....off road mapping useless.

510 is a little slicker, so I guess the 810 would be likewise. I suppose the telling point here would be that I now only use the 800 in Thailand and the 510 when travelling OS. The paper trail is good enough.

Touchscreen on both can be really annoying with default display constantly erm 'defaulting'. A friend has been through all incarnations and now bought a 520 with - wait for it - buttons!

I'd buy a 520. 1000 is too big.

[Pdaz]

That's great info.. Thanks.

[tahaan]

I have an 810. You can download free open source maps for Thailand that work well on Garmin. Iirc, there's threads on TV or info easy to find with Google.

[impulse]

If I didn't need turn by turn voice directions for driving, I'd ditch the Garmin (which I love, BTW- in my vehicle) and stick with my smart phone and Google Maps or Navigator.

The quality of Garmin road navigation in Thailand is dependent on ESRI maps of Thailand. They're a 3rd party with office in BKK that do the road maps and updates for Garmins sold in Thailand. I don't know if those maps can be put on a non-Thai purchased GPS or not, and at what cost

That's not to say you can't get around on a bicycle using a Garmin with generic maps, but why bother if you're carrying a smart phone anyway? If you're not carrying a smart phone (I resisted for years), you don't know how much you're missing for getting around in an unfamiliar area.

[TheCruncher]

If I didn't need turn by turn voice directions for driving, I'd ditch the Garmin (which I love, BTW- in my vehicle) and stick with my smart phone and Google Maps or Navigator.

The quality of Garmin road navigation in Thailand is dependent on ESRI maps of Thailand. They're a 3rd party with office in BKK that do the road maps and updates for Garmins sold in Thailand. I don't know if those maps can be put on a non-Thai purchased GPS or not, and at what cost

That's not to say you can't get around on a bicycle using a Garmin with generic maps, but why bother if you're carrying a smart phone anyway? If you're not carrying a smart phone (I resisted for years), you don't know how much you're missing for getting around in an unfamiliar area.

Garmin has for a few years already their own Thailand map.

Esri maps can be loaded on any garmin unit, but as I said in another post, you will need the Asia basemap installed on your unit to make it function.

Garmin maps are crap, all over the world, not only in Thailand