MapMyIndia Navigator Review!

Ok, before I set off doing the length and breadth of our great nation in my great beast one piece of technology is indispensable. The GPS Navigator. Currently we have only two real choices. One is the SatNav Navigator and the other one by MapmyIndia. I went with the later as it comes pre-loaded with the following:

Anywhere to anywhere travel in India:

Drive from anywhere to anywhere across India using national and state highways.

Connects 55,000 villages and towns

Contains important landmarks of 150 cities

Navigation within 18 major cities:
Highly detailed, street and locality level navigable maps for 18 cities:

Delhi NCR (New Delhi, Gurgaon, Noida, Greater Noida, Faridabad, Ghaziabad)
Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchkula
Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Thane
Pune (including Pimpri Chinchwad)
Bangalore
Hyderabad, Secundarabad
Kolkata (including Bidhan Nagar)
Chennai

Tourist and business landmarks:

Directly navigate to the desired point of interest, using name or category.
2,00,000 points of interest across 52 categories.

Continuously expanding coverage:

Roadmap for expanded coverage with updates on new territories and cities, and more POIs.

Continuous up-gradation of existing maps keeping them current.


I bought the New AMAX 06GP5A Model. The other model they have is a Delphi NAV200, I chose the Amax as I preferred not having any hard buttons. The touch screen is easier to deal with when on the road I feel. The unit works as mentioned. All the roads in Pune seem to be in there proper place. Some place names have their spellings all wrong but nothing too dramatic. At this point I am just grateful for having this system in the first place. For a country as unplanned as ours, in-car navigation is not a luxury but a necessity. I have used GPS systems extensively in Southern Europe so as systems go learning my way around the MapmyIndia Navigator was a breeze.

The one thing that surprised me was that the unit itself is quite small. The picture on the box and in the Newspaper ads make it look bigger than it is. The screen is 3.5 inch in size which is common for GPS systems no doubt but the complete unit is only about 4 inches square and about and inch thick. It is tiny and truly portable.

The bits that come with it include:

• 1 GB SD card containing complete all India maps and software.
• A-MAX 06GP5A hardware.
• Wall and car charger.
• Windshield/Dashboard mount.
• USB Cable.
• Owner's Kit- Includes Quick Start Guide, User's Manual on CD, Customer warranty card, Easy tips guide and Terms of Use.

The one thing I miss not having is a carrying case for the navigator. When Parked in most places I do take the unit off its perch and carry it with me and not having a soft carry case included in the list above is the one gripe I have in otherwise quite a wholesome package. The re-route function works quite fast. That is when you take a turn off the route it sets for you it re-routes automatically from wherever you are in relation to your destination.

The other good function is the Trip Computer. It gives you a real time speed reading the digital meter. It also shows you your average speed and other interesting data. Also the unit doubles up as a music/video player if needed. Of course those functions do not work when it is navigating so I don't really will need that capability.

The one other interesting point about the package is the fact that the Navigator is Made in China and the windshield/dashboard mount that comes with it (which is superb) is Made in Germany!

I have the unit for less than a week and have yet to test it in an intercity run. But a trip to Goa might come through in a few weeks to the Little GPS will have to work hard for its money. Which by the way was Rs.20500/- at Poona Motors.

In the end I would say that if you must get one accessory for your car make it a MapMyIndia Navigator as you will soon realize - how did you ever manage without one!

MNTS Rating: *****/*****