Review for Garmins GPS w/ Philippine Maps

**rockiee_s** · June 6th, 2010 05:25 PM

hi guys.

just bought a garmin nuvi 1410.

because i am based in china for about 10 years now, i am not so familiar with the roads in the philippines.

i had my vacation in manila last week and it was hard getting to certain destinations which are new to me.

on my third vacation day, i bought my garmin and it really assisted me to where i wanted to go. be it out of town or just within metro manila.

ang galing!

**cross16** · June 13th, 2010 12:01 AM

mga sir question lang po. planning to get any of these kenwood HUs DDX 5034, DDX 7034BT, or DDX 8034BT. as they are all compatible for use with the Kenwood KNA G431 hideaway navigation system by garmin. hindi pa din po kasi ako familiar with the system and sa updates. Any of you have this kind of set-up? Saan po ba ako makakuha ng updates ng maps? How often does the map need to be updated? Sorry po sa mga newbie questions. Should I just start a thread about this? Thanks po.

**oj88** · June 13th, 2010 06:29 AM

Originally Posted by cross16

mga sir question lang po. planning to get any of these kenwood HUs DDX 5034, DDX 7034BT, or DDX 8034BT. as they are all compatible for use with the Kenwood KNA G431 hideaway navigation system by garmin. hindi pa din po kasi ako familiar with the system and sa updates. Any of you have this kind of set-up? Saan po ba ako makakuha ng updates ng maps? How often does the map need to be updated? Sorry po sa mga newbie questions. Should I just start a thread about this? Thanks po.

Excellent choice for a multimedia+navigation head unit.

There are currently two maps available for Garmin GPS; OSM and roadguide.ph. I chose the latter but it should not stop you from trying both. New versions are released as often as weekly or up to within several months. Just make sure to install the KNA-G431 in a place where the USB and/or SD card slot are easily accessible.

Roadguide: http://roadguide.ph/forums/index.php
OSM: http://esambale.wikispaces.com/osmphil_garmin

**CVT** · June 14th, 2010 05:58 PM

For those who are using roadguide.ph map, please be aware of our experience when we used it during our travel to Bolinao over the weekend.... Please see link below.

http://tsikot.yehey.com/forums/showt...t=34225&page=4

I am writing a letter to the admins of roadguide this week, requesting to delete the road segment marked as main road, and which is actually a very rough road before someone gets in trouble....

10.1K:mop:

**Mguy** · June 14th, 2010 06:19 PM

Does anybody rent out these units?

**oj88** · June 14th, 2010 07:48 PM

Originally Posted by CVT

For those who are using roadguide.ph map, please be aware of our experience when we used it during our travel to Bolinao over the weekend.... Please see link below.

http://tsikot.yehey.com/forums/showt...t=34225&page=4

I am writing a letter to the admins of roadguide this week, requesting to delete the road segment marked as main road, and which is actually a very rough road before someone gets in trouble....

10.1K:mop:

You will have to upload the correction yourself. That's how it is.

FWIW, that road forking left is on Garmin's World Map. I imagine that when they started the project at RG.ph, this patch of road (old data) was just migrated to the RG map but nobody have had a chance to correct it. Sufice to say, here's your chance.

**ferrarifan** · June 15th, 2010 08:20 AM

Originally Posted by CVT

For those who are using roadguide.ph map, please be aware of our experience when we used it during our travel to Bolinao over the weekend.... Please see link below.

http://tsikot.yehey.com/forums/showt...t=34225&page=4

I am writing a letter to the admins of roadguide this week, requesting to delete the road segment marked as main road, and which is actually a very rough road before someone gets in trouble....

10.1K:mop:

You can indicate where the unpaved road started. I think the roadguide.ph guys will not remove the road as it is actually existing. What they can do is categorize the unpaved section correctly, and then in your gps you can set your avoidances to include unpaved roads so that it will not route you through all unpaved roads.

But I don't think that the correction will end up in the free map but rather on the next contributor's version of the map.

**CVT** · June 15th, 2010 08:40 AM

Originally Posted by ferrarifan

You can indicate where the unpaved road started. I think the roadguide.ph guys will not remove the road as it is actually existing. What they can do is categorize the unpaved section correctly, and then in your gps you can set your avoidances to include unpaved roads so that it will not route you through all unpaved roads.

But I don't think that the correction will end up in the free map but rather on the next contributor's version of the map.

The first segment of that road is not really a main road, that is comparable to the "provincial highway". It is actually a narrow road, typical of the paved coastal roads in Bolinao, leading to the beaches in Patar... And then, 8Km before the lighthouse, it turned into an offroad (very rough road with no houses nor locals in the vicinity).... (My GPS is set to avoid unpaved roads, but then again, the map points to it as a main road, so there goes the error in the map, which I will highlight to roadguide this week)...

BTW, this 1.07 version of roadguide is the free map, so everyone has access to it....So, there lies the danger that another unsuspecting driver will pass that road. This, I hope to prevent with my letter to roadguide.

10.1K:mop:

**CVT** · June 15th, 2010 08:40 AM

Sorry guys. Double post.

10.1K:mop:

**ferrarifan** · June 15th, 2010 01:02 PM

Originally Posted by CVT

The first segment of that road is not really a main road, that is comparable to the "provincial highway". It is actually a narrow road, typical of the paved coastal roads in Bolinao, leading to the beaches in Patar... And then, 8Km before the lighthouse, it turned into an offroad (very rough road with no houses nor locals in the vicinity).... (My GPS is set to avoid unpaved roads, but then again, the map points to it as a main road, so there goes the error in the map, which I will highlight to roadguide this week)...

BTW, this 1.07 version of roadguide is the free map, so everyone has access to it....So, there lies the danger that another unsuspecting driver will pass that road. This, I hope to prevent with my letter to roadguide.

10.1K:mop:

Afaik, RG does not or rarely update the free map. For sure, the Bolinao part is only one of the several errors there is in the free map. As I've said, your correction will likely end up in the contributor's version of the map.

There lies the difference between the free map and the contributor's map. As for the issue of safety, well I think that given the free map is an old map, I think it is prudent for users to be cautious when using it. No map is perfect. Even the updated map has its own pitfalls, albeit less compared to the free map. And I believe the RG guys acknowledge the inadequacy of their map by putting this in the EULA of the free map...

"JKLinc cannot be held responsible for any mishaps caused by the use of these maps, be it of a personal or material nature."

It is still best to rely on local knowledge when navigating and ask locals if the GPS fails you, in fact even when the GPS seem to work just fine. You'll just never know what lies in the roads ahead. But in your case, you have indicated that you've done that and still you ended up in an almost disastrous situation, so I guess it was a combination of map inadequacy, bad judgment and bad luck.