Read the news articles here and here.

I also have Handymap/Mobitrack software loaded on my PDA 2005v. In JHB I had to search for roads on several occasions and I found that sometimes I had great difficulty finding some roads with Garmap/Nuvi. I will then search on my PDA and volla, SOMETIMES I will find the roads on my PDA. Besides this “pain” I can truly say that Garmap still beats Mobitrack hands down. I have had an email conversation with these guys because of inaccurate data and street names …etc. …useless conversation to say the least. Very frustrating in Handymap is that you cannot search for house numbers. It can also not give you on national roads the exit number - in general, I think it is probably worse than CN because I had problems in CT, JHB, Durban and PE. Garmap is tops in this regard.

The best software I came accross for the US and Europe is from Microsoft. You buy streets and trips for US @ 40$ and Autoroute for Europe at +/- 40GBP. You can load it on your laptop and do all your planning with multiple routes ..etc and POI’s are millions. You can link it via bluetooth to a GPS receiver and do normal navigation. Works fantastic, though the problem is that you must put your laptop on the dashboard…… On the older versions of MS S&T you could copy maps to your PDA and have limited navigational funtionality via GPS receiver to your PDA. The fact that you can do planning on your Laptop is a great feature I miss with preloaded maps on garmin. In general I would say that the MS software is far superior than Garmin maps on a PC. It is a dogs breakfast to do planning on a garmin device. So for US & Europe travel I do all my planning on MS S&T or Autoroute and then I will drive with my Nuvi. It is in my opinion still the best (small) device to use anywhere in the world.

Regarding your comments:

“It is a pity you did not show the different maps on the town Lichtenburg in your Garmap. In Garmap it is just a dot where in City Navigater all the streets are routable. Please give the South African customers the real facts.
City Navigater $100.00 = R670.00
Garmap R2500.00“

Please read my comments before you trash them, especially comment No.4 to Jan-Louis (2nd last and last paragraphs):

“As far as pricing goes, $100 is indeed much cheaper than the R2166 of the Garmap Southern Africa Streetmaps however, that $100 does not include the shipping costs to get a CD/DVD to SA (the cheapest I could find was $39 - International Economy), it also does not include the 10% (of cost price) customs charge on all incoming packages, nor does it include the 14% VAT that has to be added. And then, at the risk of repeating myself, the CN maps also only cover South Africa (1 country) and not Southern Africa (7 countries) like the Garmap maps do, the CN maps are sadly lacking in POI’s (20,000 as opposed to 100,000 on the Garmap maps) and last but not least, all Garmin GPS systems sold in SA have the Garmap maps already included in the unit’s price. It is only for Garmin systems that are not brought into the country through the authorised channels that you would have to purchase the Garmap maps at R2166.

Oh, and P.S. - If you simply want to compare prices, why not compare our Garmap maps to Garmin maps of similar quality like the CN Australia ($294), CN Europe ($300), CN Middle East ($230) and CN New Zealand ($294)“

and…

“If you want Routeble maps of the rest of Africa Look at the Tracks4Africa website and prices:
Swaziland (ROUTABLE) 7.10 R 50.00
Mozambique, Malawi (ROUTABLE) 7.10 R 65.00
Botswana (ROUTABLE) 7.10 R 95.00
Namibia, Angola (ROUTABLE) 7.10 R 110.00
Zambia, Zimbabwe (ROUTABLE) 7.10 R 50.00
T4A GPS Maps – Traveller’s Africa 7.10 ( all maps) R 650.00
South Africa include but it is not routable“

Yes, depending on your needs, the Track4Africa are great maps. They are more focussed on tracks and 4×4 trails than on road network coverage. As per the Tracks4Africa website:

“Please note that this initiative is not aimed at mapping major urban centres (often for cities very good quality data already exists) but rather to focus on rural and remote Africa.“

and…

“The T4A Map is NOT a city navigator and it is NOT an auto-routable map. The T4A Map is also NOT an “atlas of roads”. In fact, it may not even cover 5% of all navigable road/tracks in its coverage area BUT it covers 95% of the roads travelled. The T4A Map is NOT about roads, it is about DESTINATIONS and about attention to detail but mostly it is about INFORMATION. Strictly speaking it is NOT a map. It is the collective navigational experience of the T4A Data Community on countless leisure and trips to eco-destinations into remote and eco-sensitive Africa and no two travel experiences are the same. The T4A Map explains where and why ECO USERS do what they do.“

Since the large majority of GPS users in this country are road users (GPS units are no longer for 4×4 enthusiasts only), the article and video compared the Road and Street maps that are available to the user. I did not mention the Track4Africa maps on purpose as they are more specialised and designed as a niche product (specifically for 4×4 enthusiasts) rather than for the masses. Niche mapping products deserve their own review and will be covered at a later stage.

If you want Routeble maps of the rest of Africa Look at the Track4Africa website and prices.
Swaziland (ROUTABLE) 7.10 R 50.00
Mozambique, Malawi (ROUTABLE) 7.10 R 65.00
Botswana (ROUTABLE) 7.10 R 95.00
Namibia, Angola (ROUTABLE) 7.10 R 110.00
Zambia, Zimbabwe (ROUTABLE) 7.10 R 50.00
T4A GPS Maps – Traveller’s Africa 7.10 ( all maps) R 650.00
South Africa include but it is not routable

The best place to find out about the Garmap map products and their coverage priorities is the Garmap Forum. I see that there are already two discussions re. the coverage of the former Transkei, one Here and one Here.

One of the comments made by a forum user was “I work the area extensively and have hard copy maps of most areas, but a lot of it is not even properly surveyed yet“. I know that this comment is very true (I have personally worked and mapped in these areas) and the biggest question I have with present map products that claim to cover these areas is “where did your raw data come from?”. The present “official” government data for this area is about 20 years out of date.

I see that Garmap do have some basic data (probably still unverified at this stage) of Umtata for example, as it shows up as unlabeled roads on the Garmap Topo maps. I actually have the utmost respect for the Garmap guys for withholding this data until it is properly verified (as one of the Garmap guys points out on the forum that they “have a policy focussed on accuracy - doing things twice simply doesn’t cut in this environment”) - even worse than not having data at all (and thus knowing that you should be making another plans) is having (and trusting) incorrect and misleading data.

Thank you for your comment but… ummmm… NAVTEQ is actually an American company (Founded in 1985 in Silicon Valley, California and headquartered in Chicago, IL, USA) but let’s not split hairs over doing our homework shall we?
Yes, I am embarrassed to admit that you did catch me with my foot in my mouth regarding the “More Detail” button, and yes, when I viewed the City Navigator (CN) map of Graaff Reinet with the “More Detail” button activated, I did indeed find more streets. Not all, but more - and certainly not “the same as in Garmap Southern Africa V1.5“. I am also still not happy with the quality of those streets in CN. As an example, I find streets that are correctly named “Hoop St”, “Noord St” and “Koningin St” on the Garmap maps have summarily been renamed to “Hope St”, “North St” and “Queen St” in the CN maps. We have enough of a problem with our own government changing road names on us at every turn, without also having to contend with American translations of our road names as well. I do realise that we are now living in a “Global Village” where English is the accepted language, but do you really think a search feature will find Koningin St in Graaff Reinet on a GPS system with CN maps? I think not and most people will not think to try and search for an English translation.

Have you actually compared the coverage and accuracy between the two maps yourself? Believe me, there are far too many faults in the CN maps to count and this is probably due to the ancient and inaccurate raw/base data provided (sold) to NAVTEQ by our government. There is a big difference, both in age and accuracy, between the data that our government uses and the data that was captured and is owned by the major (private) data companies in SA. NAVTEQ are now simply building on top of this faulty base data. Why do you think Garmin handed the license over to the local chaps in the first place? They obviously realised that our local companies have far better capability and resources to provide accurate and comprehensive data than that which was being provided by NAVTEQ for their maps of SA.

And yes again, NAVTEQ data is indeed used by BMW, Daimler Chrysler, VW etc for their built-in SatNav systems, which is the reason why so many BMW, Mercedes and VW owners are phoning us up hoping that the Garmap maps will be compatible with those systems. These are people who have the latest NAVTEQ map CD’s and DVD’s loaded into their built-in systems, but when they compare the coverage and accuracy of those maps with the maps on their Garmin systems they are truly shocked at the difference (yes, some people have both - many of them fly a lot and need a portable system for a rental car or even a second vehicle). Unfortunately, many people still think that all maps are the same - “A GPS map is a GPS map isn’t it? Why do they differ so much from system to system?”

As far as pricing goes, $100 is indeed much cheaper than the R2166 of the Garmap Southern Africa Streetmaps however, that $100 does not include the shipping costs to get a CD/DVD to SA (the cheapest I could find was $39 - International Economy), it also does not include the 10% (of cost price) customs charge on all incoming packages, nor does it include the 14% VAT that has to be added. And then, at the risk of repeating myself, the CN maps also only cover South Africa (1 country) and not Southern Africa (7 countries) like the Garmap maps do, the CN maps are sadly lacking in POI’s (20,000 as opposed to 100,000 on the Garmap maps) and last but not least, all Garmin GPS systems sold in SA have the Garmap maps already included in the unit’s price. It is only for Garmin systems that are not brought into the country through the authorised channels that you would have to purchase the Garmap maps at R2166.

Oh, and P.S. - If you simply want to compare prices, why not compare our Garmap maps to Garmin maps of similar quality like the CN Australia ($294), CN Europe ($300), CN Middle East ($230) and CN New Zealand ($294)?