Very often it is simply the local distributor who decides to stop importing a specific GPS model, or even a whole range, due to a variety of factors. For example, a particular GPS model may well be popular in another country but it just does not seem to sell well to the market in your country. Sometimes, and this is also the reason why some models are never imported into South Africa at all, the infrastructure of a particular country might also limit the usage of certain features that are available on a specific model and although model “x” may have more features than model “y“, the only features of both model that are actually usable in that country would be the same ones (i.e. there would be no practical difference between the two GPS models capabilities). It then makes sense to only import/keep importing the GPS model with the cheapest pricing point.

Of course it must also be remembered that we are dealing with a product where new technology seems to be released on an almost monthly basis and often the rate at which new GPS models are brought onto the market outstrips the rate at which older models are being discontinued. This can cause great confusion amongst customers when there are so many different models on the market that all seem to be doing exactly the same thing (and when sometimes the only difference between two models might be a newer GPS chipset or a slightly updated operating system with a faster screen refresh rate).

In cases where the local distributor stops importing a particular model into their country, they would also stop importing the accessories for that model. Given the levels of stock that they usually carry, this would mean that within about 4-6 months those accessories would no longer be available in that country either. Since most models within the same range/series use the same accessories (i.e. the GPS 60 series includes the GPSMAP 60Cx and GPSMAP 60CSx and the Nuvi 2xx series includes the Nuvi 200, Nuvi 200W, Nuvi 205, Nuvi 205W and the Nuvi 250) this is generally not a problem if only one model out of the whole range/series has been discontinued. However, in cases where the whole range has been discontinued - Beware, some of the accessories (particularly the mounts) are not compatible between ranges/series.

Purchasing a discontinued model will have no effect on your 1 year warranty period for the unit (as long as the unit is purchased from an authorised dealer) as the distributors do tend to keep some stock one side specifically for warranty replacements and repairs of these units.

In summary, I would recommend doing a bit of homework before you purchase a discontinued model (and especially if you come across a dealer that is selling a particular model at a “bargain price” - they may simply have excess stock of a discontinued or even a “soon to be discontinued” model). Find out if there are any other models in the same range that are also being discontinued and why.

I would really like to get some feedback on this and I would value any opinions you may have. Please leave your comments in the box below.

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This really is a very nice looking unit but I don’t want to delve too much into the aesthetics or even the standard functionality of this unit in this post. The Nuvi 860 is obviously a top of the range unit similar to the Garmin Nuvi 760 and as such has all the usual bells and whistles of the other Nuvi’s in its class. What does make the Nuvi 860 truly unique however, is the speech recognition capability.

Since being able to “speak” to the device and give it voice commands is this units’ biggest selling point, I would like to concentrate on this particular feature. As with all highly advanced technology, there are often features or functions that depend on a variety of factors to work correctly (or even to work at all). We have often seen devices released in South Africa where, due to a lack of infrastructure, available mapsets, radio frequency licensing problems and other issues outside of our control, some of the features were unavailable or were severely limited. We are also warned on the Nuvi 860 Product Presentation and in the Product Description that “some speech recognition functionality is dependent on the capabilities of the mapping in use“.

So, what works on the Nuvi 860 in South Africa and how well does it work?
These are the menu, screen selections and features that are accessible via voice command.

“Main menu” or “Menu” (from any screen) to access or return to the main menu screen.

Main menu selections:

• “View map” to access the map screen (this command can be used from any screen)
• “Hands Free” to access the phone menu screen (when paired to your phone via Bluetooth - this command can be used from any screen).
• “Volume” to go to the volume menu screen (all settings can be manipulated by voice)
• “Tools” to access your Tools  menu screen (this command can be used from any screen).
• “Where To” to access the search menu screen (this command can be used from any screen).
• “Stop” and “Detour” (if you are already in an active route and wish to stop or change it. The “Detour” command can also be used from any screen).

View Map Menu:

• “Speed” to access your trip meter screen.
• “Turn” (if you are in an active route) to see your turn-by-turn preview screen.

Hands Free Menu (when properly paired to your cellphone via Bluetooth):
[Note: Some of these functions are dependent on your phone and will only be available if you have transferred your phone book to your GPS unit.]

• “Phone Book” to access and scroll through your phone book listing. Can only scroll through your phone book by using the “Page Down / Up” command. Cannot search or spell names for selection (which is rather irritating if you are looking for someone whose name starts with a “T” and you have a large listing of numbers)
• “POI Dial” to access your POI listing. Select any category and then scroll through the listings.
• “Dial” to speak the phone number and dial.
• “Call History” to see your Last Dialled, Last Received and Missed calls.
• “Call home” to call a preset number.
• “Voice Dial” to access preset voice dial options on your phone (only if your phone supports this).

Volume Menu:

• “Plus” to increase overall volume.
• “Minus” to decrease overall volume.
• “Mute” to mute and unmute all sound.
• “Audio Output” to select Internal Speaker or FM Transmitter as the audio output option.
• “Mixer” to set the voice prompt, media player and phone volume levels individually.

Tools Menu:

• “Settings” to access your settings menu and change any of the system, navigation, security, time, display, map, Bluetooth or language settings (can all be done by voice).
• “Where am I” to access your present location screen and find nearest hospitals, police stations and fuel. You can also save the location as a waypoint (this will then give you the option to name the waypoint but voice commands are not accepted so you will have to manually type in the name)
• “Route” to access the saved routes listing and select a preset route to activate.
• “Help” to access the help menu (strangely enough, this is one function that I have not tested extensively)
• “Music Player” to access your music player. You can “Browse” your music listings by song, album, artist, genre or playlist and then “Play” or “Pause” at will.
• “Audible Player” to access your audible book player. You can “Browse” your audible books by book, author, narrator or provider and then “Play” or “Pause” at will. [Note: all sound from both the music player and the audible book player will automatically be muted any time you press the "activate voice commands" button on the steering wheel remote control]
• “Picture Viewer” to access your image album.
• “My Data” to access your imported routes, set your home location or clear your trip log.

You can also access your calculator, currency converter, language guides, unit converter, world clock and alarm clock screens from the Tools menu via voice but you cannot then use voice commands to further change, manipulate or use these features.

Search “Where To” Menu:
This was probably the biggest (and only) disappointment for me. The search menu itself is accessible via voice command but only the “Go Home“, “Favorites” and “Recently Found” search options are usable via voice command. Any other search feature where you would have to spell anything at all (i.e. road number or name, city name, POI name or coordinate) is unusable.

With the Favorites and Recently Found folders, you also have to use the “Page Down / Up” command to scroll through your listings (no spelling). As with your phone book, if you have large listings of waypoints, this can be time consuming and frustrating.

The Points of Interest (POI) search feature can be accessed by voice command down to category and sub-category level (i.e. “Food & Drink” and then “Chinese”). This will then list the 50 results nearest to your present position. This works the same for all categories and sub-categories.

The search POI’s by “Place Name” feature should allow you to speak the name of the POI that you are searching for (i.e. “Woolworths“, “MacDonalds” or “Cresta Shopping Center“) but unfortunately it seems that this particular feature is not able to access the Garmap Southern Africa Streetmaps mapset to find your selection (remember that all of these type of POI’s are embedded in the mapset itself). The good news is that this feature works like a charm with the European mapset.

Can this issue be fixed?
I am not 100% sure whether the POI “Place Name” voice command search capability is a problem for the Garmin guys (i.e. if it is a unit problem this could be fixed via a firmware update sometime in the future) or for the Garmap map guys (where they will have to release a new mapset that is properly optimized to allow the voice command search feature access to the POI’s embedded in the mapset) but, since this feature works without problems with the European maps, I am assuming that we will have to wait for a map update to fix this.

While it would also be nice to be able to simply speak the street number and name and then have the unit direct you to your destination without any further (manual) touchscreen input on your part, I must also point out that, in my personal experience, most people only search for addresses while the vehicle is standing still (i.e. before they set off on their journey). In these situations it only takes seconds to type in an address and activate a route manually on the screen so I do not think that this shortcoming will be a serious disadvantage when compared to the rest of the voice command functionality of these units.

A quick note on battery life
The battery life is a little on the short side when using the voice commands. Obviously most people would be using this feature only when the unit is plugged in to the car mount with the cigarette lighter charger attached so this wouldn’t generally be a problem.

Overall Impression
Despite it’s few limitations this is a very good unit. Voice recognition is the wave of the future and since testing and using this unit I can only say “Bring it on”. Once you have mastered (remembered) the various voice commands used (it really is easy since they are also shown on the screen), and gotten over that self conscious feeling that most people get when talking to an electronic device, you will wonder why you waited so long to get one. Life is just so easy with the Garmin Nuvi 860.

I would really love to hear your opinions on this unit (and on voice recognition technology in general) so please use the box below to leave a comment.

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Take any of the Garmin Nuvi units with the Text-to-Speech feature for example. The voice directions for turning off Lynnwood Road onto the N1 freeway-South (the Danie Joubert freeway) would give you:

• “Turn left on ramp to daynee jew-bert freeway-N-one” when using the British English voice and
• “Turn left on ramp to daynee jobbert freeway-N-one” when using the American or Australian English voices.

Now I don’t know about you but I can only take so many “mangled” street names before I want to throw the witch out of the window. And this is only with the Afrikaans street names, you should hear what they do with some of our more “ethnic” names.

Another irritating factor is that when using the “Text-to-Speech” function, the road number is automatically attached to the end of the road name in the pronunciation (for example “turn left on General Lewie Both-er Drive-M-thirtythree” when turning into “Louis Botha Drive”). Since there is no gap between the pronunciation of the street name and the number, the resulting verbal directions can often be more confusing than they are helpful.

So why would South Africans want this feature? I honestly don’t know. The only thing that I can think of is that the feature sounds like a good idea at first but they don’t really know how excruciatingly painful it is to listen to for longer than the first 3 minutes.

Have you used this feature? I would love to hear your take on this so please leave a comment below.

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Touted as the latest in GPS technology, A-GPS is quite simply the addition of cellphone tower and Wi-Fi hotspot triangulation calculations, to the standard GPS signal. Whilst this is not really new technology, it is a first for it to be included in a device like this in this country. There is, of course, no information on this particular feature of the phone on the Vodacom.co.za website (where you can pre-order the iPhone in South Africa) and I have my reservations about the relevance of the information, as provided on the Apple.com website, regarding the 3G iPhone’s GPS navigation functionality for South African users.

From the Apple.com website:
“Find your location, get directions and see traffic — all from your phone… …Maps on iPhone shows you live traffic information, indicating traffic speed along your route in easy-to-read green, red and yellow highlights…”

Location? Directions? Well yeah of course, just don’t bank on the traffic information in South Africa though, since we don’t yet have a TMC (Traffic Message Channel) system in place in this country (give it another year or two - they are working on it but are still in the early stages of dealing with ICASA and licensing of the FM frequencies. They also still need to get a massive government buy-in for this system).

Also on the Apple.com website:
“Just like Google Maps on your computer, Maps on iPhone lets you switch between map view, satellite view and a hybrid view of both. Multi-Touch makes the difference: Tap to zoom, pan and change your view on the move…”

Ummm… Ok Great, but please stop to consider the present poor quality (level of detail) of, and coverage of, South Africa on the Google maps, as well as the following warning buried in the small print on their website:

“Maps, directions and location information depend on data collected by third parties. These data services are subject to change and may not be available in all geographic areas, resulting in maps, directions or location information that may be unavailable, inaccurate or incomplete.”

It is not stated exactly which mapset they will be using for South Africa and, since a GPS navigation system is only as good as the maps that are being used, I seriously wonder just what sort of navigation functionality we will be getting.

Personally though, I can’t wait to get my grubby little paws on my own iPhone (for all those other features of course) and test it for myself and I would be really interested to know whether you will be queuing for one and if so, why? Please drop your comments in the box below…

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Since my last few posts have been concerning the updating of the firmware and the map software on your Garmin Nuvi GPS, lets begin by showing you how and where to check what versions you already have on your unit (I have used a Nuvi 360 for the screen shots but since all of the units in the Nuvi range have very similar menu structures, it shouldn’t be too difficult to follow the instructions on your own unit).

First let’s check your firmware version:

From the main menu screen on your Nuvi, tap on the “spanner” to open your settings menu screen. Then tap on the “System” button.

At the bottom of the system settings screen you will see an “About” button. Tap on the About button and this will bring up your System and Copyright Info screen. On this screen you will see the Model, the Software (or, as we prefer to call it down here in Africa, the “Firmware”) version, the Unit ID and a bunch of other less important information.

Next, lets take a look at your map software version:

Again, from the main menu screen, tap on the “spanner” to get to your settings menu screen but this time select the “Map” button to open your map settings screen.

At the bottom of the map settings screen you will now see a “Map Info” button. Tapping on this will open up your Map Info screen. You will notice that I have a few different maps loaded on to my Nuvi but only one of them is ever selected (in the tick box) at a time. This is to prevent clashes between the different map products loaded and whilst it not always necessary, it is a good practice to follow, especially if you have two different mapsets covering the same area i.e. a road/street map and a topographic map (we have had a couple of instances where some really weird routes have been created when the unit tries to use one mapset for one part of the route and a second mapset for the rest of the route).

Well I hope this helps you find your way around your Garmin Nuvi a little easier. Please let me know if these tips are useful to you by leaving a comment below…

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I have therefore decide to run a series of (short) posts covering specifically the Nuvi 200 units. In this first post I would like to talk about the Nuvi 200 update process (which is something that I have previously written about but, since the information is continually changing, this post can be regarded as an update to my earlier post).

Generally, the Garmin Nuvi update process is very simple and at the moment (remember that this could change again at any time), Garmin have decided to only use one method of updating the firmware on the Nuvi 2xx series units and that is by using the WebUpdater program.

All other Garmin units, including the rest of the Nuvi range, can either be updated by using the WebUpdater option or by manually downloading the update file from the “Updates and Downloads” section on the Garmin.com website.

WebUpdater is a small (4.31MB) program that is downloaded for free (download WebUpdater here) to your PC. The program is then run from your desktop (with your GPS receiver attached to your PC) and will automatically pick up the GPS receiver attached to your PC. It will then connect to the relevant update file on the Internet and download it directly to your unit as shown in the steps below:

Step 1: Connect your GPS receiver to your PC and open the program. Click Next.

Step 2: The program automatically searches for updates for itself.

Step3: Wait for the program to find your GPS receiver connected to your PC. Click Next.

Step 4: The program will find the correct update files for your unit and show the relevant details. Click Next.

Step 5: Not relevant for all updates but if there are any warning messages regarding the update, this will be displayed. Click Next.

Step 6: The program will show a “change history” and list all improvements included in the update. Click Next.

Step 7: The obligatory Software License Agreement. Tick the “I agree to the above terms” box and the Next button will become available. [Note: Please take note of the last two sentences... "Please do not unplug the Garmin device during the update. You will not be able to cancel once the update starts". If this process is interrupted, there is a good chance that your GPS receiver will be corrupted and will have to be returned to your local Garmin Tech Center for repairs]. Click Next.

Step 8: The program will now download the update file directly to your GPS receiver. Don’t touch anything.

Step 9: The program will confirm the successful update and offer to check for any additional updates such as voice file updates, Bluetooth updates (for those units with Bluetooth capability), new vehicle icons etc. This is optional and you can either click Next to continue with this or simply click Cancel to close the program.

Step 10: If you chose to continue, the program will find all the additional updates, icons, language options etc and display them.

Step 11: Select which items you want downloaded or updated on your unit and then click Next.

Step 12: WebUpdater will download these additional items directly to your GPS receiver. Don’t touch anything.

Step 13: The WebUpdater program will confirm success. Click Finish to close the program.

Step 14: You will now have to unplug your Garmin Nuvi 200 receiver from your PC and let it reboot itself. Please do not touch anything on the GPS until the unit has completed the reboot process and is back at your normal start page (on a Nuvi, this would be your “Where To” page). This can sometimes take a while depending on the size and complexity of the various updates that were downloaded. [Note: Some models will not reboot automatically when unplugged from the PC, they will simply switch off. If this is the case (give it a minute or two to make sure), just switch the unit back on and then leave it to run through the reboot process.]

Congratulations, you have just completed the Nuvi update process. I hope this helps and please leave a comment below…

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Electronic Map

This is simply an electronic version of a paper map with varying degrees of complexity, from a basic static image (which, when zoomed in, shows the same level of detail - just in a bigger size), to a map consisting of multiple overlaid images showing different levels of detail at different zoom levels. A basic electronic map can even be scanned from a paper map and then “geo-corrected” (a process of accurately fixing a coordinate grid to the electronic map).

Advantages:

• Electronic maps are relatively cheap and easy to produce which also makes updating them a rather painless and quick procedure.
• POI’s (Points of Interest) and attribute information such as street names can be embedded into the image as reference points to give the map a search capability.

Disadvantages:

• No auto routing capability (this is where the software can calculate which roads to travel on for the quickest or shortest route to your destination). This also means that you will not have any accurate calculations of how long the trip should take or your estimated time of arrival (ETA).

These maps can be loaded onto many electronic devices (including cellphones, PC’s, laptops, PDA’s and even GPS receivers) and, depending on the complexity of the map (as described above), will show varying levels of background detail on the screen. When used in conjunction with a GPS receiver, your position is then shown overlaid on top of the map and will move when you do. However, all routing and navigation instructions will be in a straight line, or “as the crow flies”, between your position and your destination end point (for both distance and direction).

GPS Map

Compared to the basic electronic map, a GPS map is a hugely complicated, resource intensive and expensive map to produce. These maps, similar to GIS (Geographic Information System) maps, are typically made up of multiple layers. Each layer consisting of a different type of information i.e. Country and Provincial boundary data, road data, POI data and even topographic and farm boundary data on some maps. Within the road data layer, each and every road is also broken down into segments which can range from a few meters to a few kilometers in length. Then, each road segment has embedded attributes or “properties” which could include information like:

• the name of the road (to which the segment belongs),
• the type and classification of the road (national, main, secondary, tertiary road etc),
• the type of road surface and condition (tar, gravel etc),
• the length of the road segment,
• the speed limit of the road segment,
• the direction of travel on that particular road segment,
• any street corners, intersections and off ramps & slipways that join/exit the road segment
• and much, much more.

All of this road segment data is needed for the GPS mapping software to be able to calculate the best roads to travel on for the quickest and/or shortest route between two points. This is what we call Autorouting or “intelligent routing” capability.

For example, on the “shortest route” setting, the software will work out all the possible combinations of road segments that could make up a route between your position (or start point) and your destination (or end point), calculate the lengths of the various road segments and then create a route using the combination of road segments that adds up to the shortest distance between the two points.

For the “quickest” (travel time) setting, the software has to do the same thing but this time taking into account the speed limit attribute attached to each road segment and work out which combination of road segments to use to create a route that would take the least time to travel between the two points (if driving at the posted speed limit).

Other properties of these GPS maps include embedded “triggers” for the production of the on-screen directions that are available on most “handheld outdoor” type of map enabled GPS receivers as well as the voice prompted turn by turn instructions on all “street navigator” type GPS receivers.

GPS Map Data Gathering Methodology

I recommend reading this article on the Garmap.co.za website describing the advantages and disadvantages of various methods of data collection for the production of GPS maps.

There are of course, a few other differences and features (of both types of map) that I have neglected to mention but, in the interests of keeping this article as simple as possible for the more “technically challenged” amongst us, I hope that my explanation is sufficient. Please ask any questions that you may have in the comments below and I’ll try and answer them without plunging into too much technical jargon.

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If you want to update your present Southern Africa maps on your Garmin unit or, you already have the latest maps on your unit but would like them loaded onto your PC as well, please read the info below before watching the video.

First of all, you need to get your hands on the latest Garmap Africa Series 2008 DVD. Then please take note of the following:

• Depending on your present mapset, you will be charged an unlocking fee when loading and unlocking the maps on your PC - Note: if you purchased your unit after the 1st January 2008 or you already have the latest maps (i.e. 2008) on your unit and simply want to load them to your PC, then this unlock is Free. For more info on the various unlocking fees please go to this page and then click on the “Unlock Code Pricing” link for each individual mapset listed on the DVD.
• When you load and unlock the maps onto your PC, you will be transferring your map license from your preloaded memory card to your PC (this is known as changing from a “Plug & Play” user to a “MapSource” or PC user). This process will also invalidate the preloaded maps on your SD card so, once you have completed this process you must either upload the maps from your PC on to the internal memory of your unit and format the SD card, or upload the maps from your PC back onto the card (thus overwriting the invalidated maps). This process is explained in the video.
• You can load your unlocked and registered maps onto as many PC’s or laptops as you want, but the process in the video must be followed every time (there is a slightly shorter way of doing this for the more “PC literate” amongst us but this will be covered in separate video a bit later on).

If you are an:

1 - Unregistered Plug and Play user: i.e. Your maps are still the original preloaded maps on an SD memory card. You have not previously purchased any Garmap mapping CD or DVD and loaded the maps to your PC. You have also not created a user profile and registered your unit on the Garmap website at any time.

Please follow the steps below before you do anything else!

Step 1:
You need to first create a user profile and register your GPS unit on the Garmap website.

• Go to the www.garmap.co.za website.
• On the main page, scroll down to “Registration Options” and click on the first blue bar (i.e. Plug & Play – Register here!).
• Enter your email address in the box provided and click on the submit button.
• Fill in the Personal Registration form and click on the Save button.
  • Notes: select a password reminder question and then type in the answer to your selected question, yourself, in the box below. If you ever forget your password when logging in, you can select the “Forgot Password” option and they will ask you this question. If you answer this password reminder question correctly, they will then give you your password to enable you to login.
  • The fields with red stars behind them are required.
• On the next page, select your GPS unit model, the unit serial number, where you bought the unit and how much you paid for it and then tick the correct box indicating which map software package is preloaded on your SD memory card. Then click on the Register button.

Step 2:
OK, you have now created a user profile and your unit has been registered on the Garmap website. You can now watch the video, pop the Garmap Africa Series 2008 DVD into your PC and follow the steps in the video.

2 - Registered Plug and Play user: i.e. Your maps are still the original preloaded maps on an SD memory card. You have not previously purchased any Garmap mapping CD or DVD and loaded the maps to your PC. But you have previously created a user profile and registered your unit on the Garmap website.

Simply watch the video, pop the Garmap Africa Series 2008 DVD into your PC and follow the steps in the video.

3 - Existing MapSource user: i.e. You have previously purchased a Garmap mapping CD or DVD (or you have purchased a unit which came with the maps on CD or DVD in the first place and were not preloaded), you have registered your unit on the Garmap website and you have loaded the MapSource program and Garmap maps to your PC.

Well, you guys have been through this (or a similar) process before so, watch the video to remind yourself how it works and off you go.

If you are on a slow Internet connection you should pause the video as soon as it begins playing, and wait until it has fully buffered and loaded.

To view a slightly bigger screen version of this video, click here to open it in a new window.

So, What do you think? Please leave a comment and let me know.

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Nobody knows how long this special will last but with a battling R/$ exchange rate (and a new pricelist to be effective as from April 2008 with strong rumours of price increases), we don’t think this special offer will last for too long. I would strongly suggest getting yourself over to Gismap GPS Shop and placing your order as soon as possible.

The Garmin Nuvi 710 is proving to be one of the most popular units that Garmin have ever introduced into South Africa. The unit is a ‘Plug & Play’ unit with the maps preloaded on an SD memory card. You simply pop the memory card into the unit, switch it on and you are ready to navigate.

With new advanced navigation features including route planning (save 10 routes, specify via points and preview simulated turns), automatically sorts multiple destinations to provide an efficient route for errands, deliveries or sales calls, displays speed limits for freeways and a trip log provides an electronic bread crumb trail of up to 10,000 points, so you can see where you’ve been on the map, a widescreen display, preloaded maps, Bluetooth capability for hands-free calling, built-in FM Transmitter and much more…

Take a look at the Garmin Nuvi 710 Promotion.

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• Nuvi 200 Information Series - Firmware Updates

Well, first of all we need to remember that there are two parts to any GPS. The GPS unit itself and the operating system of that unit, also called the firmware (in the USA this is also called the ‘unit software’), and then there is the detailed map software that is loaded either onto the unit or onto a memory card inserted into the unit.

Firmware Updates:
Firmware updates are free for all Garmin GPS units and the update files are available for download off the Garmin.com website. Garmin also have a download utility program called WebUpdater that you download once onto your computer and which you then run directly from your computer while your GPS unit is connected to your PC. The program will automatically identify your GPS unit, log itself into the Garmin database and download all the relevant update files directly to your connected Garmin GPS unit. These firmware updates also include any new or updated voice files, Bluetooth software (if your Garmin GPS unit is Bluetooth enabled), vehicle icons, firmware improvements and bug fixes for your unit. Once the program has run, you simply disconnect your GPS unit from your PC and let it reboot and update itself (this can take a minute or two depending on the unit).

Important Note: ALWAYS remove any memory cards from the unit BEFORE doing a firmware update.

Map Software Updates:
Now this is a tad more complicated. The detailed map software used on, and sold with, all South African Garmin units is not produced by Garmin International themselves. A local company has been licensed to produce the Garmap range of maps specifically for the South African market. The Garmin International “City Navigator SA” map product is still produced and sold by Garmin International to the overseas market but it is by far inferior to the locally produced Garmap maps (and it is anyway not available through any of the authorised South African Garmin dealers).

Garmap Map Updates - Garmap map software updates are not available as downloads off the Internet as they are simply far too big. The updates themselves are not just a few roads to be added to your existing mapset, they are complete new mapsets built from scratch each time. They are made available twice per year and you will need to purchase the latest Garmap Africa Series DVD from your local dealer each time (the DVD itself only costs R99). These maps must then be loaded onto your PC, unlocked and then uploaded to your GPS unit via USB cable.

Unlocking the half yearly update is free for registered users of the previous edition and the end of year update is a discounted rate for existing users (the discounted rate varies depending on which edition you are upgrading from and when you purchased your GPS).

Even if the Garmin GPS unit that you purchased is/was a “Plug-and-Play” model (i.e. the maps came preloaded on a memory card or preloaded onto the internal memory of the unit), you will need to buy the DVD and go through the process of loading the maps to a PC first before transferring them to your unit.

Garmin Map Updates - Garmin International map product updates (for European, USA, Australian, Middle East and New Zealand maps) are also obtained on Update DVD’s from your local Garmin dealer. These DVD’s are generally free but will sometimes need to be ordered from overseas and can sometimes take three to four weeks to be delivered. Unlocking these updates requires an unlocking fee to be paid (in US$) via credit card payment online, directly to Garmin International, at the time of unlocking. These unlocking fees also depend on which edition you are upgrading from and when you purchased your existing map software.

We obviously recommend that you keep both your GPS firmware and your detailed maps up to date at all times.

Well I hope this info was useful to you. Please leave a comment below and let me know how it goes…

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