The ideal navigator - Review Garmin Nuvi 215

On my last weekend trip to the Himalayan foothills, I decided to try some alternative routes, giving my ‘navigator’ wife a rest and depending entirely on the new Garmin GPS from Map My India.

I have always had a preference for Garmin, and during a meeting with Map My India’s Rohan Verma last year had told him how people like me would love to see his maps on a Garmin device. So I was more than delighted when the company recently launched Garmin products pre-loaded with their maps.

Any in-car device can be a bit of a distraction while driving on dangerous Indian roads. This is where the Garmin Nuvi 215 gets it edge. Every time I tried to feed in co-ordinates, it reminded me that I should stop the car if I wanted to do so—however, this function can be disabled if your co-passenger is looking after the device.
Most other GPS devices I have used to take around three minutes to start up, lock into the satellite positions and get its coordinates right. But the Nuvi locks in under a minute, telling you exactly where you are.

I loved the interface too. You can search destinations in a free field, or in a specific state—when you start entering the destination the device pops up choices, making life much easier. Plus, it shows a list of points of interest around where you are, right from star hotels to ATMs and hospitals. Though by default all GPS equipment shift from a yellowish interface to a green and black interface at night, Garmin allows users to choose the display they like. The Nuvi can easily fit into your pocket; arm/bike straps can be bought separately. Moreover, the matte finish screen makes it easier to read in sunshine.

In case you don’t want the GPS to prompt you, use the power switch to shift the unit into a lock/safe mode, enabling you to focus on your driving. A mute button, to allow you to listen to just your songs, would have been welcome—as of now, users have to choose mute through the menu.
The device comes preloaded with Map My India for 401 cities and there is the provision for an SD Card to load maps for other countries or update when new maps come out. Since Garmin is an international brand, you can easily buy maps for the device, though most country maps are not free.

The unit came with a disc to mount it on the dashboard, but I failed to do so despite my best efforts and had to get used to the windscreen position. So make sure you ask the dealer to fit the device on your dashboard.
The battery on the Nuvi lasted about four hours, so I suggest you keep it plugged in for longer drives. It features a good trip meter and shows your maximum speed, average speed, total moving and stoppage time. However, the device has to be on at all times during the trip for it to calculate time. A trip planner is not built-in, but if you key in you destination and click detour it will show all alternative routes available.

Map My India on Garmin GPS is a brilliant combo if you are looking to buy yourself a GPS device. Though it may seem expensive compared to the other options, I still believe my preference towards Garmin has valid reasons. The Nuvi 215 is available for Rs 14,990 on mapmyindia.com.

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The Above review / article was printed in the Indian Express, Issue Dated 16th August 2009