Garmin Nuvi 200 and Garmin GPS info

well, i have this GPS (Nuvi 200 with me, so i wanted to talk a bit about it :P its a nice GPS, cheap cheap, around RM550 (US set, warranty from Garmin US). the local ones which are exactly the same, except that the warranty can be claimed locally in Malaysia will cost around 750-900++MYR.

also, they have what they called Refurbished set/Newly Overhauled, which is a used GPS set, but has been cosmetically upgraded (changing case, new accessories etc). It is done by Garmin factory itself, and warranty will be the usual 1 year warranty from Garmin itself. this is OK considering the cheap price that you can get compared to a new set.. (usually half the price of a new set). However, do becareful of some people who sell refurbished units, but its not refurbished from Garmin :P or what they called used without warranty/self refurbished :P

so how do you differentiate a NEW or REFURBISHED unit? easy, a new unit will have a totally nice box, see below.


while a refurbished set will have a simple white box, see below


so much different aye...

anyway, the one i have is the US set Garmin Nuvi 200 (which is discontinued now if you see the garmin website). it has a simple look, see below, together with the accessories included. note that there is no USB cable included, only the car charger to charge it! im sure a lot of people would be wondering why there is no USB cable, its because its not included. Btw, they also have another newer version, the pink version of the Garmin Nuvi 200... its exactly the same with the old Garmin 200, but the color is different... its in pink!







This will be package included when you purchase a new nuvi 200

• nüvi 200
• Preloaded City Navigator® NT data for the lower 48 states, Hawaii and Puerto Rico (no Alaska or Canada detail) or one European region or country (click versions tab to view all)
• Vehicle suction cup mount*
• Vehicle power cable
• Dashboard disc
• Set up and go guide
• In car charger
  

its simple, small and can be carried into the pocket (just remember to fully charge it)! and best of all, its in touch screen mode! i usually leave it connected to my car charger in my car. when you start your car, it will automatically turn on, and will begin searching for GPS signal... and when you turn off your car, it will prompt you whether you want to leave it on, or turn it off. cool huh :P

Note: most of the garmin GPS will have the usual menu mentioned below.

well when using it, you will notice its has only the basic features of the GPS. well of course it will have the voice navigation included, and maps..........-__- apart from that, it has a picture viewever (simple), and also currency convertor. all that is actually ignorable, because the thing you will need is a GPS. so using it is easy, anyone can use it... the main page has a Where to menu, which will lead you to a page where you can search for places, buildings, street names etc.



it also has a POI (Point of Interest) menu, which will contain all the famous or noted landmark, such as Hospitals, Petrol Stations, Hotels, Parks, Monuments, etc (provided you have the map and POI installed of course).



just key in the name/click on the specific landmark, and click on GO! thats it, and just let the GPS lead the way. along the way, you can view the map by clicking anywhere on the screen, and it will bring u the area map. you can then bookmark it into your My Location page, by clicking on Save. Next time, just go to My Locations, and all your favorite places that you bookmarked will be there. Also not to forget, when you're at home, you can bookmark your house, so next time, you can just go to Home button, to lead you back home... ahhhhhh

i have mentioned about the USB cable right previously, now ill explain why you need the usb cable (if you don't have an SD card). its because you will need the Malaysia maps installed... and to install it, please see my blog here http://myghimh.blogspot.com/2009/02/latest-maps-for-singapore-and-malaysia.html
ALSO, the garmin has the SD card slot, which you can also use, to copy the maps that you want, e.g. Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, etc into it. then you can jut update your SD card instead of updating the maps in the Garmin GPS itself.

oh, i also need to mention that you can lock the GPS using PIN no or GPS coordinate. how it works is that, you can set the PIN to a number you want, then whenever you want to use it, just enter the pin number. this is for security purposes only. another way is to set a coordinate to lock it. how to use it? well just go somewhere, and lock it, it will save the coordinate of that place, so the GPS can be unlocked only by going to that specific location or by using PIN! so becareful when locking it :P

you can use the above steps to install the maps into your phone GPS or Garmin GPS. it will work in any case.