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.

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