# updating GPS maps



## ABCinATL (Jun 19, 2010)

My fiance and I both have Garmin GPS units. We want to update the maps before we come to Mexico. We definitely need coverage of the DF and plan on taking road trips so the entire country would be our best bet.

Just wanted to make sure that the lifetime north america includes Mexico? Or is there a better way to get maps of MX for the Garmin? Mine is a nuvi 200w, not sure what his is (though I do know it is newer and a Garmin).

Also, we both like maps, and heard the Guia Roji are the best for the DF. Are they easily purchased once in the DF or are we better off ordering online? 

Thanks!
Angie


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

Guia Roji are good maps. I use the Gran Atlas in the larger size for most road trips, but do have a couple of separate city maps for detail.
Current GPS mapping is seldom up to date but often lacks detail. Part of that is the use of laterals and the left turn laws in Mexico, which don't seem to be included. For travel to smaller towns & villages and truly secondary roads, the GPS that I've seen were rather helpless in Mexico. I sure wouldn't buy one yet. Those who stick to the big cities and tourist destinations do seem to like them, but admit to problems with detail and address location. Remember; colonias in the same city will have the same street names; causing a need for you to sort that out yourself.


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## chicois8 (Aug 8, 2009)

You can buy the 2010 Mexico Atlas from bicimapas, hecho en Mexico para Mexico, I installed one in my Nuvi 855 ( micro SDcard) for a trip all over the country last year and it worked 99.9% perfect...
You can buy the Guia Roji online or any 24 hour store (OXXO)connected to a Pemex station...


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## chinagringo (Jul 2, 2010)

I am the very satisfied owner of a Garmin Nuvi 785T with the additional 2009 Mexico chip. The "Lifetime North American" map updates are only for the US and Canada and DO NOT include Mexico.

Last August, we drove 3600 miles from New Mexico into the Central Highlands of Mexico and back using the GPS unit virtually the entire way. Assuming that one is an experienced GPS user, it amazed me the accuracy of the maps and the directions. We visited the highlands of Michoacan and even in very small villages/towns, the roads & streets were clearly shown and accurate.

On our entire trip, we only ran across one highway(a cuota), road or street that wasn't in the maps. During that stretch, it showed us driving across lake water with no highway and we enjoyed a good laugh.

The three limitations that we experienced:
1) The English speaking voices slaughtered Spanish names but switching to one of the Spanish voice options corrected that problem.
2) The GPS would often attempt to route us down a one-way street and would drive you nuts when you did not turn.
3) Actual address numbers or house numbers often were unknown and while it might get you on the correct street, it would not direct you directly to an exact address.

We got in the habit of saving to our "favorites" any location that we would want to return to by using the "where am I feature" and giving it a name. 

A good sense of direction and some common sense goes a long way! And yes, you will need the name of the colonia, where an address is located in the larger cities.


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## ABCinATL (Jun 19, 2010)

Thanks for the responses.

I am not an advanced GPS user but I am pretty computer savvy and have used GPS a lot in the past. what I haven't done is update my maps or do anything with an add on memory card. Dumb question but is it just like a SD slot in a digital camera? Does it load into memory onto the GPS unit or do you have to drive around with the card? Can you take the card and install it into more than one GPS unit? We have two GPSs, both Garmin.

Thanks!





chinagringo said:


> I am the very satisfied owner of a Garmin Nuvi 785T with the additional 2009 Mexico chip. The "Lifetime North American" map updates are only for the US and Canada and DO NOT include Mexico.
> 
> Last August, we drove 3600 miles from New Mexico into the Central Highlands of Mexico and back using the GPS unit virtually the entire way. Assuming that one is an experienced GPS user, it amazed me the accuracy of the maps and the directions. We visited the highlands of Michoacan and even in very small villages/towns, the roads & streets were clearly shown and accurate.
> 
> ...


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## ABCinATL (Jun 19, 2010)

Also, where can you buy the chip and what is the approximate cost?

Thanks again



ABCinATL said:


> Thanks for the responses.
> 
> I am not an advanced GPS user but I am pretty computer savvy and have used GPS a lot in the past. what I haven't done is update my maps or do anything with an add on memory card. Dumb question but is it just like a SD slot in a digital camera? Does it load into memory onto the GPS unit or do you have to drive around with the card? Can you take the card and install it into more than one GPS unit? We have two GPSs, both Garmin.
> 
> Thanks!


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## chinagringo (Jul 2, 2010)

You have three options that I know of for purchasing the Mexico Maps:
1) A download directly to your computer and then a transfer from there into your GPS.
2) A CD that again loads into your computer and then into the GPS.
3) A micro SD/SD chip that goes into the slot on the side of the GPS unit (mine is on the left side when facing the screen).

To my way of thinking, I like the SD option since the chip/card acts on it's own and doesn't require using the internal memory of the unit. I prefer to use the internal memory for storing favorites, trip plans and other features. I simply leave the chip in the GPS when using it. With two units, you can swap the card between units. I have a friend who purchased the CD and he said it took a really long time to transfer the MX Maps to the unit and the process was NOT without difficulty.

There are numerous sources for the SD or CD such as AMAZON, where we bought ours, or directly from GARMIN, which I believe is the only that offers the download version. A GOOGLE search for "Garmin Mexico Maps 2010" reveals other sources. 

Prior to our trip, I created a "Custom Route" that covered most of our plans and made corrections along the way to some of my approximate addresses. I was truly amazed by the accuracy and detail in the maps because I had read numerous warnings about limitations. 

Should you have further questions - please feel free!


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

Good to see you here, Chinagringo. You can be a lot of help to some of the 'newbies'.


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## chinagringo (Jul 2, 2010)

One of the other very handy features to a GPS that we use constantly is one's ability to unplug from the vehicle and carry the unit around when walking around. To use an example, we frequent Tonala on the outskirts of Guadalajara. Our typical pattern is to park in one of the centrally located private parking lots and walk from there. I do a "where am I" at the parking lot and save the location. With the thousands of shops, it can be confusing just which street you are on and where an interesting shop is located for the future. Again, I save these locations with an identifier. If you leave the unit on the entire time you are walking around - you can go to your log section and see exactly what your route was for future reference. The same is true for your driving on an entire trip.

We also religiously used the "Daily Trip Log" feature each day. You start the day zeroing out the previous days info and everything sets to zero. After a full days drive you can see a breakdown that details: Total trip time, total moving time, total stopped time, total time for the trip, the moving average mph or kph for the day, the daily average speed, your approximate fuel cost (based upon what you have programmed for mpg in town and highway and the cost per gallon), max mph for the day, etc. If you are on an extended days drive and trying to make good time - it does make one realize what stopping for an extended lunch or some other stop does to your time.


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## chicois8 (Aug 8, 2009)

Guess I'll chime in also to some of the features I enjoy from my GPS...

Arrival time always seems to be within a minuet or two...

on the second map page, you can zoom into an intersection of a town and tap the screen as to move the small arrow and the GPS will take you there...

put the voice mode to English- Australian and listen to pronunciation of Mexican street names........


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## chinagringo (Jul 2, 2010)

No question that it can be entertaining when listening to the manner in which Spanish street/town names are slaughtered! There are times when I come to hate the voice commands and revert to the mute feature. I don't know if the GPS is programmed to give you more verbal directions since you are in a foreign country or if the extra chatter is brought on by the fact that street names often change at an intersection or traffic circle. 

We had an experience in San Miguel de Allende where we had programmed in the address of our hotel. We had never been to SMA, so I followed the voice commands into the center of town sneaking up on the hotel location. According to the map, we were getting close but it kept trying to send us down the wrong way on a one-way street thus frustrating the unit. Naturally I would drive to the next available street and make the turn. This tended to confuse the unit and it would start telling me to do a U-turn or some other maneuver. Once my patience wore thin, I muted the unit and started driving by the screen map. In short order, I found the hotel and discovered that part of the problem was that the address was on an obscure street that was only two blocks long. Had the hotel listed their address as being on the major street that the small street intersected with - life would have been far easier!


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## telcoman (Feb 11, 2010)

I also chose BICI Mapas. ($100 for a chip or download) They seemed to have better coverage than Garmins own product. Garmin appears not to cover a large part of the country. No Mexican GPS maps are as good as the Canada US ones. I use mine in conjunction with Guia Roji.


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## chinagringo (Jul 2, 2010)

Telcoman:

When you say that BICI maps are more complete, is this based upon a direct comparison with GARMIN or from another source? The reason that I ask is because I looked at the coverage claimed by GARMIN and it did appear to be very limited. In addition, I conversed with a number of MX residents, who had GARMIN and I was prepared for the limitations. That said, I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of detail and completeness of the mapping. For example, when driving the back roads of Michoacan, we drove through numerous small towns or villages with populations of less than 1000. In every case, even the dirt streets were on the unit - even those streets where I should have had 4 wheel drive but did not. 

Second question - if one were to do the download from BICI into memory and left the GARMIN chip in, could you flip back and forth between the maps? For our next trip, I was planning to download the 60 day trial of MS Streets & Trips, which numerous reports indicate are quite good for MX. That way I could run my laptop side by side with the GPS unit for comparison.


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## chinagringo (Jul 2, 2010)

chinagringo said:


> Telcoman:
> 
> When you say that BICI maps are more complete, is this based upon a direct comparison with GARMIN or from another source? The reason that I ask is because I looked at the coverage claimed by GARMIN and it did appear to be very limited. In addition, I conversed with a number of MX residents, who had GARMIN and I was prepared for the limitations. That said, I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of detail and completeness of the mapping. For example, when driving the back roads of Michoacan, we drove through numerous small towns or villages with populations of less than 1000. In every case, even the dirt streets were on the unit - even those streets where I should have had 4 wheel drive but did not.
> 
> Second question - if one were to do the download from BICI into memory and left the GARMIN chip in, could you flip back and forth between the maps? For our next trip, I was planning to download the 60 day trial of MS Streets & Trips, which numerous reports indicate are quite good for MX. That way I could run my laptop side by side with the GPS unit for comparison.


By the way, I too rely heavily on my GUIA ROJI maps for backup.


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## telcoman (Feb 11, 2010)

chinagringo said:


> Telcoman:
> 
> When you say that BICI maps are more complete, is this based upon a direct comparison with GARMIN or from another source? The reason that I ask is because I looked at the coverage claimed by GARMIN and it did appear to be very limited. In addition, I conversed with a number of MX residents, who had GARMIN and I was prepared for the limitations. That said, I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of detail and completeness of the mapping. For example, when driving the back roads of Michoacan, we drove through numerous small towns or villages with populations of less than 1000. In every case, even the dirt streets were on the unit - even those streets where I should have had 4 wheel drive but did not.
> 
> Second question - if one were to do the download from BICI into memory and left the GARMIN chip in, could you flip back and forth between the maps? For our next trip, I was planning to download the 60 day trial of MS Streets & Trips, which numerous reports indicate are quite good for MX. That way I could run my laptop side by side with the GPS unit for comparison.


I am just going by what others have told me. i do nto have the Garmin chip for Mexico so it is hard to compare the 2. S&T is supposed to be pretty complete for Mexico now. I have the 2005 version, but I think I will buy the 2O10 version this year. Having to deal with a laptop in the cab is not fun IMO, but S&T has always been useful for doing some pre-planning. i am currently working on a POI file for Mexican RV Parks, but I have to get permission from a major source of the information before making it available. it will contain about 600 RV parks & campgrounds.


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## chinagringo (Jul 2, 2010)

We drive a FORD Windstar and I recently installed: Product Kits - Original, QD, Wide w/ QD, Big Truck w/ QD & Big Truck Wide Laptop Mount Kits! Custom build your own kit!. This unit puts the laptop in just the right position to either be operated by the driver or can be swiveled/rotated for use by the passenger in a very secure mount.

I also understand, but have not figured out just how, that one can transfer info back and forth between S&T and the GARMIN unit.


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## telcoman (Feb 11, 2010)

most of those mounts would block my rear view camera I have mounted. That I need more than the GPS since I carry a Truck Camper & tow behind me.


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