GPS Round 2

[chickenbackside]

Hi folks.

I went to Sim Lim Square today to get a hard drive and walked past Perfect Watch and Electronics on the ground floor. Made a huge mistake by walking in and ended up with a new GPS.

I already have a Garmin C320 (as seen here: http://www.bmw-sg.com/forums/interior-section/9229-garmin-gps-2.html#post107675 ) but when I saw the wide 4.3" screen of the Nuvi 610, I just couldn't resist it. So I ended up with it.

Now to the unveiling.



The box

Map details

Ohhh... What's this?

Stuff in the box

I took them out and laid them out on my couch. Clockwise: Nuvi 610, carrying pouch, literature and CD ROM, USB cable, dash mount, windscreen mount, cigarette lighter charger, AC charger and adaptor

Peel off the screen protector

Turn it on

Tells me what to do

The main menu

The travel kit menus

Very nice MP3 interface

Address search menu

System Menu

Installation pics coming soon. Stay tuned....





.

 

[teckheng]

Re: GPS Round 2

C320 and N95, now a 610, i bet you will never get lost again.

 

[jaskin]

Re: GPS Round 2

Very very nice! Was thinking of getting one for the car. but then the N95 seems capable enough. If you have the time can compare the N95 with the 610? BTW how much is it?

 

[Mockngbrd]

Re: GPS Round 2

hmm..... wat u gonna do wif the old Garmin? hehehee... sell sell

 

[chickenbackside]

Re: GPS Round 2

Very very nice! Was thinking of getting one for the car. but then the N95 seems capable enough. If you have the time can compare the N95 with the 610? BTW how much is it?

Once you've used a standalone GPS device, you'd never wanna used something compromised like a phone with a built-in GPS. It's simply in a different league.

I paid $1090 for it.

 

[chickenbackside]

Re: GPS Round 2

hmm..... wat u gonna do wif the old Garmin? hehehee... sell sell

Already gave it away.............

 

[Ahbengdriver]

Re: GPS Round 2

is this same as mine?

Can detect speed radars?

 

[chickenbackside]

Re: GPS Round 2

Is yours the C610? I don't think it can detect speed radars. I didn't see it in any of the menus...

Wah, yours can detect ah? Which one is it?

 

[teckheng]

Re: GPS Round 2

is this same as mine?

Can detect speed radars?

wah, is it legal ?

 

[VenomX2]

Re: GPS Round 2

the Nuvi 610 looks good. how does it do on navigation, are the map updates free? Was thinking of getting something like this instead of the OEM GPS, cause the update maps are expensive.

 

[chickenbackside]

Re: GPS Round 2

the Nuvi 610 looks good. how does it do on navigation, are the map updates free? Was thinking of getting something like this instead of the OEM GPS, cause the update maps are expensive.

The thing about Garmin devices is that the FREE enthusiast maps are very detailed and extremely updated. The minute a new road opens or changes, you can expect it to be updated the VERY SAME DAY. Did I mention they are FREE to download.

So no issues with maps when you go with Garmin. Even in Malaysia, the coverage of these FREE maps are astounding.

To to answer your question simply: not only are the updates free, the best, most detailed maps are also free.

 

[chickenbackside]

Re: GPS Round 2

Got the thing installed. Here's the process as promised.


Take out the lower dash trim

Rip out the old C320 cable

And it's out

Alas, Ah Wee said the new cable that powers the Nuvi 610 is different from the old C320 one. It doesn't run 12 volts so I gotta find a way to wire 12 volts to it without cutting up the cable, unlike what I did the last time.

So off to Sim Lim I went in search for a solution. Went to the messy hardware shop on the 2nd level and looked around and found the perfect solution.

A male to female cigarette lighter adaptor with empty tabs to do whatever you want with it. Cost me $3.




The adaptor

Male to female

Free tabs for wiring work

 

[chickenbackside]

Re: GPS Round 2

So Ah Wee makes the wiring from some electrical cable

Soldering everything together

He then whips this thing out

He applies it onto the parts that he soldered. He explained that this helps to keep the wires intact and even if the wires break, no accidental short circuit will occur. Sounds good to me.

Back to the car to hook up the wires

Fused for extra safety

Tidying up the mess of cables down there

 

[chickenbackside]

Re: GPS Round 2

Hooked up the other end of the cable to the mount

And behold!

So there's power. Trim goes back in.

Time to mount the Nuvi 610 itself




Wipe the windscreen clean

Peeling off the plastic protector off the sucking rubber thingy

Sucked to the windscreen

Dash quite messy

Took a flat long thing to push the cable to the back of the dash

Much better

AND IT'S WORK!

Telling me how to get home

And I'm home! Perfect.

 

[chickenbackside]

Re: GPS Round 2

Some bonus pictures from BVO.






My dream rims being mounted on their owner's car

Fat 265/35/19 tyres at the back

Beautiful...

Some CSL wannabe E46 sedans

 

[jaskin]

Re: GPS Round 2

CBS, as usual, very nice! I really really want one... How long did the install take? After the hardwiring does the 12V cig lighter socket still work?

 

[chickenbackside]

Re: GPS Round 2

CBS, as usual, very nice! I really really want one... How long did the install take? After the hardwiring does the 12V cig lighter socket still work?

Install takes 1/2 hour. Make sure you get the male to female thingy.

A main point for hardwiring is so that the cigarette lighter is left free for other things... It's not connected to the cigarette lighter, but to the ignition. So it turns on when you switch on the car and power down automatically when you switch off your car.

If you connect it to to cigarette charger, you will need to manually shut it down everytime cos BMW cigarette lighters remain on even when the ignition is off. Not only that, you will also have to unplug the charger or dismount the unit as it will sap your battery juice of it remains connected by charging the unit continuously as long as it remains plugged into the cigarette charger.

 

[hetraa]

Re: GPS Round 2

u took cab to simlim?

 

[chickenbackside]

Re: GPS Round 2

u took cab to simlim?

No lah. I drove to Sim Lim with the lower dash off and wires dangling and no PDC...

I must say, you will be surprised at how much engine noise that little piece of trim absorbs...

 

[louis]

Re: GPS Round 2

hmm,

reading all these GPS threads has made me want one as well... but i can't live with the cluttered dashboard look... are there any other mounting options available?