[mkgmap-dev] Which Nuvi?

Tue Sep 1 20:44:24 BST 2009

Hi Mark,

Mark Burton schreef:
> Thinking about purchasing a Nuvi. What models work well with mkgmap
> maps?

I recently bought a very cheap Nuvi here at the MediaMarkt (German
company, has shops in the Netherlands): it's a 205T (T for TMC, the
receiver being integrated in the car charging cable), for only 66 euros.
I'd guess any Nuvi will do, though, so the only thing you should ask
yourself is: do you also want to use it with Garmin maps on it (and if
so, which maps?)
Here's a Nuvi 205 for less than 100 euros including shipping (Netherlands):
http://www.gsmtrack.nl/index.php?page=navi_merken&action=navigatie&id=205
http://www.pixmania.nl/nl/nl/2682729/art/garmin/gps-nuvi-205-frankrijk-be.html?srcid=8794&var=0a2f266c3ef9f9ce01c20813b6606bb2&aftrack=TVRBd09UczRPRFk1OzEyNTE4MzI1NTc7dmFyPTBhMmYyNjZjM2VmOWY5Y2UwMWMyMDgxM2I2NjA2YmIy

Pixmania also delivers in the UK (that's where you are, aren't you?)
http://www.pixmania.co.uk/uk/uk/2948781/art/garmin/nuvi-200-gps-satnav-uk-ir.html

We also have an older Nuvi 255 (Europe) that also runs OSM maps out of
the box. A 255W (as you write in your other mail) should probably also work.

> Also, do any provide a track log facility so I can use the same gps to
> collect data?

Most car GPS units (and some others as well) use a sort of (damping? I'm
not entirely sure about the English here) to avoid your position
"jumping around" when you're standing still. Sort of the higher
harmonics are filtered out. However, to collect tracks, the jumping
around might just be what you want. You *don't* want corners to be round
and you don't want your track to gradually shift in the right direction,
you want it where the GPS thinks you are at that very moment.

So I'm not saying you can't collect tracks with a Nuvi, but track
quality might be better on a separate unit.

My Nuvi 205 is able collect data - it can show the GPS track on screen
(which is *very* comfortable if you're driving around in untracked
regions, as you can easily see where you've been before) and it stores
the track as a GPX file that you can read from JOSM without conversion.
I'm not sure if the 255 that we own, can also store tracks. It probably
depends on software versions (and AFAIK, you can't read those on the box :(

However, I collect my data with an "AMOD" agl3080 gps tracker, a simple
unit without display, with regular AAA size batteries and only two
buttons; and firmware changed to the non-static-navigation version for
the behaviour I described before. It attaches to a computer like it's a
small USB drive.

Anyway, regarding your question, and AFAIK, any Nuvi unit should do for
OSM maps (warning! still: I'm not a Nuvi expert).

Best regards,

Valentijn