[quote=“hippo”]Do the Garmin units (Nuvi, Zumo, etc.) come with Taiwan maps? I’ve been looking at the USA website and there is no mention of Taiwan maps in the map section. Or is it a case where I have to buy the Garmin unit in Taiwan to get the Taiwan map?
TIA[/quote]
if you buy your Garmin GPS in Taiwan, it will come with Taiwan maps and software.
I main problems with buying a Garmin in Taiwan is 1) the price and 2) the chinese hardware
the 60csx handheld I was interested in is 15200 here, on special. Even though they are made here, all retail versions available are for the local market, and in the case of the 60csx, it means the 8 function buttons are in chinese, not english.
I bought one last week when I was in the US, via Amazon for 299USD, with english buttons. It comes with the US highway maps, but they are pretty basic anyway and the idea is to buy (or download) the Mapsource or other maps for whatever region you are in.
I just installed the Mapsource City Navigator Map Taiwan (v 8.01) and at the install, it offers the maps in chinese or english. When the maps are transferred from the PC to the device, everything remains in english, and the added bonus is the points of interest are in english too (7/11, hi life, family mart, ATM and which bank they are, gas stations, shopping malls etc etc.)
I was pleasantly surprised. So to answer the OPs question, the Garmin Mapsource maps for Taiwan can be in english.
[quote=“Truant”]
I just installed the Mapsource City Navigator Map Taiwan (v 8.01) and at the install, it offers the maps in Chinese or English. [/quote]
I’d really like to purchase this - I don’t see this product listed on any of the Garmin Webpages I’ve tried, though. Are there any online stores (or physical stores in Taipei area) which sell it? (So only source I found so far, is via Torrent, but surely there must be a legal way to obtain it, too?)
Cheers
Stefan
[quote=“StefanMuc”][quote=“Truant”]
I just installed the Mapsource City Navigator Map Taiwan (v 8.01) and at the install, it offers the maps in Chinese or English. [/quote]
I’d really like to purchase this - I don’t see this product listed on any of the Garmin Webpages I’ve tried, though. Are there any online stores (or physical stores in Taipei area) which sell it? (So only source I found so far, is via Torrent, but surely there must be a legal way to obtain it, too?)
Cheers
Stefan[/quote]
You might like to try B2 under the Computer Market, corner of Bade and XinSheng. There are a number of stores down there that sell Garmin, including the maps.
I finally got my new HTC Diamond running on Garmin Mobile XT with FULL English maps for whole Taiwan. Works OK but a small bug doesn’t allow a search function as it is “found” on the net (and believe me, I would prefer to have an official release but can not even find it on garmin’s website)
There’s a version of TomTom that works for Taiwan, but if you set up the software to be in English, then the keyboard ends up in English as well and you can’t search.
I think the language problem is the big issue, especially as most places have 3-4 different spellings in English here.
Also, you need to have support for Chinese input on your Windows Mobile device for some software to work, but that’s quite easy to do, just download this file and follow the instructions and you’ll have Chinese input on your handset.
If you got a Windows Mobile device, then I’d also suggest doing some searching on this site pda4x.com/ as there’s som good information there about various pieces of GPS software for Taiwan.
[quote=“Truant”]
You might like to try B2 under the Computer Market, corner of Bade and Xinsheng. There are a number of stores down there that sell Garmin, including the maps.[/quote]
Sorry for taking so long : thanks for the help.
I wasn’t able to get the Taiwan street map there, but managed to get a topo map. As the sales assistant pointed out: this map is not really compatible with the US version of the 60CSx - apparently this version lacks the fonts to properly display the Chinese characters. I was still able to unlock the map - however only via Garmin’s Taiwanese web site, the US site didn’t accept the product. So in principle this map can be used, but with no legible place names - it will show topographical features, though.
I also had a chance to try the city map. This works fine, I used the English version. The problem there is the usual problem with any English map in Taiwan: it’s pretty hard to guess which transcription will be used. If someone tells you how the place name is pronounced, you often have to try a wide variety of spellings before you hit upon the correct one. Street signs are (of course) no help, since they don’t match the map, and are inconsistent [1]. It often doesn’t help to show the English transcriptions to your Taiwanese friends either - they are not any better at “guess which word this is supposed to be”. 
Despite these difficulties - the map was very useful for me, just nowhere as easy to use as I’d initially hoped. (The linguistic problems encountered till locating Bade and Xinsheng should have prepared me…)
[1] This is a general statement, not limited to GPS devices.