Looking for an in-vehicle GPS and so far the local Garmin people are saying there is no longer an English map for Taiwan. Miio says they have an English map, but only a Chinese interface. What are other expats in Taiwan using?
Google maps, in my smartphone. The maps are bilingual and the interface, as well as the voice instructions, are in the language you choose.
I spent a lot of time researching and trying to find the best GPS for my car. I looked at all the bespoke products and I also tried google maps on my tablet/ smart phone. None of the above worked very well.
I found the best solution to be, to buy a cheapish tablet. I bought a 7 in, but you might prefer something a bit smaller. Just make sure it has a built in gps feature ( most do these days) and also ( very important) that the display has good sunlight readability and wide viewing angle ( some of the really cheap tablets are lacking in this area)
Then I bought a piece of software called Sygic( sygic.com), it’s a great navigation software app and not very expensive. It’s all in English and the maps are good and accurate for the complexity of Taipei, it even gives you lane guidance. I’ve been using this for about 6 months and I’m really happy with it.
You can download a demo that lasts for a week, if you want to try it out for free.
Hope this helps
Navigator; I didn’t like it that much in the first instance… but after using it several times I like it. I like Sygic a lot, but this one is free. You can download the maps free of charge too.
For off-road, adventure, cycling, hiking, etc… I’m starting to use ViewRanger. Perhaps because I haven’t read the manual, perhaps because I’m getting old, to get familiar with the interface and functions is taking me a while, but it’s also a very cool application (although they really need to debug a bit the app and the web application). you can tailor your own maps (downloading the “tiles” from different map providers), create routes, share them, etc…
I have a Garmin and get the coordinates of where I want to go on Google Maps first and enter it into the GPS. Really no issues
Cosign on the above. Google Maps use to have that Send To GPS feature, which worked well but they took it away. Instead of figuring out how to enter in an address, I just find the long/lat coordinates.
Seems like the simplest solution really except I can’t figure out how to get the coordinates off G Maps on my phone. Only the computer. Any easy way you guys are pulling the coordinates of mobile version? I feel G Maps has gone super downhill the past couple years.
[quote=“TheTruthIsOutThere”]I spent a lot of time researching and trying to find the best GPS for my car. I looked at all the bespoke products and I also tried google maps on my tablet/ smart phone. None of the above worked very well.
I found the best solution to be, to buy a cheapish tablet. I bought a 7 in, but you might prefer something a bit smaller. Just make sure it has a built in gps feature ( most do these days) and also ( very important) that the display has good sunlight readability and wide viewing angle ( some of the really cheap tablets are lacking in this area)
Then I bought a piece of software called Sygic( sygic.com), it’s a great navigation software app and not very expensive. It’s all in English and the maps are good and accurate for the complexity of Taipei, it even gives you lane guidance. I’ve been using this for about 6 months and I’m really happy with it.
You can download a demo that lasts for a week, if you want to try it out for free.
Hope this helps[/quote]
This is pretty interesting too. Does the tablet need to be on a data plan for this to work? Let’s say I wanted to input Ikea KH; would it be able to pull that info from the maps offline? Thanks.
Edit; just hopped on Sygic and it’s obviously designed for offline use which looks great. Are you purchasing the ‘world’ map to get Taiwan? Is coverage national or mainly just cities? Thanks.
Tk1, you don’t need the Wolrd map, you just need Taiwan or whatever country you plan to visit. Of course it’s possible to get the maps without paying… but…
OTOH, there are free navigators, not very different from Sygic, like the one I said, “Navigator”, which costs zero and uses a much more normal romanization of Chinese (I have both, and believe me, to find streets in Sygic is not always easy).
Just my two cents.
Navigator, that Jesus mentioned, uses data from open street maps, that can be downloaded for free and use community-supplied data to make the maps. Hence, it’s a good alternative and has multilanguange options. Before Microsoft purchased them, Nokia used OSM data. Now they resorted to Bing maps, of course.
Google on my smartphone has taken me to some incredible unexpected places in Taiwan. Small historic buildings in the middle of rice fields, along the coast to places that were not on any other map, and roaming around mountains where the roads were not roads but small lanes along 500m dropoffs. Scary.
Seems like the simplest solution really except I can’t figure out how to get the coordinates off G Maps on my phone. Only the computer. Any easy way you guys are pulling the coordinates of mobile version? I feel G Maps has gone super downhill the past couple years.[/quote]
I have a method: you check the location on Google Map and zoom to the maximum you can. Then you share that location by email: it creates a link. You open the link and the coordinates will be there for you to recopy. It is not ideal but has saved me in some situations…
I bought a Garmin, can’t remember the model number, it runs android and can link to a cellphone by bluetooth. Once you locate where you want to go on the cellphone google maps you can send it directly to the gps using the Garmin app. It also can use the cellphones wifi hotspot to gather real time traffic information and freeway cams view. As it’s running android it can be used as a web browser and media center if you like.
SuperS54, anyway I can get you to check on the Garmin model you have? Having the option to sync from my phone to the GPS unit sounds pretty cool. I have the Nuvi50 and I don’t think it has this option.
Anyone else have any GPS suggestions that can type in English? I prefer not to use my smartphone. Thanks.
SuperS54, anyway I can get you to check on the Garmin model you have? Having the option to sync from my phone to the GPS unit sounds pretty cool. I have the Nuvi50 and I don’t think it has this option.
Anyone else have any GPS suggestions that can type in English? I prefer not to use my smartphone. Thanks.[/quote]
Sure, just checked and it’s a NUVI 4590, there’s probably newer versions out now. It runs on Android, has a proper touch screen with pinch zoom and smooth action. I’m not sure if it’s due to my new cellphone or android version but I couldn’t get the google map transfer to work properly last weekend, it does still work with the Gamin ap map and then transfer to GPS， must spend a little time this weekend to figure out what’s gone wrong. The more expensive models have addons like tire pressure sensors and dash cams. I highly recommend it as it’s far superior to the lower end Garmins I used to get in hire cars, even without the transfer map function.
With the Nuvi50 I think you should still have the option to search for an address by entering the phone number? Very useful for finding hotels and restaurants.
Perfect! Thank you.
Same here, I only use my smartphone, it takes me wherever I want to go and the time estimate is very accurate. I wanted a GPS but I don’t think is necessary at all, I can plan my route before getting on the car, I pin the places I want to go from my laptop and is syncs with the phone automatically in google maps, there’s also another app called “here” that let you download maps for offline directions, is pretty good too if you have no data plan and space in your phone.
For the Sygic GPS. Do you need data or just gps location? I could just install it on a tablet or phone that uses gps and use it primarily in the car and update maps and poi’s via wifi?
I believe Sygic has the option to be used offline. I’ve used Sygic a handful of times and I really like the details on the maps. I did purchase the voice navigation for about $30 usd mainly because I find the voice nav helpful during mad traffic.
The only complaint I have using Sygic is searching for names of places. They have links for points of interests, restaurants, etc… but I like how on google maps you can just type in a name of a restaurant or a place and chances are it will show up. With Sygic, you need to know the city, street name and #. Anyone else have this problem or am I doing something wrong?