garmin

I agree with Brian and for RV's that Garmin is great. I can clearly see it, it has non-glare screen and best of all it accepts GPX files that you make with S&T and download to the Garmin on your PC. This is so much easier than trying to find an address to go to in MX, and entering each point on the Garmin.
Never follow a GPS without first viewing the whole route and make sure it goes the way you want. It's capability of programming a good route is terrible at best.

It all depends on which Garmin you have or what you buy - or want to buy. The new 7" 2757LM comes loaded with very detailed maps of Mexico - no chip needed - no downloaded needed - lifetime updates. It contains some pretty accurate maps of most towns we have been in. I have not done a complete comparison with Streets & Trips to see if one or the other contains more detailed maps. The both get their maps from Navteq so probably about the same. We just went to Mineral de Pozos a few days ago and looked for a town street map on both our systems and what they show is just a couple of un-named streets of the main highway. But they both show many other towns with accurate street by street info in pretty good detail. Much better than the chip we had in our old Garmin. New technology keeps moving.

The Mexican maps I got in the download are detailed to the same extent as they are in the USA and Canada. You have to be careful when you choose what you ask for in the download as there are three or four choices as I recall. Maybe you should call customer support. They will send you to the correct site.

The non-detailed map you describe was what came on my Garmin even though it said "North America" I corrected this and got the full map at the time of my first update. I did however, have to add an SD memory card in order to create enough memory for the new map file.

crandle wrote:
When you update, you will have the choice of which maps to include. You then pick "all of North America" which includes Canada, US and Mexico. This is the free update. If you went ahead and bought and installed the MX maps you will have to deal with Garmin to see if you can get your money back.

Garmin doesn't appear to realise that Mexico in actually part of the North American Continent!

The Mexican portion of those maps will usually only contain info on Federal and State highways.

For detailed maps you need to purchase either download or having it shipped to you.

Here is the difference of the two methods as explained to me by Garmin:

Download; you can get lifetime updates. USEABLE ONLY ON THE ONE DEVICE.

Shipped: NO UPDATES but can be used on various devices.

Get you commin' or goin'

When you update, you will have the choice of which maps to include. You then pick "all of North America" which includes Canada, US and Mexico. This is the free update. If you went ahead and bought and installed the MX maps you will have to deal with Garmin to see if you can get your money back.

crandle wrote:
Some Garmins are sold with Lifetime Updates. With these it is a simple matter to update your maps and add Mexico from the website. This is free.

The Garmin Nuvi I bought has lifetime updates - but does that cover the Mexico map I purchased later as well?

crandle wrote:
Some Garmins are sold with Lifetime Updates. With these it is a simple matter to update your maps and add Mexico from the website. This is free. If the unit was not bought with Lifetime Updates then you must pay for the update. Everything can be done from their website and their customer assistance is very good.

Depending on available memory your friend may have to add an SD card.

there was an article on these "lifetime updates" and yes they are lifetime for the life that they support that specific GPS and it really boils down to a 2-4 year update so it is wise to update yours 3 times a year .
bumpy

Some Garmins are sold with Lifetime Updates. With these it is a simple matter to update your maps and add Mexico from the website. This is free. If the unit was not bought with Lifetime Updates then you must pay for the update. Everything can be done from their website and their customer assistance is very good.

Depending on available memory your friend may have to add an SD card.

Many, not all, Garmins will take an SD card or micro SD. you can check your unit and buy and download from the Garmin site.

Note: A map downloaded from Garmin directly to your unit's memory are upgradeable but not transferable to another unit. It's the other way with a map downloaded to an SD card.

as far as having too little storage room, just buy a larger SD card.
bumpy