Cowboy Caleb the liberal arts, grown-up stuff & random mischief

This Cowboy Is Now GPS-Enabled

Yesterday, I was mooching around Sim Lim Square where just for fun, I enquired about the price of a Garmin GPS device and was quoted an amazingly reasonable SGD350 for a Garmin Nuvi 200. For that price, the dealer also threw in a free 1GB SD card containing a set of open-source Malsing Maps. I thought it was a great deal, so I bought it.

In case you don’t know, much of my younger days in Singapore was spent either on a bus or taxi. So now that I own a car (which I don’t drive frequently anyway), I get lost a good deal of the time. For an example, I cannot for the life of me figure out how to drive to Bishan Junction 8 from nearby Toa Payoh. So a GPS device makes a lot of sense to reduce my fuel consumption and save my precious time (which could be better used on hedonistic pursuits).

As soon as I got into my car, I switched the GPS on and within minutes, got hooked up to a satellite. I told it that I wanted to go to Holland Village (Wala-Walas for drinks actually) and a female American voice began saying “go straight for 700 meters and then turn right”. So the Garmin Nuvi 200 managed to navigate me from Sim Lim Square to Holland Village via Havelock - a route I usually avoid because I’m not familiar with the roads there.

Then I discovered another feature - the open-source Malsing Maps contained all kinds of goodies. My Garmin Nuvi 200 began to warn me when I was driving over the speed limit in certain areas, of upcoming red-light cameras and the locations of nearby petrol stations.

AWESOME!!!

So I am really pleased with my latest toy - I must say it’s made driving a lot more enjoyable now that I know I can’t get lost anymore!

my boss got this toy also.. very fun.. especially when he didnt use the route stated…

GPS was invented because real men don’t ask for directions hehe

DARS RIGHT

REAL MEN DONT ASK FOR DIRECTIONS!!!!!

Careful when driving into Malaysia.

Someones mights justs breaks your windshields and steals its!

real men use their brains. using gps *IS* still asking for directions.

I think men using gps is to show off more than direction things ….

I think this device is superb. But I wonder whether it really works well with Malaysian map or not.

can use your gps to locate mai boobs prease?

Great. Now don’t need to wait for you to show up only to get your call to say you are lost and need directions.

Real men make people wait.

Yes. Oh yes.

Kauz…. Seriously lor.. How can u get lost in Singapore? But for 350 is quite reasonable. Maybe I should get one for HH too

Getting lost is fun. You guys don’t have a sense of exploration. If you do, you won’t get lost. In cb’s words - Evar.

cowboy good choice but if you paid about an additional 50 sing dollars, you can get the Nuvi 200W which has a wider screen. That will be the better size for driving around, believe me.

malsingmap maps works perfectly in malaysia, east malaysia too …can give you all the nice spots highlighted by the locals for makan…

The Nuvi 200W has a widescreen, but has a serious limitation - certain POI landmarks like gas stations, atms will not appear on the screen as you drive.

This bug is not present on the Nuvi 200, which is why I bought it.

which shop did u went?after reading this,i hired a cab to guide me there straight only to find out its 399 instead of 350 without that malsing map.the only thing he gave me for free is his attitude.i thought it must be me.so i asked a pretty thing to approach instead n he said no stock.the only information i can get from him is he’s gay n im not his type.

I bought mine at “”Perfect Watch & Electronics” located on the ground floor of Sim Lim Square. Bought it from the young chap inside the shop (only got 1 young chap, rest were uncles and aunties).