LivinLOS;280930 wrote: SEA 6.5 does not have the junction view 3d buildings etc so cannot give it..
The ESRI map is the only map with the advanced features.. And to the best of my knowledge there are no hacks that can enable them. You cannot purchase this map legally and have it work. They are locked to Thai language OS units only, as sold by them here not grey import.
The whole appeal of garmin is its total map compatibility. By allowing one of their 'sole authorised dealer' who makes a huge deal about how they are the only source of garmin in Thailand, are linked directly from the garmin thailand site under the 'on the road category' and to every casual observer are essentially 'garmin in thailand' yet when garmin are challenged (more on this in a second) garmin wash thier hands and say "we cannot be expected to support every 3rd party map produced by others in the world. That would be a fair answer if the dealer / map / and product are not all pushed directly through multiple Garmin channels.
I have multiple times played a game with garmin, in emailing customer support and asking "if I buy expensive unit XXXX will it run all the maps that lane assist and 3d building features work on" first line western customer support fall over themselves explaining how wonderful it all will work.. Then wait a couple of weeks and contact back saying I have purchased this, I am now in Thailand and the Thai maps as sold linked from Garmin Thailand, do not work as you assured me in pre sale.. How do I get my refund.. This generally get escalated a few times until they understand as most garmin reps do not seem to know this is happening. Once the senior techs get involved suddenly the pre scripted answers and closed ranks come out.. I just keep requoting the promises that it would work without caveats back at them for a while.
I like garmin, I own many of them. But they are losing market share to phones and tablets, crashing in value and in doing this have undermined one of the key strengths they had. Total and absolute map compatibility over the range. They have done this with the only upside to protect a thai importers, high margin, little cartel like monopoly at the expense of the private users of the system. They cannot simply compete in a free market ?? No they have to try to retain super high margins, keep the units more expensive incountry, upset all their users, fragment their OS compatibility, for a thai distributor to not compete properly !! Thats one of the things that is a pet peeve in Thai business (cartels and protectionism instead of simply competing in a free market) and so I continue to **** with them.
