Navigation GPS Systems

blane

No, you cannot send a route to any of the nüvi series navigation units from your computer.

I'm pretty sure that all of the nüvi 3XX series units each only accept a single waypoint. That's all I can set on my 350. However, you can save multiple waypoints as Favorites. You navigate to the first one and then select and navigate to the second, third, etc., thus chaining them together for a staged route to your final destination. If I were a traveling salesman I'd plan my day's route that way.

blane

It would have been much more informative if they had indicated whether the Nüviphone would be operating on a GSM (AT&T & T-Mobile) or a CDMA (Verizon, Alltel & Sprint) techology cellular system.

gagrice

That is true. I am getting ready to dump my wife's Sprint service and probably go with AT&T. They have the best coverage on the Big Island of Hawaii. Last trip we could not make a call in most areas with our Sprint Phones. I cannot give mine up as I am on the Pioneer plan. I only pay for minutes used outgoing. I spend less than $10 per year on cell service. I do like the looks of that NUVIPhone.

blane

"I am getting ready to dump my wife's Sprint service and probably go with AT&T. They have the best coverage on the Big Island of Hawaii. Last trip we could not make a call in most areas with our Sprint Phones."

http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/splash/turnbyturn.jsp

http://www.city-data.com/forum/hawaii/233329-cell-phone-service.html

http://news.vzw.com/news/2005/07/pr2005-07-08d.html

http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/CoverageLocatorController?requesttype=newsear- - ch

http://www.howardforums.com/archive/topic/1082923-1.html

gagrice

It may be our phones. Both are more than 5 years old. They work good in San Diego. Just not in Hawaii where we need them.

I like that Blackberry navigator phone. Just do not want to give up my free for life Sprint service.

bat1161

Blane-

Thanks, that's what I wound up doing on this past weekends 48hrs Subaru drive. Going to one way point, then adding in the next and so on. It was a bit of a PIA, but it worked. It helped prevent our gettign lost as the group got split up a few times (we had about 33 cars at one time).

Mark

ateixeira

Still wondering if anyone has an Australian English voice on their Nuvi?

Also, how do you load more cars, or is that not a free service?

blane

"Still wondering if anyone has an Australian English voice on their Nuvi?

Also, how do you load more cars, or is that not a free service?"

No problem Juice. Just use Garmin's free Webupdater http://www8.garmin.com/products/webupdater/ . I have the following TTS voices loaded on my nüvi 350:

American English - Jack
American English - Jill
Australian English - Karen
Australian English - Lee
British English - Daniel
British English - Emily

There are many additional cars, trucks, motorcycles, at Christmastime a sleigh, other icons, etc. available at the same site, all at no cost.

jaxs1

British English Daniel is the only one that doesn't sound like a robot, but it pronounces this many Spanish street and business names in California hilariously.
Juanita is Jew Anny Tah. Baja Fresh is Bahdga Fresh.

ateixeira

I got a reply from Garmin that the feature is not available on the 200 models, I guess that's something they de-contented.

I just think it's weird that I can choose from a dozen types of Chinese but only 2 English voices.

Here is their official response:

This is not an option on this unit. Unfortunately this is not an item
that will be added to this unit either, however there are several other
units that do. This feature starts in the Nuvi 260 and above. Thanks
again and sorry for the confusion

I'm off to my Chinese lessons...

ateixeira

I will try that, it's funny when the voice makes you laugh like that.

I loved how the Aussie voice said Battery, it was "BAT-tree". :shades:

jipster

Any opinion/experience with these two? I know the technology is about 4 or 5 years old, but from reading here it looks like the price has dropped about $400.

Today, I read of a new sale price being offered on the 330. It is only $99. A drop in price of $100. The 340 also has dropped $100 to $199. The only real difference in features that I really care for is the text to voice feature that names streets (the 340) instead of just saying turn right in 400 feet. I prefer this feature... but is it worth $100?

ateixeira

Good question.

I had a c320, which is basically a c330 minus the hard disk. The c320 uses an SD card instead. So the c330 is pre-loaded with maps and supposedly a little quicker, but otherwise the same unit.

As you said, it lacks text to speech, so no street names.

I'm the right person to ask, because we also own a c340. Indeed, it reads the street names. It also will re-read the address of your destination, i.e. it will say arriving at "1600 Pennsylvania Ave", which is convenient because you may not have written down the house number, and this reminds you if you're looking at mail boxes to find the exact house.

The c340 also seems to have better software, though, compared to the c320, and I'm not sure why. When it routes me around a detour, it just performs better at getting me off that road and staying off it for a while. The old c320 was not good at that - it would keep trying to put me back on that road I detoured from in the first place.

I can't explain why, but it just seems "smarter" about routing, c340 vs. c320.

So the text-to-speech plus the smarter routing are two advantages, at least compared to the c320.

The catch is, is the c330 more like the 340, or the 320? That I don't know.

I sold the c320 to a co-worker. She still uses it. I bought a Garmin Nuvi 200W to replace it. That's $199 or so, so it's basically the same price as the c340 costs now.

Which would I choose, c340 vs. Nuvi 200W, given they cost the same?

Tough call. I do love the bigger screen of the 200W, but my wife likes having the street names and house numbers read to her. Plus the c340 has more choices for voice, e.g. Australian English, which the Nuvi 200W lacks.

I'll offer a qualified answer - if you think the driver need has a good sense of direction, I'd get the big screen Nuvi 200W. The 4.3" display is just great.

If you think the driver needs the most help possible with navigating, then get the c340, since it is technically more advanced.

$99 for a c320 is dirt cheap, think about this - the map updates alone cost $75. So they basically are giving away the device for an extra $25. But...it's not a lot more for more features.

jipster

Thanks for your input atexieria. I think the wife and I both prefer the street names and numbers being read out, so the c340 would probably be the wiser choice.

Did you ever have any problems with the c340 coming out of its windshield suction cup mount that is included in the purchase price? Garmin has a Dash Mount accessory (for the C320, the c330 and the c340) that cost $29. A co-worker of my wife, who has the C330, said it is worth the money, as the suction cup mount the gps unit comes with will lose suction in cold weather.

ateixeira

In the cold, no. Neither one of our c series ever fell off, and we got the first one way back in 2005.

Ironically, it's fallen a couple of times, but only on the very hottest summer days, when left in direct sunlight. My fault, technically, because I should be removing it anyway, yet I don't.

It has never fallen off while in use, though, because ambient temps with passengers in the car are never that extreme.

There is a locking tab that increases suction pressure, so it's more than your basic suction cup.

In some states you're not allowed to have things on the windshield, so you use a black metal disc that Garmin provides. I never used it until I bought my minivan back in May of last year. That works just as well.

Still the same issue with 95+ degree days in direct sunlight, though.

We had a rental car in Florida and rented a c330 for 5 days (so I have used one, now that I think about it) and it came with one of those bean bag mounts, and it worked OK. I kind of prefer the suction cups, though, because it doesn't move around at all.

rich4j

May be a weird question but I was wondering if others have opted out of getting the Navigation options in a leased or purchased car for buying a top of the line GPS stand alone system like a Garmin?

Seems like the costs from the dealers are where they make some coin.

Any advice on this approach and if going the NO NAV from the dealer, what are some top of the line Garmin models that are comparable to what the dealers put in the cars? I was looking at the Acura TL 2008.

thanks

ateixeira

You won't get that big, beautiful screen, but a Garmin Nuvi 480 probably has more features than most OE systems.

I'm not familiar with the one in the TL, though. Is it still touch screen, or voice command based? I've heard some complaints that the new one on the MDX (voice) is less user-friendly than the old one (touch-screen).

Ask to sample one on a long test drive.

Garmins are very, very easy to use. The interface is very intuitive, you pick it up easily without even reading the manual.

Portables can also go from car to car. Take it with you on a trip, and use it in a rental car. Or share with your sig other.

The latest Garmin will give you traffic data (as does Acura, I think), gas prices, movie show times, and more. You can load custom POI databases for things like speed traps, so it does a few things OE systems won't do.

But....it's not built-in. That's a big issue with lots of folks. You risk theft, have wires there, etc.

Then again it costs about 1/4 of the price of the OE system, so you could buy another one 3 times and still break even.

Another issue - upgrade cost. Not sure about Acura, but Subaru charges $230 for an update DVD, and they don't come very frequently so maps are way out of date. Garmin's updates cost $75 and come out annually. Even then people complain the maps are not updated frequently enough.

I would ask in a TL thread, to get specific feedback about the TL's system.

Good luck either way.

jaxs1

There is a Garmin 880 coming out in a couple months with voice recognition to input addresses along with traffic, weather, movies times etc..
The Nuvifone comes out this fall and you just take it with you since it's your phone, so there's no worry about theft from leaving it sitting in the car.

ateixeira

That phone sounds great to me. Can't wait to try one of those bad boys. Think of the possibilities - given how connected they will be.

Voice recognition? I'm skeptical.

I have that on my BlackBerry. It's terrible. It wrong more than half the time.

"Call Home" works.

"Call Laura" - no match (I have 2 Lauras in my address book).

"Call Karen" - no match, and I have 4 of those.

"Call John" - mixed results, found Johnson, but that's not what I intended.

My fear is that you end up yelling at the GPS because it keeps getting the street wrong.

Me: "12 Ice Avenue".

GPS: "Did you say Elvis is Alive"?

snakeweasel

Voice recognition? I'm skeptical.

I used to be skeptical but call recognition does work and it works well. To be honest I have a speech impediment and I should be the last one that voice recognition will work with yet the ones I use are about 90% accurate.

jaxs1

I'll wait for the user reviews to see how well the voice recognition works, but it's possible it may work well. There is a wired microphone available for it if the speakerphone microphone doesn't work well enough.
Windows Live Search voice commands work surprisingly well on my new smartphone, so it's possible it will be fine.

jipster

We got our Garmin Streetpilot C340 the other day. Oh, man is that thing cool. It took quite a licking the first day though. Slipped out of my butter fingers when I was taking it off the windshield... flew back to second row of seats. Then when my wife was driving home from dinner the suction cup unsucked from the windshield, dropped in her lap and fell on the floor. Looks like I'll be ordering the aftermarket dashmount. My wife said she didn't like it on the windshield as it was distracting.

The owners manual didn't mention this, but can you operate the gps on battery power alone... or should it be plugged in? Really no mention of charging the battery or how long a charge it can hold.

bat1161

The windshield mount is a bit tricky. I have the Nuvi370 and have had it fall off a few times. Matter of fact the first time it happened was the 1st time I used it; it fell off and the screen cracked. Garmin was good though because I mailed it back to them and they sent a new one out- no charge.

The trick for the mount is to wet the back and make sure it is secure. I believe it was mentioned how the temperature is a factor.

Enjoy the unit!

Mark

tmart

Wetting the back is definitely a requirement for a secure mount. Just bought a Nav-Mat and without wetting it lasts minutes! After wetting, it's still secure after a week.

ateixeira

The GPS manufacturer will have to be mindful of that and make newer models with the same size/shape case.

The Garmin c series has remained the same size for a long time. The c3xx, even the c5xx models are the same size and shape.

Not sure if Tom Tom does this.

I know the Garmin Nuvis are not the same, though.

ateixeira

The photo includes a Tom Tom, not a Nuvi. Did I miss something? :confuse:

ateixeira

OK. So I'm not crazy after all. Well, at least this isn't the reason for my being crazy.

jaxs1

That will still attract theft because thieves will assume you are hiding the gps somewhere in the car just like they do with removable faceplate stereos.
They need to put it behind a door so there is no sign of it when you park.

ateixeira

Glad to hear yours works well.

Having said that, which call recognition device are you using? In what automobile?

Just curious.

My BlackBerry Curve isn't good enough, so I just don't use it. A shame.

ateixeira

Cool, congrats.

My wife is using our c340. I'm using the Nuvi 200W.

I drove her car the other day and it was like old times with my c340.

Moisten the suction cup and it will stick.

And yes, you can operate on battery power for several hours.

Here's a tip - charge the battery regularly. On our old c320, my wife did not, and the lithium-ion battery died. It's not hard to replace it, just one 18650 cell (costs $5-10) and here are full instructions:

http://www.gpspassion.com/forumsen/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=67938

I had to replace the battery before I sold the device. Took me less than a hour to replace, no problem. A co-worker bought it from me and she says it's working fine. The original battery lasted about 3 years, though I think it would have lasted longer if my wife charged it more regularly.

stever

Toyota recognizes portable navigation units

bat1161

looks good, but then you run into the problem what to do with the space if you don't have a GPS, or if you have a different model than what the manufacturer supports.

Again, as you say Steve, a step in the right direction.

Mark

bat1161

Size isn't the only issue. Looking at the photo that Steve posted it appears to be a different type of connector than the one which would work with my Nuvi. I agree that it will cause GPS manufacturers to start making a more "uniform" size across the board so that the different units would fit in the space.

bat1161

No you didn't miss anything, I just came across confused . That was my point that the photo was of a Tom Tom, which is a different type of connection from the Nuvi.

stever

I suppose you could program them so that they don't work if the device isn't in close proximity to the docking station, like some keys and fobs work now.

Or just make them so cheap no one will care. Like a calculator.

jaxs1

This has been done before. It looks like the Eclipse radio rebadged as a Toyota radio:

jaxs1

You would lose portability.
A simple door to hide it from view is low tech and works.
No one would have any reason to think anything other than the stock radio is behind the door.



It amazes me that more cars are not like this Scion TC.
You could easily swap out the factory stereo and put in a nav or whatever and there would be no clue to it as long as you shut the door when you park.

An aftermarket company makes a motor that opens and closes this door for you with the ignition switch.

The Toyota Avalon has a similar door over the radio.

The car manufacturers could easily install a hollow cubby in the dash with a nav dock (to charge the device and provide an audio output to the car speakers) and a door in front of it that could fit any brand nav that fits in the space.
The nav manufacturers could standardize on USB for both power and audio through a single cable or else a generic 12V power port and 1/8th inch headphone jack could also work.
If you don't have a portable nav, you could still use the space for miscellaneous storage of small personal items.

jipster

Thanks for the comments all.

though I think it would have lasted longer if my wife charged it more regularly.

How exactly do you charge the battery other than when you are driving??? Do you leave the key in the "On" position while the engine is off? The only thing the manual says is charging time is three hours, and you charge the c340 using the USB cable or the car adapter that is connnected to the suction mount. So, by using your USB cable you would charge it from your home computer?

tmart

Yes, you can charge it with the computer using the USB cable. You can also use an AC charger. One came with my C320, Don't know if it's standard with yours. If not, it can be bought separately.

jaxs1

Probably they Scion xD, but a portable nav makes more sense when you want to save money buying a cheap car.
It is about $2000 plus installation for the dealer to install the Scion Navigation system.
That's a big percentage of the entire MSRP of the xD.
You could probably get a Dodge Caliber SXT with factory nav and big discounts to make it cheaper than a Corolla.
You could order a base Mini Cooper stick shift with nav and no other options for about $22K.

ral2167

anyone know cheapest car that offers navigation--saw the 2009 corolla offers it as an option on its highe end model....

ateixeira

Mazda3 offered it even before the Corolla did.

I wouldn't use that as my main criteria to pick a car, though.

jipster

Manual says not to store in extreme temperatures. Does this mean you should remove it daily from you vehicle during the winter and summer?

ateixeira

I never do. It pretty much stays there all the time.

We did have a battery go dead on a c320, but it was about 3 years old at the time and my wife was not charging it regularly. A new battery was under $10.

They probably say that because the cold isn't really good for battery life, but it's also not realistic IMHO.

mdchachi

Well it won't work without the head unit anyway. Not after the battery runs out. Though I suppose it's possible that they may make a home charger for it.

shipo

..., and geez, you folks make me feel like such a noob.

My wife, an organizational genius though she may well be, is a disaster at navigating from point A to point B, even if she's been there many times. This week she started a new job that requires LOTS of travel, mostly in the U.S. (but Europe and Asia are each going to happen several times per year). I've been a bit worried about her since she accepted the job and have been thinking that she needed a GPS unit. As if to underscore my concern, she managed to get lost on the way to the airport yesterday (where she's been many-many times).

That was the last straw; before she'd even gotten on the plane I managed to a decent amount of research, shop around and buy a Garmin Nuvi 680 from Amazon for ~$452 (I found units in the low four-hundreds on E-Bay but paypal has stuck it to me one time too many so I avoid their service if at all possible), and ordered it for delivery tomorrow. I also ordered a 4GB SD card so that she can put music on it as well.

Needless to say I'll keep y'all posted with my impressions as well as Mrs. Shipo's learning curve.

Best Regards,
Shipo

jaxs1

You need an AUX input for music to work well. The FM transmitters rarely work well.
Here is a video about something else that happens to show a Garmin being used as a portable MP3 player via AUX input.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5HWl_zmKs0

shipo

"You need an AUX input for music to work well."

Hey thanks for the "Heads-Up" on the AUX input. Fortunately her current car as well as the one that is her leading candidate for her next ride both have at least one AUX port.

FWIW, I'm thinking that she'll like the Bluetooth integration as well.

Best Regards,
Shipo

ateixeira

I think some of the Nuvi models come with Europe maps pre-loaded. I was browsing through a Crutchfield catalog and noticed that.

It might cost more, but if you think she'll ever rent a car and drive in Europe, she could take it with her.

Might be worth looking into. Does anyone here know off hand?

shipo

Yeah, the Garmin Nuvi x70 (i.e. 270, 370, 670, & 770) all include European maps, however, when she's in either Europe or Asia (or South America for that matter), she'll be escorted wherever she goes. I'm thinking that's a good thing as she was extremely nervous about driving in Germany when we picked up my 530i in Munich. I did manage to coax her in to driving a short stretch on a very empty segmen of the Autobahn, and by "short" I mean, she took it up to 100 mph, held it for less than five minutes and then pulled off at the next exit so that she could get back in the passenger seat.

Best Regards,
Shipo