Navigation GPS Systems

strato435

I'm in the market for a new sedan, and I've decided that a navigation systems is a 'must' for my next car.

It is no surprise that there are no standards yet in user interface, functionality, etc. But what surprises me is that I haven't found a comprehensive review of navigation systems in new cars! Perhaps it's out there, and I'm just not lucky in finding it?

When you consider that: (1) a navigation system is a 'take it or leave it' accessory (that is, if you buy Brand X, you either take their nav system, or you must accept a lousy nav system in exchange for the other features a vehicle offers, and (2) nav systems are a significant percentage of the cost of most vehicles given their incremental cost of $2-2,500, I'd really like to read reviews of systems!

So, the brands of sedans I'm looking at is somewhat broad, and if anyone's got any leads to comparisons of navigational systems for Acura, Toyota, Audi, Volvo, Volkswagen, I'd be really appreciative for the pointer!

Thanks in advance,

ateixeira

Good idea, and I think we'll start seeing these as they become more common, just as Edmunds does a seperate review of the stereos.

I've tried MMI, by Audi, and didn't like it much. This was on an S4 cabrio, it had a smallish 5" screen that was not a touch screen, so you had to scroll through the alphabet for each letter. Plus it required that you enter city and state.

Subaru's new Tribeca was a lot better, IMO, 7" touch screen, and if you were in the same zone you did not need the city or state. Plus the keyboard on the screen meant it took less than half the time to enter the address. It's positioned higher up, easier to see but a longer reach.

I believe Honda/Acura's goes a step further and allows for voice commands. The screen on the Pilot's was just 5" though.

You will find reviews of the portable Garmin systems if you Google that.

-juice

swingerjay

That is correct; there is no significant coherent voice for NAV system users getting through to those who design them. Some of the greatest needs I see are:

1) Using a larger screen so more of the maps may be seen; [a tablet screen size would be good]
2) Voice commands so that your eyes do not have to search the screen at all;
3) Commonly understood options to make learning faster;
4) Large map companies getting into the market using their own data -- not the satellite or aerial photos;
5) Video technology like used on newspapers so that street names do not disappear when you zoom out from 700 ft resolution to 1/4 mile resolution -- they just get smaller;
6) The creation of user-friendly databases;
7) A detachable unit that can be used away from the car so that routing can be set beforehand and so that users can practice without being in the car.

This is not all that needs to be done. I don't know how to express some of them in a single sentence. All of the NAV systems I have seen are designed by programmers in a foreign culture. I surely wish they could be designed by users' requests being implemented by programmers but I don't know if that has ever happened in the history of computers.

I wrote this in response to msgs written by strato435 and ateixeira. I wish something more could come of this.

ateixeira

Well, I gave in and ordered a Garmin Street Pilot c320. It's one of their simpler, cheaper models, but it has a lot of features I liked:

* very compact size
* not-too-tiny 3.5" color screen
* touch-screen controls
* very easy to use (I've tried two)
* internal li-ion battery for full portability, 8 hours battery life
* voice commands (2 built-in speakers)
* SD card slot (expandability)
* includes maps for all of US and Canada plus PR
* affordable price ($424 delivered)
* automatic route recalculation
* portable so can be used in all 3 cars in our fleet

Trade-offs

* only 128MB SD included
* SD card size limits how much you can load at one time
* load-it-yourself map regions
* not built-in, so you get that "ghetto" look (LOL)
* smallish screen

I'll get a bigger SD card for cheap, 1GB is just $74 and I haven't even shopped that around. So for about $500 it'll have the whole country loaded. That takes care of the first two cons.

I don't mind loading it myself, I'm an IT geek.

Ghetto is in fashion. )

Voice commands make up for smallish screen somewhat.

So I took the dive!

I'll report back here when it arrives, should be 4-7 days.

-juice

tidester

* only 128MB SD included

No problem! You can pick up a high capacity SD off the net real cheap.

tidester, host

ateixeira

I've fallen in love with her

Ain't that the truth!

I swear, I had a car with NAV for 4 days, and by the end of that time I had named her Becky and she became my mistress.

Oddly enough my wife liked her as well! LOL

I didn't know the Matrix even had a NAV option, I thought the Mazda3 was the only compact that sold the option. Well, I think the Mini does as well.

-juice

navguy

Actually the Matrix nav is made by Delphi and the software is pressed by Denso

bat1161

Juice-

Welcome to the club! It's funny that for this unit you can fit the whole country on a 1GB SD card. With the 2610, I need a 2GB CF card to fit all the maps.

NAV definitely helps. And the protables are cheaper than the built ins.

Mark

ateixeira

That's what I have, so I'm all set. :-)

In some ways I think a c320 with a big SD card is better than the pricier c330. The 330 has a hard drive but has not extra SD slot, so if you want to buy a card with Europe pre-loaded for travel, you're outta luck.

I can do that with mine.

Updates are easy, too. $300 for an update from Mazda? No way, Jose. Garmin charges $120 I believe.

-juice

jnova

I just bought a 2004 Murano last week which I am really happy with, so far. Unfortunately, because it seems as though Murano's are VERY rare to find used with Nav, I had to settle on one without. Originally I was told by the salesman that I could just get someone to install a Nav system aftermarket, but it could still utilize the screen that's already in the car. After talking to someone in the service dept. I found out that this isn't possible and that the only way to get GPS is by installing an aftermarket system and have an additional screen that pops out of the dash.

I've been looking around and found that Pioneer makes a good unit that I can also use with an Ipod adapter and a backup camera (I figure I might as well get everything at once.) But, I also read that with this sytem you can only input destinations when you are parked which I'm not too crazy about.

Anyone have any experience with aftermarket GPS systems and could tell me which units to avoid? I'd really like to have on that uses Ipod integration as I no longer use CD's for music.

Thanks...

philberto

I looked at all that fancy NAV stuff and thought that the price was way too high for what you get. Since I had a Laptop for work, I just got Street Atlas USA with the LT-20 GPS receiver that sits on the dash with the USB wire hidden. Now a have a huge screen NAV that doubles as a DVD system for the kids. HA! The Laptop is strapped down to the table between the two chairs in my Sedona and is just fine for up front to rear viewing. Street Atlas can be updated for free over the Internet. Since I have an 802.11 LAN built in, I can do it sitting in the driveway. I also have an AirCard and can do it anywhere my PCS service is.

The best part is it only cost me $99 since I already had the computer! Isn't life grand? (but much less than a 'grand') Heck, a laptop can be real cheap these days...and you can do so much more with it. :shades:

paisan

Ok guys, finally put in my system today in the Armada.... The screen has been in for a few weeks here are the details...

VIA-EPIII Mini-ITX motherboard w/
PCMICA Slot
CF Reader Slot
Firewire Inpute
4- USB 2.0 Ports
Ethernet Port
Mouse and Keyboard Ports
Sound in/out

Opus Solutions 12vDC->12vDC Automotive ITX case

Panasonic DVD-R slot feed
Maxtor 250GB 16mb Cache HD

No-name wireless mouse -USB

Delorme Earhmate GPS Reciever- USB

Rollup USB Keyboard

Linksys PCMCIA Wireless Card

That's it for the hardware.

The case is really the part that shines in this setp. It is automatically turned on when the car is put into the Acc position and there are jumpers to set how long after you turn off the car that it will shutdown the computer for you.

Very slick setup so far. I have it setup to boot right into the Delorme Street Atlas software on bootup, the Delorme Earthmate is wired on the dash and goes down the same slot where the wiring for the Xenarc 7" Touchscreen goes.

On the Armada there is an Aux input for the stereo so the plan is to load up the 250GB HD with DVDs and MP3s so that we can basically choose just about anything to listen to or watch. Also with the Firewire and DVDR we plan to burn our own videos at the track right in the Armada from a video camera with firewire.

Only issue that I came across was that the GPS reciever which is plugged into the same USB Hub does not like to share the Hub with the Touchscreen. As soon as I turn off the touch screen it finds the satellites, Turn on the touchscreen and it loses them. So tomrrow I will go out and run a dedicated line for the GPS to the CPU USB ports and see if this remedies the situation which I fully expect it to do.

-mike

paisan

I also have a backup camera that I plan to install. The Xenarc touchscreen has an option to automatically go to one of the video input upon gaining signal on it so the backup camera will automatically go on when I put the Armada in reverse and popup an inmage on the screen.

Total price on this setup?

1450 including shipping on everything. Install time was about 3hrs of the hardware and about 4hrs of installing the OS and associated software on the PC side.

-mike

swingerjay

You get the award for best choice. We who are sedan drivers have a harder job of doing what you did, but I tried. I believe for a sedan it would be better to get one of those pedestals to hold the laptop. I attempted to anchor a laptop with velcro and was able to keep it from sliding too far forward, but not back. It was not in the correct spot and I had to abandon that.

You probably had plenty of chances to practice using the software and routing yourself. There is just one more thing we all need and I don't know the name of it. It is the type of viewing that you can get for a newspaper online. You can see the exact pages of the newspaper. If you are zoomed all the way out, you can read the headlines and see that there are images and tiny text. As you zoom in everything becomes readable. That is a big contrast to what we have now where the street names are not shown at all until you are at the maximum enlargement.

Let us know how this is working from time to time.

philberto

Thank you, swingerjay. Mike does have an interesting idea with the mobile computer. I have to look up the display and case he uses. The laptop works fine if you have space to mount it, but it's really a big package when the display is part of the whole computer. I use a Jotto Desk in my work truck. It is positioned just between the center dash controls and to the left of the passenger seat. Not too bad on a passenger, but none the less 'out there'. Check em' out at:

http://www.jottodesk.com/Comersus/store/comersus_dynamicIndex.asp

The idea of a 'full blown' computer appeals to me. Why? HDTV!!! Funny that no one talks about mobile TV anymore. With HD quality being much better than DVD, you would think SOMEONE would have jumped on this. There is a little 'snag' to the 8VSB ATSC standard that has been adopted for DTV in the US. It was not designed to be 'mobile'. Conditions that would cause 'flipping' and 'ghosting' on analog TV would cause shutter and freezing on digital. Still, I wonder how bad it would be? Maybe OK if close enough to the station. Certainly OK when parked.

I built my home computer with an ATI HDTV card in it. For $139 this thing is SO GOOD and very sensitive. Picks up distant stations with perfect picture where analog would be much less than perfect. I record 1080i HD to hard drive and can burn MPEG HD disks that playback on most computers. It rocks! Here is a pic of my computer. (more pics at philbert.lh.net under "PhilbertsComputer...")

http://philbert.lh.net/PhilbertsComputer_Open.JPG

This shows the card inside. This is a full-blown AMD64 FX53 system with a ATI 9800 Pro graphics card. You need power to do real time 1080i. I also have two 200 MB hard drives (one as a backup). The whole thing is in the smallest Silver Stone HTPC desktop case you could use for all that is inside. I want to try this in my Sedona one day. With the 500 watt power supply, you will need an inverter big enough to run the PC. Mike mentioned a 12V case that I never knew existed, so maybe it could be built on a 12V platform and not need an inverter (better...more efficient). I will look into this. But I really wonder if HDTV would work while mobile, so I will have to try this. NAV on this would work just fine, but you get so much more. And yes, the video card has a composite video input to use on a rear view camera.

Until then, I use the laptop and play my recorded disks if I want to. The picture is fantastic. Here is a still capture of HD. This is the quality you actually see on the screen! I will also take some pics of my laptop in the van as it's setup now and post them in a bit.

http://philbert.lh.net/HDTV_shot_1.jpg
http://philbert.lh.net/HDTV_shot_2.jpg

Phil ~

philberto

As promised...a full set of laptop NAV and DVD pics in my new 05 Sedona. Since this is a new van, I have not run the wires under the floor yet. I have to do that soon. I just pieced this together to see how it would work. It does! I am using a portable battery with AC inverter I had lying around. This can now connect to the main system via a cigar plug to run and charge the power pack, but I want a clean install, so I plan on making a charging system that only works when the car is running to protect the main battery. All wires need to be hidden. A tight rubber bungy strap holds the computer down. (WIP)

http://philbert.lh.net/SEDONA_NAV_FRONT_5080.JPG
http://philbert.lh.net/SEDONA_NAV_FRONT_NIGHT_5103.JPG
http://philbert.lh.net/SEDONA_NAV_BACK_5085.JPG
http://philbert.lh.net/SEDONA_NAV_BACK_NIGHT_5107.JPG
http://philbert.lh.net/SEDONA_DVD_BACK_5088.JPG
http://philbert.lh.net/SEDONA_DVD_NIGHT_5109.JPG
http://philbert.lh.net/SEDONA_DVD_NIGHT_5108.JPG
http://philbert.lh.net/SEDONA_GPS_5068.JPG
http://philbert.lh.net/SEDONA_COMPUTER_BACK_5092.JPG
http://philbert.lh.net/SEDONA_COMPUTER_POWER_MOUNT_5070.JPG

The computer is 12.5 " wide. If I were to buy one specifically for this installation I would reduce the width a little. Oh yeah...this laptop has a composite RCA in that would work for a rear camera as well.

paisan

MMM in-car TV.... That's on my list too. I will eventually have the DirecTV dish on the roof of the Armada so that we can pickup the mobile Direct TV while driving

One of the advantages of the Opus Solutions car computer are that it's a 12v to 12v case, so it draws about 1/25th the amperage that you will draw running an inverter coupled with a power supply because you are doing 12v DC->120v AC->12v DC this also produces more heat than 12v->12v

Right now it looks like I'm having some issues where the touch screen USB connection is interfereing with the GPS USB connection, but not sure what the problem is yet.

-mike

philberto

Roger that on the 12V computer efficiency. The laptop draws little, so the inverter is barely working. No load is about 0.18 A. I didn't want to buy a Dell mobile power supply for $105, so I used the power pack I had lying around for emergencies. This pack came with a solar panel that charges the pack for free if you want (bonus). The cool thing about it is you can jump-start the car if you had to. You do have to be careful when connected the pack through the cigar plug because it can back-feed while starting and blow the fuse. I plan on running a separate line from the running power to the charge jack on it. This way it will only charge while the engine is on. It's diode protected to stop back-feed as well.

I thought you said the USB hub was the problem. Did you try going direct to another port on the computer? Show us some pics!

Is that mobile Direct TV in HD? Does it work while moving? Is the antenna really a "dish"? I'm not up on Direct TV these days, so please clue me in on what it has to offer for mobile. I prefer FREE HDTV as I hate bills, but it sounds interesting.

Phil ~

ateixeira

philberto: cool, now you need 2 laptops so you can do both at the same time. :shades:

The color of the laptop even blends in, was that intentional or pure luck?

jnova: I looked at the Panasonic in-dash ones, where the screen pops out, but when I sampled one at the local Best Buy it was a little more cumbersome to use, plus how would you even update it? Points of interest and roads change all the time.

I found a double-DIN size for $1105 shipped, but the portable ones are still a lot less, plus they serve all 3 cars in the fleet instead of just one.

I did see the $200 rear camera option, but we don't have an SUV or van that is hard to backup. Else I might have pushed more for that.

In the end the Garmin won out because it was slightly easier to use, cheaper, and more easy to update.

mike - setup sounds absolutely bad . Gotta check it out next time we meet up.

-juice

paisan

I'm not sure if it's HDTV haven't looked that far into the details yet. Basically it is about a 2" high x 20" x 35" roughly panel that you mount in your roof rack. It allows you to watch DirectTV while on the move. Essentially if you have DirectTV at home what you do is get an additional card for the unit in the car and it costs $5/month extra and you get access to all the channels you have at home. This includes like 50+ commercial free music channels so it's almost like getting sat radio as well!

On the GPS I took the USB hub out of the equation by running the GPS to it's own USB on the carputer, but it still seems to have issues. On my ride in today I'm going to try switching it to one of the USB ports the come off the mobo rather than one of the USBs on the case of the carputer. We'll see if that fixes it.

I'll also try to get some pics of it too!

-mike

mdchachi

> Video technology like used on newspapers so that street names do not disappear when you zoom out from 700 ft resolution to 1/4 mile resolution -- they just get smaller;

Hello. Why do you feel this is important? Seems like if it worked this way, you'd have a lot of unreadable, miniscule clutter on the screen when zoomed out.

philberto

ateixeira - Thanks mate. I look for ways to get the job done with maximum functionality. At one time I had a home computer in my Caravan with the first 'Earthmate' GPS receiver. This was 1997 or so. It worked good back then, but the computer was a bit big. When I got my first laptop it was much better. The newer GPS receivers are very small and run on USB power. I love it!

paisan - That sounds very cool. Too bad I opted out for the luggage rack. I don't like them because they get in the way of my ham radio antennas. I guess you would need one for that 'pizza box' antenna. Music Choice is cool too. Still, HD is a must for me. You couldn't give me an analog TV these days. I'm going HD 16:9 all the way from now on.

One more question...Can the motherboard you are using accommodate a modern graphics card and ATI HDTV Wonder card?

Phil ~

paisan

I too had the first earthmate GPS as well. I might have it around here somewhere! It took like 4 or 6 AA Batteries and ran for about 6-12 hrs on them was HUGE and ran on the serial port. Good stuff though.

I think my problem is actually that the Touchscreen software is interfering with the GPS USB. I am going to try to run the Earthmate in the serial-port-emulation mode to see if I can get it to work that way. For now I need to turn off my screen momentarily for the GPS to get a signal then I can put it back on.

As for the Mini-ITX it does have a PCI slot and the Opus case actually takes the single PCI slot and converts it to 2 PCI slots. Pretty slick stuff.

-mike

philberto

Thanks. I'm going to look into this a little. Like I said, you need a power machine to do HDTV. I need to know all the specs on the mobo to know if it can handle the job.

Good luck with the USB stuff. I never had a conflict with USB, but who knows. I thought the days of IRQ and port conflicts were over! ???

ateixeira

Document and take pics, please, this stuff sounds pretty neat and will surely help answer questions for other folks down the road.

-juice

swingerjay

Well, street names DO disappear altogether with one single step of zooming. And you cannot get them to appear until you zoom in to that specific step. You cannot get a sense of your position relative to other neighborhoods or the countryside unless you do zoom out. That leaves you without a trace of your connections.

If you do zoom out to see the major routes, the streets around you disappear altogether. It is NOT like looking at maps, it is much more artificial and leaves you wondering HOW to make your way without setting up the complete guide beforehand. Result: carrying a map on the front seat or guessing. Also, even when you zoom out a step or two, if the text became "Greeked," in many, many cases you can tell what the street names because of the pattern they occupy. If two streets were named "Tenth Avenue" and "Alexander the Great Blvd" you could tell which was which even if you couldn't read them out of context.

ateixeira

I think it would be useful if at least they showed the name of the next street you were about to cross. Maybe the next couple of street.

-juice

mdchachi

What nav system do you have? The way I deal with this problem in my 04 Toyota is to use split screen mode. On one half, I use it oriented North at a 1 mile or higher scale, on the other half, I have it zoomed in close at around 700 foot scale and oriented towards the direction of travel. For the most part, though, street names don't matter too much to me. I just care about getting to my destination, not which streets I'm taking.

bat1161

The only time I would want to see street names is when I am a couple of blocks before a turn. Otherwise it would be too annoying. Especially on these portable systems - the screen is not that big to begin with to include extra information.

Once again I'll get a chance to test out the portablility factor in my Garmin 2610, as I go off to Florida for a week of traveling around. It's nice being able to have already loaded the hotel I'm staying at, along with some restaurants suggested. You don't have to sit there with a map trying to figure out if you missed your turn or not. NAV is the way to go.

Mark

swingerjay

Hey! Thanks for posting that. I use a Lexus '04 and it is probably the same system you have. I am going to try what you do.

One of the problems is that all these systems drop out MORE than street names, they drop out what have become our major arteries. So, yes, I need both resolutions and both orientations. The other problem we all work against are the routings these systems choose. We have to keep thinking about that. Somewhere between 25% and 50% of the time, they put us on routes that take a LOT longer to traverse. Only humans know that using a certain intersection involves 5 more traffic signals and maybe a difficult traffic merge. We gotta overrule the system, but we need maps we can see at a glance too.

swingerjay

Exactly right: "the screen is not that big to begin with..."

I have thought many times that I might have been happier with one of the pedestals like the police have in their cars with a laptop running on it with an external GPS antenna. The built-in screens should be six times as large: twice as wide and three times the vertical so it would resemble what people have used for ages -- a map folded to letter size.

Having a laptop is a big advantage inasmuch as you don't have to sit in your car with the power on trying to set it up -- or to practice setting it up. You can do this in advance inside your own home. The disadvantage is security: having a powered-up laptop visible in your car that would be easy for a thief to take and having to remove it at many junctures in your trips.

ateixeira

Sounds good, I'm still awaiting delivery. They said 5-7 days and today is the 5th business day.

I really hope we get it today or tomorrow because we leave on a road trip to the beach Sat. night. I could pre-plan the trip. Fingers are crossed.

-juice

paisan

That is one of the distinct advantages that a computer/laptop based software program provides. For instance I can and usually like to take highways. On a computer based program you can tell it the speeds you average on interstates v. local v. state roads and this helps to give a better route. Also you can put in "avoid" sections of certain roads if you know it's a congestion point.

-mike

bat1161

Mike-

The Garmin offers the same thing, and again the advantage of not having a laptop in my wife's lap for a long drive .

Mark

ateixeira

Some cars, like the Sedona above, and I'm sure mike's Armada, have big enough center consoles to accomodate even a full size laptop.

-juice

bat1161

Fro those cars I can see the value of that. I remember a couple of years ago Mike telling me about a laptop stand for the car. That's OK if it's just me, but not if I have a passenger in my OB.

Mark

ateixeira

Same here, in the Forester we wedge a sub-notebook between the seats, it barely squeezes in.

-juice

navguy1

Before you get to attached to using your lap top in the car several states are amending their laws to include laptops in addition to DVDs, TVs or VCRs that are in view of the driver.

At the federal level several organizations are contributing to the enactment of this legislation. The leading lobbying organization, Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), is offering proposed legislation that allows users to view information' on displays but not 'motion picture' while driving.

Regardless of it being legal or illegal in your state think safety first. Not only does your life depend on... so do others.

ateixeira

If so there will be loopholes, for the back seat for instance.

-juice

manueltrans1

If a DVD based dashboard inserted navigation system is added to a new car, does anyone know if 1. It could be done easily without shortcircuiting something in the new car? 2. If it voids the new car warranty?

navg8tr

Most installers are very well trained to do these installations and can be done to look like a factory install. Aftermarket products will not void the warranty if installed correctly. vdodayton.com has an excellent Navigation System.

navguy1

Adding a DVD based navigation system does not void your warranty. Ample legislation protects consumers from automotive dealerships that will not warranty the vehicle if repairs are necessary.

As far as the installation is concerned make sure to get an MECP certified installer. If the installer is competent there should be no issues.

IF the installer is poor they could actually damage your vehicle. For example, a good installer will remove the negative battery cable prior to connecting the navigation unit. Why disconnect the battery? If the installer probes an airbag circuit by accident while looking for the speedpulse wire (and the battery is connected) they could accidentally trigger your airbag.

Lastly, a navigation unit is only as good as the installation. Talk to the installer/shop owner and take a look at their photos and the shop environment. If it isn't clean or they don't have photos.... run the other way and don't look back!

bspan

I just installed a Kenwood in-dash navigation system in my new Hyundai 2006 Sonata LX. But the navigation system it’s not fully functional unless I connect it to the car’s vehicle speed signal, and I have been unable to find this signal. Does anyone know where I can find this? The manuals for this car are not available yet. I had a 2004 Sonata previously and on the 2004 the speed signal was available on the diagnostic connector, but it doesn’t seem to be there on the 2006 model.

paisan

ANY non-factory installation can and will void your warranty. It doesn't void it in it's entirety, however anything that can be remotely tied to the work done to install the aftermarket system will raise questions of if your warranty for that particular item is still valid. For instance if it connects to the speed sensor wire and your car starts shifting weird because there is a short in the speed sensor wire, you can bet that it won't be covered. Heck anything electronic in the car could be tied back to something in the Nav system although unlikely it will raise questions.

-mike

qbrozen

Well, I would say it "could" void your warranty, IF it can be proven by the dealer that it actually caused the malfunction. Just raising questions or doubts isn't good enough, it must be proven by them.

paisan

You are correct, however most will deny the claim and have your car tied up at the shop while you argue with them as to wether or not your install of aftermarket items caused the issue. Unless you have deep pockets or can afford to leave your car sitting at the dealer, most folks will pay and not bother following up on it. Just saying that it "could" raise questions that you'd then have an arguement/fight/etc with a dealer to get service done. I've found that most Domestic companies will let just about anything slide warranty-wise, wherease Japanese and German companies will be more sticklers for warranty repairs.

-mike

mazda6iguy

I went to Circuit City last night to browse, and I came across the TomTom navigation units (300/700). Looked good, so I want to know what your opinions are about them. I have never owned a nav system, so I want to know if this is good or is another brand is better.

pbchoclovr

I bought the TomTom Go 300 earlier this summer and love it! It has the audible voice directions, so you don't have to look at the screen and automatically reroutes you when you miss or don't take the turn. If you miss the turn, it will automatically alert you and give you direction for getting back on track. The screen is easy to see and the unit is eaily programmable. The whole thing is literally plug and go. I've used it several times on longer trips and had no problems getting to my destination, one of which was in NYC. I will say that the maps are for the most part accurate. I've found a few instances in rural areas where the maps aren't completely up-to-date. When this happens the unit shows you driving off road, until the maps mesh with what is actually happening in real life. The unit is surprisingly accurate and gives plenty of advance warning for upcoming turns. The unit will display the next turn, miles to go, distance to next turn, and time. I've found the time remaining feature to not be totally accurate. I'm guessing it's because the unit is basing this on a slower rate of speed, probably 55 mph. It also displays cross streets with their names as reference points as you are driving. Your route is highlighted so you stay on track. The thing that convinced me in researching units was I didn't want to have to download any maps and the 300 comes with the maps preinstalled. I also didn't want the extra expense of a built in hard drive for the maps, almost twice the price. It also had favorable reviews at several of the sites I used for researching: Amazon, Bizrate, MySimon. Used it once to go to a doctor appointment here locally, and the unit gave me a new, shorter way that I was not aware of when I was testing it out for accuracy. I've been very satisfied with my purchase.

You'll find the unit cheaper online than at Circuit City. I used Bizrate to comparison shop the price, as well as checking the sites for most major retailers, like Circuit City. Online was cheaper. Hope this helps in your decision.

mazda6iguy

Thanks for your reply. You've certainly made my decision easier. Just wondering though, Circuit City is offering both the 300 and the 700. What is the difference between the two?

pbchoclovr

You're welcome. The biggest difference I could see was that for the 300, the maps come preloaded on an included 1GB SD card. Extra maps of Hawaii, Canada, etc are on an included disc. Plus the price is almost half. For the 700, all the maps come installed on the hard drive. However, for both units, the maps are preinstalled. No downloading. There are also some small differences between the Bluetooth capability of the two units, but both are Bluetooth compatible. With that, you can get realtime traffic conditions. I don't have a Bluetooth, so that wasn't a point of interest to me in choosing the 300 model over the 700. For me price and not having to download maps were the two issues of concern. I didn't care if the map was on an SD card or hard drive. I figured if that's the biggest difference between the two units, why pay almost twice as much. As for the maps and direction giving, from what I could ascertain the two units are the same.