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Navigation GPS Systems

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    ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Audi probably leads in that regard, but honestly I wonder if it's a case of TMI - too much information?
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    fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,174
    I don't like their popup screens. But I remember the detail is good.
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    gagricegagrice Member Posts: 31,450
    I was hoping the Note 8.0 would be out by the time I go on a trip. I think this will work good for whichever of us is navigating. Using the Verizon Jetpack you can have up to 10 computers at a time. Probably won't need but the one. The Costco package I got is $50 per month for 5 gb of data. Hopefully that will be enough. The Jet pack & $35 hookup was free. The GPS is way faster than the Magellan getting on to the sats. The turn by turn voice is very pleasant. And the voice recognition seems very good. I will give a report when we are out on the road.
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    steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    edited April 2013
    I've been keeping track this year with BitMeter OS. Ony used .500 MB today; usually I'm around a gig a day. That's net radio and surfing, but rarely look at any video or download files. Still hard for me to justify the hotspot gizmos although the one month no commitment AT&T plans for iPads could work. Verizon has the best coverage though.
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    gagricegagrice Member Posts: 31,450
    the one month no commitment AT&T plans for iPads could work. Verizon has the best coverage though.

    There are some resellers offering month to month unlimited data. The fine print is they slow you way down at some point. And I don't know if any are available on the Verizon 4G LTE network. Can you buy an unlocked iPad and get M2M from Verizon from another seller? Verizon wants about $460 for the iPad mini with only 16GB. If you get max memory it jumps to $660. The full blown iPad full size with Retina is right at a grand.
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    steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    edited April 2013
    Crazy prices eh? Don't know enough to speculate on jailbreaking or plans. Republic is attractive but you can't hotspot it. Mr. Money Moustache has a pretty good recent summary of options; he's testing Airvoice.

    Only thing worse are the 2 year locked in subscriptions.

    Well, actually one thing worse is having to pay your dealer $350 for some updated maps and POIs for your in-dash nav, especially when the update is out of date. :sick:
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    gagricegagrice Member Posts: 31,450
    Toyota sent me an offer of $450 for the last update done on my model of NAV. It was dated 2009. The one that came with my 2007 Sequoia is dated 2005. Just looking at the Toyota website I see they are offering a 2012 updated DVD for my Sequoia discounted to $162. I may do that as the one I have is nearly useless.

    Only thing worse are the 2 year locked in subscriptions.

    I agree and am having second thoughts on the one I signed. I have 14 days to get out without being tied up for life. Verizon will not sell month to month with the Jetpack type service. And now they are charging $50 for 4 GB. My Costco plan is $50 for 5GB per month. $1200 for two years of go anywhere Internet. Is it worth it? I don't think so. $2400 for 2 years of smartphone access is twice as silly. Americans have too much money.
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    gagricegagrice Member Posts: 31,450
    That is a good article on MNVOs. I think it is time to switch my wife's AT&T phone to a prepaid service. She does not use it enough to justify the SR rate of $29.95 plus a bunch of taxes.
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    steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    edited April 2013
    We just have a flip phone and prepaid service with Page Plus. $10 every three months and the minutes never expire, so long as you recharge the minutes quarterly.

    Got good use out of it a couple of days ago calling for a tow when the minivan died on us, but it's pretty limited for anything other than calls or texts.

    I can usually find wifi except when we camp in those primitive campgrounds we like. But you usually can't get cell service in those spots either so a hotspot wouldn't help.
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    ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    I remember the maps on my very first Garmin were nearly useless. There was a dramatic improvement around 2008 or so. I think they were v6, v7, then switched to the year at that point, v2008.

    Now it's quarterly, so v2012.30 would be Q3 of 2012, though they come out a bit earlier than that.

    Back in 2005 the maps were awful.
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    ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?cID=449&pID=112203

    Anyone get one of these?

    I have a 7" Magellan but it freezes once a week or so and my Garmins are simply better.

    But I'm waiting for a backup cam option on the Garmins. They don't even have a video input for those.
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    steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    Well, with a 7" screen you're getting into tablet territory. Get a nav app and you can enjoy a bunch of other bells and whistles away from the car.

    A backup cam would be nice. Wireless cam going to your tablet? And you could do an OBDII thing to track stuff, instead of getting a ScanGauge.

    With all the options, no wonder Garmin is partnering with the automakers.
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    steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    steve_, "Auto Parts Bargains and Coupons" #747, 26 Apr 2013 3:42 pm
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    imidazol97imidazol97 Member Posts: 27,154
    Don't know where to ask this: does anyone know what's a good code scanner. I need want more than a code reader.

    I've looked at Actron 9575 and Actron 9580A. Both read live data.

    Are there others I should look at that are available? How about PC-based setups requiring a laptop for use? The $180 for Actron 9580A is an attractive price range and its suggestions for fixes for codes seems to add to the price more than the value to me, but it can graph and store data. And the 9575 is available around $100.

    What's out there?

    2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,

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    steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    Autel is out there. Starting at $18 + shipping at Amazon. But I don't have a clue if the brand is any good or which model to get.
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    danjerodanjero Member Posts: 1
    Well ive got 7" tablet for GPS and it is commonly suits my needs.
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    imidazol97imidazol97 Member Posts: 27,154
    edited June 2013
    >Autel is out there.

    I'm hoping for a step above the basic code readers. I want one that will graph data and store it. It looks to me llike OTC brand is really Actron or parent company using same software, but maybe older and not supported from company.

    I stumbled onto Autel brand in my search: Autel AULAL519 looks about right.

    Reading info sheets from Actron and Innova is like finding engineering info from a car company--they really don't want you to know and instead they just want to advertise to you with catch words.

    Reading reviews of various scanners on Amazon is not helpful because the people know very little about the cars and the technology. Most just picked a scanner by price, color, etc., and either it worked to help by giving a code that led to the failed part or it didn't work.

    I'm hoping for a good lead. And the Autel brand seems to have steady reviews across their products.

    I posted on the GPS topic because it's technology oriented. I was thinking that being technology-oriented folk someone would also understand the auto code scanner market as well.

    2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,

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    steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    edited June 2013
    lol, don't you always by tech stuff by the color and how shiny it is?

    You may want to ask over in the A Mechanic's Life discussion too. Or maybe not. ;)
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    imidazol97imidazol97 Member Posts: 27,154
    edited June 2013
    >A Mechanic's Life discussion too. Or maybe not.

    Afraid to. I've already been tersely upbraided there, LOL. :sick:
    I'm surprised there isn't a topic here on code readers, scanners, tech tools for car maintenance.

    2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,

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    steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    edited June 2013
    Yeah, good idea. I'll ask Shifty to start one up over in Maintenance & Repair.
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    gagricegagrice Member Posts: 31,450
    I'm surprised there isn't a topic here on code readers, scanners, tech tools for car maintenance.

    I am too. Sites for VW TDI talk about their code readers and tech gadgets regularly.
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    gagricegagrice Member Posts: 31,450
    GPS Leads Woman Onto Railroad Tracks, Minivan Destroyed

    BELMONT, Mass. — A woman and her two children, ages 7 and 10, narrowly escaped serious injury when a train smashed into their minivan after a GPS device led the driver onto MBTA train tracks Tuesday night.

    http://www.breitbart.com/InstaBlog/2013/06/20/GPS-Leads-Woman-Onto-Railroad-Trac- ks-Minivan-Destroyed
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    fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,174
    edited June 2013
    I'm voting user error on that one. Probably was supposed to turn onto a street that parallels the track, and driver wasn't paying attention. Pretty hard to get stuck on tracks while looking where you are going.
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    steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    edited June 2013
    One of the family stories I've heard over the years was my father taking a neighbor to Birmingham and managing to turn onto a railroad track thinking it was a street. I'll have to ask for the details again. I think it was getting dark and my old man was known to have a snort now and then.

    Ok, the latest version was him driving his sister back to DC in her car and scaring her to death driving down a railroad track. And going around one of the traffic circles over and over. And he was snockered. Who knows the real version any more....

    I got a Ford Falcon stuck on a railroad track when I was 15. :blush:
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    steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    image

    2014 Kia Forte: Slick Navigation System
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    marsh0511marsh0511 Member Posts: 5
    Am I the only one who sometimes likes to NOT hear music or a sports game while driving?? Trying to figure out how to turn off the radio but still hear the navigation directions when they occur. How can I do this? Vehicle is GM - Infotainment system (Enclave/Acadia/Traverse SUVs, 2013).
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    gagricegagrice Member Posts: 31,450
    I like music some of the time. My wife likes the silence. That is why a very quiet vehicle if important to us. Good question on shutting off the music. On our Toyota Sequoia the audio system has a separate on/off switch and volume from the NAV.
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    ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Now that I have a smart phone with a big enough screen...what Apps for navigation do you guys recommend?

    I'm trying an app called Waze, anyone familiar with it? Jalopnik named is their #1 App for cars. It's the one that does live traffic and police/hazard warnings, and just got bought up by Google.

    Results are mixed - I love the plethora of real-time information, but the volume is low and the maps could be better.

    Phone is a Galaxy S4, though I may swap for a Note 3 when those come out.
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    gagricegagrice Member Posts: 31,450
    I like the NAV App that came with my Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0. It is tied into Google maps and has road conditions. Though our new car also has a NAV with SiriusXM road conditions. We just made a trip up to Los Angeles and the road condition feature was right on. You can list your trip and it gives the condition of all the roads you will be taking. We re-routed around an accident that had the 405 backed up for miles.
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    steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    Garmin is trying to stay relevant in the face of better built-in nav systems and smartphone apps:

    Head-Up Display
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    fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,174
    edited September 2013
    I've been using a Note 2 since December, excellent phone. If the 3 ends up being more than a marginal change, I will think of upgrading.

    I've only used the nav in it once though, in FL, where the nav in a BMW rental car didn't recognize the destination I sought. The stock system worked well enough.
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    ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Given Google purchased Waze, and started integrating some of the real-time info, I'm not surprised.

    I still like the "Routes" features where at any time I can ask Waze to offer me 3 options.
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    ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    I remember you mentioning that. The 3 is just more of a good thing, an evolution.

    Deltas:

    3200 vs 3100 milliamp hour battery
    13 megapixels vs 8
    image stabilization added
    1080p vs. 720p
    3GB vs 2GB
    5.7" vs 5.5"
    1mm thinner
    2.3 GHz vs 1.6
    15 grams lighter

    Basically a lot of little improvements, but cumulatively they add up, and it was already a great phone.
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    gagricegagrice Member Posts: 31,450
    If I were to buy a Smartphone it would be the Note 2 or 3 for sure. I don't think anything else out there comes close. Unless you have tiny hands and it is too big. We have a 75 year old lady at church that loves her note smart phone. Never turns on her computer anymore. I will activate my Verizon Jet Pack for my cross country trip this fall and use the Note 8.0 for backup NAV and up to the minute hotel and diesel prices.
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    fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,174
    I will say the camera on the 2 is maybe the biggest disappointment - I have friends with the S4 and it is far superior. I'll have to think about it...the 2 is so good it probably has decent resale, maybe I'll treat myself around Christmas.
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    fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,174
    Gasbuddy is a handy app, I am sure even better in areas where diesel isn't as easy to find as here.

    I am hoping to get a car with integrated nav when I am in LA this November...if not, I'll really be testing the nav on the Note. Easily the best phone I've ever had, no desire for a tablet right now.
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    gagricegagrice Member Posts: 31,450
    edited September 2013
    I don't see builtin NAVs ever competing with Smartphone Google map NAV. My new Touareg is missing a freeway that is 3 years old. VW will upgrade for free as soon as the new maps come out. It seems NavTeq controls the automotive market and they are always way behind.

    PS
    I Love Gas Buddy
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    fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,174
    I've had no issues with the MB nav system, but admittedly, I live in a region that doesn't have many new major roads.

    I get kind of range anxiety when using nav on a phone, as you never know when the battery will start to vanish. Many cars still lack a charging USB connection, and who uses a car charger anymore.
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    ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    They're in stores Saturday. Hopefully I get mine within a couple of weeks.

    Nice to be the IT guy - I'm the guinea pig for anything new, but that also means I can pretty much get whatever I want.
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    ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Missed that, lemme guess - Touarge diesel? Did you trade the Seq?

    Gas Buddy is best. Waze has that feature but it doesn't work nearly as well.
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    fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,174
    I work in (true) public sector telecom, so I can usually get some kind of sweetheart deal on a phone, in the past there have even been freebies. I don't think this one will be quite so easy. Maybe sell the old one for ~$300 and find an unlocked international version.
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    ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Get the Note 2 appraised before the 3 comes out, it's worth more now. Some sites will hold a price for a few weeks, just in case you get an offer in the interim.
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    gagricegagrice Member Posts: 31,450
    I have two USB chargers for the car. You can get them as cheap as $5. Just keep them in the vehicle for the Note, kindle, and cell phone. I lost faith in Vehicle NAVs with the one in the Sequoia. We do like the SiriusXM road condition feature in the new VW NAV. Where smartphones are best is for Gas Buddy current prices and restaurants. The Sequoia sent us to several gas stations that no longer existed. I feel better with both and a AAA map when all else fails.
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    gagricegagrice Member Posts: 31,450
    Sold the Sequoia to my wife's grand daughter. I loaded Waze onto my Note 10.1 and got lots of adware if memory serves. A friend was raving about it. Dumped it as the NAV with Android seems better than any standalone device or builtin NAV. I can plan a trip on my home computer using Google maps and it is there on the Note when I access Google maps or NAV.
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    ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    The ads only come up when you're not moving, at least. And as you earn points for reporting traffic and speed traps, you see them less and less.

    The send-to-phone feature you mention is incredibly useful, no argument there.

    I just like that I can press a button in Waze and get 3 route options with ETA at any point during the drive.
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    fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,174
    I don't know if all cars charge via USB though - I swear I have driven something that didn't. I do keep a cheapo cable in my car for that function.

    Toyota nav might be the worst of all. The one in my friend's Prius is archaic looking - maybe ca. 2006 or so in a 2012 car, painfully slow, and likes to recalculate without warning. He said the nav in an Avalon looks identical. Probably what you had in the Sequoia. I have no complaints about the MB nav.
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    fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,174
    I am going to wait to see if I can get any deal from my employer, which I suspect might come around Christmas. I'd probably sell it privately or maybe even to a friend. Nothing wrong with my 2, but the 3 looks impressive and I would like a better camera, as all I have is the phone and a DSLR.
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    ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    That's a really low cost system ... a case of you get what you pay for.

    I'm not against the trend of offering Nav at a low price point, though I prefer what Chevy did with the Spark - the screen basically uses your Smart Phone and a $70 App gives you Nav. Cheapest in-car solution yet.

    Nav is a cash cow, so kudos to Chevy for making that available so cheaply.
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    fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,174
    Low cost system, but apparently is the same as in a 40K Avalon. Looks like a Toyota goof. I drove a 2014 IS, and the screen, although good size, didn't seem spectacular either - maybe the high resolution MB display has spoiled me. That Chevy solution does sound interesting. I think my idea of a universal docking size with a screen that the driver can install and remove at will is a pipe dream.
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    ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    I doubt they're the same, but definitely not the HD screen that you get in a $70k Benz. While not as big as BMW's screen, it's one of the sharpest out there, I recall.

    Did a quick Google image search - the Prius C I test drove has a low cost 5" or so screen. The Avalon's is more like 8". Probably similar guts behind it, with fewer features on the C.

    One thing I like is that Toyota's Entune uses your already-paid-for smart phone, so no 2nd bill for data service. Most lux brands take a SIM card and that means another monthly bill to pay. I forget the name Lexus uses but I think it's similar.

    Not sure about your Benz, and I wouldn't be surprised if it's free for the first year or whatever.
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