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Thinking about good in-car navigation systems -- suggestions?

R

Raiden256

Platinum Member
I'm probably not interested in installing an LCD into my car, which is why the smaller portable ones seem appealing. I'd like the unit to talk to me as I'm driving, I want it to be a color display, and I don't have a PDA (for those who would suggest PDA programs).

I have a friend with the Magellan 700, and it seemed pretty darn impressive. Anyone have any experience with this or any other unit that would fit the bill?

Thanks.
 
Could roll your own and have it play mp3's, movies, mame, and yes gps. Obviously watching movies or playing games while you drive is pretty moronic, but helps kill time when your waiting for your order at the McDicks drive thru 🙂
 
Originally posted by: midnightrat
Could roll your own and have it play mp3's, movies, mame, and yes gps. Obviously watching movies or playing games while you drive is pretty moronic, but helps kill time when your waiting for your order at the McDicks drive thru 🙂
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i've been looking at the car-puters as well. You can get a full blow systen for around $700.

-=bmacd=
 
I have the Roadmate 500 which is the same as the 700 functionally, but uses CF cards instead of a hard drive. I was like you where I did not want to install a LCD in my car because it would just get stolen. The Roadmate works great! The screen is very nice compared to the Garmin Streetpilot and the maps and directions are very accurate. I think it's the best standalone car nav GPS system available, but it was pretty expensive at $670 thought it was much cheaper than the factory installed nav which was $1750.
 
Had a Garmin Street Pilot III Deluxe.

Wasn't too happy with it and sold it 4 months later. The new touch screen Garmins are nice though.
 
I'm very seriously considering the roadmate 500..

Can you just enter in an address and it tell you how to get there? What if you miss a turn (re-routing) does it talk to you? Can enter like a "home" or "work" address and it tell you how to get there?


With the CF cards; how large maps can it hold? Is it worth the $$ to go to the 700?
 
Originally posted by: armatron
I'm very seriously considering the roadmate 500..

Can you just enter in an address and it tell you how to get there? What if you miss a turn (re-routing) does it talk to you? Can enter like a "home" or "work" address and it tell you how to get there?


With the CF cards; how large maps can it hold? Is it worth the $$ to go to the 700?
Click to expand...


Yes. Just enter an address and it will tell you exactly how to get there with voice and screen prompts. If you miss a turn, it will automatically reroute it or tell you to take a safe U-turn. There is a memory of 100 address per user (x3 users) so you can put down favorites and name them whatever.
How large of a card you need depends how far out you'll be driving. I'm in NYC and the metro area is 75MB and that's all I could fit on the 128MB card it came with. I bought a cheapo 256 card and was able to fit all of New England, lower NY and NJ. I rarely go out of this area, so the CF cards are no problem. If you plan on driving out further, the 700 might be good for you, unless you can find a good deal on 1GB or 2GB CF cards. Come to think about it, the 700 costs about $300 more than the 500. With that $300 you can get a 2GB CF card, fit all of the US on there and not have to deal with the access times of the 700's HD.
 
Check out Pharos Pocket GPS Navigator. You'll require a PDA, however it would still come out to around $500, cheaper than standalone GPS systems and you'll have a PDA for yourself.
 
Originally posted by: Doggiedog
Had a Garmin Street Pilot III Deluxe.

Wasn't too happy with it and sold it 4 months later. The new touch screen Garmins are nice though.
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I have this same model and LOVE IT! It has never steered me wrong and is on the mark with every set of directions I've asked it to give me.

What did you not like about it Doggiedog?
 
Originally posted by: nitsuj3580
Originally posted by: Doggiedog
Had a Garmin Street Pilot III Deluxe.

Wasn't too happy with it and sold it 4 months later. The new touch screen Garmins are nice though.
Click to expand...

I have this same model and LOVE IT! It has never steered me wrong and is on the mark with every set of directions I've asked it to give me.

What did you not like about it Doggiedog?
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It steered me wrong alot. In fact, it didn't even have my house in the database (and its been there for at least 20 years). It would give me false directions too like telling me to go left when I needed to go right. Only after making the turn it would signal that I was going the wrong way. I think its greatest weakness though was that it wasn't touch screen. That was its biggest drawback. Using the buttons was a huge hassle. Other minor annoyances was the cold start up time. It would take like 3-5 minutes to get a lock.

I went with a PDA GPS solution but am not happy with it either. I can't seem to find software that dynamically loads maps. When you want to go somewhere, you have to manually load county maps into the software which is a MAJOR hassle. Even this new program which I am thinking of trialing requires that you map out the directions on your PC beforehand. I would really like it if you could just input the address and go but that doesn't seem possible with PDAs yet. If I am mistaken, please let me know because I will go out and buy it.
 
Originally posted by: d0ofy
Come to think about it, the 700 costs about $300 more than the 500. With that $300 you can get a 2GB CF card, fit all of the US on there and not have to deal with the access times of the 700's HD.
Click to expand...

Hadn't thought of that... maybe it's worth it to go with the 500, and think about getting a large CF card if I ever need it. (They'll prob be cheaper by the next time I take a cross-country trip anyway)

Plus, with the 700 having a HDD, I would tend to worry more about dropping it or eventually losing the drive. You don't tend to hear about memory sticks going bad like you do HDD's.

hmmm......

How do the updates for the Magellan series work? Do you have to pay for it? Can you download the updates from the website, or do they send a CD or something?

Thanks for all the input.
 
I don't know how the map updates work. Being in a very developed city, I doubt I would ever need it. However, I think updated CDs would be available for purchase. This gizmo is fairly new, so I don't think there has been an update yet.
 
Timely post.

I was thinking about getting one of these for my wife. She's a regional manager and has to drive, all the time, in unfamiliar cities in rental cars.
 
I think that the Hertz "Nerver Lost" navigation systems are supposedly based on the Magellan 500 or 700 series. Have her try one out and report back! 😀
 
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