New Nav. map - 199.00! arr!
 

is there a better, less expensive way to get one?
LINK FOR NEW MAP

this is the exact reason why i passed on the navi...my portable is updated monthly at no cost. If i were you though, try to find other members in your area who also has a navi and then just split the cost...

2005.1: isn't that still the old map?

^ditto

I <3 my Garmin GPS, free update ftw!!

I thought the one that is in my car is the 2004 map? Geesh, that is a ridiculous price! To save $200, I'll drive around with a triangle on the black GPS screen. If you find a cheaper way to do it, let me know as well!

I've never used this site before....it downloads a .torrent file
What am I supposed to do with that file? It's only 110kb's. this is awesome if I can download this thing!!

Geesh...maybe I should have looked at the FAQs section on that site instead of just posting questions!

google torrent.

You will need a client (app )
then download, it is 5 gig so it will take days.
Then burn the DVD

man, that's f-in ridiculous

no kidding....it's telling me 42 days to download it!

funspork have you dl it? Did it work?

On my bandwidth it would take 5 days. So is it worth it to you? That is the choice you have to make. It looks like an rar bin file. Nobody would upload a file that big, and not have it work.

This is why God invented those $2 road maps at gas stations.

What if you can't find those gas stations?

I guess you run outta gas. :dunno:

i have to admit that having a nav system was the worst thing...you get so dependent on them and not pay attention to where you're actually going...im always worried that i'd get to someplace and then the thing would crap out...lol...

Glad I didn't get the nav. For a while I wanted the factory one but not after reading this thread. I wonder if it really takes that long or just a deterent to keep it from being copied.

make sure you seed for a few days.

I guess waiting 42 days isn't worth it to me. My NAV gets me where I need to go, and 99.9% of the roads are in it. I am completely dependent on it though!

Agreed - I can't see any great urgency to get a new map unless you live in a suburb that has been building out and the map completely lacks anything where you are.

I used to look back and forth between the road and the MapQuest directions I'd hold in one hand while driving. Not nearly as safe and keeping my eyes on the road while Ms. Nav coaxes me through the turns. The difference between no NAV and this NAV is so incredible that I can't believe people complain about the difference between this NAV and the perfect NAV.

However, $200 updates are extortion - I hope they drop their price or else they're going to inspire a healthy side-business for $25 pirated copies.

However, for now I find the maps perfectly satisfactory. Not perfect, not everything, but great scott, I'm an driving a sports car; how helpless *should* I be? If the NAV helped more than it does now my barn cats could drive it (and then how would I get to work?)

i wish the voice was super hot...oh how i wish...

torrent never occured to me, im definitely going to go that route.

since the usefullness of the navi seems to be in question here, i thought id chime in: its good.

i think the interface with the 'joystick' is clumsy and slow, and i have a hard time finding locations by name (restaurants store etc), but im too lazy to have ever read the manual, it might help.

I definitely love the NAV. I'm addicted to it now, and I doubt I'll get another car without it. Granted, I have no clue where I'm going most of the time because I just wait until it tells me to turn left or right, and I don't pay any attention to where I am going. I think it's great though! It's one of the options that I didn't really want, but now that I have it I'll probably always have cars with it. Kind of like DVR....my wife ordered it and I wasn't too happy we were wasting $5 a month on something we wouldn't use....man, I use that thing almost non-stop!

since it appears that some of you aren't used to a navigational system besides the OEM one with the RX-8...

I've owned two other navi systems (stand alone portable units). One was a cheap car one, the other was a $800 one that I think was meant for boats. It had all the roads in the system though. Reason I bought the $800 unit was the fast map updates. I could zoom out and the map would instantly refresh with the new zoom level. I could scroll around without delays. The interface on it was light years ahead of the OEM navi on the RX-8.

All things said and done - the OEM navi is poor at best. It does it's job, which is to tell me where I am in relation to other things, but it is not very good at telling me where something is if I have no idea of it's location or general area. The FIND feature is clunky and doesn't know anything in my area (a lot of development in new tampa). It's slow, and it costs a lot ($1700 - 2000).

The two things it has going for it is,

1. It's OEM and retractable.

2. It has dead reckoning. If GPS signal is lost, it can still track your movements based on what your tires are doing.