Controls are set at an easy to use, natural fall of the right hand, screen has tilt ability for reduced glare, very nice feature here in CA. Not sure on this, but becasue I have the NAV- my Window tint shop limited my tint options to (Non-Metalic) based tints- to avoid possible GPS interference.

 

it's good for trips but besides that it's a good conversation piece

 

i got mine with the navigation, i love it!! and dont regret paying the extra money for it.....

 

love the nav, i can live without it but it's so damn handy when you need it.

 

I love the nav, but the "enter" button sucks.

My kids always want it on, even around town.

 

I too got the nav system because it came with a car I picked on the lot (had the sports package I was looking for). Never used one before - seemed more like an expensive toy. However, went on a long trip last week and proved pretty valuable. I do suggest a demo though if you plan on using it to run around and find businesses. Somewhat cumbersome to enter data and on another thread someone mentioned not as functional as the Accura.

As 8zoom mentioned it is distracting if you are not careful - not too bad on an open highway but you will not be entering street addresses in traffic.

 

Comparing a navigation system to a map is like comparing a fan to A/C, sure they both cool you off but the A/C does a much better job of it. I find my Garmin to be a great tool for finding places and locations even locally that I have never seen as well as getting me to places without getting lost when I travel. One of the features I like most is local attractions search, so you can find gas stations, parks, museums, etc in the area that you are in. Hotels come with phone # data, you can re-route if in a traffic jam. I would not get the one in the car though, get the Garmin and you can move it to any car your in, plus it's cheaper so it's a win win.

 

ditto....

Every time you go on mapquest and get driving directions you could be doing that in the NAV system. I think there are much better systems out there, voice activated, touch screen etc. I saw one that was $4K, too much for me, but if you can afford it you might as well get it. besides, whatelse is going to go in that open space on the dash board?

 

I started with a Garmin Streetpilot a few years ago in my 3gen and liked what a GPS brought to my driving experience so much I hollered my wife into accepting a factory Nav system on her Infiniti I30. Her initial reaction was that it was "a toy for the boys", but has been totally won over by its unerring abillity to get her where she's going in unfamiliar parts of San Diego and back again. She's so sold on it that the Audi A6 2.7T fell off her list for the replacement for the I30 because it had only a text-message "nav" system. The winner? The Volvo S80, partly because of that car's really sophisticated Nav system. Just goes to show ya, you can't go back after you've had something really nice.

Of the factory Nav systems I've looked at, Acura's takes the cake for functionality and sophistication, with the voice-activation. It's located in a spot too low in the car for safety, as far as I'm concerned.

I of course had to get the Nav in my 8, and I'm fairly satisfied with it. Great control location and information display; accuracy could be better and the address book function is pretty weak.

The current generation Pioneer aftermarket unit looks really fantastic and seems to offer great flexibility, but there's a lot to be said for the integration a factory unit gives you.

For those wondering why their local dealers won't retrofit a factory Nav into an * that was built without one, the short answer is, "because it plain can't be done". The wiring harnesses are different and it would cost a small fortune to do.

 

Hi,

The satnav is really bad, for an Ŗ1500 option. Tom Tom and an IPAQ is far cheaper, and will give you more options to plan your route, also you are able to inport an speed camera alerts.

I do 60k miles per annum, and have been using GPS for the last 3 years, the only reason I have GPS is the car as it was ordered with it. But I perfer my TomTom III.

NavTech gives you shortest, and avoid motorway, and its 2 yrs out of date so no london conjestion charge warnng or the m6 toll road.

I want the quickest route from a to b which means oftern using the motorway. When it does work out an route, takes you miles further to get to your destination.

 

so did you go with acura instead?

 

Well Nav is a pricey lil toy.

Personally I think Nav will just slow you down. I think its better to just learn the streets, short cuts ins and outs....nothing beats thats.

But our opinions really don't mean much. In the end of the day, only you know whats best for you.

 

I didn't understand any of this. What's a "motorway"?

Just kidding, BBQ.

 

I got the Nav. I'll post how it works for me. Haven't dug into it yet. So many other gizmos to figure out. Thankyou All - You're awesome!!
Karen

 

Save the cash and get a Garmin iQue 3600 and the car mounting kit....you can put the left-over $1500 into other upgrades

 

Except that aftermarket units have to be paid for in full. NAV is financed with the car. If you get a 60 month loan, it's like $20-30 per month.

 

How long does it take to enter the destination into the NAV unit?

My wife has OnStar and one reason she prefers it is because she doesn't have to type or even stop the car. She pushes the button and tells the person the address she's interested in. They'll get the map for her.

For me, the problem with OnStar is that they only tell you the directions once. You'll have to call back and get new directions.

To elaborate: let's say you have to go somewhere 40 miles away. OnStar will tell you to take the highway, take the exit to Main St, then take the third right and first left. By the time you get close to your exit, you don't remember if it's the third right or the third left. NAV solves that problem.

But if it takes 2 minutes to enter the destination, that would be a pain.

 

Don't be so sure. Most major automakers are working with MS on Windows Automotive (Win CE.NET based). As far as "Navtech" goes... they basically are a map company. Their maps are used by all major navigation systems. Try looking some up and see what map system they use (there are only two).

To bring this post back on topic... for sales people who have to travel to client sites a lot, I can see a lot of use for the nav system. I think Mazda is smoking something charging $2,000 for it. Me, personally... no nav. I'll build a car pc with nav functionality (and yes voice that reads out the directions too!)... get mp3, dvd, DViX, internet, etc. You can build one from $600 -???... as the sky is the limit... costs depend on what you put into it and how powerful a CPU you want. I figure I can do the whole thing within $2,000 easily.

 

I like the integrated LOOK of factory navs, but to be honest... Pioneer, Kenwood, Clarion, etc. have been doing Navs in Japan long before the makers were putting them in factory. Those systems are very well developed and in some ways are probably superior to even the Honda/Acura system.

 

I don't know if anyone mentioned this but the dead reckoning feature is pretty awesome. It bases your location on the last known location and the direction, distance and speed traveled (I think that is how it works). It's great for those areas where there is no ability to get a signal.

I do think it's a bit of work to enter the addresses in the system and against recommendations I did type one in while driving once. It was a bit harder than using the cell phone. IF you can afford it I would get it. I rarely get lost but I like to drive around places I've never been and it actually helps keep you on track in areas you are unfamiliar with and worse comes to worse just put in your home address and it will take you home. :D

 

yes... I tend to mark off important areas on my navi.

So when I'm somewhere far away from home, I can just 'select destination' > 'home' > 'shortest route' and it tells me how to get there. The same goes for any location I frequent.

 

Jason -

Did you have to use any type of special tint on your windows b/c of interference with your Nav system?

 

Metallized tint will completely block the GPS antenna on the rear deck (which is what most shops will install if you don't specifically tell them not to)... so the rear window tint has to be non-metallized (ceramic or dyed only).

 

My car has 18% Solar GardŽ HP True Grey on all windows except for the front. I was worried about GPS signal loss, but the tint person said if I had problems he'd rip it out and install something else for me. He claimed to have done hundreds of cars for dealerships and none of them came back with GPS issues.

I went for it, and sure enough, no problems at all. FM/AM work great, GPS signal is the same as before.

I did stay away from the higher cost metallic tint because of what I read on the forums here.