Sat Nav / GPS

[chris4817]

I have a friend who has the Garmin Street Pilot and I have to agree it is a very good bit of kit. It is very quick and very good at rerouting quickly if you go off route.

Further to my comments about Smartnav. They also have speed camera warnings which are updated regularly.

[diverse]

i'd think about upgrading your stereo to the Alpine INA333 (something like that) under £1000 but you get top quality HU, DVD maps of most of Europe, TMC, which you won't get on any PDA! MP3 changer is just over £100!

I tried the PDA's the cold locking could take an age, they were a lot slower than Alpine and the Alpine is 1U, can work fully with MFSW!

www.mcs-direct.co.uk for the best prices!!

[addman]

The cold or warm locking with the Navman was pretty pants, it's true - but the performance of the Haicom GPS mouse I now use is very good, even in heavily built up areas.

Diverse, you mention 'TMC'? Can you elaborate?

I have to be honest - I've seen both Alpine and Blaupunkt 1U sat navs in operation, and the biggest drawback is the small screen. Camparing the small, mono display to the typical dispay on a PDA or something like a Garmin, there's no real contest. Sure you can add a really good screen to the Alpine, but then you're looking at the £2000 mark... plus, as mentioned in previous posts, the DVD upgrades can be very expensive.

For me, Sat Nav isn't just useful at junctions. I've found mine useful on twisty roads, to see any unexpectedly sharp bends coming up, especially at night. You need the sort of detail a PDA or similar offers to do this. Plus, the positioning of the head unit in a Mini makes looking at the screen while driving much more difficult.

Having the sound through the regular speakers, mixed with your regular audio source is nice though.

[devilsushi2000]

I cant wait for my garmin to arrive, i am just so sick of getting lost now. I must have one of the worst senses of direction on mini2!

[diverse]

The 1U screen on the Apline is superb, honest but you will rarely use it as the voice prompting is SO accurate!

The Alpine screen has to be seen, the detail of ANY roundabout shows up, you really don't need to spend another £1000 on a colour large screen!

TMC is traffic information that is broadcast on Classic FM i think, it works as long as you are listening to CD Changer or Classic FM, otherwise you need another box that listens to Classic FM for you, picking up on the TMC codes.

It is supposd to divert you away from traffic, allegedly it's the future!

Also, the usage in the rest of europe without having to buy another map disc will also save you a fortune if you travel out of the UK.

[chris4817]

Smartnav also includes TMC and it does work. I was travelling up the M6 once and it warned me of an accident ahead and took me off two junctions before (before the jams started to build) and then brought me back on a junction after.

I've not heard of needing to listen to Classic FM though. I've never had it on in my life!

[diverse]

Listening to Classic FM only relates to TMC units (like the Alpine) that use the stereo's tuner to get the TMC signal!

It is more than likely that you cannot listen to the Radio on your system.

If you want to listen to the radio and use TMC on the Alpine you need to buy a seperate TMC box.

The older Alpine (like mine) do not have TMC built in so they need the box!

It's very likely the reason for TMC not being implemented on Mini's sat nav is something to do with this, you in essence need 2 tuners to listen to radio and use TMC, just a thought?

I have not updated my DVD in 2 years, no issues apart from a few areas that are newley built! Pretty amazing POI interest and finding a Shell Garage (for Optimax) in unknown areas!!!

[diverse]

Just because you have not heard of it does not mean it is not so 8@

[addman]

Thanks for the explaination on TMC - does sound good. Just for balance European maps are available for TomTom, and compared to the price of the initial setup, they're expensive - but still well under the price of, say, an Alpine unit.

I've always thought sat nav combined with traffic monitoring is a good idea in principle - if all vehicles were fitted with sat nav and all roads monitored for average speed, you would get 'load balancing' across the road network. When the motorways and A roads slow down due to weight of traffic, it should automatically route all Minis, Scoobys and Elises down tiny country roads to take the pressure off

All in all, what I think this thread has shown is there's several options available, and on the whole most people are satisfied with what they own. I'll re-iterate that I wouldn't recommend the Navman solution, and for me the advantages of a) transfer between vehicles b) better screen for country lane navigation and c) price made the TomTom PDA solution the best. It's clear that other contributors are also very happy with their choices. So we haven't provided freedee with a definitive answer, but hopefully enough information to make a good personal choice.

[dietcokeplease]

One point that people have not mentioned is that 99% of handheld GPS lack the dead reckoning (utilising a vehicles speed pulse) and gyro function. I remember dcfkan posting that her iPaq lost GPS in the middle of Paris and it was a nightmare. With dead reckoning and a gyro it's less likely to be a problem.

[diverse]

Yep, i used the TomTom V1, you get what you pay for! I sent mine back after trying to get from Croydon to Ealing, I actually got there with my Mrs using a A2Z before it got a positive lock!

The alpine alone with DVD and no changer is just under £900, it truly is a remarkable bit of kit and as i said before, you'll save the cost of CD and Boost! (£300 or so?) and the sound is WAY better than BOOST!

You don't need a CAN-BUS adapter like i shelled out for, Mikey has found the spot to tap in to that!

Installation is pretty straight forward, but i think MCS can arrange that cheaply!

Not as removable as Garmin or SmartNav, but i don't think either or those could touch door to door across europe as well as DVD disc based nav system!

But as with everything, that is just my humble opinion!!

[chris4817]

Quote: Originally Posted by diverse

Just because you have not heard of it does not mean it is not so 8@

No you are correct. However, I simply made comment that I had not heard of it but I am always willing to learn. 8@

[Beastmaster]

Quote: Originally Posted by dietcokeplease

One point that people have not mentioned is that 99% of handheld GPS lack the dead reckoning (utilising a vehicles speed pulse) and gyro function. I remember dcfkan posting that her iPaq lost GPS in the middle of Paris and it was a nightmare. With dead reckoning and a gyro it's less likely to be a problem.

just have not got a clue what you are on about - my Mitac mio 168 with built in gps and co pilot live has worked a treat since i got it and tells me how fast I am going , how high i am what my eta is and whether i am approaching a gatso or not and i love it.

[devilsushi2000]

Got the garmin streetpilot III today and it is fantastic so far. After the lenghty installation process it is easy to use and no matter how hard i tried to get lost, i just couldnt! The screen is really clear aswell. All in all i am pleased with my purchase.

[addman]

Quote: Originally Posted by diverse

Yep, i used the TomTom V1, you get what you pay for! I sent mine back after trying to get from Croydon to Ealing, I actually got there with my Mrs using a A2Z before it got a positive lock!

Tomtom1 is a very, very different bit of kit to both v2 and the new V3... you're talking a massive evolution, something like the difference between the Blaupunkt nav HUs from five years ago (no DVD back then, 15 minute locks not uncommon) and kit like the Alpine. Lock times are dramatically different now, and the software is streets ahead (no pun intended).

Think though we're comparing apples to pears now. The Alpine is a fine piece of kit. However, it is in real terms about twice the price of a PDA solution, lacks the quality screen, lacks the enhanced POI functions (i.e. speed camera detection) and is not transferrable. Those were key features for me - I was willing to sacrifice the better audio, more extensive map coverage (something I can choose to buy later) and 'neatness' of the installation in favour of them.

I've got no criticism of kit like the Alpine - it does a fine job. I just believe that the PDA solutions (and I think there's little to choose between TomTom and CoPilot, from the many reviews I've read) also do a fine job, and I wouldn't want your unfortunate experiences of V1 to colour people's opinions of V3.