MINI2 Header Logo

MINI2

Fuel for your MINI obsession

Performance Torque
Welcome to MINI2.
You are currently viewing MINI2 as a guest.
Please register by clicking this link or login:
       
Search forums: Show: Advanced: Forums or Members or Tags
Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Search this Thread Rate Thread
Old Sep 19th, 2003, 06:04 PM   #1
trhjr
Proud New Owner
 
trhjr's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: So. Cal. - SGV
Local Time: 07:37 AM
Posts: 63
Offline
Send a message via AIM to trhjr
Black Cooper So. Cal GPS Navigation

I am getting ready to order my MINI here in So. Cal. and I was wondering if anyone has any feedback (good or bad) on the factory GPS. If you are familiar with the Lexus, does it contain the points of interest that Lexus has?
United States View trhjr's Cosmos Black & Body Color 1st Gen MINI Cooper Profile   Reply With Quote
Alt Today
Sponsors

Sponsored Links


Registered members do not see Google Ads posts, they can also post messages, pictures, and classified adverts.
Register your free account today and become a member of MINI2 - MINI Forum
   
Old Sep 19th, 2003, 09:09 PM   #2 (permalink)
evilthing
MINI2 Regular
 
evilthing's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Aliso Viejo, CA
Local Time: 06:37 AM
Posts: 82
Offline
Send a message via AIM to evilthing Send a message via MSN to evilthing
I have the CD GPS in my MCS, wish it was the new DVD GPS. It works great and I use it all the time. If I were to do it all over again, I would order it without a second thought. It has gotten my wife and I out of a jam more than a few times. As far as the points of interest, the nav has that too. To be honest, I have not used it much.

cheers,
United States View evilthing's British Racing Green & Black 1st Gen MINI Cooper S Profile   Reply With Quote
Old Sep 20th, 2003, 09:39 AM   #3 (permalink)
phubear
Minty Cooper's owner
 
phubear's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: California
Local Time: 07:37 AM
Posts: 217
Offline
Didn't like the implementation in the Speedometer housing.
A member of my motoring club has one which has helped us navigate through some moderately rural lands, but there were a few streets which were named differently to the NAV maps.

Not sure about Lexus, but Infinity's works quite well, is integrated into a flip-up on the dash, and has points of interest.

I want MINI to do something similar or have a Heads Up Display.
United States   Reply With Quote
Old Sep 21st, 2003, 08:23 AM   #4 (permalink)
EBMCS03
M5 Extraordinare!
 
EBMCS03's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: So Cal
Local Time: 07:37 AM
Posts: 6,777
Offline
Send a message via ICQ to EBMCS03 Send a message via AIM to EBMCS03 Send a message via MSN to EBMCS03 Send a message via Yahoo to EBMCS03
If the MINIs is anything like the BMWs Nav which, i think its same... i read its no where near as good as lexus nav or any Japanese Nav. I could be wrong tho... hope someone with both can chime in.

but check this out... Funny MINI NAV... trying to play hide and seek in the atlantic ocean...


EB/W MCS Arrived (3/26/03) Premium & Sports Package, Lapis Blue Leather, Harmon Kardon, PDC, Tint, Aux Input, X-Pel Clearbra *SOLD* 4/25/06

Last edited by UCSDxB0i : Sep 22nd, 2003 at 06:54 AM.
United States Male View EBMCS03's Electric Blue & White 1st Gen MINI Cooper S Profile   Reply With Quote
Old Sep 22nd, 2003, 06:50 AM   #5 (permalink)
phubear
Minty Cooper's owner
 
phubear's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: California
Local Time: 07:37 AM
Posts: 217
Offline
Whoa! An amphibious MINI would be cool...
United States   Reply With Quote
Old Sep 28th, 2003, 05:06 AM   #6 (permalink)
cafemoc
Penninsula MINI
 
cafemoc's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: PV Penninsula So-Cal
Local Time: 07:37 AM
Posts: 39
Offline
Does anyone try iQue 3600?
I like iQue's larger screen, pricing, but not sure about palm OS, also processer seems to be slower than iPaq.
United States   Reply With Quote
Old Sep 28th, 2003, 06:24 AM   #7 (permalink)
OctaneGuy
MINI2 Sr. & c3 President
 
OctaneGuy's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Local Time: 07:37 AM
Posts: 533
Offline
I have the DVD Nav in my 3 week old 03 MC and it's fabulous. My father has a Lexus LS430 with Nav and it's comparable. Not the same. First the MINI Nav doesn't have a touch screen. The UI takes some getting used to. And I believe the MINI Nav requires you to THINK a bit more. For instance, when you approach a turn in the LS 430, it'll ding ding to let you know to turn now. On the MINI, a voice will say in the next 400 feet, turn right. So you gotta be able to judge 400 feet! Sometimes it'll say in the next 400 feet, take the 2nd right and that can get confusing!

But you learn quickly. Within a few hours, I had no trouble.

I used my Nav extensively while driving my MC back from Memphis, TN to Los Angeles, CA. I visited 12 states and used the Point of Interest for gas, motels, and restaurants. It was very accurate.

Now that I'm back in Los Angeles, I use the POI much less, and use mostly the realtime Mapping Overview set to 1 Mile or 1/4 Mile to help me identify street names. Today I was motoring in San Marino, and the NAV allowed me to stay away from dead end streets, allowing me to explore as much as I wanted, and easily be able to get back to my friends house.
United States View OctaneGuy's Indi Blue & White 1st Gen MINI Cooper Profile   Reply With Quote
Old Feb 25th, 2004, 10:45 PM   #8 (permalink)
pbui2
MINI2 Newbie
 
pbui2's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Long Beach
Local Time: 02:37 PM
Posts: 32
Offline
Square peg in round whole....no, it's good from what everybody says but why bother....

Garmin StreetPilot 2610 ($730 at Amazon.com) can be installed for little more than half the price ($1200 - yikes!!) and can be moved from car to car if you want. Just bought one for my coming Mini. Use the extra dough to get another option like driving lamps (mmm.....driving lamps).
  Reply With Quote
Old Feb 25th, 2004, 11:07 PM   #9 (permalink)
OctaneGuy
MINI2 Sr. & c3 President
 
OctaneGuy's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Local Time: 07:37 AM
Posts: 533
Offline
Whatever works for you. Moving from car to car is good if you have another car! Not me. But there's nothing like having an integrated GPS where you don't have a wire running on your dash, or need to hide it everytime you park for fear of it being stolen.

But while the integration and peace of mind is cool, the power of a Garmin is way higher. I mean it's on the realm of comparing a PDA to a desktop computer. PDA's are great for what they are but most lack the power to do really cool stuff a Power User might crave.

My friend with his Garmin has a lot more control over routing than I do with my stock system, but oh well. I use it to drive, and get me from Point A to Point B, and it does it's job very well!

Quote: Originally Posted by pbui2
Square peg in round whole....no, it's good from what everybody says but why bother....

Garmin StreetPilot 2610 ($730 at Amazon.com) can be installed for little more than half the price ($1200 - yikes!!) and can be moved from car to car if you want. Just bought one for my coming Mini. Use the extra dough to get another option like driving lamps (mmm.....driving lamps).

United States View OctaneGuy's Indi Blue & White 1st Gen MINI Cooper Profile   Reply With Quote
Old Feb 26th, 2004, 01:54 AM   #10 (permalink)
pbui2
MINI2 Newbie
 
pbui2's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Long Beach
Local Time: 02:37 PM
Posts: 32
Offline
Thumbs up

Excellent points Octaneguy....btw I didn't mean to question your choice, it sounds like the built-in Nav fit you better . I guess I'm a little prejudiced against the built-in system because of the price. But here is how it came down for me.

Built-in Nav:
Pros: Good quality, ease of use, built-in so no hanging wires for power, not a theft magnet
Cons: Moves the speedometer from the central console, expensive, and some minor bugs on some units

Third-part Nav:
Pros: Much cheaper, good quality, more functionality, portable (move from car to car)
Cons: More complicated (for the unit I chose), hanging wires and mounting, theft magnet if not hidden

Garmin Streetpilot 2610 for me...but like Octaneguy says, you can't go wrong with the built-in Nav either.
  Reply With Quote
Old Feb 26th, 2004, 01:59 AM   #11 (permalink)
OctaneGuy
MINI2 Sr. & c3 President
 
OctaneGuy's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Local Time: 07:37 AM
Posts: 533
Offline
Hey no problem. People question it all the time. I only question it when I see my friends Garmin. LOL. But One day I'll make my Nav screen, tuner capable, for the wireless cams that I run, and that will be cool. An integrated TV showing the outside of my car from different perspectives. Yeah!

Thanks for the summary. You are right on!
United States View OctaneGuy's Indi Blue & White 1st Gen MINI Cooper Profile   Reply With Quote
Old Feb 27th, 2004, 01:41 PM   #12 (permalink)
speacock
MINI2 Regular
 
speacock's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Riverside, CA
Local Time: 07:37 AM
Posts: 123
Offline
cafemoc,

I've used both the iQue 3600 and the Garmin SP 2610. Except for a vertical vs horizontal screen layout and a slightly higher resolution on the iQue screen they are identical in software operation. The key difference is that the iQue is designed around a stylus interface and the 2610 is built for finger use. Also the 2610 is car only while the 3600 can be used as a handheld. You can use your finger on the 3600, but in a moving car it just isn't practical due to the precision required IMHO. The 2610 was faster at routing and kept a better lock on the satellites than a friend's built-in Nissan Murano system. Finally the touchscreen interface was slightly faster at entering addresses than the Murano joystick.

For me the 2610 fits just about perfectly. I use the sandbag mount and sit it behind the rev counter when in use. For storage the base unclips and both parts fit in the drivers side parcel shelf. I ran the cord down next to the steering wheel and out the back of the parcel shelf to keep things clean.

Sean
United States View speacock's Dark Silver & Black 1st Gen MINI Cooper S Profile   Reply With Quote
Old Mar 25th, 2004, 08:58 PM   #13 (permalink)
Nick T.
MINI2 Newbie
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Local Time: 07:37 AM
Posts: 8
Offline
My vote also goes against the OEM navigation system. I’ve had the Garmin Street Pilot III for a couple of years now and think that it’s great! Much better functionality that the OEM unit in my wife’s ‘04 Lexus.

I use the bean-bag mount and switch it between cars with ease. In my MCS it fits perfectly above and behind the tach. If you want to use it for really spirited driving in unfamiliar twisties it is pretty stable - - unlike using it in my Z3 - - and it does let you anticipate the sharpness of blind curves. Garmin does sell a permanent mounting plate for about US$10, but I haven’t felt the need for it.
United States   Reply With Quote
Alt Today
Sponsors

Sponsored Links


Registered members do not see Ads posts, they can also post messages, pictures, and classified adverts.
Register your free account today and become a member of MINI2 - MINI Forum
   
Reply
More is car insurance



Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Rate This Thread
Rate This Thread:

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
TomTom Go GPS Satelite Navigation - NOW SOLD Hat For Sale 30 Apr 21st, 2005 07:00 AM
GPS Navigation - after purchase? erskine Interior & Ice 6 Aug 11th, 2004 11:16 PM
GPS Navigation system reseting?? Gerrit Faults & Fixes 39 Apr 21st, 2004 03:33 PM
GPS Navigation System TFA General Discussion 8 Mar 24th, 2003 07:26 PM
GPS navigation system miniyoda Interior & Ice 1 Apr 30th, 2002 07:30 AM