Sat nav/GPS?

[kakn7294]

Don't knock it till you try it, Navigon for the IPhone rivals my $3000 Land Rover option, gives me traffic, etc. The screen is a little smaller, but tons more useful features, like grabbing addresses from m contact list, etc. I haven't entered an address in forever.

I'm not knocking anything but I have an iPod Touch which needs wifi to function - pretty much impossible on the road unless I pay for mifi service. I have no plans to change back to AT&T anytime soon just for an iPhone as their service in my area is marginal at best.

[magicofdisney]

We have Garmins. Both have been discontinued, but they continue to work flawlessly. In fact, despite the discontinuation, we recently purchased the lifetime maps from Garmen (right around $100). Theoretically, we should never need to replace them.

[caryrae]

One Garmin I like is the 1690 which uses the NuLink service which you get free for 2 years. It uses a cell connection which will give you movie times, gas prices, traffic, weather, local events, flight status, white pages, plus more. The big plus is it uses Google local search which is way better then the installed poi's. It has been out for a year or so. Amazon has them for around $250 which is about half of what they cost when I bought it last year.

I have an iPhone and much prefer using a Garmin for navigating instead of the phone.

[DizneyRox]

I'm not knocking anything but I have an iPod Touch which needs wifi to function - pretty much impossible on the road unless I pay for mifi service. I have no plans to change back to AT&T anytime soon just for an iPhone as their service in my area is marginal at best.

The touch doesn't have GPS does it? Navigon had it's own maps, so it doesn't download and would work without Internet access.

You do need something with a GPS receiver, the iPhone has it, I think it's a seperate accessory on a touch, but WAY overpriced. I wouldn't bother.

Many smartphones have GPS now, and they work quite well. I don't think I'd walk across the country with one, but for what I think most poeple need, and that's occasional use, many are more than adequate. If you travel for a living, well, maybe there are better alternatives, BUT being able to integrate your contacts with your device, with your e-mail, etc and there's not much better than the current generation of smart phones.

Now, the software is key... The iPhone has several options, Navigon, TomTom, RoadMate, etc. I've tried most of them and Navigon is hands down the best. The Google Maps that came on it is a joke, no turn by turn, etc. You need to pony up for decent software.

Now, the Androids are coming with a much better version of Google's navigation software, it's almost usable! The advantage of not storing the maps is that you can take it with you and not have to worry about loading the right maps. Navigon has the US and Canada, so I'm not too worried. Even my Land Rover has two DVDs, so if I actually drive from one DVD to another I need to stop, eject the DVD (under the passenger seat) and then continue.

I will say, navigation on my phone is going to be a deal breaker. If it's junk, I'll pass on that phone. Contract is up in a few months, we'll see what's out there. I don't mind making the switch off AT&T/Apple, but Google is going to have to step it up, the HTC Incredible seems to be leading the pack.

[kakn7294]

The touch doesn't have GPS does it? Navigon had it's own maps, so it doesn't download and would work without Internet access.

You do need something with a GPS receiver, the iPhone has it, I think it's a seperate accessory on a touch, but WAY overpriced. I wouldn't bother.

Many smartphones have GPS now, and they work quite well. I don't think I'd walk across the country with one, but for what I think most poeple need, and that's occasional use, many are more than adequate. If you travel for a living, well, maybe there are better alternatives, BUT being able to integrate your contacts with your device, with your e-mail, etc and there's not much better than the current generation of smart phones.

Now, the software is key... The iPhone has several options, Navigon, TomTom, RoadMate, etc. I've tried most of them and Navigon is hands down the best. The Google Maps that came on it is a joke, no turn by turn, etc. You need to pony up for decent software.

Now, the Androids are coming with a much better version of Google's navigation software, it's almost usable! The advantage of not storing the maps is that you can take it with you and not have to worry about loading the right maps. Navigon has the US and Canada, so I'm not too worried. Even my Land Rover has two DVDs, so if I actually drive from one DVD to another I need to stop, eject the DVD (under the passenger seat) and then continue.

I will say, navigation on my phone is going to be a deal breaker. If it's junk, I'll pass on that phone. Contract is up in a few months, we'll see what's out there. I don't mind making the switch off AT&T/Apple, but Google is going to have to step it up, the HTC Incredible seems to be leading the pack.

IPods are WiFi compatible, not GPS compatible. Verizon sells the MiFi - a wireless router that uses the GPS mobile internet but it's expensive - something like $60 a month. My phone is 8 months old so it's mine for a while longer. And iPhones are not available at Verizon. It's ok, I like my Magellan.

[magicofdisney]

With the phone GPS systems, what happens if you're at a crucial junction and you get a phone call in the middle of directions? I realize you can always get back on track, but that would drive me bonkers.

[DizneyRox]

I believe with the iPhone, the call takes precedence, the audio on the GPS is muted and the phone connects. With the new iPhone iOS, this is the main reason for multitasking as your GPS will resume after disconnecting.

On my LR, the phone is an accessory to the GPS/Radio, so they end up talking over each other. When you miss the road, it squaks to get you back on track talking over the phone call even more, talk about driving you bonkers! I'm sure each GPS handles this differently, if you have your phone connected via Bluetooth to the GPS it would probably do the same. If connected to your car bluetooth, maybe different.

Am I correct that you can connect your standalone GPS to your car's radio for directions over the speakers?

Hopefully everoyne is using some sort of handsfree unit and not yapping on the cell phone with it up against your ear.

[kakn7294]

I don't believe that I can connect my stand-alone Magellan to my Jeep's speakers - I know the Jeep radio is not compatible but I think my particular Magellan model is not either. However, after using it for our recent trip to Disney, we wouldn't want play it through the speakers anyway. I had been playing with it to enter addresses and POIs and such so I had the sound muted when we started off on our trip. We discovered we like it muted since it's mounted in a spot where it was easy to see any upcoming turns that needed to be made.

And to clarify, I can get a number of GPS navigation apps for the iPod Touch (any of the same ones as for iPhone) but I would have to also get a GPS capable mobile wifi device in order to use it as a navigator - not worth it!

[DizneyRox]

And to clarify, I can get a number of GPS navigation apps for the iPod Touch (any of the same ones as for iPhone) but I would have to also get a GPS capable mobile wifi device in order to use it as a navigator - not worth it!

Yes, I think TomTom has a car mount for around $150 or so. It includes a GPS receiver that your iTouch would recognize and use for GPS. Like you said, not worth it. The iPhone for a little more (plus contract) gets you the same thing. I guess anything to make a buck. There are many many iPhones coming out of contract though, I intend on picking up a few to use around the house. They can make good remotes, streaming audio devices, mobile "movie" players, etc.

[brivers222]

I had a TomTom that i like for about 2 years but i never did upgrade the maps... Couldn't justify paying $79 to get a new map on a 2 year old system when i can pay $110 and get a new map and new system lol So i sold it on E-bay for $65 <-- who would have known lmao

My fiancee converted me to Garmins after using her nuvi255.

I bought a 265wt at costco back in July for $160 and used it for about 5 weeks before it started to talk in robot and freeze. The traffic was pretty nice along with the hands free cell phone thingy, but really i can do without those bells and whistles (just get me to my destination as accurately as possible) I returned it to costco with their no hastle policy.

Just recently I decided to take another plunge in the garmin pool and bought a Nuvi295w from costco.com with their new lower $119 price.

Its slated to be delivered tomorrow... so we shall see! I plan on using it for our trip in 3 weeks to Disney

[c&d]

We got a Garmin about 7 years ago and we love it. Never had any problems with it. It was about $900 and it was a gift.

[brivers222]

Just recently I decided to take another plunge in the garmin pool and bought a Nuvi295w from costco.com with their new lower $119 price.

Its slated to be delivered tomorrow... so we shall see! I plan on using it for our trip in 3 weeks to Disney

Had it for the entire weekend playing with it... I really like this Garmin... The internet on it is amazing! Its like an iPhone without the phone contract price tag

[DizneyRox]

Had it for the entire weekend playing with it... I really like this Garmin... The internet on it is amazing! Its like an iPhone without the phone contract price tag

You mean it's like an iTouch? It's WiFi only right?

[brivers222]

You mean it's like an iTouch? It's WiFi only right?

Yeah its the size of an i-phone/touch. It doesn't have the apps but really i like that it is slim in stature. The scroll screens on it remind me of my sisters iphone.

of course its not the exact same, but it reminds me of having a touch. Obviously the touch with a gps app would most likely make this garmin obsolete... but i like how it tracks walking trips as well... from what i tested in Detroit, it can pick up streets and paths in the big city while walking where the past garmins seems to get all spazed out.

I should have clarified that the size reminded me of an iphone with out the pricetag or monthly