The TSX comes with a nav system to the tune of $2k. I know my way around northeast Ohio like the back of my hand. When I travel out of state I look at a map or check mapquest. I'm good with directions. A nav system seems like it would be a waste of money for me. Am I missing something? Do you have one? Is it worth it?

 

I've got the Garmin StreetPilot III and like it a lot. I wanted a portable unit, not a built-in one, since I wanted to move it between cars if needed and because I did not want to do a lot of extra work on the car's interior (however nice Rick Hesel's set-up looked when I saw pictures). Check eBay (that's where I bought mine); you can get them new with Buy-It-Now for $500.

Do I use it often in everyday traffic? No. But it's nice to have when you are travelling or going for a little day-trip, encounter a detour and get lost (that has happened to me before), if you are looking for a specific attraction (was in Santa Fe last September; could absolutely not find this one church we wanted to see; the SP3 took us there without problems) or if you are travelling late at night and are lookin for a hotel. The data set includes a lot of tourist attractions, hotels, restaurants, etc. that you can navigate to with the touch of a button on the spur of a moment.

I guess the key point is that it allows you to be more spontaneous (unless you have a wireless broadband connection to your iPaq or similar hendheld that you can use to conenct to the 'net on the road) and it's good to have "just in case".

 

I like the idea of a navigation system but I don't like the fact that it is only in one vehicle. I have two vehicles plus I do a lot of business traveling. I wanted a navigation system that was portable so I could use it in any car I'm driving, even a rental. I also wanted a PDA. So I bought a Garmin iQue which is a PDA that runs Palm OS, a color LCD display and an integrated 8 channel GPS receiver. It does everything a PDA does plus turn by turn navigation with voice prompts. It also has an extensive find capability for hotels, restaurants, addresses, and points of interest. It will route you from your current location to the location that you searched for. It also uses your address book as a source for route to addresses.

Map CDs are available for the US, Canada, and Europe. You can download detailed maps into memory via USB interface using the hot sync function.

Here is a link to the iQue web page

http://www.garmin.com/products/iQue3600/

 

All,

A friend of ours has offered to let us borrow his portable Garmin unit for our up coming road trip to Maine. Barbara has a "map fetish" so I am surprized that she has not wanted a GPS. I think that this experience may put her over the top.

Carmen, If you get a portable unit not only could you transfer it to the vehicle you need it in you could also get into a new hobby. Geo-caching.

More information can be found here:

http://www.geocaching.com/

 

Carm

About nine months ago I bought the Garmin Street Pilot 2620. Now I wouldn't be without a navi system. At first I reluctant to trust it thinking that I too knew my area like the back of my hand, but so far it has usually been smarter than me. It has helped me find my way to clients who I have never visited before and has helped to correct me when I've made a wrong turn or decided to get off of the expressway in order to avoid traffic.

Some of the nicest things about owning a navi system are:

1. You no longer wonder if you've missed the turn. If you have it will tell you.
2. It tells you exactly how many miles are left until the next turn.
3. You will never be lost again. (Unless you want to be)

I understand that the built in navi systems are even better because they are built in with dead reckoning. That is if they lose touch with the satellite, the calculate your location based on the speed of the car and the direction of the car.

We will definitely get it in our TSX.

 

Heh. Glad I am not the only one.

 

Try this. Get one of the sticky pads that most electronic and auto stores sell to hold your cell phone or sunglasses in place. Get some self stick Velcro. Use the self stick Velcro to hold the sticky pad to the bottom of the beanbag.

The self stick pad will keep the beanbag from sliding around on the dash, and the beanbag provides enough stability to hold the GPS.

I have used this in my S, my 4Runner and my TL. It has solved to problem

 

This sort of reminds me of the CD player. I never knew that I needed one until it came standard in my 4Runner and I was forced to buy it. Now I don't think I'd buy a car without one.

 

I bought an Magellan unit that worked on both land and sea. It was a PITA to program and the factory customer support was monday through friday, 9:00 am to 6:00 pm. Let's just say I returned it. Too bad, because I was really looking forward to using it in my car and my boat.

Carman, you might like the PDA versions. They can be clip mounted to the heater vents and stay in place pretty well. And when you get to where you are going, you can snap it off, take it with you, and it is your PDA.

 

[QUOTE=canberra,Mar 1 2005, 07:30 PM]The portable Garmin and Magellan units are very nice, but mounting them is a problem (assuming you want to use one as a portable in more than one vehicle). Put it on a beanbag, and it sails off the dash first time you corner-brake-accelerate a bit aggressively.