In-dash GPS - to buy or not to buy : that is the question!

TheRookie · Occasional Visitor Joined: May 03, 2005 Posts: 5

First of all, I would like to say "hello everyone!" to members of this forum as this is my first post here.

Now, to the question...

For some time in the past I was proud owner of Toyota Prius, which had full map dvd navigation. Unfortunately I had to part with it for some reason, so now I am looking for GPS for my Mondeo.

AFAIK, there are several options available on the market:

1. Laptop (which I have anyway) + USB/COM/BT GPS receiver. Probably cheapest but leat convenient (at driving time) option.
2. PDA (PPC) + GPS (BT/SDIO/CF) - more compact but less flexible than option 1. Requires me to buy PDA for which otherwise I see absolutely no use.
3. Dedicated transferrable (Mitac 268/9, etc). Expensive, no TMC option so far.
4. 1-DIN satnav (SVDO, Blaupunkt DX, etc). Same price as option 3. Usually features TMC and speed sensor (great advantage when signal is lost). Clean install (i.e. no wires). Cons: target for thieves; no full map screen
5. 2-DIN or flip monitor (Alpine, Pioneer, Panasonic, etc). Seamless map, DVD playback, full map, TMC, speed sensor, etc. But look at the price tag! Sad

So far I am convinced myself that option 4 is the way to go. Unfortunately, it looks like everyone I know is thinking that I am going to make a mistake. After a brief search on the web, I've found that there are almost no resources on Blaupunkt DX devices (this is the one I am thinking of).

So far my questions are:
1. Are these devices really bad?
2. Is TMC working OK in the UK (I hate driving on M1 and M6!)
3. Is installation of in-dash navi really that difficult?
4. How good their maps are? (I am pretty sure that it would be impossible to switch to different s/w like TT or Destinator).

Any other ideas/considerations are really welcome.

Darren · Posted: Tue May 03, 2005 7:59 pm Post subject:

I used to have a DVD based Nav system in my last car, a Jag. It wasn't a patch on my PDA based set-up and Jaguar's was one of the more modern.

Blaupunkt's are not the best, indeed the DX is discounted because it is behind the best available nowadays. And even the best do not allow use of custom POI's, speed camera's etc nor do many have full & Digit PostCode.

Get a TomTom GO or PDA system and you have all the above and TMC. and you can take it with you between cars and update maps far more cheaply.
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Darren Griffin

TheRookie · Occasional Visitor Joined: May 03, 2005 Posts: 5

gingernut777 · Posted: Wed May 04, 2005 6:39 am Post subject:

Any TMC will require a subscription, no matter what sat nav you buy.
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Using an A to Z
Sextant & Compass

Darren · Posted: Wed May 04, 2005 7:36 am Post subject:

TheRookie · Occasional Visitor Joined: May 03, 2005 Posts: 5

Agree. For example, Blaupunkt offer TMC UK map CDs for 150 quid whether non-TMC version is 90. In contrast to this, they also sell EU maps (major roads) with TMC for 30 pounds, so it looks like that the only country wich require subscription is Rip-Off Britain.

Anyway, are there any RDS-TMC-enabled GPS devices for PDA apart from Navigon?

alix776 · Posted: Wed May 04, 2005 11:07 am Post subject:

the gprs is not that much i drive around nine hours a day and haveing an update set at 5 mins works out around 1/2 a meg perday and there are some cracking gprs packages out there at the moment with tomtom you can set the traffic to update at set intervals ie 5, 10, 15 mins etc
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currently using aponia truck navigation on windows phone. Good bye IOS don't let the door hit you on the way out .

Oh the joys of being a courier.
device Lumia 950 xl

TheRookie · Occasional Visitor Joined: May 03, 2005 Posts: 5

Vodafone charges up to 15 EUR/MB when roaming abroad. As I travel a lot to Europe, it will become a very costly option.

Darren · Posted: Wed May 04, 2005 3:48 pm Post subject:

TheRookie · Occasional Visitor Joined: May 03, 2005 Posts: 5

Yesterday I had a chat with Blaupunkt tech support.
TMC in TravelPilot DX is simple, but due to single-tuner architecture, unit must be always tuned to Classic FM. In addition, unit can not play audio CDs at the time of navigation. So, if audio is needed during navigation and TMC, then the solution will be installing CD changer or buying additional TMC box.
Also, DX series is now out of production, which explains low prices (270 quid to be precise).

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