SatNav options
Discussion
I'm a fan of SmartNav (www.smartnav.com) It's a very neat install because there is no screen, just one button. You press it, speak to an operator and they type the route into a computer. This calculates the route and sends it back to the car. The car then has a voice synthesiser which says 'next left' or 'at the roundabout take the third exit'.
Pros: V. cheap (£500+install+£10 a month service), knows about traffic jams and re-routes, maps are always up to date (no buying new CDs), latest version has warnings of 'accident blackspots', the one signalled by a Gatso.
Cons: Talking to the operator over the engine in a Noble might be a challenge, doesn't work well in London, partly because it loses GPS but mainly because without a screen it's often difficult to know what it means by 'next left and immediately right' if there are a number of small roads and service roads you don't know if it means those.
A version with a screen is pending and this will be an upgrade. It will also serve as a fixed carphone.
Pros: V. cheap (£500+install+£10 a month service), knows about traffic jams and re-routes, maps are always up to date (no buying new CDs), latest version has warnings of 'accident blackspots', the one signalled by a Gatso.
Cons: Talking to the operator over the engine in a Noble might be a challenge, doesn't work well in London, partly because it loses GPS but mainly because without a screen it's often difficult to know what it means by 'next left and immediately right' if there are a number of small roads and service roads you don't know if it means those.
A version with a screen is pending and this will be an upgrade. It will also serve as a fixed carphone.
I have the Nav man software for the Ipaq which works pretty well.
Pros. Reasonably cheap, I use a 512 MB compact flash cards to store masses of mapping, the latest software has the whole of Europe, you decide which countries to load at any given time. Screen detail is fine an voice commands are fine at low speed in the Noble, Glass mount works okay.
Cons. It can take a while to establish contact at first (my in car BMW system is virtually instant), the newest Navman software will only let you zoom out 12 miles or so , so you cant actually see the whole route on the screen if your doing a long one. If the Ipaq has limited memory then the program tends to hang occasionally.
On the whole Id recommend it
Pros. Reasonably cheap, I use a 512 MB compact flash cards to store masses of mapping, the latest software has the whole of Europe, you decide which countries to load at any given time. Screen detail is fine an voice commands are fine at low speed in the Noble, Glass mount works okay.
Cons. It can take a while to establish contact at first (my in car BMW system is virtually instant), the newest Navman software will only let you zoom out 12 miles or so , so you cant actually see the whole route on the screen if your doing a long one. If the Ipaq has limited memory then the program tends to hang occasionally.
On the whole Id recommend it
My old Ipaq is the 3760 , cost me about 500 quid on Tottenhan court road 18 mts ago, the Navman sleeve fron Staples , about 250 quid including the original Smart path Trip and Smart path city software. I updated the softwareto "Smart ST professional", cost £75 quid each for me and my mate and the 512 CF card was about £320 .
You dont need such a big CF card but hey, why not :-))
Where this system does differ from the fixed , in car systems is that you HAVE to be in motion for it to give accurate directions. If you are stationary for a few momments for example at a busy 6 exit roundabout, the instructions given as to which exit to take are useless. The in car systems also have wheel sensors to help, ny Ipaq gets totally confused and steam comes out of it. The best example here was last time I took the Noble back to the factory. Ive been to Barwell loads of times but this time arrived from a different directon , I relied on the ipaq for guidance but it still took me 15 minutes and a phone call to the factory to find them!!
You dont need such a big CF card but hey, why not :-))
Where this system does differ from the fixed , in car systems is that you HAVE to be in motion for it to give accurate directions. If you are stationary for a few momments for example at a busy 6 exit roundabout, the instructions given as to which exit to take are useless. The in car systems also have wheel sensors to help, ny Ipaq gets totally confused and steam comes out of it. The best example here was last time I took the Noble back to the factory. Ive been to Barwell loads of times but this time arrived from a different directon , I relied on the ipaq for guidance but it still took me 15 minutes and a phone call to the factory to find them!!
Smartnav also doesn't work in Europe. I'd probably get it otherwise although the lack of screen etc does put me off.
If you want to spend big bucks, look at the alpine & pioneer solutions. You're looking at 1800+ to get a decent fold out screen head unit with the nav computer in a box for install somewhere else. They do seem nice though. Dunno how bad the overhangs are on the Noble though, I can't fit one in my Elise as the dash overhangs the radio mounting point too much
Other option is to get the single din options available. There is the pioneer on mentioned above which doesn't show any maps, just does turn left type thingy and shows route summarys etc. There is also a slightly pricier alpine one that tries to do onscreen maps (its not that amazing though to be honest). The alpine also uses DVD maps, although I don't see the benefit really. The pioneer can handle traffic congestion info too, whilst its an expensive (300+) upgrade for the alpine. Not sure we have the infrastructure for the system in the UK yet anyway though.
Anyway, the two single din ones have been out a while now, so I was vaguely holding out for the next generation of the alpine one.
Also not sure either of them can play MP3s which is a pain. The alpine does have a nice cheap optional changer which can though.
I have the single Din alpine unit - it is great - the voice commands are so clear that I don't normally bother looking at the screen. It does support TMS (the congestion avoidance stuff) as standard (not a £300 upgrade) but we don't have the sevice in this country yet.
The main benefit of having an integrated unit is no wires all over the place, it mutes the music for the voice commands and when you leave the car you just take the face of the stereo with you, not a bloody great Ipaq.
If you shop around you can get it for £1500 including a 6 disk changer, maybe £1550 for a 6 disk MP3 changer.
It took me all the way to the nurbugring and back with no issues at all. Highly recommended.
>> Edited by m12_nathan on Thursday 5th June 09:30
The main benefit of having an integrated unit is no wires all over the place, it mutes the music for the voice commands and when you leave the car you just take the face of the stereo with you, not a bloody great Ipaq.
If you shop around you can get it for £1500 including a 6 disk changer, maybe £1550 for a 6 disk MP3 changer.
It took me all the way to the nurbugring and back with no issues at all. Highly recommended.
>> Edited by m12_nathan on Thursday 5th June 09:30
I've got the Navman STPro software
www.navman-mobile.com/html/3400.htm
but I've had a lot of issues with it.
Personally I'd recommend the TomTom version
www.tomtom.nl/products/platform/products.php?ID=55&Language=1
as if you get a bluetooth IPAQ you can use their bluetooth GPS unit without any unsightly wires - all you need is just a powerlead going to the IPAQ and you can put the bluetooth GPS reciever somewhere nicely out of the way.
Or you could always try one of these "dedicated" ones
www.navman-mobile.com/html/icn630.htm
J
www.navman-mobile.com/html/3400.htm
but I've had a lot of issues with it.
Personally I'd recommend the TomTom version
www.tomtom.nl/products/platform/products.php?ID=55&Language=1
as if you get a bluetooth IPAQ you can use their bluetooth GPS unit without any unsightly wires - all you need is just a powerlead going to the IPAQ and you can put the bluetooth GPS reciever somewhere nicely out of the way.
Or you could always try one of these "dedicated" ones
www.navman-mobile.com/html/icn630.htm
J
joust said: I've got the Navman STPro software
www.navman-mobile.com/html/3400.htm
but I've had a lot of issues with it.
Personally I'd recommend the TomTom version
www.tomtom.nl/products/platform/products.php?ID=55&Language=1
as if you get a bluetooth IPAQ you can use their bluetooth GPS unit without any unsightly wires - all you need is just a powerlead going to the IPAQ and you can put the bluetooth GPS reciever somewhere nicely out of the way.
Or you could always try one of these "dedicated" ones
www.navman-mobile.com/html/icn630.htm
J
Joust, that iCN630 looks exactly like what I am looking for, I don't really need any of the additional functionality of a IPAQ. Thanks
Spookily I have just ,finally, had a cure for my dodgy alarm/immobiliser/trakker problem. It seems the trackstar hardware was wired to the ignition circuit for its power feed and this was retaining a small charge in the ignition after the ignition was apparently switched off. Been re sited to another part of the wiring loom now and it seems okay.
The guy from RAC trackstar had the Smartnav system.. voice only and he thinks its the dogs..
He demonstratyed it to me. all done by voice and yes it can be very loud. He reckons the operators will navigate you to absolutely any where you ask, postcode, nearest shell garage, ATM whatever. And they will route yo round traffic jams, accident etc in real time.. All for £700 I was impressed
The guy from RAC trackstar had the Smartnav system.. voice only and he thinks its the dogs..
He demonstratyed it to me. all done by voice and yes it can be very loud. He reckons the operators will navigate you to absolutely any where you ask, postcode, nearest shell garage, ATM whatever. And they will route yo round traffic jams, accident etc in real time.. All for £700 I was impressed
DanH said:
Nathan - that was the one I was talking about earlier in the thread. You sure it has TMS, as I don't recall seeing it on the spec sheet.
Whats it like using it to display maps etc - fairly pointless I imagine, and that you mostly just plug in the postcode and listen to the speech?
Yep - it has tms - see
www.alpine-europe.com/2003/navi/datas/gb/1din_car_phone_access.htm
for all the details of the model that has just superceeded mine - the diagrams are very usable (over head junction diagram for example - see www.alpine-europe.com/2003/navi/datas/gb/1din_seeing_is_believing.htm for the different displays)
I love it, everyone who has seen it in action has been very impressed with it, and when your not using the dvd drive for navigation it is a top rate cd player bettered only by the top of the range cd player head unit.
It appears you are right - you do need the £200 unit for TMC - Sorry about that.
I've found the head unit for 1150 online - not bad at all.
The benifit of the integrated units over the ipaq ones is that they have speed sensors and gyroscopes so if you loose the gps signal it still knows where you are.
I've found the head unit for 1150 online - not bad at all.
The benifit of the integrated units over the ipaq ones is that they have speed sensors and gyroscopes so if you loose the gps signal it still knows where you are.
I can confer with monsieur Nathan - the ipaq solution is "piss poor" compared to the X5's system which has gyro and accelerometer (sp?). Given I drive a lot in central London the X5 is the system of choice - the additional two inputs are essential - with all the tall buildings you never get a GPS lock and so having something that stil works it all out is invaluable.
Still you get what you pay for - £600 for an IPAQ solution (or £299 if you already have am IPAQ), £900 for a "stand alone" or £1300-£1800 if you get a "fitted" unit. The performance directly reflects the price....
J
Still you get what you pay for - £600 for an IPAQ solution (or £299 if you already have am IPAQ), £900 for a "stand alone" or £1300-£1800 if you get a "fitted" unit. The performance directly reflects the price....
J
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