<p>We are getting a new vehicle and are going with a Ford to thank them for not taking any bailout money. Only problem is that because of production issues resulting from the Tsunami in Japan, Ford cannot currently procure their navigation systems. I have been spoiled with navigation and am considering an after market installed directly into the vehicle. </p>
<p>Thoughts or experiences?</p>
<p>I personally think the ‘installed’ systems are not nearly as good as the portable (like TomTom or Garmin). The portables are so easy to update via the computer and move from vehicle to vehicle.</p>
<p>Well, the portables only have one sensor (GPS) while the built-ins have 3+ (GPS + wheel speed + gyroscope) and this allows navigation in places like, say, Chicago’s Lower Wacker Drive where any portable is toast due to various reasons…</p>
<p>Having said this, the convenience of a portable can’t be beat. TomTom or Garmin should be fine, 5", don’t bother with voice rec (not there yet)…</p>
<p>I love my TomTom 5" with lifetime maps and traffic!</p>
<p>We had an all-in-one Pioneer system installed in D’s car. It gives her navigation, Sirius radio, ipod, bluetooth, backup camera - the works. All the functions work great except the navigation. We wanted it for safety and it has sent her on convoluted and unsafe routes that seem to defy logic. She now keeps a Garmin in the glove compartment because we have more confidence in the routing. We have several different Garmin models and all have been great and very easy to operate.</p>
<p>Forget the auto nav system, before or aftermarket. Just use a smart phone. The VZ navigator on my Blackberry worked WAY better than the uber expensive one installed in my new car. I have an iPhone now and have not yet installed a nav app, but I am sure when I do it will be more effective than the temperamental, less high-tech one in my car. if I were shopping for an aftermarket nav system and didn’t already have a smart phone, I would get an iPad with a nav app (big screen, great technology).</p>
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<p>Will you mount it on the dashboard? It could be against the law.</p>
<p>I’m shopping for a new car for my recent college grad and can’t decide about the navigation package. One thing influencing my decision now is that yesterday someone busted the back windshield of her old car and basically trashed the inside after not finding anything of real value. I wonder if having electronic gadgets like a Garmin sitting around would attract thieves. It would be a bother to remove or hide a navigation device or iPad every time she gets out of the car. Not that I care about the bother but she would likely forget.</p>
<p>We have considered both options…built into the car and portable. We FAR prefer the portable. I can program my destination in the comforts of my house or hotel (instead of in a heating up or cooling down car). I can mess around with my route planning in the same comfortable spot…not in my car. </p>
<p>I have several friends with built in navigation systems and no one seems to love them.</p>
<p>My guess is a built in after market is going to be pricey. A really good portable with upgraded maps and traffic alerts can be bought for under $200…maybe well under if you find a good sale.</p>
<p>We use a weighted sandbag type base for our GPS device. It just sits on the dashboard. No trouble at all to put it on the floor of the passenger side out of the way, or for sketchier situations, to remove the base and put the GPS in the glove compartment.</p>
<p>Yeah, I understand and agree about the advantages of a portable but the sketchy place her car was broken into was her own carport under her apt. building. So she’d have to remember to take it out every single day. Unlikely. I have a built in navigation system and although I swore I didn’t need it I’ve come to really like it. Same thing I did with my iPhone now that I think of it. Apparently I have to be dragged into the modern era kicking and screaming.</p>
<p>Love, love my Garmin for many of the same reasons already mentioned. DH and DD both have built in (BMW and Honda) and I find them clunky, harder to use and, with the BMW one, often less accurate than my Garmin.</p>
<p>We have a Garmin, but we’re sold on DH’s new HTC Thunder Bolt (android phone) for navigation now. It starts up right away, whereas the Garmin can sometimes take awhile to find satellites. The phone’s voice recognition system is great, too. You can say, “Olive Garden,” and it will find the nearest one! We will save the Garmin for backup from now on.</p>