DWP

I need a tutorial on these things. What's the benefits of CD units vs non-CD, for example? Any recommendations for general info or specific systems would be appreciated. TIA.

dferr

I don't see why buying a built-in in car unit would make much sense.

A hand held unit can go in any vehicle not to mention if you hike or do other activities where a hand held would be useful. Plus, they are generally less expensive.

Sure, having a pretty display and maybe something that talks to you in the car would be nice (and safer), but to me the flexibility and cost of a hand held makes more sense.

Just one guys thoughts.

-Dave

letitsnow

I have used the PC based GPS mapping softwares with laptops and Teletype GPS with color PDAs, also
checked out the palm variations. Note that the PDAs until the latest edition of Teletype GPS software
lacked the ability to do any routing on the fly.

All the PC based units for use with a laptop do routing and are nice softwares, but user interface is difficult
when trying to mouse and drive. There are also display issues, laptop TFT displays get washed out in direct
sunlight and are too bright in darkness. Also the laptop is big and hard to mount/secure. Above all, you
have to contend with the windows OS, including waiting for it to boot and all the other windows
idiosyncrasies that we put up with at home, but that we don't really have time to fuss with while driving. I
would never use the PC based stuff anymore unless you have a passenger navigator to fight with the
computer while driving.

In my opinion the Garmin Streetpilot III is an overall excellent unit. It is a good value, has and excellent
display and interface, is small enough to move car to car with no problems, routes on the fly, and gives clear
concise verbal prompts.

Disadvantage exist, example, 1. Map storage capacity limited by size of proprietary memory chip used in
unit. You can get about 1 average state on the 32mb memory module that ships with the unit. 2. The unit
does not come on with the car power, but has to be manually turned on with a button and Garmin's legal
disclaimer must be acknowledged with a button push before the unit fully powers up. 3. Stand alone unit
makes it more of a theft target if not removed from sight.

Advantages: 1. Small size and price, can be bought for around $725 new with maps for one region. 2.
Excellent display and ergonomic common sense interface. 3. Flexible mounting schemes 4. Fairly good
"used" availability.
5. Good customer and technical support. 6. Easily mounts in A6, see tech section under misc. for an
example install.

Other options: All are 2 to 3 times the cost of the Garmin, but Alpine, Pioneer, Clarion, and others have
CD and dvd based navigation systems that output to composite video or RGB displays. I have no
experience with these systems as they do not go car to car readily and are quite a bit more expensive than
the Garmin.

If you just want to toy around with GPS on a trip or two, the PC based programs (like delorme streetmap)
are inexpensive ( $149 for software and hardware) and will get the job done along with your laptop. If you
will use GPS regularly most days, consider the Garmin as it is much more usable and much more user
friendly. It stores in the glove box and can be up and running in 15 to 45 seconds.

The dedicated big boy (high price units) will probably involve changing your radio head unit or at minimum
adding a costly and possibly intrusive separate lcd display to your car. Also a high theft target item.

Good luck, do an Audiworld search for GPS or Garmin GPS or any of the other brands of GPS units and
see what others have to say.