Navigation/GPS

[SonicEggNogg]

Not sure where this should go, but I thought ya'll might have an opinion on some of this stuff.

Been doing research and playing around with the portable GPS stuff for cars and was curious to know if anyone has had a chance to look at the new TomTom devices that are out. I guess they've got one with iPod integration and bluetooth?

Anyone had a chance to see/use any of those that might be able to offer up some advice? From what I've seen, there's a lot of GPS devices out there, so the help sorting through all that would be a help

[SonicEggNogg]

Thought I'd revisit my question since its been a week or so...(I guess its a good thing I don't need one right now!) anyone have any thoughts on the subject? I noticed Circuit City is selling TomToms with a rebate on them...I think it comes out to about to just under 600 bucks (little pricey for my budget)...

Better prices found?

[rampie]

Hey take a look at www.nav4all.com. They have free gps software which is downloadable from their site. And the device that you need for it costs under the $100. It could save you a lot of money

[starples]

I haven't used any of the tomtom devices, but I'll tell you that the garmin touchscreen (~600) that we bought last year has been great.

The other experiences I've had with car-based gps have been on my business travels (2-3 cities/week) - I tried a bluetooth gps contraption with my dell axim PDA. It was cheap, and when it worked I had few complaints... but the bluetooth was weak and always seemed to have problems pairing when i was in a rush and really needed it. Not sure if that was due to my PDA or the device.

I've switched to renting the neverlost system that hertz has in some of its cars. Works great, the keypad entry system is intuitive, etc.

We wanted something for my wife's car, and the garmin has been excellent. Easy to use, free software update (think operating software only - map updates still cost money), USB mini port built in for those xfers, and easily stowable. Of course, that's only a plus if you actually stow it - in-car GPS is a new favorite for parking lot thieves.

Sorry no experience with the more advanced features that you mentioned.

starples

[SonicEggNogg]

Thought that I would point out this release that was posted by DTrends this week (I think) about Sat/Nav systems- it's specifically about the Tele Atlas map data/program that works with TomTom's and Pioneer systems...

http://news.digitaltrends.com/article10442.htm

Tele Atlas Upgrades Map System Phonetics

Digital mapping company Tele Atlas announced today that the newly-available Pioneer AVIC Z1 in-car GPS-based navigation system on the TomTom Go 910 incorporate new phonetic data from Tele Atlas to improve the quality of speech technology used by the systems.

If you've ever used an in-car GPS or similar device with speech synthesis capabilities, you've probably had a few laughs�or been seriously frustrated�at the systems' pronunciations. Unique local place names are often pronounced phonetically, often with little resemblance to how residents say them. (In the Puget Sound area, for instance the town of Sequim is pronounced "skwim," and Puyallup is "pyoo-al-up;" where I grew up, towns with staunch Italian-looking names of Verdi and Genoa are pronounced "verd-eye" and "ja-noh-uh."

Tele Atlas's phonetic data wsa created by the company's in-house team of linguists, and claims to be the most complete set of pronunciation data available for street and sign name information, all levels of municipalities, points of interest, and other items.

"Voice enabled maps improve route guidance because they are easy to useand understand," said Basak Ozer, Tele Atlas's Global Product Marketing Vice President. "This move is an important component of our strategy to deliverenhanced solutions to partners wanting to develop map-based systems withever more natural and dynamically generated system-to-user dialogue."

Of course, Tele Atlas's claims really make me want to take one of these systems to Wales for some "research."