Navi Units

Reeper27 · July 30, 2007

So I sat back in my bed today, cause I in the army and deployed to Iraq and don't have a desk or a couch, Grabbed my computer and started looking for a new deck for my truck, and I started looking at Navi Decks. Now are they really worth it, there are so many nice functions that get blocked as soon as you put it into gear and start driving, and the price tag is so much that is it really worth it. I mean is it worth spending 1500 plus for a Navi Unit and be rolling down the road decide to go somewhere else and have to stop somewhere to get into the right menu to change your route. Yeah they are some people working on some hack mods to bypass the units, but they are still a pain. So let me know what the rest of you think. Me personally I am just gonna get a Pioneer video unit and put their Vechiel Dynamics Prosscer on it cause it shows grids and a lot of other cool things.

Paul58 · August 1, 2007

I have a TomTom 300 I use the crap out of, so much so that when my wife bought her new car she got the factory Navi. Let me tell you, my $300.00 TomTom beats the crap out of her $2000.00 factory Navi system, it can't even find our house and we've lived there for 4 years! So, before you invest, check out the reliability and accuracy of the system. The system in my wife's car is made by Alpine, and it sucks! Eclipse makes a head unit that incorporates the TomTom One into the system, and it's removable so it can be used in another vehicle or independent of the system. I believe the whole system goes for around $800-$900 and is available through Crutchfield's and Circuit City. If I were to get an after market Navi unit, that's the one I'd go with! Here's a picture I found on Circuit City's web site:

Eclipse In-Dash/Portable Navigation with CD Receiver (AVN2210P)

05Quadrasteer · August 1, 2007

I put the Kenwood DDX-6019 with navi and sirius radio into my truck last year. I am so glad that I did it.

As for being able to use the navi without stopping it only takes grounding out one wire. Not sure where you heard it is a hack job to make it work.

Be safe over there and come home safe. I spent a tour up in Afghanistan and one in Iraq.

Have a nice day.

Bill

Paul58 · August 1, 2007

Neither the wife's factory Navi nor my TomTom require we stop to change destinations! She was looking at a Toyota and the reason we didn't buy the Toyota is because it won't allow you to input a new destination or change a destination while your moving, a really dumb feature if you ask me. The Toyota salesman said it was a safety feature and stopped you from being distracted while driving. I told him that's why I have a passenger, and I would rather take my chances changing destinations on the fly, than get creamed by a Semi sitting on the side of the road playing with my Navi!

August 2, 2007

If you're always going from Point A to Point B and back then you don't need a NAV. Otherwise I'd say go for it. I have a factory TNR in the Yukon and a Kenwood DNX7100 in the Vette. The Kenwood blows the TNR away AND plays DVDs as well. If you are on the fence I'd say get either the Alpine DVD head or the Kenwood 6xxx or 8xxx series DVD systems. You can add the NAV units to those later if you want.

Good Luck and Stay Safe.

Pro Street · August 3, 2007

I have a Pioneer D3

Puckolio · August 7, 2007

I put in the factory touch screen nav in my '05 Crew Cab and I love it. I had a Yukon Denail before that had the Navigation as well. For me the factory look was worth the price.

Also, in regards to the feature lock out, I added in a VSS kill switch that lets me fool the radio into thinking i'm

not driving. I wired the switch to the inside of my center console for a clean look. All I needed was a $1 switch from radio shack and it does the job just perfectly! Push the button one time to unlock the radio, then one more time to go back to normal.

Finished Installation:

VSS Cutoff Switch:

Wingnut · August 11, 2007

I agree with getting an aftermarket one. My factory NAV drives me batty.

If I didn't mind a big honkin' box on my dash, I'd be all over one of those TomTom jobbers too. They're nice.

soundobsessed · August 15, 2007

So I sat back in my bed today, cause I in the army and deployed to Iraq and don't have a desk or a couch, Grabbed my computer and started looking for a new deck for my truck, and I started looking at Navi Decks. Now are they really worth it, there are so many nice functions that get blocked as soon as you put it into gear and start driving, and the price tag is so much that is it really worth it. I mean is it worth spending 1500 plus for a Navi Unit and be rolling down the road decide to go somewhere else and have to stop somewhere to get into the right menu to change your route. Yeah they are some people working on some hack mods to bypass the units, but they are still a pain. So let me know what the rest of you think. Me personally I am just gonna get a Pioneer video unit and put their Vechiel Dynamics Prosscer on it cause it shows grids and a lot of other cool things.

Hey man, the navi systems can be a toss up, you really gotta do your home work to get the best product. JVC and Pioneer have both come out with some rather nice navigation options over the last recent years. JVC has a new deck that is still smaller than most of the current options yet bigger than a regular HU. check out the JVC KD-NX5000 and the Pioneer AVIC-N4. I believe they can both be modded, not sure though.

good luck, thanks for serving in the US Army

AgDoctor · August 15, 2007

I have the tom tom 510 and i love it. i promise you this, you'll be glad you have one if you find yourself wondering which route is best. with that said it can be a little wrong sometimes, by that i mean it is a machine and it has seetings. such as shortest route, fastest route, and several others. i took its advice a couple weeks ago and i knew my way home from a long trip but decided that tomtom might know a better route. i put it on fastest route, it turned out to be shorter but not faster, an extra 40 minutes. in general it is usually right on though. i like the tomtom because you can save favorites, i use mine for work. bluetooth is cool too on it for hands free phone use.

99Silver6.0 · August 18, 2007

Pioneer D3 FTW! Use nav alot mroe than I thought I would.

-Devil- · August 18, 2007

biggest thing making me not get one .. is every ride i have sat in that has one ... 75% of the areas i travel ... it either has the wrong maps (or every inaccurate data) ... or it can't even aquire a signal ... (for factory peices, and some aftermarket ones i have drove around in for almost a day with them, to have it 'guess' where i am located and have me over a mile off course .... )

jcs113 · August 19, 2007

I put the Pioneer D3 in my 06 Silverado as well. For the price it has everything a nav really needs. The ipod interface is perfect. Having a 30 gig hard drive at the touch of the screen is awesome! If you have video on your ipod it allows for that to be displayed on the screen as well. Backup camera, rear video outputs, etc. I have sirius but the D3 is capable of receiving instant traffic updates with XM NavTraffic if a guy wanted to go that route..

As far as 'Was it worth it?' To me it was. I have been wanting this type of setup for a long time. Definately wasn't worth spending another 1k for just a few more options tho..

Anyway, here's how it looks:

And as for the accuracy of the maps.. well i live in ND so I have been quite impressed at the detail. It does display a railroad track going through the middle of the town that hasn't been there for like 30 years, but other than that everything is pretty spot-on.

Oh, and i should mention that just like the factory nav, it IS a fixed design (i.e. doesn't fold down) which really was my deciding factor for this unit. I seem to have bad luck with winters and small mechanical parts...

One more thing, the 'hack' to get all the menus available while in motion is VERY simple to do on these, just check out what the guys over at avic411.com have found and I'm sure they will have solutions to any questions.

Have a nice day.

WEFs99 · August 19, 2007

The Denso NAV in GM and Toyota vehicles is totally useless. Factory built-in looks nice but that is all. In the '07 Vette, when I do need some navigation, the NAV plays MP3's and a Garmin Nuvi 650 guides me. Garmin is the reliable way to go.

05Quadrasteer · August 30, 2007

Just to add one more benefit to a nav system. The first trip we took with it my wife wanted to stop at a Hardee's in the morning for a biscut sandwich, well hit the right buttons and it shows me where the closest Hardee's is only a mile off the highway. Without it we would have not know it was there, wife was happy and it was a pleasent ride the rest of the day. She no longer questions me about why I installed the navigation system. Now she keeps asking me when she is getting one in her vehicle.

Have a nice day.

Bill