nav. system ???

[hardlager13]

what a good if not the "best" nav. system to get. i would like it to have a touch screen. in dash also. fold in or just a screen.

what do you think? its goin to go into a fusion not my cougar.


thanks

[Excelcier]

The Fusion is the same as the Zepher which already has a stock factory installed Pioneer touchscreen Nav system... try to get one and it's a brainless swap in!

[b00t1e]

I currently have an Alpine NVE-N872A. I'm pretty much happy with it. Prior to that I was using a Windows Mobile PDA with Navigation software by Pharos. I cannot speak for other PDA navigation software, but I probably would not use the solution again, unless I was riding in someone else's car. Part of the problems with the PDA solution, you would have to download and pick the maps you plan on traveling ahead of time unless you had a huge amount of storage space. Also, the Pharos software was horrible when it came to notifying you of your next turn, say for example when you got off an exit ramp, it might not tell you to get in the right or left lane until it is too late. You would also have to open up each map you plan on traveling to. So if you were travelling from New York to Virginia, you would want to open up the New York map (which ever section you start out from, NY is split up into multiple maps), the Virgina map, and the US highway map for the Northeast. I haven't found it to be always as reliable.
Now onto NVE-N872A: The Maps come on two DVD's, one with the entire continental US, plus Hawaii. The other with the Northern US and Canada. So unless you plan on driving non-stop from Canada to Florida, having to switch to two different DVD's is not an issue. The software if very good when it comes to telling you turns in advance and will also pronounce the street names. It will even tell you in advance what lane you want to be in on a highway. It uses a gyroscope to determine your direction, a connection to your vehicle speed sensor to determine speed, and a connection to your back up lamp to determine when you go in reverse. This is in addition to using GPS satellites. The extra features are usefull when you are driving in a tunner or a city where the buildings block reception. It also has an address book, a pretty big POI database and Zagat restaurant info, so you can get reviews on Zagat rated restaurants. It also has a microphone for hands-free use, but I haven't grown too attached to that feature. You have to remember what keywords to say, etc. Also it has the annoying legal disclaimer every time it starts up, but I'm sure that is on most nav systems. It also support traffic alerts through XM or Sirius (seperate box and subscription required). I haven't got it yet, still trying to pay off this system. That software has been extremely reliable in CT and NY. There are a few spotty areas in NH where it cannot give you turn-by-turn directions, but it will still have a direct line pointing towards you destination. So you would have to use your own judgement (which roads to turn) to get you the destination. Usually those spott areas were less than half a mile away from the destination. Other people's personal experience (based upon there location) will vary of course. There is no subscription fees just for the navigation (for some reason everybody always asks me that), but you can purchase new DVD's for updated maps, POI and Zagat database. Don't waste your money on buying maps every year, probably 3-5 years would be a good range to update. I can't think of anything else I want to say on it, but I've been pretty happy with it.
Alpine also has a cheaper and slightly less featured GPS solution called the blackbird. Which is just a portable unit you can carry from car to car. What makes this one different is, you can purchase a docking station that is wired to your alpine A/V head unit. When the Blackbird is docked in it, all the video it outputted to the A/V unit.
Both Alpine's solutions require an A/V head unit or atleast a monitor (they are add-on solutions). The NVE-N872A works good with my Alpine IVA-W200, which has touch screen controls.
Sorry I can't give you any opinions on other vendors solutions. If you have any questions that I had lever out about the NVE-N872A, I will try my best to answer them.