Is it worth it?

 

I don't have it,but I don't live in a big metro area.I could see it being useful if you did though.

 

when I ride in my friends Acura TL I get kind of jealous that his has NAV... but then I find that I am having so much fun behind the wheel (he is not...) that I don't even notice! Who cares if I get lost?

 

A Navigation system is a nice thing, but you have to understand that as a high tech gizmo, it will probably be obsolete in 5 months. The people who bought Nav systems which take CD's will feel bad when they switch to DVD. The people who buy DVD systems will feel bad when they switch to microdrive. They will be pissed when they switch to instant satellite update. Odds are, by the time you are ready to trade in the car, the Nav system will be a joke. If you understand that it is a $2000 feel good item for a very short time - go for it. I feel that it is a complete waste of money. If you don't know where you are going, take a cab. If you want a high tech fix, put in a head unit with a TV.

 

I have it in my Lexus and love it, but when it came to the Mini I just loved the looks of the big speedometer in the center so I just use the map pocket in the door for a map. :smile: Just don't ever get lost and you'll be fine

 

I find it VERY helpful - and also just fun to have. It really impresses your friends too.

Here's a scenario where it earned it's keep: I live in NJ which has a complex road system. I've only lived here 8 years, 2 with the NAV. I went up North on a rainy night & the Garden State Parkway flooded out - right in the section I normally drive home through. I didn't know any other way home! I set the nav to "avoid toll roads" and she guided me around the problem. Once I knew I was past the flooded part, I switched back to "shortest route" and she guided me back to the GSP. Saved me alot of time that I would have spent sitting in a traffic jam.

It's also nice for estimating time to destination. Plus having the nav moves the speedo to the steering column, which I also prefer.

My only gripes are:

1. Too expensive for what it is - if you want $1600, then put a faster processor in it.

2. The latest firmware works great, but they took away the british female voice. Now I have this nasaly US female voice. Give me back the british voice dammit!

3. I have the older Cd version - costs too much to get the maps from other regions...

Overall, if I were to go back and order the car again - I'd still get the nav.

 

I did not get the nav in-car, but I did get a portable unit that I can move from car to car and I love it.Magellan GPS It has everything loaded in it, no changing DVDs or downloading maps, plus you can move it to your friend's cars. Plus a lot cheaper, I think you can find it for $900 or so.

 

I put a Y2k Alpine DVD nav in my '99 M coupe. That thing ROCKS even four years later. Then again I live in LA so when I find myself in such places as Compton it is nice to be able to drive and have someone telling me where I should be going. Also, just this weekend I was picking up someone that lives 9 miles away from my new place that I had no clue how to get to. No problem finding it with the best female (voice) co-pilot ever. I tried finding my way back from that maze of streets on the hill at 2am and had to pull over and pull the NAV out.

Now for the #1 reason that I LOVE navigation. Ever have a girlfriend/wife/mother/sister/friend (drunk or otherwise) try giving you directions? Notice how it seems as though that you get the verbal announcement of an upcoming turn 4 lanes on the wrong side of traffic +/- 100 feet of the exit? Nav fixes the inevitable "you idiot that's where you had to get off" response from the co-pilot. When you do make a less than optimal route decision the navigation lady just recalculates the route and sends you updated instructions without taking verbal jabs at you.

Now the 1 step better that will hopefully be out in a few years is the Sat Nav that has accident/traffic/construction alerts which will be awesome. Then again there is always NAV TV + you can just add an aftermarket nav system that uses the stock screen as a display. When my MINI finally gets on the ship and out to CA I'll be using its NAV a lot.

Patrick

 

In Los Angeles, I find my NAV is indispensible and I've had it for 3 years and it's not obsolete at all. (same system as my first MCS-totalled) Having an alternate route at your fingertips is extremely helpful when the freeway locks up..which is always...

The Dentist is just a sour puss.:smile:

My problem is that I have a mid West US CD and can;t find the West and Hawaii CD I had with the first system. Are these copyable?..I know that would be illegal .
But I have this Midwest/Central US that's not good to me here.

Please PM me if you have a West Coast CD.

thanks

 

A friend out here (z3bum) told me about his aftermarket nav system... (about $1200) called a vCommand (you can google that). I got in the car and was trying to figure out where the screen was... and there is none! It just talks to you! After I got over the shock, I decided it is the coolest nav system ever.

You don't have to type anything in at all... it's completely voice activated. And it didn't have any trouble with his voice (and he said it didn't have to learn it either). It can be hardwired (extra charge), but it normally just comes in a bag that supposed to fit under the seat (not sure if it would in a MINI though). I like the idea especially because I could take it with me if I wasn't in my MCS. It doesn't run on DVD or CD. It's got a hard drive & it's easy to update I'm told.

The whole part about it not having a screen is supposed to be better since you really should be playing with typing stuff on a bitty screen while trying to drive. The system will find gas stations, specific name places like "nearest McDonald's" as well as addresses.

Anyhow, just another option to consider...

 

I have to start by saying I got my mini as the best business writeoff, ever. I am in outside sales. My mini gets double the mileage (when I can keep my foot out of it ) of my other car and is just plain fun.

The DVD based nav is quick enough. It is a bit of a pain to put the addresses in (one **** to scroll to each character until there are limited choices), and of course it is not perfect (some addresses haven't been mapped, some roads have been changed due to development, and sometimes the "fastest" route really isn't), but it helps a lot when I have to go from client to potential client. I don't have to depend on some receptionist's version of directions, and like someone mentioned, it gives you ample notice of turns & will even remap you if you went the wrong way (my favorite is, "If possible, make a legal u-turn."). My kids have named her Eleanor (from the movie, Gone in 60 Seconds), and as a gadget freak, it's just plain cool.

I've even heard of a few (girls) that wanted it because the two guages on top of the steering column are reminiscent of Mickey Mouse. (...Whatever)

So get it. If you thought it would be at all neat, or cool, you will appreciate it.

I'm even going to replace my head unit with the Pioneer AVIC-N1 so I can have 2 views, and a more intuitive system for looking for specific locations (and the voice command is a gadget I just have to get).

 

I love the NAV. I use it a lot more than I thought I would. Even just driving around town, it's fun to find new routes to old places.

Sometimes I find myself driving around aimlessly, just because I can.

Think about it -- You will NEVER get lost ever again!! So, yeah it's worth it.

 

I have the Nav in my 04. I love it. I works really good over here in Germany.

 

I have the CD based Nav, other than being incovienent when I head to a different region. I'm satisfied, and would order the system in my next car.

My main gripes with the system had to do with map coverage. The CD that came with the car in early 2003 was very poor. However the map data has since been updated and coverage is significantly better.

I also have Alk Co-Pilot live on a PDA for my other car, it does a decent job, but I've got cables everywhere. Plus I have to remember not to leave the PDA in the car so that it doesn't get stolen. That's not a problem with the factory system.

 

[/QUOTE]I'm even going to replace my head unit with the Pioneer AVIC-N1 so I can have 2 views, and a more intuitive system for looking for specific locations (and the voice command is a gadget I just have to get). [/QUOTE]
Is it an easy swap for this unit? they're all over eBay...

 

I love my NAV so much that when I am in another car I find myself looking where it would be to see how far till the next turn.

I love my NAV, and the only thing that would make me not get on in my MINI is that with a removable one in a Palm Pilot or some such could be moved with me to another vehicle.

 

Spoken like someone that doesn't have it.

I got it, for the few extra bucks it cost a month on my loan its definately worth it. Lost? Want to find a resturaunt or the phone numbers to where you are going its worth it. Plus its got that cool JB 007 factor .


But if believe as Joe does, don't by a mini the 06 will be better oh..wait the 07 should be even better...or wait the '15 will be hydrogen...and have 300 horsepower...


Its a luxury item, its fun AND useful, but if you still haven't but a dvd for your home because your afraid will be obsolete in the future...don't buy it.


Paul

 

Consider this:

- She told me where the store was, but I didn't listen.
- She said exactly where the soccer field was, but I didn't listen
- I have never played this golf course before, it must be around here somewhere
- How close can I get to the end of the runway?
- Is the SONIC on the north or the south side of the road?
- HOW many miles to Santa FE?
- If we don't want to take the Interstate, is there another way?
- and more.

Use your imagination. It is not a necessity, but then, neither were cell phones until we found time and labor saving reasons to use them.

Get it. You won't regret it.

 

The arguments about it becoming obsolete are just stupid. If it's useful, it will continue to be useful no matter what 'better' products come on the market. I'd like to also say that if better stuff is coming out soon, I sure haven't heard of it - there haven't been many huge advances in navigation technology since it first started showing up in cars. The DVD thing is a plus, so that's one, but I doubt you'll see many huge changes in nav systems in the next 5 years.

But my point is that even if newer cars did start coming with much better stuff, who cares? My old car, Audi A4, had a very simple, basic nav system, but that was the point of it. No big LCD, just a small LCD in the gauge cluster that was easy to look at, really easy to enter data into, and was always spot-on with directions. I knew there were 'fancier' systems out there with big color LCD's, etc, and I know a lot of Audi people who frowned on Audi because they weren't providing that option at the time, but I loved the system I had because it worked great nonetheless, did nothing more than I needed, and nothing less.

That being said, I think for the cool factor it'll be neat to have a map view and nice big LCD in my new MINI, but I know I don't need a map view, although I'm sure it will be nice from time to time. Point is, if newer products do start coming out, it doesn't affect my usage as long as the product I do have and am satisfied with continues to work and be supported. Worrying about always having the latest and greatest is just a backwards keeping-up-with-the-Joneses-type attitude. Who cares?

-mike

 

Don't forget:

- Well looks like 5 light cycles to get to that left turn..... or I can turn into this neighborhood that lets out on the street I need to get to.

 

Which reminds me, they went to DVD last year. I've yet to hear anybody complain over that change. I was complaining, but that was because my dealer told me I was getting a DVD system and not the CD system.

However, do I think my system is obsolete. Hell no.

You really will get two differening options about the NAV or any other tech gizmo.

There's the: It's a waste, I could do better with a map, why spend the money camp... These are usually the people who don't have it...

Then there's the: Love it, would get it again camp... They're the ones that bothered to buy it in the first place.

Bottom line, if you're considering getting it, then do it... Don't bother asking people's opinion. You know the saying about opinions... They're like mosquitos, they're all over the place, and none of them are worth crap...

 

Good advice.

I have three Nav systems that I use for flying, boating and whatever. One of them is a color moving map system, that can sit on the instrument pannel. It works great, unless you decide to follow the next curve in the road, then it slides off the shelf and winds up in the farthest corner of the floor.

The in dash system is the way to go. Most of the new things happening in GPS are aviation related. This is because there are more things that can be done with systems in airplanes. None of this relates to cars. I do not need terain avoidance, approach vectoring, E5 calculators, airport data, and a lot of other stuff that is just showing up in aviation systems. For 2D navigation, I need to know where I am and how to get where I want to go. The MINI systsm will do than. In some cases I need to see a map. the MINI system will do that too. A case can always be made for waiting for the next evolution. Of course while you wait you are not getting the use of the equipment. It is like a computer. if you want/need one you just bite the bullet and get it. Will it be obsolete in 6 months? Not if it still does what you need it to do.

While I am not unbiased (I just ordered one in my new MINI) I would say go for it.

The paper map guys will be sitting on the side of the road trying to re-fold their maps while you motor on to your destination.

Drive Safe
Phil

 

Since everyone else is giving their $0.02, here's mine! The navigation is great. I got a "clip-on" Ipaq (PDA) with a NavMan GPS sleeve and I love it. I opted for a clip-on because:

1. I love the center speedo
2. I can move it between cars
3. I can update the software (and hardware) easily

And while it may not have every gas station, restaurant, etc. in its database, it's easy enough to enter in an address if need be. Plus, you can use it to save driving routes! (Foe example, I just saved a run I went on earlier today. I can now recall it and drive the same run!)

Here's a pic of my install.

-Paul!