With all the hype on nav systems of late, super small, great graphics, voice prompts, I went another direction. After reading many posts on nav in NAM, I went with the Vcom unit (screen less nav).

A fellow NAM member had written a post on how great screen less nav was for various reasons and that systems with screens did have their pitfalls - like taking your eye off the road.

At first I was a little skeptical, but having used the Magellan in countless Hertz rental cars, the fellow NAM member was right on ease of use. The difference is day and night when traveling in LA and using a Vcom vs. a unit with a screen if you need to make a change to another destination on the fly. Now one month after install and where the VCOM beats its competition is being voice activated. Basically it walks you through every step that the Magellan does but with voice prompts vs. keying it in. So many ask me how the computer voices sound – LIKE A HUMAN. The next obvious question was does it understand your words and letters easily? To be honest, at first it was a little difficult to get the unit to understand what I was saying, BUT after a few days of saying the letters at a certain speed – perfect. Since the unit is in a cabrio there also can be some noise issues but if I had a screen unit I wouldn’t be able to see the screen because of the glare. The unit also tells you where to turn well before the actual turn. Some other features that are pretty slick are: 1) you say “where am I” and the unit gives you your location, which way you are heading and how long to destination, 2) “I’m lost” also accomplishes the same, and 3) another huge plus for the system is it goes to sleep until it is needed i.e. you verbally enter you destination, it will advise where you go and will not only speak until needed vs. the countless annoying ‘bings’ the Magellan makes. There are so many more reasons to buy the unit that the best thing to do is a) watch the video on the unit at Advanced Navigation's website or b) try it. If you’re familiar with the Magellan units, the Vcom unit will be a breeze to use with the biggest difference verbal entering vs. keying in the info. Any negative things: the external speaker could be a little louder but for most this won't be a issue unless you're in a cabrio also. The unit is super small so install is a breeze. Ensure the GPS antenna is situated in a good spot or you will run into messages like "there is no GPS signal I will awake when one is available".

Flexibility: you can either buy the hard wire unit, the portable unit, or the combo (hard wire plus portable) so it provides many alternatives as every user is different. Having 3 cars between my wife and me, we hard wired the cabrio with a unit, hard wired the Hummer with a unit but can remove the unit and put it in the Mercedes which has a hard wire harness in it. When we go on a trip, we pop out a unit which takes all of 1 minute and put it in the portable leather carrying case and we’re off.

So what’s the rating on the unit? The unit is outstanding. It will take some practice to familiarize yourself with all the commands and some voice articulation, but after a couple of days use, you will wonder why you needed a screen in the first place. Lastly, if you have questions on how to use the unit, Advanced Navigation’s staff is top notch ensuring your unit was installed properly and they help you through any possible issues. They then follow up to ensure your experience with the unit is a happy one vs. one of frustration. Job well done.

 

I too have the VCOM and the performance is remarkable. I don't leave home without it.

 

You should add in one of MikeyTheMini's nav interface kits... The kit will allow you to integrate your Vcom's voice commands right into your MINI's factory (or aftermarket) radio. The kit will automatically mute the radio whenever your nav system speaks. It's 100% plug-n-play and so you don't have to cut any wires, etc. in order to install it. I'm using one in my wife's MINI and we absolutely love it. The nav voice commands coming out over the factory (or aftermarket) radio are so much louder and cleaner sounding than any external speaker.

Here's a review I did of the nav interface kit if you're interested:

Aftermarket Nav Integration

 

how was the install? i mean the website was not very clear on how things were connected. where did u put the gps antenna? where does the mic go? where does the brain go? i am very interested, but i need a lil more info. any help is appreciated.

 

I use the portable method.The antenna is on the middle of the dash close to the windshield. The mic is on the left sunvisor. When I'm traveling alone the system sits on the passenger seat. You can also hard wire the system and they send you instructions and mounting kit for a slight charge

 

I have a Garmin unit, and I love it about 80% of the time. Looking at the Vcom I love the talking user interface, it really sucks trying to type thing in on a small touch screen. My only issue with the Vcom would be the no screen thing. I find I to look at the screen when stopped at intersections, to get a visual image of where I am going. I would buy one today if it only had a screen.

That said I would love to try one out, test to see if that perception I have about being able to look at the map is there.

Oh the other thing I love at the Garmin is that it gives me my ETA, seems to factor in the traffic speeds of the roads I am going to take as it usually dead on. I have taken 6 hour road trips through local and freeway's and the ETA it gave when I started was about 15 minutes off. The Gas stop was not factored in.