On the dash it'll be fine. Where I've got mine mounted, however, the reception is lacking.

 

That is why I was thinking about a dash top/winshield mount get that onboard antenna to where it will do its job. Still some of those stalk mounts look nice.

 

check the prices on cnet price review. $619 for 700

 

I have the Magellan 700 in the MINI and an Lowrance Iway 500 on the dash of my motorcycle. Both work well for me.

The Lowrance is supposedly waterproof which is an advantage for the motorcycle. It also has an MP3 player and has an aux output that will plug into a standard mini plug. I used it to listen to MP3's on the bike.

It is a much larger screen than the 700, so not sure how well it would would on a Panavise mount. It also has a large heat sink on the back.

One thing the Iway has that I like is automatic scaling. As you go faster, the screen scale automatically increases (the display shows more area) and as you slow, it shows less.

 

I just went to Pricegrabber.com and it is very easy to compare brands and features.

 

Downloaded the manual for the Garmin C340, one thing I didn't like is you can only enter ONE "via point" or stop to your route. The 2720 says you have a lot more, that might be impt. on trip planning...

 

You can get around the one point on trip planning just by entering multiple destinations. Not exactly the same, but it will work.

 

BTW, I see more TomTom commercials on TV lately.

 

I have to admit that a TomTom commercial was the thing that inspired me to get a better nav than my Ultradata Town & Country.

 

 

What about this:



http://www.garmin.com/products/quest/

The Garmin Quest. I have one as a car/bike/scooter nav computer. It's so cool, small, and can even be taken on trips to other countries! It's great for riding bus transportation in Europe, you always know where you are. In a car, it comes with a neating mounting system, 12v power and a programable voice for directions. I have it set for the English lady, especially appropriate for the MINI. Thought for my Z3, I have thought about reprogramming the voice to German! Retail price is $449 with cables, mounting bracket, charger, etc, but you can get them on Ebay or Yahoo shopping for much less. Garmin support is fantastic, and they even sent me a free upgraded map CD this summer to pick up all the new roads! It's very cool.

 

Does anyone have any of the multi media units that replace's your radio. It seems then you can use it for radio, cd's, navigation ect. I see that there is a thread on mini2 and some people have some really sharp units without a lot of extra brackets hanging everwhere. I hate that clutter.

 

I think you're talking about something like the Pioneer AVIC-N2 or in the same family at least...

There's a few people that have them, although honestly I'm not a big fan of them for use in the MINI (or in general for that matter)... First when the display unfolds it flips up and blocks a portion of the speedo... Second for not much more money (AVIC-N2's still go for $1200+) you could have ended up with the factory system and not had to deal with things like blocked gauges or a display that in reality is outside of your normal sightlines...

 

But there is one HUGE advantage to that unit ... you can add the XM traffic reports to it and it will automatically route you around all the traffic Jams in all major US cities.

The price has come way down since its been out a year now.

Disadvantage is the screen covering lower part of speedo but does anyone really look at that? Seriously? I just look at the digital speedo. Sweet unit. A bit pricey but the traffic thingy is priceless!

 

The street price has come down, the $1200 seems to be the low end for an AVIC-N2 on e-bay although MSRP from Pioneer is still $2200 and that's without the XM tuner which is an optional add-on.

Pharos offers an add on to their Ostia software that will do the same... Tether a PDA up to phone and you get the same thing, for less money and a significantly easier install... Plus if you're a Sirius user the XM feature isn't a benefit.

Alk was testing a similar service for Co-Pilot Live although they seem to have discontinued it... It might be something that is coming in CO-Pilot Live 6...

Honestly I've had an in-dash system (MINI OEM) and now have a PDA based one, and I prefer the flexibility and additional usable of the PDA based system to anything else out there. I use a converged device (phone/PDA) the nav software just adds more flexibility to an already usefull device for me.

I really like the TomTom Go and the Magellan systems, I know Garmin also makes reliable devices as well... However for as much (and in some cases less than) one of those devices I have something that I get a significant amount of use from when I don't need it for navigation...

And yes, I do use the main speedo, rarely do I use the digital one... I prefer to keep that on range and not speed... Plus the digital speedo is only on MY '04s and newer, it's not available on the MY 02 and 03's....

 

For the price of one of these you may as well go ahead and purchase the Factory nav. Plus you can't take from car to car without major headaches.

 

Well I guess I'm in a little different boat. I have a deposite on the forth coming JCW GP and it seems it will be coming with a standard radio and no nav. I thought this may be an easy way to kill two birds with one stone. It would give me an upgraded radio and the nav in one clean package at probably less than the HK and factory nav.

 

Keep in mind though, the HK includes an amp and upgraded speakers... While the AVIC-N2 is just the HU, no speaker upgrade or amp...

 

$400 rebate now plus whatever low price you can get if you get the XM tuner part with it.

No, it has an internal AMP 4 x 22 Watts. Not sure what the HK produces. It does't need an exteranal amp.

 

First quarter 2006 is what i'm told on the Razr V3 for Verizon (I work at a cell phone store). I would imagine they're pushing for a pre-christmas release. Also off topic, I wouldn't recommend this phone, we've had too many issues with it and the mic and ear-piece suck on it (you can hear EVERYTHING that's going on in the background... my friend has one and I can't hear a word he's saying, then again, he can't hear a word i'm saying cause the speaker on it sucks!)

Sorry for the hijack

 

I love my Razor. Its a schick

 

I have a Garmin eMap that works perfect just sitting in the cup holder, but want to upgrade. I see that z3man likes his quest. Any one else use this unit?

Z3man, can you use the full screen mode and do away with the data on the right? Also how have you mounted this unit. I don't want a bunch of wires running round the car.

 

Sorry I got the name wrong. Guess I was just trying to change your status.

 

Did I read that right, 263 Wheel HP? My better half wants a razor, but I just don't see her needing a phone that expensive just to talk to little ol' me... What she wants, she usually gets though!

 

236 wheel HP. I have a Mini Madness Stage 4 kit with a custom exhaust, custom gearing, quaife limited slip, and I believe the dyno was done on a dyno with slightly optimistic testing results. I would be leaning more towards 225 Wheel HP, or around 260 Crank HP.