GPS - In dash or External?

[Gumby]

I guess I'm old fashioned.......I still us the atlas to plot my trips.

Me too.

 

[JOHNNIE36]

I like the external Garmin. I never mount it on the windshield, just keep it in the center console and positioned to pick up the signal. If we are going somewhere in the morning I can bring it in the night before and the battery power will allow me to enter the address(s) of our destination(s). Once that's in, I never look at the screen. I simply rely on the voice commands. It's never been wrong. Can't see the money for an indash unit.

My son uses his cell phone as a "Garmin". It's one of those fancy units called a Droid. DW has one also but doesn't know how to use that feature.

 

[SteveR]

My 10 year old MDX came with an internal dash unit that is integral to the car's HVAC functions. I have updated the DVD for the system a few times but the basic system is so dated and slow it is more of an irritation than a benefit. I do have a couple of external units on is an older Garmin Street Pilot that I use mostly in the motor home and a combination unit that has a radar detector and GPS together on a dash mounted unit. It was a Christmas present from DW and it is OK for GPS; not as good as the Garmin but radar traps are everywhere around here and I like to be informed before I get nailed during lulls in situational awareness. And, I like to make good time with the 300 + miles between cities out here so the radar detector is a must...the GPS is nice in unfamiliar area, like when we travel in the motor home and use the car for sight seeing or exploration.

If I had a choice today between a car with or without a dash GPS and all else was the same, I would forgo the dash unit. They do not age gracefully.

 

[W2R]

After reading this thread, I'm glad that I didn't get the in-dash GPS option in my Venza. Apparently it isn't universally preferred among those who have posted.

 

[Alan]

I've had an external GPS for years and reading this thread has concinced me that I never need to pony up $ for a built in GPS.

I like being able to use it in the house and for long journeys I always plot the route on maps and compare it to what the GPS recommends. We can also hook it up via USB to our PC and download maps every year or so.

I find it most useful at journey's end with all the fiddly turns that are needed in city centers etc. Whoever is passenger has fun on multi-day trips looking ahead on the GPS while driving as to the location of hotels and motels, places to eat etc. We have used it in multiple countries and even though we sometimes get rental vehicles that have a built in GPS, having our own familiar model is great.

 

[Walt34]

Like others, I wouldn't pay extra for it given that a new one can be had for ~$100. The built in ones cost at least ten times that much. Are they ten times better? Somehow I doubt it.

 

[samclem]

The internal GPS has one advantage: It may provide a smooth, flat spot on the dash where you can put the suction-cup mount for the newer, better, cheaper portable GPS. And for only $1000.

 

[W2R]

The internal GPS has one advantage: It may provide a smooth, flat spot on the dash where you can put the suction-cup mount for the newer, better, cheaper portable GPS. And for only $1000.

I could be wrong, but it may have been even $2000 extra for the GPS package that would give me that nice, flat spot on the dash plus a couple of other things I didn't want. Either way, that's a bit much, I agree.

Next time we go on a trip and I drive, I should get an external GPS. Sounds like fun!

 

[kombat]

Definitely external, for all the reasons already mentioned.

If I were shopping for a car, I'd view the in-dash GPS the same way I view a house with a pool when house-shopping. As a major downside. The seller will overvalue it, it'll be expensive to repair and maintain, and I'll never use it (because I already have an external GPS unit). Any car with a GPS/house with a pool is automatically excluded from my list of candidates when shopping.

 

[easysurfer]

After reading the responses, I'm surprised that overwhelmingly the reponses favored an external gps. I thought maybe the responses would be more a 50-50 split. I guess to each their own. My sister has a car with a built-in gps and seems to love it. Perhaps one persons satisfaction is another person's pain in the butt.

 

[Katsmeow]

FWIW, I think that the newer one's are better. The big problem is that you while you can update the maps you can't really update the functionality so the newer external ones run rings around a built in one that is several years old. If you keep your cars a long time (we do) then the GPS just gets more and more out of date compared to the external ones.

That said, I'm not sure that standalone external GPS units are long for this world. The smartphones and ipads usually have that functionality as well.

I recently was using my external Garmin which I love and it totally sent me to the wrong place for an address. I was the passenger and pulled out my ipad and it got me there with no problem. The main issue is that I can't see the ipad if I was the driver so the external is better for that.

 

[BigNick]

We have an in-dash unit on the Hyundai which is superb. It also doubles as the audio system/iPod interface, phone manager via Bluetooth, reversing camera display, etc. It has features like being able to look up any business by phone number, which is actually quite useful out in the country where road names may not always work.

For travelling, we have a small Garmin Nüvi 1340. It cost just over $100 and saves us $50 on every car rental - DW is currently renting a car in the UK 3 or 4 days a month as she shuttles back and forth to visit aging parents. It's not as comprehensive as the in-car unit, but it weighs about 6 ounces and goes everywhere.

 

[FinanceDude]

I have a Garmin 1490, with lifetime traffic updates. I love, it blows away the in-dash unit on our Odyssey. It even tracks mileage, tracks your driving habits, gives gas mileage estimates, plots nearby restaurants and gas stations on the road, etc. GREAT tool!!

 

[clifp]

Based on reading this thread and I went out and bought a Garmin 1490. $140 at Costco seems like it will be very useful for this directionally challenged person.

 

[Brat]

My husband is lusting for that too.

 

[MichaelB]

I have a Garmin 1490, with lifetime traffic updates. I love, it blows away the in-dash unit on our Odyssey. It even tracks mileage, tracks your driving habits, gives gas mileage estimates, plots nearby restaurants and gas stations on the road, etc. GREAT tool!!

That's a nice unit. We have a Garmin 680 - an earlier generation - and I like it. Too bad I can't get the new one.

Oh, wait. I can - 'cause its not built in. The price point is getting so low that new units are now less than 2X map upgrades.

It's clear there is going to be lots of functionality added to GPS units. These should be viewed like VRCs in the 70's and computers in the 90's: early functional obsolescence and lots of upgrading.

 

[Brat]

Question folks. Costco in store offering is Garmin 1490T which doesn't have any map upgrades after 6 mo. On their website is a 1450LM with lifetime map upgrades.

When I scroll through the 1450LM reviews there are comments about bad (or less than optimal) routing and insistent voice directions that don't make sense.

What would you choose and are the issues with the 1450 likely to be the same with the 1490?

 

[powerplay]

Question folks. Costco in store offering is Garmin 1490T which doesn't have any map upgrades after 6 mo. On their website is a 1450LM with lifetime map upgrades.

When I scroll through the 1450LM reviews there are comments about bad (or less than optimal) routing and insistent voice directions that don't make sense.

What would you choose and are the issues with the 1450 likely to be the same with the 1490?

I'd take a look at reviews on Amazon to see if you could get some more specifics on what people see as problems with the 1450LM. The lifetime maps sounds like a great feature to have on the unit.

 

[Meadbh]

Lately there have been several cases in which GPS has led people astray when they have placed too much faith in it.

B.C. woman blames GPS for getting couple lost - World - CBC News

They never found the husband....

That said, I am considering a GPS in my next car. But as already noted, it would be just part of the electronics.

 

[Moemg]

I have a Tom Tom that was a birthday present from my SO a few years ago . I use it when I go on my exploring trips or when I travel & rent cars . I considered going for a in dash one on my CRV but that package came with heated seats so I passed on it .

 

[Brat]

I suspected that was the problem with the B.C. couple. There was a family who ended up on a rural road when crossing the Coast Range in Oregon a year or so ago where I suspect the same thing happened. Unfortunately drivers unfamiliar with an area can put too much faith in these tools. I anticipate a discussion with my husband in September about a route through Death Valley.

The difference between the 1490 and the 1450 seems to be Bluetooth. We wouldn't need Bluetooth so I will opt for the lifetime maps offering.

 

[Cato]

External - I like to see the display, it can get really complicated in a city with multiple highways running through the city or for that matter traffic circles. We have a TomTom and I suspect that the cheapness of the external GPS systems only allows them to put a very basic mapping system on which is probably accurate to within 150 feet or so. This simply does not hack it in a city.

Last year we went to Italy and I downloaded the Italian map and downloaded the updated map for North America and it has been faultless since then. Before that it had me driving about 150ft away from the road at times. The Italian GPS map was excellent.

The first GPS (External) we bought was a Magellan and it cost $1000 and the Tomtom about $140, so the difference in price, in my opinion, would influence the quality of the map accuracy. I have an internal GPS in the Ford but still prefer the external unit. DW is a very capable person but navigating makes her very nervous and the external GPS (Maggie) was a Godsend.

 

[bamsphd]

I was an external GPS person, but ended up with a built-in for my CRV two years ago. There are advantages to both. I certainly liked the portability of the external.

However, the built-in has a much bigger screen, which is really nice. It does not block the windshield which is very nice. It does not need to wait for GPS signals to locate itself when you start the car, because it remembers where it was when you stopped the car. That is especially useful in locations without a clear view of the sky, or when you need to know immediately after starting the car which way to turn. Many built-in units can also perform dead-reckoning based on your speed as indicated by the speedometer and direction as indicated by an internal compass. Again very useful when you do not have a clear view of the sky, such as driving through tunnels. It is always there and ready to go within about 30 seconds, which is occasionally very useful. As a built-in model, I don't have to hide the GPS, deal with wires, worry about it flying around the car like a projectile during an accident, or clean suction cup ring marks off the windshield.

On the other hand, by the time I sell the car I'm sure the latest GPS units will have some definite advantages over my current unit, such as better voice recognition. I also dread losing all my car's waypoints. The ability to easily backup and restore waypoints when using an external GPS is definitely a great feature.

The main thing I hate about the CRV's GPS is that it will not accept or report latitude/longitude coordinates. However, lots of external GPS units have the same annoying limitation. The main thing my wife hates is that the CRV's GPS only speaks numeric street/highway names. Her external GPS tries to pronounce all street names. I rarely miss that, as I was too cheap to pay for that feature when I bought my old external GPS.

 

[bamsphd]

I forgot to mention. The best part of the built-in GPS is that it includes a backup camera. That is a luxury that I didn't value highly before I experienced it, but now really love.

Another hedonic lifestyle adjustment to further postpone retirement.

 

[W2R]

I forgot to mention. The best part of the built-in GPS is that it includes a backup camera. That is a luxury that I didn't value highly before I experienced it, but now really love.

Another hedonic lifestyle adjustment to further postpone retirement.

I don't have a GPS in my Venza, but it does have a backup camera. I still don't trust it, but use it anyway as a doublecheck (don't want to run over any neighborhood kiddies or pets).