Traffic Pro - Are you happy with it???
10-27-2003, 10:54 AM
#16
Burning Brakes
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: PeachState Region, GA
Posts: 775
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Sorry I was out all weekend, so my reply is late. (DE at Road Atlanta!)
I got the Amber display, I had no choice since it was an auction item, luckily I think it is the best color to integrate with the 993 dash, it is a true amber the pictures on the web site appear much more yellow than it really is. Red would be my second choice. (The Red looks very nice in a BMW cockpit).
Yes, the speed sensor can be hooked into the 993 wiring, it allows for speed sensitive volume control (GAL). I'm not completely happy with this feature, the volume doesn't increase on a smooth gradient, but steps up/down at various speeds. You can go to Dr. John Felker's Traffic Pro web page, which links to a PDF file with infornation on how to hook it up:
Traffic Pro Information in Acrobat form
The unit does "speak", the synthesized voice is very good, and almost always sounds quite natural. The voice prompts are the main method of navigation, there really is no map whatsoever, just graphic displays for merge, turn, exit, etc. The voice prompts give you "heads up" info like "bear left in 1.2 miles", so you have time to get in the proper lane without scrambling. The system is quite good and intuitive, but probably not as useful as a unit with a map display AND voice prompts.
Eric, I don't know how many POI's (points of interest) the software has, but remember the data is CD based, not DVD based, so they may be up against a wall to fit any more info on the CD. For my town only one restaurant is listed, useless POI list in that case, it may be more complete for larger cities. It can get you to an address though.
P_Carfan, you've got it all figured out right.
I got the Amber display, I had no choice since it was an auction item, luckily I think it is the best color to integrate with the 993 dash, it is a true amber the pictures on the web site appear much more yellow than it really is. Red would be my second choice. (The Red looks very nice in a BMW cockpit).
Yes, the speed sensor can be hooked into the 993 wiring, it allows for speed sensitive volume control (GAL). I'm not completely happy with this feature, the volume doesn't increase on a smooth gradient, but steps up/down at various speeds. You can go to Dr. John Felker's Traffic Pro web page, which links to a PDF file with infornation on how to hook it up:
Traffic Pro Information in Acrobat form
The unit does "speak", the synthesized voice is very good, and almost always sounds quite natural. The voice prompts are the main method of navigation, there really is no map whatsoever, just graphic displays for merge, turn, exit, etc. The voice prompts give you "heads up" info like "bear left in 1.2 miles", so you have time to get in the proper lane without scrambling. The system is quite good and intuitive, but probably not as useful as a unit with a map display AND voice prompts.
Eric, I don't know how many POI's (points of interest) the software has, but remember the data is CD based, not DVD based, so they may be up against a wall to fit any more info on the CD. For my town only one restaurant is listed, useless POI list in that case, it may be more complete for larger cities. It can get you to an address though.
P_Carfan, you've got it all figured out right.
