Portable GPS in the 996.
01-11-2006, 06:18 PM
#17
Instructor
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Charlotte, NC
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Here's some (blurry cam phone) pics of my Garman i3- hardwired using the original power cord to an additional 12v cig. outlet that I installed behind the dash. Works great. Voice is loud and clear, no blur or glare, auto-adusts for night and daylight, very accurate, and updates available via the web. It also uses as flash card to load the maps on (comes with 128mb). Don't need the mp3 functionality and didn't want a big unit- this one fits the bill perfectly. Plus, I can very easily remove it and put it in a pocket if need be.
01-17-2006, 12:40 AM
#18
Cruisin'
Join Date: Jan 2006
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I was getting some alternator whine from my lowrance unit, which I have hooked up to the aux input on a Porsche CDR-220. I moved the wires some distance, which are now not noticeable, but didn't manage to eliminate the high pitched alternator whine. Oddly, the whine goes almost completely away sometimes, but this may be when the alternator isn't working very hard. I have a Radio Shack ground loop isolator on the aux input wires, and get the noise even when the lowrance unit is off but the radio is tuned to aux. It isn't in the speaker wires -- I only get the sound in the aux setting. Anyone have an idea what else I might try to eliminate it?
01-17-2006, 08:55 AM
#19
Rennlist Member
Originally Posted by Carrera Mike
This is my third GPS, Garmin IQue-3600 amazes me with it's feature and convenience.
You are limited to the amount of maps by the size of the SD card you're running. I'm using a 512 and I can fit Florida and most of the southeast US, including all my marine maps with plenty of room so spare.
01-18-2006, 01:04 AM
#20
Garmin NUVI ($899) just bought is over x-mas. Has the size of a small digital camera...big screen, fits in your car under the rearview mirror....and looks great.
Sorry but tomtom and the other systems are huge and ugly.......this NUVI is small and fits in your back pocket..has MP3 player and photo album build in..not that I ever use these features, but you nver know.....
Sorry but tomtom and the other systems are huge and ugly.......this NUVI is small and fits in your back pocket..has MP3 player and photo album build in..not that I ever use these features, but you nver know.....
01-18-2006, 05:41 AM
#21
Intermediate
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Dallas, TX
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I have the TomTomGo 700. Its great. Very fast. Internal HD. I also painted the face plate to match. Battery lasts 4 hrs so I usually don't use the cord. It also has bluetooth to use as the cell phone hands free.
01-21-2006, 02:08 PM
#23
Cruisin'
Join Date: Jan 2006
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Lowrance iway 500c
Here is a photo of the iway installed in my Cabriolet. It is *much* brighter than the picture suggests, and there is no difficulty reading it in direct sunlight.
As a GPS unit, it is good and bad. The good aspect is that it has everything, is easy to update, and very readable. The top thre bad aspects are first, that it is a bit quirky about freeways. There is a slider control for preferring/avoiding freeways, but it seems very sensitive, either taking you way out of your way to stay on freeways, or, if you move the slider toward avoiding them, staying on surface streets always. There is some hope of a software fix. Tee second problem is that it won't come on with the ignition -- you have to push a button even if the power is switched. The third problem is you have to guess the right category to search for things, and some are hard to find. This, again, could be improved with a software fix. Relative to my wife's built-in Acura GPS, the lowrance unit has more stores, points of interest, etc., is slightly worse on the quality of directions, and way better in the flexibility of maps because the software allows dragging and resizing the maps google-maps-style. The lowrance is a bit slow to find the satellites (2 minutes) and I've ordered a step-up Gilsson antenna which reports say solve this problem entirely.
I attached it to the aux input of the stereo (disabling the CD changer in the process, but with 10MB of MP3s, this is a much better solution). Alternator whine was very difficult to deal with and the imperfect but acceptable solution was to fiddle with the cable routing until the problem isn't too bad (not noticeable at normal volumes). A ground loop isolator made the problem worse, not better. I hid the wires from the unit under the dash, but you can see them emerge briefly on the left side of the photo.
As a GPS unit, it is good and bad. The good aspect is that it has everything, is easy to update, and very readable. The top thre bad aspects are first, that it is a bit quirky about freeways. There is a slider control for preferring/avoiding freeways, but it seems very sensitive, either taking you way out of your way to stay on freeways, or, if you move the slider toward avoiding them, staying on surface streets always. There is some hope of a software fix. Tee second problem is that it won't come on with the ignition -- you have to push a button even if the power is switched. The third problem is you have to guess the right category to search for things, and some are hard to find. This, again, could be improved with a software fix. Relative to my wife's built-in Acura GPS, the lowrance unit has more stores, points of interest, etc., is slightly worse on the quality of directions, and way better in the flexibility of maps because the software allows dragging and resizing the maps google-maps-style. The lowrance is a bit slow to find the satellites (2 minutes) and I've ordered a step-up Gilsson antenna which reports say solve this problem entirely.
I attached it to the aux input of the stereo (disabling the CD changer in the process, but with 10MB of MP3s, this is a much better solution). Alternator whine was very difficult to deal with and the imperfect but acceptable solution was to fiddle with the cable routing until the problem isn't too bad (not noticeable at normal volumes). A ground loop isolator made the problem worse, not better. I hid the wires from the unit under the dash, but you can see them emerge briefly on the left side of the photo.
01-22-2006, 12:46 PM
#24
Drifting
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Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Prince George's County, MD
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So your power cord doesn't pop out after about 30 mins of driving?
I enjoy the 500c thought its the first Portible one I've used I have no idea what's good or bad. I have found that when I go to the screen that shows the Sat signals it seems to lock on by the time I get back to the main screen or by the time I input my destination. It did take me quite some time to lock on when I'm near the Capitol though.
I enjoy the 500c thought its the first Portible one I've used I have no idea what's good or bad. I have found that when I go to the screen that shows the Sat signals it seems to lock on by the time I get back to the main screen or by the time I input my destination. It did take me quite some time to lock on when I'm near the Capitol though.
Originally Posted by prestonmcafee
Here is a photo of the iway installed in my Cabriolet. It is *much* brighter than the picture suggests, and there is no difficulty reading it in direct sunlight.
As a GPS unit, it is good and bad. The good aspect is that it has everything, is easy to update, and very readable. The top thre bad aspects are first, that it is a bit quirky about freeways. There is a slider control for preferring/avoiding freeways, but it seems very sensitive, either taking you way out of your way to stay on freeways, or, if you move the slider toward avoiding them, staying on surface streets always. There is some hope of a software fix. Tee second problem is that it won't come on with the ignition -- you have to push a button even if the power is switched. The third problem is you have to guess the right category to search for things, and some are hard to find. This, again, could be improved with a software fix. Relative to my wife's built-in Acura GPS, the lowrance unit has more stores, points of interest, etc., is slightly worse on the quality of directions, and way better in the flexibility of maps because the software allows dragging and resizing the maps google-maps-style. The lowrance is a bit slow to find the satellites (2 minutes) and I've ordered a step-up Gilsson antenna which reports say solve this problem entirely.
I attached it to the aux input of the stereo (disabling the CD changer in the process, but with 10MB of MP3s, this is a much better solution). Alternator whine was very difficult to deal with and the imperfect but acceptable solution was to fiddle with the cable routing until the problem isn't too bad (not noticeable at normal volumes). A ground loop isolator made the problem worse, not better. I hid the wires from the unit under the dash, but you can see them emerge briefly on the left side of the photo.
As a GPS unit, it is good and bad. The good aspect is that it has everything, is easy to update, and very readable. The top thre bad aspects are first, that it is a bit quirky about freeways. There is a slider control for preferring/avoiding freeways, but it seems very sensitive, either taking you way out of your way to stay on freeways, or, if you move the slider toward avoiding them, staying on surface streets always. There is some hope of a software fix. Tee second problem is that it won't come on with the ignition -- you have to push a button even if the power is switched. The third problem is you have to guess the right category to search for things, and some are hard to find. This, again, could be improved with a software fix. Relative to my wife's built-in Acura GPS, the lowrance unit has more stores, points of interest, etc., is slightly worse on the quality of directions, and way better in the flexibility of maps because the software allows dragging and resizing the maps google-maps-style. The lowrance is a bit slow to find the satellites (2 minutes) and I've ordered a step-up Gilsson antenna which reports say solve this problem entirely.
I attached it to the aux input of the stereo (disabling the CD changer in the process, but with 10MB of MP3s, this is a much better solution). Alternator whine was very difficult to deal with and the imperfect but acceptable solution was to fiddle with the cable routing until the problem isn't too bad (not noticeable at normal volumes). A ground loop isolator made the problem worse, not better. I hid the wires from the unit under the dash, but you can see them emerge briefly on the left side of the photo.
01-23-2006, 05:54 AM
#25
Burning Brakes
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Germany
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I recommend TomTom 500, reason you can place the maps of the USA on a 2GB Card and the maps of Europe on another 2GB Card, makes travel and use of rental cars easy. Also subscribe to traffic update to avoid the traffic jams while traveling and the radar cameras to assist in not getting any tickets. TomTom 700 sounds great but I think it would be the better choice if you only use in USA or Europe could be wrong on that so if anyone travels with a 700 let me know I would love to get one. Thanks 
01-23-2006, 12:45 PM
#26
Has anyone used the traffic functions of the tomtom? It is obviously a cool idea. However from combing gps forums it appears that it is in the infanancy and doesn't work very well. Further, the fact that tomtom doesn't use navteq maps kills it. How good is the nav if it tells you to go the wrong way?
01-23-2006, 12:57 PM
#27
Burning Brakes
Join Date: Oct 2005
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I have only used the Tomtom traffic and blitz camera function in Germany and I can say that it has saved me from several tickets and helped me to avoid traffic jams along Autobahn 3 and 6. I have never used the traffic function while driving I always just check it prior to my departure. Not sure if that helps you.
