Sat nav help please
 

I am considering buying an in dash navigation system (Alpine), the only
drawback is the price, I have found an online retailer that is a lot
cheaper, but I am not too sure about doing the installation myself. The
headunit is no real problem apart from the speed pulse input.

Two questions if anyone can help.

Has anyone diy fitted one of these systems, and if so where did you get the
speed pulse from? and where did you place the GPS antenna.

Secondly can anyone recommend a good installer in the Swindon area? The
local in car place does not inspire confidence after a bad experience some
years ago.

We have a 1998 Discovery V8 ES Auto.

many thanks

Vernon

Sat nav help please
 

Have you thought about using the Garmin Streetpilot instead of an installed
unit.

I have just purchased a Discovery and have come to the conclusion that this
is a better financial option. You just carry the unit from car to car.

I have used Garmin GPS for a number of years and they are very accurate and
reliable.

I am happy to give you further info on the Garmin units if you do look at
that way. (I am not a sales person just some one happy to help)

Regards,

Ernie
"Vernon" wrote in message
...
I am considering buying an in dash navigation system (Alpine), the only
drawback is the price, I have found an online retailer that is a lot
cheaper, but I am not too sure about doing the installation myself. The
headunit is no real problem apart from the speed pulse input.

Two questions if anyone can help.

Has anyone diy fitted one of these systems, and if so where did you get
the
speed pulse from? and where did you place the GPS antenna.

Secondly can anyone recommend a good installer in the Swindon area? The
local in car place does not inspire confidence after a bad experience some
years ago.

We have a 1998 Discovery V8 ES Auto.

many thanks

Vernon

Sat nav help please
 

"JULIA HASTINGS" wrote in message
...
Have you thought about using the Garmin Streetpilot instead of an
installed
unit.

I have just purchased a Discovery and have come to the conclusion that
this
is a better financial option. You just carry the unit from car to car.

I have used Garmin GPS for a number of years and they are very accurate
and
reliable.

I am happy to give you further info on the Garmin units if you do look at
that way. (I am not a sales person just some one happy to help)

Regards,

Ernie

Please enlighten me some more - I need a unit that gives voice instructions
, not too worried about the map, but it would be useful from time to time.


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Sat nav help please
 

Dear Vernon,

There are two Garmin Streetpilots. They have just bought out a new version
called the Streetpilot 2610. This only came on the market in September and
so is in very short supply. The best price I have seen for this unit is
£975.oo

This unit has a touch screen which is supposed to be very good. You just
touch the screen menu and enter your destination etc and it works out the
route for you. It shows a map and also gives voice instructions as you
drive. I have only read a couple of reviews on this machine but they have
all been good.

This unit like the older one comes with a map of Europe built in but this
map only has main roads. To supplement this it has a CD which has the whole
of Europe to postcode level. This map can be downloaded from a PC to Compact
flash cards which you slot into the Streetpilot giving you street level
detail for any area.

The older version is called Streetpilot III deluxe. This list price of this
unit is the same as the new version but because the new one is here many
stores are now selling this model at a good discount. The best I have seen
this for is £750.

This model does not have a touch screen so everything is entered via keys on
a menu system. Once you spend a little time with it its very easy. This
comes with the same inbuilt main map and you get the same CD of detailed
maps of Europe. The big difference here is that you have to use proprietary
data cartridges to download streetlevel maps and these cost a bomb. However
it comes with one when you buy it and this will hold all of the UK at street
level and these can of course be used time and again so you could get by
with just the one.

So the main differences are the 2610 cost a bit more to buy but uses cheap
Compact flash cards so you could buy a few and download different countries
to each one and cover all Europe. Also more modern technology.

The Streetpilot III is older but very good technology but the data
cartridges cost a lot more. (Over £100 each for 128MB as against about £30
for the same size Compact flash)

Lastly I would point out that the latest version of the mapping software is
version 5. There are a lot of people out there selling machines with version
4 which is not as good and to buy version 5 cost about £100 so beware. Also
do not buy one if it does not have the Atlantic base map. Some dealers get
them from the USA where they are cheaper but they have the USA base map
which is no good for Europe. You can also get street maps of USA, Canada,
Australia and Africa to download to your system so if you go on holiday to
any of these places and hire a car you have your maps with you.

A good place to find further information is the Garmin website
WWW.Garmin.co.uk

Hope this helps you,

Regards,

Ernie

"Vernon" wrote in message
...

"JULIA HASTINGS" wrote in message
...
Have you thought about using the Garmin Streetpilot instead of an
installed
unit.

I have just purchased a Discovery and have come to the conclusion that
this
is a better financial option. You just carry the unit from car to car.

I have used Garmin GPS for a number of years and they are very accurate
and
reliable.

I am happy to give you further info on the Garmin units if you do look
at
that way. (I am not a sales person just some one happy to help)

Regards,

Ernie

Please enlighten me some more - I need a unit that gives voice
instructions
, not too worried about the map, but it would be useful from time to time.


---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.525 / Virus Database: 322 - Release Date: 09/10/2003