Okay, I'm a sucker for a deal, and my nav is sadly in need of a $69 update.

So, to save money, I just spent a bucketload (but a lot less than most fancy Navs) on a new nav that has everything from soup to nuts. It's a DASH unit, and it has so many features to give you info, wifi, searches, instantaneous traffic and detours, personalizable favorites of your particular work route - it's an amazing toy. Give me interactive, and I'm a happy camper!!

http://www.trafficgauge.com/device_dash_glance.html

Oh, and I downloaded their free software a while ago, didn't use it, but they still sent me that offer for $100 off. Very cool. Here's the free software:
http://www.trafficgauge.com/online_xp.html

Anyone have this already? I'd love to hear from you while I'm in my "moneyback" stage if you don't like yours.

 

Cheri,

I've heard of this outfit but haven't read any reviews. Also so I don't know the level of popularity that this company has compared to Garmin or Magellan or Tom Tom.

Which brings me to concern 1): As long as the there are enough users around you or in the same area, you should get true speed representations. But if there isn't anyone with the same device, how does the traffic report work?

I didn't listen all the way through the you tube video so It may have answered my next concern 2): Is this a subscription service?

 

The reviews I've read so far show really positive points, with one or two caviats. The biggest deal is it uses the cell network to do web-searches and software downloads. There is a 10/month subscription, which covers map and software updates. It gets traffic info from multiple sources, not just other units.

 

I listened to the video. I like the internet connectivety and the alternate route feature -

This can be an advantage over the traditional GPS in the convuluted grid that is known as the LA county highway system. Before we left Irwindale, I checked for directions on my PDA w/google maps, for the correct route to take home: 605 south to 5 South (straight shot). Then did it on the Garmin Nuvi :605 South to 60 East to 75 south to 5 South

Cellular cost to get the real time connectivity would be a concern and you would have to determine if its worth it. How does that work? Can you pay for the internet/data usage only - ie add it as an addendum to your cell phone contract ?

example of my costs (apples and oranges comparison - but you would get an idea):
I don't have a smartphone yet, because I'm unwilling to put all my eggs in one basket (plus the usage cost/month would be higher but fasteraccess than what I have now). I do have have a phone w/ bluetooth and a separate PDA w/ Bluetooth and wifi. I can connect to the internet on the PDA via the phone. It's slower than DSL but fairly low cost for unlimited data usage @ $20 added to my cell phone bill. If I decide to go with a 3g smartphone and do away w/the standalone PDA my cost/mo would be $40 more than I pay now. I'm not willing to do so until I find a device that is as flexible as my seperate PDA & cell phone.

 

From what I can see the subscription fee covers all data transmission for the device. It will first look for open wifi, then switch over to the cell GPRS I think. It's not attached to any phone contract, thankfully. Our phones can do internet and I tried that for a while, but it was slow, and for the most part annoying so I dropped the feature. We'll let you know how well it works and if it's worth the cost. I also wonder if you let the contract lapse if the gps just stops working.