Aftermarket Navi Unit

[2K5TSX]

Hey guys,

I have a non-navi TSX... and I was considering buying an aftermarket unit this year end. Anyone particular units you find work well? The cheapest canadian unit I've found is going for $239 after discounts.. it's the Mio C310

http://www.marketnews.ca/Uploads_HandsOn/Mio.jpg

This unit is also so small that it might fit in my dask or cd holder... I'll keep you posted if that works. I figure this little silver Navi will look pretty nice in my car... I know Garmin is class leading... but for the price the Mio can't be beat. What you think?

[TSXDude]

For portable units, i like the Pioneer S1.

[narci]

I borrowed my friend's mio C710 when I was in Vancouver. Personally..the thing is crap. Good luck trying to enter a destination or entering cross roads. Actually...good luck waiting on avg 5+ minutes trying to link to satellites. If this thing doesn't have direct line of sight into the sky...it won't get a signal.

Maybe i'm just spoiled by the stock navi and how moct of the time it finds a signal really fast.

[code85]

Get the Garmin brand, it supposed to be rated one of the best gps at affordable prices. pcdawg has one talk to him.

[pcdawg]

I did have a Garmin 320(?) i believe. Got it on sale for $299 cdn plus taxes. Great little unit, expandable SD slot. However returned it after 3 weeks of use. Had a ton of fun with it, but for me just traveling around town, i rarely got lost so I thought there's no use for me to have one as of now. I really wanted the feature of up-to-date traffic reports where it will re-route you if a certain road is blocked due to traffic or accidents. I had downloaded my own POI (toronto attractions, all the timmies, speed traps and red-light cameras, cool feature where it'll beep and warn you to slow down etc)

Its always better to go with a brand name eg Garmin or Tomtom as they will continually have support for the unit and future updates.

I did see this MIO unit and though it does seem pretty good on the spec sheet, i can not judge as i never played with one.

SD card is a MUST as it'll load faster than any HD unit. Screen size, the mio seems to be a 3.5"? Should be clear and very easy to read. I think my garmin was a 2.5 or 3" and though it looked small I had no trouble reading the GPS unit at all as it had clear voice instructions of when to turn or exit.

As for finding a place to mount the unit, i tried different places and the easiest has to be the front window. I tried the CD player area and below and it doesnt work as you ahve to literally look down at the unit and it takes your eyes off the road.

You can mount it like how the pic above shows (A Pillar) my 1st choice. and in the middle just under th rearview mirror. You can push the buttons and drive and still have your eyes in front of you.

[2K5TSX]

You can mount it like how the pic above shows (A Pillar) my 1st choice. and in the middle just under th rearview mirror. You can push the buttons and drive and still have your eyes in front of you.

Well I caved in and bough the Mio C310 since it was such a steal. It will be delived to my work on Monday and I will already have it setup for the drive home. I will post some photos... not sure where i'll mount it yet...the TSX windshield is pretty far away from the driver so I may have to lean a lot to touch the unit....

Total cost... price match with Costco.. $259.00 - $30.00 Staples Coupon = $261.06... it will have the same receiption as a $700 Garmin unit.... so it should work well enough :)

http://www.staples.ca/ENG/Catalog/cat_sku.asp?CatIds=&webid=642979&affixedcode=WW (http://www.staples.ca/ENG/Catalog/cat_sku.asp?CatIds=&webid=642979&affixedcode=WW)

[narci]

Well I caved in and bough the Mio C310 since it was such a steal. It will be delived to my work on Monday and I will already have it setup for the drive home. I will post some photos... not sure where i'll mount it yet...the TSX windshield is pretty far away from the driver so I may have to lean a lot to touch the unit....

Total cost... price match with Costco.. $259.00 - $30.00 Staples Coupon = $261.06... it will have the same receiption as a $700 Garmin unit.... so it should work well enough :)

http://www.staples.ca/ENG/Catalog/cat_sku.asp?CatIds=&webid=642979&affixedcode=WW (http://www.staples.ca/ENG/Catalog/cat_sku.asp?CatIds=&webid=642979&affixedcode=WW)

good luck with your frustrations with the unit.

the garmen would have been a better purchase....much much easier to use.

[2K5TSX]

good luck with your frustrations with the unit.

the garmen would have been a better purchase....much much easier to use.

So far had her for 1/2 month, works really well. No frustations of any kind, works just as I want it to.

For boxing day I also got a price match @ staples which brought the price down to $199 before tax. :)

[narci]

So far had her for 1/2 month, works really well. No frustations of any kind, works just as I want it to.

For boxing day I also got a price match @ staples which brought the price down to $199 before tax. :)

sounds good. have you ever used another type of navi before, especially the TSX's OEM navi? The oem navi is so much easier to use ehnce my frustration with the mio.

[Cyde]

I'm using the V7 Navigation
I love it. only about 150$

It's small considering it has 240x320 screen
it's matte rubbery black, with high gloss piano black trim. Matches my tsx interior.
Easy to use, Tons of features.
Uses teleAtlas software, same as the ones on the pioneer systems.
very portable and
watch movies and
pic, and
listen to music,
track satelites,
2d & 3d views,
very fast and optimal route calculation with processor running at 400 mhz,
runs on a stable Win CE platform i think it's 4.2
too much to list, i'll look it up:
LCD Type - 3.5 Digital TFT LCD
LCD Brightness - 250 cd
Display Resolution - 320 x 240 pixels
Display Color - 16.7M Color Screen
Touch Screen - Enabled
CPU - Samsung 2440 400Mhz
FLASH/ RAM - 32MB Flash/64MB RAM
Storage Type - SD/MMC Plus Memory Type
Storage Capacity - 128MB, 256MB, 512MB, 1GB
Memory Card Slot - Push-In & Push-Out
Built-In GPS Module - Sirf III (SirfstarIII)
Built-In Battery - Rechargeable Lithium-Ion / 720mA
Speaker - 8 ohm, 1 Watts Speaker x 2 (Stereo)
Installation - Windshield-Suction Mount
O/S - Microsoft WinCE.Net Core Version 4.2 Map Application. Update - Internet/CD Map Upload Type - SD/MMC Plus Memory Card
Voice - Voice Prompts
TMC Connection Port - Ear Jack Type 2.5 (4 Pin, RS-232C Interface)
Audio Out Jack - Ear Jack 3.5 (Stereo)
Turn-indicating Lamps - Not Available
WAAS or EGNOS - Applicable
GPS Antenna Tooling - Hinge-Applied Flip Open
Optional Premium Menu - Audio (mp3, wav), Video (avi), Photo (bmp, jpg, gif, png.) Slide Show etc.
Setting - Brightness Adjustment, Calibration, Time Clock, Language Selection etc.
Dimension - 4.4 x 3 x .8
Weight - 5 oz.
2 year Manufacture Warranty
Includes GPS unit, Car Mount, Car Charger, and AC Charger

The picture dosen't do it justice.

[pcdawg]

I hear many people have the mio and tried hacking it but it caused problems here and there. I havent touched that system yet so i cant comment on how good it is, but I would presume as a basic GPS unit for that price is fair.

Cyde, that V7 navi seems pretty interesting. Price point is good and being about to be used as a multimedia unit out of the box is very interesting. I should check that out.

For those that want a very good GPS unit should go for Garmin or Tomtom. Both very good and has support even if the products are out of production.

Did some research and actually the V7 and mio uses the same software.

[Cyde]

I hear many people have the mio and tried hacking it but it caused problems here and there. I havent touched that system yet so i cant comment on how good it is, but I would presume as a basic GPS unit for that price is fair.

Cyde, that V7 navi seems pretty interesting. Price point is good and being about to be used as a multimedia unit out of the box is very interesting. I should check that out.

For those that want a very good GPS unit should go for Garmin or Tomtom. Both very good and has support even if the products are out of production.

Did some research and actually the V7 and mio uses the same software.


I know, They both use the winCE platform, but software is different (but i might be wrong) and yes you can hack it cuz it's CE.net

i have a garmin etrex, Garmin makes good outdooor sports gps hardware, but there sofware and GUI lack a bit to be desired. imo

[MTL-TSX]

You sure the V7 is 150$? Futureshop has it at 400$ What model?

[Akura]

interested in the v7 navigation unit. any news on where to get it at $150?