I passed up the slick infiniti nav beacuse of the high price (2k), but realized that for less than a tenth of the price I could get nav by adding a gps module to my pocket pc (about $180). Even if you don't have a pocket pc you are still looking at less than $600 for both parts and you walk away with a device that can also do everything from tracking your car's maintance, to showing pictures of your car, mainitining your budget, turning channels on your tv, and playing pac man while the dealer changes your oil.
I'm sure it's not as good as the infinti nav but you still get maps, directions, off route, points of interest, voice directions plus it's compact if you want to dash mount. It probably just handles a more specific radius that you have to plug in, but the upside is that you can take it out of the car if you want to...say....walk around a big city you arent' familiar with.
So is the infiniti nav worth the extra 1.8k?

Check out one of the many products at: http://www.pharosgps.com/

 

Worth Every Penny! IMO

 

There are alot of good, budget nav items out there. But keep this in mind:

You're probably spending $600 up front. I'm spending $2000 over 5 years at very low interest. It'll be at least a year and a half before I've spent as much as you, not counting inflation and whatever profit I can make on investing that $600, and I'll have the far cooler system to boot. I'm also getting a better warranty and drive-up service. Finally, my Nav will add to the re-sale value of my car. You can probably put your budget nav on ebay, but I have no idea for what those will sell. And you've got a buyer/seller relationship to deal with if things go wrong. I drop my car off, and if the Nav breaks it's Infiniti's problem. And what happens if technology leaps ahead of you? For 99% of the buying market, my OEM Nav is the best system that's available in a 2003 G35 (and probably a '04 and '05).

Bottom line: there probably isn't a better deal for a Nav system that's really worth all the extra trouble. That is, unless you've already got all the parts, or a great layaway plan. Then it's a debate.

-Jack
Obsidian/graphite '03 Coupe premium nav

 

Here is another great one for us budgeteers.

http://www.navmanusa.com/land/icn630/

 

I know full well that for the application of driving your infiniti the infinity nav is the BEST solution hands down. It looks cool too. I'm just thinking that for a lot less than 2k I could save money with a system that offers the core benefits of the infiniti nav combined with enhanced flexablility and spend the money I save on something else for the car. I'm not trying to trash the infiniti nav (the far cooler solution), I'm just trying to figure out in what ways a pocket pc based nav would be inferior.
Question to infiniti nav owners: When you are listing to the radio (loudly) does the infiniti nav system mute the radio to give the voice commands? I don't think that's something an aftermarket product could do...


PS-JD, the argument that the 2k is paid for over 5 years doesn't sound like a financially sensible argument. And why would I even worry about selling a $200 nav system years later? I would either put it in my next car or throw it away! Your arguments strike me as odd.

 

<blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr>

PS-JD, the argument that the 2k is paid for over 5 years doesn't sound like a financially sensible argument. And why would I even worry about selling a $200 nav system years later? I would either put it in my next car or throw it away! Your arguments strike me as odd.

<hr></blockquote>I think the point was, you're not necessarily paying $2K for the Infinity NAV, because you'll recoup a portion of that cost when selling the car due to higher resale value. Or if you're leasing like me, you're only paying for the portion of the car you "use" (ie cap cost - residual value). And while paying for the nav over 5 years (ie bundled into the car's financing) may not be the best thing from a strictly financial viewpoint, out-of-pocket up-front cost is an issue for many people. Paying an extra $15/month (or whatever it comes to) might not be too painful, but buying a PocketPC + GPS for $600+ might not be an option for somebody who just put a down payment on a car.

That said, I would have to agree that if you didn't get the NAV system originally, I think the PPC route makes more sense than having an after-market NAV system installed. But if you have the option to get the car with the NAV in the first place I say go for it, most people won't regret it.

Jeff Kohn
H-Town, TX
2003.5 Automatic Sedan, Desert Platinum/Willow, Premium, Nav, Tint

 

The Infiniti Nav does override whatever you have playing to give you vocal directions, which is great because, if you later decide to hook up a DVD player to the screen, you'll still get Nav instructions behind it. Another advantage might be the night/day visualization, depending on the features of your handheld or its gps software. Bigger screen and bigger buttons help too. Not sure I like the idea of someone glancing down at his handheld while driving, but I suppose you could mount it to the steering wheel. There's also the warranty/service that I mentioned before. No ugly receiver to stash or get stolen. No batteries or power cords. Chicks dig the clean, stock look.

I thought your $200 number was if you already had some of the parts. I mean, yeah, sure, it's not like $180 for Navigation ability would ever be a dumb investment. But when you start increasing that amount, the advantages decrease rapidly. Someone around here built a homemade set with a flat screen and other PC abilities for $1500. That's great. Impressive work. But is it saving money? Questionable. It's going to be 4 years before I've spent $1500 on my car's Nav. 2007 models will be on the market by then. Maybe I buy a new car and never spend $1500, in fact I get a chunk of that money back. And if anything breaks, I won't have spent a dime on it. Either the warranty or the insurance I'm required to pay anyway covers it. On the flip side, yeah, you can look at it as a one time fee because you could take it to your next car, but 5 years is quite a long time for any computer to stay relevant. I'm not even sure charities accept donations of 5 year old computers.

Bottom line: at $200, you're saving money, but it ain't near $1800 worth of savings. At $600, I personally wouldn't do it at all.

-Jack
Obsidian/graphite '03 Coupe premium nav

 

I happen to already have an Ipaq pocket pc and compared to my desktop pcs the pocket pc stays relevent longer. The unit is over two year old and still going strong. So that means I only need to spend the 200...unless I need an external antenna in wich case the install will start to get too messy. But if I can temporariy and inconspiculousely mount the unit when I need it then place the hardware in the bin I get without the nav when I don't need it it won't be that bad. The pocket pc cost isn't too bad if you also would value owning a pocket pc (a fantastic device).
Value-wise you have a very good point though...I'll probably have the car for about 3.5 years and if that adds 1.5k to the resale that would mean the nav only cost $500, well worth the money. After 3.5 years pocket pc 2007 will be out and the pocket pc will have lost all value. I mean...it's more than just the fact you get nav...you also get other functions plus to a techie like me the idea of getting a car with a built-in computer IS kinda cool. Maybe I'll consiter it after-all. I'll have to check Kelly's blue book and see what kinda re-sale difference the nav option adds to other similar cars. What 2000 cars came with decent nav systems??

 

i ordered car without NAV.
yes it looks cool. but the times i actually need directions while on the road are far and few in between.
i am buying and holding onto car, so resale is not issue.

so to me, i held off, although i revisit idea of ordering frequently

 

That was my thought process...but sometimes you end up using things more than you thought you would...
Ironically the first time I went to go see the g35c on a sunday I couldn't find the dealership and had to go home and print a map off mapquest...by the time I got the the dealer it was dark...maybe it was an omen...where's that dealer's # again?

 

Sale catalog i got today in the mail: Good Guys alpine navi/dvd $899 installed, plus additional $100 cash back...and open a goodguys credit card, charge it and get i think 6 months to 1 year same as cash

hometown.aol.com/v35skylinepnoy
Sactown Cali

 

Unfortunately dvd nav seem to loose thier values pretty quicky...according to edmunds a 2001 loaded i30 with 36k miles is only worth $405 more with dvd and nav options selected for private party sale. Nada doesn't mention them.
You probably would want to up the downpayment if you were gonna get the nav system....

 

F*ck it...I changed my 2004 order for the nav...it just looks too dahm slick poping up from the dash like that!!

 

If you want to see a great navigation system, try out the one in the new 2004 RX330. The left tweeter gives you all of the voice guidance. It mutes and gives you directions, but the rest of the speakers do not. Much less intrusive than muting all of the speakers, and its not hard to understand at all.

http://www.crossfireforum.org

 

Just so you know, the pop-up screen isn't motorized in any way. It's spring-loaded. You have to push it back in to close it. I've found people (i.e. women) are more impressed with this feature if I wait until after they've stepped out of the car to "re-load" it.

I wonder if it's worth the trouble to rig a motor up to it, and get the whole "Dr. Evil" effect. Nah, probably not.

-Jack
Obsidian/graphite '03 Coupe premium nav