2k for GPS, consider this...

[Buckeye Hummer]

I am not sure exactly how much the nav system in the 2004 H2 will be but thought I should share my recent experience with my Garmin Street Pilot III. I spent $800.00 and got the city guide cd with it. I have used it extensively on-road in L.A. and it has been flawless. I used it off-road with Steve and it was perfect. Before I left for vacation I loaded Boston and much of Mass. on to my chip so when we got our rental car I just plugged in the address and it got us there (2.5 hour drive) without a hitch. Here is the amazing part: although this was a city guide it captured all of the waterways where I was fishing as well so we took it on the bass boat and had it leave a bread crumb as we drove out of the channel. Every time we hooked up we set a mark (waypoint) and marked the type of fish we caught as the name of the waypoint. With this all we had to do was turn and keep hitting the holes. We hooked up on almost every pass! We also were attacked by very thick fog and could not see the buoys on the way back nor could we see land (if you don't like the weather on the cape just wait a minute), all we had to do was follow our bread crumb back.

So, this is my Garmin ad. If you don't plan on needing navigation outside of your vehicle and the price is right go for that unit, otherwise check out Garmin. BTW, the house we were staying in was completed in May of this year. I have no idea how it took us to this address being so new but it did.

[Buckeye Hummer]

I am not sure exactly how much the nav system in the 2004 H2 will be but thought I should share my recent experience with my Garmin Street Pilot III. I spent $800.00 and got the city guide cd with it. I have used it extensively on-road in L.A. and it has been flawless. I used it off-road with Steve and it was perfect. Before I left for vacation I loaded Boston and much of Mass. on to my chip so when we got our rental car I just plugged in the address and it got us there (2.5 hour drive) without a hitch. Here is the amazing part: although this was a city guide it captured all of the waterways where I was fishing as well so we took it on the bass boat and had it leave a bread crumb as we drove out of the channel. Every time we hooked up we set a mark (waypoint) and marked the type of fish we caught as the name of the waypoint. With this all we had to do was turn and keep hitting the holes. We hooked up on almost every pass! We also were attacked by very thick fog and could not see the buoys on the way back nor could we see land (if you don't like the weather on the cape just wait a minute), all we had to do was follow our bread crumb back.

So, this is my Garmin ad. If you don't plan on needing navigation outside of your vehicle and the price is right go for that unit, otherwise check out Garmin. BTW, the house we were staying in was completed in May of this year. I have no idea how it took us to this address being so new but it did.

[Detonate]

I have a little hand held GPS for toting around, etc...

I really want the in dash 2004 model one for the OEM look, more so than even the functions.

-Jim March
Arlington TX
2003 Red H2
Beauty is in the eye of the Beer Holder

[Voodoo]

I'm so glad to hear this...

I just received my Street Pilot III this last weekend! http://www.elcova.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

I've been going back and forth on this very same issue - spend $2K+ on and Alpine unit, or ~$700 on a Street Pilot III. Another contender was the soon-to-be released Street Pilot 2610, which should run about ~$800 - $900 street price. All the positive reviews on the SPIII convinced me to try it out. I haven't installed it yet, but I look forward to a positive experience.

BTW, did you guys opt for the remote antenna??? I understand that for vehicles like the H2, it's almost a necessity.

[DiscoDancingRover]

squid be glad you didn't go with the new touch screen garmin, it is about $2k and has to be professionally installed on your car. It hooks up to some stuff on your car, like the spedo and reverse i think. Very complex.

"Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind"

[Steve R]

You kids make me sick...

Back in my day we didn't have GPS...we used to take a long rope and tie the tails of two cows together...then we'd let them roam in a field to help determine which side of the tree the moss would grow better on. That would give us the northern direction to an accuracy of +/- 40 degrees. Back then you could get a meal and watch a movie for 3 cents!

Opps...sorry, I was trippin' out again.... http://www.elcova.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif

[DURAMAX TIM]

Steve I think u r dreaming, roll over and go back to sleep. http://www.elcova.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif

[Dan]

For all those who are into the GPS thing, check out GeoCaching. Looks like it might be fun!

www.geocaching.com (http://www.geocaching.com)

- Dan

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http://www.ezwebsales.com/H2/1black.jpg SUT on order since 12/02 - 10 months to go!
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[BKLYNH2]

Chris-
Garmin is coming out with two new street pilots. The high end one is as you mentioned,i.e wired to your car. This is for the dead reckoning feature which is supposed to tell you where you are even if you lose gps signal. The other however is just a dashboard model with a touch screen and better display and is not as expensive.

[Apex IV]

BKLYNH2 is correct, and they're both less than the "$2K" mentioned by Chris. For my money, the Navman iCN630 @ a little less than $1K is a better unit, although I lust for a big transflective screen in my dash... ;-)

Just my 2¢...

-Randall Garrett-

[Apex IV]

Here's a link to a comparison of the Streetpilot III and the Navman iCN 630...

http://www.autonav2000.com/Compare/NavMan-vs-StreetPilot.html

Have two units on the road right now. More info when they return.

Hope this helps!

-Randall Garrett-

[Buckeye Hummer]

Squid,

I do not have the remote antenna and it works perfectly in my H2. I only lose reception under extensive underground tunnels e.g. coming out of Boston you go under the water in a tunnel for quite some time. The cool thing is the way garmin has this coded it know its in the tunnel and picks it right back up at the end meaning it doesn't show that reception was lost it just keeps moving!

I don't know about the newer models but I am sure they will be just as good or better than what I have, well worth the money.

Steve also walked to school in three feet of snow without shoes even though he lives in California!

[aces full]

I have a Streetpilot III mounted on my Honda
Goldwing, using a Ram Mount device.....it invited you to get lost on remote country roads, without a care in the world, and then you just enter a waypoint that you want to return to, and by voice commands, you're back on the road....I also have had Nav systems in a BMW M5, and a few S Class sedans.....once you have one, you'll never go back!!!!!

[Hum2me]

Using Magellan Nevrlost, great GPS, no CD, Hard drive, fast, slips into docking station, can use in more then one veh, just slip out of the station, and into the other. Great voice prompts and maps! 1200

[Hum2me]

Take a look

http://www.gps4fun.com/mag_750M.php

[3D Guy]

Guys

Last time I was in my dealership I was told that the 2004 nav system will pop right in to the spot were your radio is on your 03's. Pretty much plug and play..... No idea on cost
I have the Magellan 330 hand held (about two years old) with the power adapter, works fine and last a long time.

.................................................. ........
That’s just my opinion, I could be wrong......... NOT!!

3D Guy A.K.A. Brian Mundy

03, H2 Yellow, Lux, Sunroof, Air Suspension, 3rd Row. Brush Gaurd and 30gb iPod

[argonaut]

I have the favtory nav in my M5 and it is so so. But I have a little crappy Garmin Etrex hooked into my laptop that I have loaded with both the garmin mapsource street maps and the usgs 7.5' topo maps from national geographic. This is a great system and since my laptop has such a big screen, it allows good details at a glance while I'm driving. Plus the topos are very detailed which is great for offroad use. I still want the factory nav for the OEM aspect, but for trail use I will stick with the old trusty laptop.

'03 H2 Sunset Orange No mods
'03 BMW M3 Convertible
'02 BMW M5

[Klaus]

PhilD,

I'm going to try the Pocket PC GPS as well. I have ordered the Navman bluetooth wireless GPS, and a bluetooth SD card for my Dell Axim.

http://www.navmanusa.com/land/gps4400/index.html

http://www.mobileplanet.com/product.asp?dept%5Fid=2310&pf%5Fid=MP731111&mscssid=9GPEJNSU7MRG8LTVQ3JVLNWQ9W548F0A&listing=1

http://www.mobileplanet.com/product.asp?cat%5Fid=105&cat%5Fname=Wireless+%26+Smartphones&dept%5Fid=5120&pf%5Fid=MP580207&listing=1

If the combo works OK, I plan to order an external GPS antenna (the Navman has ports for both external antenna and power). At that point, I can mount the GPS bluetooth unit in a hidden location. The Pocket PC should then be able to get its GPS bluetooth signal anywhere in the truck.

I'll probably order a gooseneck mount with an amplified speaker:

http://www.mobileplanet.com/product.asp?cat%5Fid=105&cat%5Fname=Wireless+%26+Smartphones&dept%5Fid=3719&pf%5Fid=MP950808&listing=1&mscssid=9GPEJNSU7MRG8LTVQ3JVLNWQ9W548F0A

This combo will free up my CF slot, so I can have up to a 2GB storage card for maps.

I'll let everyone know how it works out...

Klaus

"God made some men big and some men small, but Sam Colt made them all equal."

[DennisAJC]

Klaus,

Nice alternative. When I had my Magellan as a temporary, I used Velcro to afix it to my dash just to the side of the steering wheel. Because the screen was so small, having it in closer proximity to your wheel helped for safer driving. It comes of and on easy without damaging or leaving a mark/residue on the dash parts.

The **** we have to resort to because GM cheapened out. Mabye for the better by the looks of it. http://www.elcova.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif

[HappyJack]

PhilD and Klaus

I have been looking at this solution as well because I also have a Pocket PC phone (Sprint Hitachi G1000).

Hitachi (http://www.hitachi.us/Apps/hitachicom/content.jsp?GXHC_JSESSIONID=-2030031231588689291&GXHC_relpath_cook=jsp/hitachi/home/azproducts/&page=index.html&path=jsp/hitachi/consumerproducts/MobilePhones/)

or

Sprint phone (http://www.pcsvision.com/NVP-Online/phoneDetails.html?cn=&mrc=D&phone=D&acces=D&ts=8882531315&rep=8882531315&st=0&sb=0&plan=0&model=hitachig1000)


I want to connect my Garmin GPS III Plus to it with a serial cable. The question I have for you both is what software are you running in your Pocket PC? I have looked at some of the ones available in the PCS software store but there are so many of them. How to choose?

Sprint software store (http://sprint.handango.com/PlatformHome.jsp?platformId=2&siteId=561)

Cheers

[Klaus]

Here are some Pocket PC links:

http://www.gpspassion.com/fr/default.asp?_SetCurrentVersion=EN

http://www.pocketpcpassion.com/

http://www.pocketpcminds.com/homeindex.php

http://www.mobileplanet.com/

http://www.pocketpcmag.com/forum/forum.asp?FORUM_ID=42

Klaus

"God made some men big and some men small, but Sam Colt made them all equal."

[NJ H2]

My 2004 w/NAV came in yesterday, but when I asked if it was true that you need to be driving under 8 mph in order to control the NAV and there is no chance of hooking up a multi CD Changer, I told them to sell it! I ordered 1 without NAV and I will install an aftermarket system. Too bad the big wigs at GM aren't smart enough to realize that people who are willing to spend close to $60,000.00 on a car might also want a simple luxury as a multi-cd changer http://www.elcova.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_rolleyes.gif

[PARAGON]

I have a Garmin GPS V with the car mount set up on the dash right over the steering wheel and about halfway between the windshield and the edge of the dash. I have it hardwired to the vehicle for the power only.

The GPS V has always done fine for me. I don't want a computer talking to me or need the color, and do take it out of the rig and use on my ATV as I have loaded both the street maps and topo maps and can easily switch back and forth. The only times I have problems with "reception" is in heavy tree cover or tunnels, etc. (the obvious places). I have yet to see the need for an external antenna.

[Richard]

No the 2004 will not just pop into the 2003