With Christmas over, the time will soon be upon me when I can finally buy myself my 2010 Birthday/Christmas present - a GPS. :D

I was considering buying a stand alone GPS - looking at the TomTom Via 180 LINK (http://www.tomtom.com/en_au/products/car-navigation/via-180/#tab:benefits) or the Garmin nuvi 1390 LINK (https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?cID=134&pID=82600).
The TomTom looks better IMO and has a bigger screen (5" over the Garmin 4.3") but the Garmin comes with lifetime map updates (TomTom will cost $50 per year).


But wait, we have a formidable late comer into the battle arena of options...
Joe from Shopping Secure has posted up a double din Headunit with some nice specs (LINK (http://www.aussiemagna.com/forums/showthread.php?t=84932)) which has MP3, DVD, and GPS (with IGO8 maps)
(and the option of a reversing camera which would be great having 5% rear tint lol)
A headunit with MP3 was also on my wishlist for my car.


So, I'm looking for any advice, thoughts, opinions, experiences, etc.
Is there any benefits to having a stand-alone GPS over a Headunit integrated GPS (or vice-versa)?
Does anyone have any experience or opinions on Garmin, TomTom, XTRONS, or the IGO Maps?
How much do the IGO Maps cost to update & how frequently do people do it?


Garmin 1390 = approx. $250
TomTom via180 = approx $300
XTRONS = $500 (+ installation)

Can't give you an opinion either way, just something you may not have thought of...
Will future always require the gps to only remain in the car?
No plans on flying to other cities, overseas travel etc?

I will be expressing out Madmagnas unit tomorrow so if you want some feedback on the unit best thing is to wait until he tells me how it goes.

I can also supply standalone GPS units and you can put those same maps on them if required.

Oh and I have a reverse camera in stock LOL

Can't give you an opinion either way, just something you may not have thought of...
Will future always require the gps to only remain in the car?
No plans on flying to other cities, overseas travel etc?
No plans for taking it out of the car (except maybe to be used in one of the other cars - but eh. they can buy their own. My wife would want a pink one anyway. lol)



I will be expressing out Madmagnas unit tomorrow so if you want some feedback on the unit best thing is to wait until he tells me how it goes. Will do ;)



I can also supply standalone GPS units and you can put those same maps on them if required.
Oh and I have a reverse camera in stock LOLI'll have to take a look at what you have...

Something to bare in mind is most of the double din GPS headunits actually run quite laggy. The Alpine and newer Pioneer units are the only ones which seem to run lag free with GPS fitted from the ones I've used (and conveniently they're also the most expensive). For that reason alone I'd definitely be recommending try before you buy.

Also consider that an all-in-one unit may not have all the features you want, or some features aren't to your liking. With a stand alone radio and GPS at least you can change either more cheaply than an all-in-one unit.

The pioneer gps/headunit I have is pretty good!! Haven't had a problem with it at all and I think I payed around 600ish? Also has iPod connection, and Bluetooth. So heaps easier IMO

FWIW, I like the stand-alone GPS units. I can mount them low on screen to the right of steering wheel (bottom corner, basically) - where they are in easy reach and more-often shaded from direct sun on the screen by the a-pillar. Can be removed easily and with a qucik wipe, hopefully the screen doesn't advertise that I have a GPS to steal.

I'd be a little concerned that if I had a big-ass head-unit that theft of it and damage to car might be more of a problem. I roll with KJ Rada OEM head-units, iPod plugged-in via cassette adaptor (hate FM thingos). I use Tom Tom GPS's - close to the cheapest avail. Have one 3.5 inch and one 4.3 inch screen - larger size isn't that much more convenient, surprisingly.

Tom Tom is very easy to use, but has the odd issue (one I hate is that when you update a map, you lose your Favourites - just insane, and on one of my units there is no work-around). I signed-up for a map-update deal which was 6 updates over 18months for about $100-00. Other issues include entering the town or suburb first, then street then number - its common that TomTom's (Sensis) map thinks the address I want isn't that suburb/town - so you have to guess nearby localities until the street you want is selectable. Friends live at street numbers which Tom insists do not exist, etc. I have noticed in centre of Sydney CBD that reception gets affected by tall buildings, and that country roads often do not quite align with the TomTom map - it wants you to drive 400-500 metres left/right to re-join the road you are actually on.

But, overall, I think GPS is great and I load all little whistle-stop places on my common routes, and think that its helps concentration/avoid fatigue to re-set to next-town/next-town as I drive along - I actually wish there was an option in the software to show distance to next town, rather than just to next driving-instruction.

I havnt read all the posts in here so if it's been discussed ignore it :P

Buy something it doesn't cost you much to update the map
My double din unit Kenwood n operates with Garmin, just bought 2011 map for it
paid $312 for an SD card just keep that in mind ;)

Cheers

Just some added advice for future consideration, TomTom is trying hard to have both Map Share and Google Maps integration working on line. This will mean that there will be no future updates necessary, but instead work directly with Google maps...this is for future TomTom "mobile" enabled devices. Don't know when this will happen though.

I'm am a bit biased when it comes to TomTom devices as is allows me to add third party apps. I have an event logger program that helps me capture waypoints periodically, map the route directly to Google and also monitor and capture the speed of the car. Comes in useful for checking where my car has been and recording km/h every 5 secs. Also if your a member of the Austech forums you can..., well, you get the gist...;)