Re: BMW Navigation system - worth it?

[Brian M Kennedy <kennedy@xxxxxx>]

Phil Macias wrote:
> 
> Hello, all.
> 
> I understand the BMW Nav system is on sale now - half off (labor
> excluded).
> 
> I have looked into a number of other GPS systems and have not been
> thrilled. Does anybody out there have an opinion on the BMW offering?

I like it pretty well.  It does the important stuff well; but as a 
software engineer, there's definitely a few things I'd do differently.
I've discussed a few of those with the appropriate people, and they
have gushed about the new software release coming in May.  It'll be
interesting how much better they make it.

Is it worth the price?  Well, I don't regret my purchase, and I paid
quite a bit more.  Its a fun gadget anytime, if you're into that.
When going through new areas, its a lot easier to learn the area when
you can watch yourself travel through a map and plainly see street 
names.  Of course getting to new places or finding detours you've never
taken before is where it shines.  And even going places where you have
been, it can be nice as it keeps you constantly updated on how far it
is to the next turn (so you know exactly how long you can keep doing
90mph in the left lane ;^).

Is it as good as it could be?  Not right now.  I don't like that it 
comes on with the ugly warning message.  I'd rather it started _off_,
and then I could push "On" followed by "Enter" to get rid of the 
message only when I want to use it.  (More than half the time I don't
want to use it, but still have to push "On" to get rid of the message.
And then the worst is at the track, where the remote has been removed;
there's no way to get rid of the message.)  I really hope they fix that
in the next software release.

Also its input of cities requiring the county name is annoying.  And the
input mechanism itself can get a bit tedious -- the dial mechanism in my
Porsche is better than the push button remote in my BMW (both nav systems
are made by the same people at Siemens).  However, voice input is probably
the only good input mechanism for a car nav system.

I'd buy it.  But that's just me.  Oh, and the nav screen probably turns as
many heads as anything else about my car.  ;^)

Anyway, hope that helped,

Brian

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