I have an Alpine Navigation System installed in my 4runner which is by far the best aftermarket nav system I have tried back then..never had problem with it except:
-You need to buy updated maps CD or DVD every couple of years which is not cheap
-I can't use it in any of my other car/suv.
-It cost me an arm and a leg when I first have it installed way back in 2001
So now I decided to try other route like portable navigation gadgets from the PDA, the laptop w/ blutooth gps antenna to magellan...nothing works as convenient/reliable as my Alpine Nav System..either the screen is to small.or it takes alot to operate it....finally I decided to try the Lowrance Iway 500c...
This thing is it's not so cheap $799(it comes with everything mounting hardware/ screen cover and cleaner, intallation wires if you want to integrate it to the stereo system or for a stealthy install)..but the good thing is it's packed with a lot of convenient features:
-It's portable- meaning I can use in any of my other vehicles
-just plug it in the cig lighter and you're good to go
-gps antenae is built in to teh unit so no flimsy wires here
-It only takes less than a minute to attach it- really amazing
-It has a 20gb built in harddrive - so no need to buy CDs or DVDs for maps ever
-Software and maps/point of interests can be updated to thru a desktop using a USB port
-10GB of space is alloted for MP3 files/music...yes..it has a built in mp3 player...amazing
-it has a built speaker system which is ample to hear every voice command even your music is loud.
-it is touch screen! No flimpsy remote control or keypad
-it has very nice size screen-not like those portable ones out there
-all the navigation information on the screen can be user selectable like AT,Time to next turn, Altitude, Speed, Text command/voice propmt, heading etc and a lot more:
-The screen display has 4 brightness mode in daytime mode and 4 brightness Nighttime mode (black background)-awesome feature
-one of the coolest feature is -you can choose 3 map view settings - bird's eye view, north heading, and the COOL 3Dimension view!!
This unit has a lot more features and I can only go on and on....and by the way you can download or customize the theme/wallpaper/color ...you can customize the navigation information you wanted to see and the user interface part of it...really nice!
please click here for more info:
Review
IWAY 500C INFO 1
INFO 2
I apologize for the picture. It was taken at night w/o flash
-You need to buy updated maps CD or DVD every couple of years which is not cheap
-I can't use it in any of my other car/suv.
-It cost me an arm and a leg when I first have it installed way back in 2001
So now I decided to try other route like portable navigation gadgets from the PDA, the laptop w/ blutooth gps antenna to magellan...nothing works as convenient/reliable as my Alpine Nav System..either the screen is to small.or it takes alot to operate it....finally I decided to try the Lowrance Iway 500c...
This thing is it's not so cheap $799(it comes with everything mounting hardware/ screen cover and cleaner, intallation wires if you want to integrate it to the stereo system or for a stealthy install)..but the good thing is it's packed with a lot of convenient features:
-It's portable- meaning I can use in any of my other vehicles
-just plug it in the cig lighter and you're good to go
-gps antenae is built in to teh unit so no flimsy wires here
-It only takes less than a minute to attach it- really amazing
-It has a 20gb built in harddrive - so no need to buy CDs or DVDs for maps ever
-Software and maps/point of interests can be updated to thru a desktop using a USB port
-10GB of space is alloted for MP3 files/music...yes..it has a built in mp3 player...amazing
-it has a built speaker system which is ample to hear every voice command even your music is loud.
-it is touch screen! No flimpsy remote control or keypad
-it has very nice size screen-not like those portable ones out there
-all the navigation information on the screen can be user selectable like AT,Time to next turn, Altitude, Speed, Text command/voice propmt, heading etc and a lot more:
-The screen display has 4 brightness mode in daytime mode and 4 brightness Nighttime mode (black background)-awesome feature
-one of the coolest feature is -you can choose 3 map view settings - bird's eye view, north heading, and the COOL 3Dimension view!!
This unit has a lot more features and I can only go on and on....and by the way you can download or customize the theme/wallpaper/color ...you can customize the navigation information you wanted to see and the user interface part of it...really nice!
please click here for more info:
Review
IWAY 500C INFO 1
INFO 2
I apologize for the picture. It was taken at night w/o flash
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