What are the Benefits of a In-Car GPS Unit?

[drishaq]

Car GPS units enable you to navigate your car anywhere in the world…
http://gadgetupdates.googlepages.com/car_gps_devices

[mcbrue]

The in-car units are in the car and you never have to worry about
leaving them in the garage or on the picnic table or in the other car
or in the airplane or .... Oh yes - they cost more too.

[Elmo P. Shagnasty]

In article

Post by mcbrue
The in-car units are in the car and you never have to worry about
leaving them in the garage or on the picnic table or in the other car
or in the airplane or ....

So the in-car units are aimed at stupid people.

Is that what you're saying?

I guess there should be in-car music systems such that the same people
don't have to buy iPods and worry about leaving them in the garage or on
the picnic table or...

[Xplant]

Post by mcbrue
The in-car units are in the car and you never have to worry about
leaving them in the garage or on the picnic table or in the other car
or in the airplane or .... Oh yes - they cost more too.

1) Typically in-car screens are larger and brighter than portables.
2) Design is integrated into the interior you don't have loose cables
hanging.
3) Typically the antenna system is better so satellite acquisition is much
faster than with portable systems.
4) Many in-car systems have 'dead reckoning' which allows position change
estimate when satellites are not available (in tunnels, parking garages,
etc.)
5) But the major benefit is that you don't have to 'put them away' every
time you leave the car to avoid theft.

All things considered, however, I think my Garmin Nuvi 750 is a better
system than our 2002 Lexus LS430, not even considering it was about 1/5 the
cost.

[mcbrue]

I was trying to find a Japense resturant - the car was hungry. But I
had to display ALL the resturarnt icons, couldn't just display the
Japanese ones. That is not too handy. And of course it is next to
impossible to figure out how to use the dratted thing to give you
directions to go somewhere. The programming has weird steps in it. Oh
well ... it does cost more and is neater and I never forget it on the
picnic table!