Car, GPS recommendations
I bit the bullet, and picked up a Hyundai Getz today. Its the 5-door hatchback, that I’ve been mulling over for a few days. Maiden voyage from Nunawading to Doncaster, to Nunawading, then to Clayton, which was pretty good. I obviously have to watch the speedometer a lot closer, as the numerous speed cameras are probably going to cause me grief.
Of the useful things to note, is that you are advised to buy insurance, before you actually own the car. Then you get a cover note, which is valid for 2 weeks, and it means your car is insured and ready to go. Because I’m under-25, and male, insurance tends to cost a lot of money – I’ve found that AAMI seem to offer just about the cheapest rates, in comparison to Commonwealth Bank or RACV. Roadside assistance is probably important, and that isn’t covered by insurance (duh!), so a RACV memebership seems to be something that’s required.
Maps just don’t give me the confidence to get to a location, so I’m looking for a cheap, yet reliable GPS unit, with mapping support (i.e. my handheld Garmin eTrex is kind of useless). If anyone has any idea what’s sensible, in terms of GPS units, I’d be willing to hear suggestions. Is TomTom or Garmin better? Or are the HP PDA’s any good (with the TomTom software)? What are sync options for Linux users?
Okay, I think its time to pore over the material in the manual, and burn a CD with MP3 music (I bet there are no car audio systems that play OGG).
post some pics of the car dude…….
In Australia? Malaysia?
Hi Colin
I ended up getting a Uniden GND 3850 GPS from Harris about a month ago, and excluding a minor problem with the software card, it’s been pretty flawless. It warns me of pretty much every speed camera I come across from Mitcham to Fitzroy every day. I haven’t tried a map update, but I AFAICT it’s simply a matter of unpacking a file from their website onto a SD card and sticking it back into the unit, but I might check further before I commit to that.
If you’d like to have a play with it, I’ll be at the LUV keysigning/Installfest tomorrow, or hopefully at LUV on the 3rd.
@aubs: i probably need to charge my camera, but yes, soon…
@jace: in melbourne
@steve: Did you mean the 8350? This is the $599 unit. I might look into that a little closer. Uniden also have a product that just warns you of speed cameras (its a box, about $200), but that still means I’ll have to buy yet another gps… The Uniden comes with free updates via the Interweb, which is great (i hear tomtom/garmin, costs money).
“Okay, I think its time to pore over the material in the manual, and burn a CD with MP3 music (I bet there are no car audio systems that play OGG).”
Ipod with altered firmware ? And there are lots of options for connecting the ipod to a car :)
Of course, you can always do what a friend of mine just did and build or get a Car PC :D
I’ve popped some photos at: http://flickr.com/photos/byte/tags/hyundaigetz
@Tiago: Well, iPod’s with firmware tend not to play via the cd player. In fact, if I install alternate firmware on the Nano, I can’t even get the FM function to work. So thats too much hassle.
A car PC is something that has interested me. I’m not sure what the exact use cases are, but its something I’m willing to look at. It’ll be nifty that my car get an IP address, but what are its practical uses?
Hi Colin
yes, sorry, the GNS 8350. As well as the Car stuff it has Speed, Redlight and Blackspot safety warnings, as well as overspeed warnings that can enabled in various combinations. Let me know if you’d like to have a play, they’re well worth the mony for what you get.
Most likely GPS and mapping and media center. I don’t really know what other uses are common.
I received the Uniden GNS 8350 as a Xmas pressie, all very new to me and a real novelty (new toy thingy) but I’ve found it easy to use, it can get a lil’ confused at intersections and the like at times, but if you do take a wrong turn it has a new route in no time at all. The feature I like is that it tells you what lane to be in before the turn, which I found Navman don’t do in my experience.
Hi Colin
I ended up getting a Uniden GND 3850 GPS from Harris about a month ago, and excluding a minor problem with the software card, it's been pretty flawless. It warns me of pretty much every speed camera I come across from Mitcham to Fitzroy every day. I haven't tried a map update, but I AFAICT it's simply a matter of unpacking a file from their website onto a SD card and sticking it back into the unit, but I might check further before I commit to that.
If you'd like to have a play with it, I'll be at the LUV keysigning/Installfest tomorrow, or hopefully at LUV on the 3rd.