Porsche navigation or Garmin Nuvi?

Hello, As many of you know, I retrofitted a PCM in my Cayman, but not the Navigation unit. Now, as I am traveling more often in the Cayman; I have decided that I do indeed need some form of navigation. However, I am torn between adding the OEM Porsche navigation system or getting a Garmin Nuvi type system. I think it would be silly to have two screens within the car, and definitely don't like the idea of a floating navigation unit, either on the dash or stuck to the window. However, it is my experience that car-based Navigation systems are not as good as the standalone "portable" systems, in that they are more difficult to use, navigation dvd's are updated less often and come at a higher cost than computer-downloadable updates, and the standalone systems have touch screens and text to speech. So please answer my poll and chime in your opinions. Which system should I go with. Thanks

My wife's Mercedes has an in-car navigation system (which is probably similar to the Porsche system). It is not nearly as user friendly as a Garmin nuvi. I can certainly understand why someone would go for an in-car system - just to keep stuff off your dash - but as far as operation goes IMHO Garmin is a better system.

Be sure and check out the upcoming Garmin nuviphone available in the 3rd quarter Garmin | nüvifone

Get a Garmin. They are upgradeable and I have found the POI is more complete with my Nuvi. Plus they have BT so you can connect your phone for handsfree calling; it works surprisingly well. I just think that the nav in the PCM is not worth its price.

Something I know a little bit about The obvious advantage to the Nav module is OEM integration. It just looks good. The advantage to the aftermarket unit is many: Cheaper map updates (I don't even want to think about the cost of map updates for the PCM. My Magallen cost was about $100. I know my PCM maps are out of date. It can't find new roads and gives errors and then gets totally lost.). Better technology. More modern chips Better features Portability. Pick it up and move to the next car Of course the downside is you may want to only keep the aftermarket unit up when you actually need it. I have a Magellan bought about 3 years ago. It works perfectly fine. It finds what I need and the maps are updated. I don't need all the other crapp they try to add on like mp3 player, BT, traffic updates, blah blah blah. GPS is GPS. For cost, you can buy 5 Garmins for the price of PCM. Further, that OEM PCM becomes woefully out of date in terms of technology while aftermarket you can buy several units if you want. Silly me looked specifically for a car with PCM so I could have it integrated. Big mistake. The nav has the worst manual I have ever seen. The user interface is sad. No touch screen, no intuitive at all. Never again. Now that I have both ... Go aftermarket. The other thing to consider is that technology keeps getting better and better and the prices keep coming down. Meanwhile that paperweight in the middle of the dash remains static in terms of technology and you spend a large amount of money never recouped (or only a little bit), while the aftermarket unit you can keep and move to the new car. One more thing, try to find something in the PCM Nav, like a store. On the aftermarket unit you just type in the name. Up comes the choices, Not true in the OEM unit. You have to find a category. Well what if you don't know the category??? Small things like this are, IMO, poor user design.

I have a Nuvi that, when in use, sits on it's friction pad between the instrument pod and the A pillar. It is simple to run power inside the door trim and use a little velcro to hold the wires out of sight between the dash and door trim when the Nuvi is not in use. Also when not in use the Nuvi and the friction pad easily fit in the glove box and there is no tell tale sucker mark on the windscreen glass. Do you want me to post a picture?

I have a nuvi 760, sits on a friction pad in front of the gear shift, partly in the the small cubby there, works great with a tip. I even use the fm transmitter at times to listen to audio books or music through the Bose . I even have tried out the Bluetooth with my cell phone and it worked quite well. All that and portable makes the Nuvi a great system.

What is the friction pad? Any pics?

I have had both. Currently have the Nuvi and it is great. I got my current car without Nav and the Nuvi is more user friendly. However, I still have the itch to retrofit the PCM 2.1 just because I love the factory look system. How much was it to retrofit the PCM unit w/o nav? TIA

No doubt. Garmin Nuvi with friction mount is the way to go. I only wish my 660 displayed elevation. Fun to know when going up and down mountain roads. Factory install is great though. Always there, no need to remember to bring it or have it turned on, just always there. Had one on another car and the convenience is great. Still, all in, with cost/value included, portable aftermarket unit is a good option.

Go aftermarket - but mounted in to the dash. For some of the above reasons - better functionality, cheaper or free updates, much better integration - and that's just a few! I've just fitted a Pioneer AVIC-HD3 (very similar to the Z2) that's touchscreen and gives you total audio, phone and navigation control from a single unit without having to trail cables across your dash every time you add a feature.

Mankey, I have Bose , so I'd have to redo speaker wiring for a new headunit, and that's just not worth it for me. I have a Dension 500 for ipod, satellite radio, and usb device hookups in the center console; so I am not really missing out on anything I want. If I wanted bluetooth, I'd go with the Tooki unit which acts just like the car came equipped with the phone module from the factory. - Suneet

This all depends on what kind of deal you are able to get... I paid $600 for my PCM on ebay and installed it myself. Recent auctions on ebay have been between $800 and $1200 for pull-outs, and $1,800 for new ones. I think that's about what Suncoast charges too. My best advice if you're going to do it is keep a look out on ebay for used units and post the part number here and if you have Bose or not and I will let you know if it will work with your Cayman. - Suneet

In many ways it depends on your priorities. SatNav was not a 'must-have' feature for me, it's just a supplementary benefit. However total audio integration is something I really wanted. All my music is piled on to the hard disk and is available just when I want it. It displays full track information that isn't limited to basic text/track numbers. Additionally the phone is recognised and available the moment I sit in the car without having to deal with duplicate or secondary SIM cards. I fitted it myself so that part cost me nothing! Depends what suits.

This is the Garmin friction pad - https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=8100 I stays put. I went on a "run" through Deal's Gap last July and it never moved.

Here is an older link where we talked about GPS and their problems. http://www.planet-9.com/cayman-electronics/17558-gps-hiccups.html

Very well said. On some cars the integration is so tempting (as on some Lexus models, or on the C6 Vette, where it is tied into the Head-Up Display (!) ), but the technology changes so fast in this field that locking your prized sports car into what'll be obsolete in a couple of years is a bad idea. I like the Garmins too, but try them all. And if you make a mistake, just wait about 18 months, there will be a whole new generation out there that will make any older unit seem, well, old.

Please post pix! What model did you get?

I like the Nuvi units because as much as I travel its nice to be able to take something with you. I have not convinced myself that I need to carry another thing with me a lot of the times though.

Being able to move my Nuvi between cars is useful especially when I travel. Since I'm a tech geek I also hacked it to bring up a Porsche Logo at startup instead of the Garmin screen. Big price difference as well. The Garmin was 1/4 the cost of the factory unit.

Well... I ended up buying a Nuvi 750. I was on Slickdeals.net this morning and HSN had it was for $299 plus 10 dollar shipping, minus a $15 coupon code... couldn't pass it up. Now to look for a good deal on the friction pad... - Suneet

Hopefully the pics are attached. The wires are attached by velcro to the end of the dash when not in use. This is a Nuvi 610, when on the friction pad it doesn't move and is easy to reach from th drivers seat.

I did go ahead and purchase the friction pad as well. Thanks for the idea! I am taking Sirius out of my car, so will use the same connection to hardwire into the fuse box. (From my understanding, you need the same 5v to 12v conversion).

get a cellphone with navigation service, then you don't have to worry about two screens

Coming from an extensive boating background I like Garmins bluecharts adn their detail. However in the car navigation area Garmin is S L O W and feature poor. Most of the time my Garmin handhelds took for ever to lock on to the required number of satelittes. The menues are not as intuitive as they are on their marine units. So after reading several reviews I bought a TomTom XL One. For the same size screen in a Garmin it would have costed twice as much. The unit locked on to the satelittes inside my house while I tested it, the Garmin would not even always get it tin my car unless it was upfront under the windshield. TomTom also offers the clip to install it in your car, makes for a perfect fit in the CS, and is rock solid. I have to say that after one week of use the TomTom that it stats up and locks on much faster then any of the Garmins that I have. The menues are far more intuitive and entering a destinations is much quicker.

My garmin was slow in the Cayman until I bought an antenna. I didn't even have to put the antenna on the roof. I just laid it on the dash beside the Nuvi. Now satellite lock on is pretty much instantaneous.

I'm now on my third Nav system. I had a VW system in a Toureg, a GMC system in the family Yukon and now a Garmin Nuvi in the CS. The Garmin unit is by far the easiest to use, most effective and at about $350 by far the best value. The units built into the VW and GMC were both about $2,000 each. Ok, the unit is compact, the screen small and yes it sticks to the window ( illegal In CA) or dash but it works and save a lot of $$$$$.