Navigation

For those of you who have nave in your 996: 1. How useful do you find it? 2. Is it accurate, reliable, fast? 3. Is it worth the price?

1. Very 2. Yes 3. Yes

From what I hear that is true of pcm2, but not so much about pcm1 unless you live in the city

I've got the PCM1 which is ok, but if you ever use a Garmin Street Pilot III you'll never want to use the PCM1 again. The coverage for most suburban areas is horrible. Maybe the PCM2 is better. But, PCNA has basically abandoned the PCM1 ... wouldn't be surprised if at some point they abandon PCM2 as well. Another problem with either of these units is that your stereo upgrade options are very limited.

Before I bought my 2001 Porsche 2 months ago, I was deciding whether or not to choose one with PCM. Many of the reviews I have read said that it was horrible, a waste of time and money, etc...Needless to say, this left me very weary of paying a premium for it. I wound up getting a car that has the PCM I, and I have to say that it is one of those things I wish I always had. I live in a city 30 miles away from downtown Los Angeles, and it has every single street, restaurant, and other attraction/destination that you could possibly want. My parents both have the COMAND system from mercedes in their cars, and a family friend has the Cadilac system in his. The PCM is by far the easiest to use and navigate, in my opinion. In fact, the only thing that I would improve is a larger screen, and a touchscreen. The PCM II solves half of that problem by providing a larger screen. Also: Don't forget that the operating system does receive periodic updates from Porsche dealers, and the mapping information can be updated every 6 months - 1 year by contacting Navtech.com Bottom line: If you live within a reasonable distance to a major city, it is worth EVERY single shiny penny. If you live in the boonies, then you might think twice. <img border="0" alt="[cheers]" title="" src="graemlins/beerchug.gif" />

The one in my 01 RX300 is supposed to be one of the best and it seems to get (me) lost more than I ever did by checking with mapquest before I headed out to someplace I hadn't been before. And ditto on the boonies..except with Lexus the resolution instantly degrades at the city limits of the fifty or so major cities.

I've got the PCM 1 and I'm not that impressed w/it. The coverage where I live is dismal. There is no CD for Canada and that's where I really need it. I always seem to get lost in Vancouver. It's not much faster then the JAMES system in my Rover which is one of the first ones out. I do like the way it looks in the car. I would check w/Navtech to see what kind of coverage there is in your area before buying.

Volvo Nav covers all of Canada Perhaps you should check out the new S60R

The Nav in my Rover does too. I'm not going to buy a new car just for the Nav. <img border="0" alt="[ouch]" title="" src="graemlins/c.gif" />

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">Originally posted by tbg22: <strong>For those of you who have nave in your 996: 1. How useful do you find it? 2. Is it accurate, reliable, fast? 3. Is it worth the price?</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">I have PCM2 1. Very - I use it all the time. One of the things is that surprised me (not having had Sat Nav before) - is just *how* useful it really is. Even in areas you *think* you know very well, you often find that the Sat Nav knows them better than you. 2. Yep. One of the great things about the system is its speed. If you go wrong, it re-calculates a new route for you almost instantly. 3. I think so.

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">Originally posted by Trojan Man: <strong> Also: Don't forget that the operating system does receive periodic updates from Porsche dealers, and the mapping information can be updated every 6 months - 1 year by contacting Navtech.com <img border="0" alt="[cheers]" title="" src="graemlins/beerchug.gif" /> </strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">Hey man, I have a 2001 996TT, is there a newer Navtech CD out for California? Anyone know? Thanks! Checked their site out but it doesn't say anything about updates.

I have the first version in my 02ttX50. In Chicago, it's fine. 30 miles south east of downtown Chicago, it's just a sea of green with only the major roads listed. Starting from a place it knows, it can get you to the periphery of its database pretty well. But if your next stop is farther out, it's useless. I spoke to Navtec in January 2003. There will not be a better version until Jan or Feb 2004.AS

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">Originally posted by tbg22: <strong>2. Is it accurate, reliable, fast? 3. Is it worth the price?</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">For $455 you can get the new Garmin iQue 3600. The iQue is basically a faster, smaller, more versatile Street Pilot III with a PDA. Even the Street Pilot III is by far faster, more accurate, more reliable, and easier to use than any in vehicle nav unit I have ever seen. So this iQue promises to be hard to beat for any price. So if the "Is it worth it" question a real concern, do yourself a favor and buy a Garmin instead. BTW ... <a href="http://www.tvnav.com" target="_blank">www.tvnav.com</a> is a great place to buy! I have bought all my stuff there and they are great! -pete

I just checked with Navtech. It seems that they do have 2002 updates for many other in-vehicle systems, but the update for the Porsche is indeed NOT out yet. <img border="0" alt="[cheers]" title="" src="graemlins/beerchug.gif" />

Also, checked out the # of points of interest (POI) and the west coast, north east, and chicago/midwest regions each have well over 115,000 POIs each. Other regions (presumably because of smaller population centers) have fewer than 75,000 POIs each. Keep that in mind when comparing and contrasting systems.

I have the system in my 2002 car, but there are no disk available for Turkey <img border="0" alt="[ouch]" title="" src="graemlins/c.gif" /> I bought it maily because of the phone feature If anyone could develop the disks it will be for a big and growing market. Anyone interested?

1) Quite useful. It offers far more than just the navigation. The audio and board computer now have a better interface as well. Coverage is so-so. BMW is now offering full coverage for the US, so Porsche might be doing the same for next year's discs. The system is not DVD based, but uses compression to put the entire US on just 2 discs (CDR's). 2) Not as accurate as the Audi system. Many times it is a 100 meters off. Very fast though. The faster I have seen so far. 3) Nothing from Porsche is worth the price if you just look at what technology you get. But it does make a $90K car more enjoyable to drive. How much more? 5%? In that case it's a steal!

If you happen to have a 996 w/o factory nav and don't want to spend a fortune on aftermarket, then Traffic Pro is a good substitute. No map, of course, but very accurate nav. Went to Hershey a couple of weeks ago (800 mile round trip)...just plugged the hotel address in and it delivered us right to the hotel door! Very impressive as an $1100 (even less if you get 100 bucks or so for the 220 radio) option w/ability to still play cds, etc.