All-In-One Nav System

So apprently Clarion makes a pretty slick 1 DIN nav system with a built-in screen But they only have it available in Europe. Would there be any reason it would not work in the US if you bought Clarion's US CDs? Would anyone out there know? It has its own internal speaker, etc, so its pretty much completely stand alone...and you shouldn't need to wire it to your existing system. Anyone of the UK / European guys have any experience with this product? Its the Clarion NVS-613. TIA

I'd be very interested in info on this unit as well. Can it also act as a sound system head unit?

Brendan, I wrote to Clarion and they said that it would not work in the US. They did not expand on a reason why... If I hear more I'll let you know...

Thanks. Too bad.

I actually know a guy in New Jersey who makes and installs what he calls a "carputer". It includes a 7" touch screen that is attached via an arm (kind of like the old carphones), it has an 80 gig hard drive, internet capability, DVD playback and navigation. It is amazingly slick. Let me know if you want his info.

raclaims...yes I'd like the info either thru the forum or email me at [email removed] . TIA

Don-I will email you his info now...

Kinda like this? http://www.xenarcdirect.com/search_r...n=ALL&iLevel=1

Brendan-I'm not sure if it's the same type of stuff but may be similar. I know that local police departments use his set up. It's very cool.

I was thinking of it for my aftermarket EFI. Instead of using my business laptop for the tuning, I could just keep the computer in the car. But then I though that I would concentrate on actually driving the car instead of putting toys in it. I do need a GPS nav system of SOME kind though.

I agree about needing some type of NAV system. The problem that I have told the guy to work on is how to make the system swappable between cars. I just don't drive the Porsche enough to warrant the expense but if I could swap it between cars the "carputer" would be absolutely worth every penny. His answer of course was "buy one for each car". He is working on a solution though...I'll let you know if he comes up with one. Does anyone know if any of those GPS units that sit on your dashboard are any good these days? The ones from a few years back really did not work very well.

Brendan, Heard from Clarion again today, they said the unit would work in the US, but there are no maps DAMN IT! I guess there is always the Traffic Pro option.... raclaims, Garmin makes some pretty cool car models: that are supposedly pretty accurate. This model can be attached to a speedo line for dead reckoning in case the GPS signal cuts out (tunnel, etc)

FWIW, I can tell you first hand the Garmin is by far the BEST Nav unit I have seen!

Does Garmin do speach recognition like acura and honda? That picture there would fit nicely in a custom surround in the center console of my car.

That Clarion unit looks like it would be worth waiting for. Built in look, and easily swapable. I can't imagine they wouldn't end up supplying US maps for it after going to all the trouble developing the unit.

Jeff25, I hear ya...it looks really slick, but apparently, according to the clarion guy in the UK, there are no maps currently avail for it...will try and contact Clarion US to see about compatability... Garmins don't have speech recognition...but that unit is 5.6" x 3.2"...the screen is pretty small tho..3.3 x 1.7"...does have voice prompts and an a/c adapter...Street Pro 2610..

I really like the elegence of that Clarion unit, but it just occured to me that there may be another way to deal with the portability issue. I've price these custom NAV systems before and the cheap part is the screen (only a couple hundred $$ compared to a couple thousand $$ for the NAV unit itself). Maybe the way to do it is to have screens and antenas in all the cars, then just move the NAV unit around. The only catch is that that screen would need built-in speaker else you'd have to have a speaker in each car as well. For the screen, I'm visualizing some kind of hinged setup where the screen sits over the two spare bays in the 996 console and then flips up for access to the storage bin or CD holder.