Very dissapointing Navigation...

[dezymond]

Google's idea is to subtract the things you carry, why carry a phone and a gps unit when you can have both in one? Although it doesn't beat my Garmin, i think it works great and it's not far from beating my Garmin. It recalculates fast and gives me pretty quick routes. It also gives me the ETA, which my Garmin doesn't and also provides traffic view, which my Garmin doesn't do also. The voice could use some work, sounds way too robotic and can be hard to understand. But Google definitely has something here. As for the way it routes, I don't go too many places im not familiar with, but routing seems more than good enough for me.

Besides, you have to pay upwards of $120 for some of these units, and those can be the lower end Garmins too, such as mine with no Traffic view or Landscape. GPS signal itself is free, it's the hardware and software you're paying for. The Droid is a phone first and a GPS second. Besides it's free and in beta, so can't whine about that. Expecting a beta software to replace a popular company software that's been in the game for years? No way that'll ever happen, but Google really does have a bright future from what I can see.

Droid is the ultimate package so far to me :bowdown:

[texasPI]

I guess you missed the beta part when you start it up? Sheesh, long time garmin user myself and I've been impressed with it so far. Back in my pizza delivery days didn't even have a gps. I still think looking on the map before making a run is faster and I bet I could still beat all of you using gps.

Forgot to add that I've used devices from most major manufacturers and they all to some extent make mistakes as well. Like the one way street turns. For the average user that will use it to navigate somewhere they have never been to, it'll do the job even if they take a less than ideal route. The point in these cases is getting there and for the price? Can't beat it!

[New2u]

Yeah i only use GPS when i'm in a totally different town

[pwjone1]

OK, I have to say, I have some experience with GPS devices, I now own three:

1. Acura TL Nav
2. Garmin GPS
3. Droid

and I have experience with various others, Magellan, TomTom, etc., through doing some travel, rentals, borrowed, friends, etc.

Is the Droid competitive? Well, I have to say, it starts with a bit of a disadvantage, with a 3.7" screen, even fairly high res, it's a little tougher to see than the others (the smallest I regularly use is the 4.3" Garmin), but the various GPS manufacturers are still selling 3.5" screens, so it's maybe competitive with those. The spoken names thing isn't bad, some of the cheaper GPSs still don't have that. But the dedicated units have some advantages.

But I think what kind of brought it together for me, to where I finally "got" the whole Droid GPS Navigation/Integration thing, was when we went out to dinner at a new place. I had used the Droid to web-search zagat ratings for the Restaurant, we both went "High rating, should try this place out!", click over to Google search to peak at the web site and the current menu, checked the travel time via Google maps, another click and we're calling them up the restaurant to book the reservation, and so off to the car to drive there, after noting down the address. Type that into the car GPS, and away we go. Kind of thought, ok, that's it, put the Droid in the pocket. However, low and behold, turns out the Restaurant is on one of those streets where everything is numbered oddly, car Nav has trouble finding it, we realize we've driven by, so...we pull over, pull out the Droid, couple of taps to turn on its Navigation, and it takes us right there, street view as we get close, which helped (it was in kind of a strip mall, turned out). So I think Google's maps were just a little more up to date. Had the phone out anyway, so read through a review or two of the restaurant, what was good there, as we're waiting, and so we knew what to order pretty quickly after the drinks showed up. It's the whole integration of the Droid thing, the quick 3G downloads of the web sites and other information, integrated Integration + Phone, etc. The whole is greater than the parts. I've had smart phones before, but nothing this integrated and fast.

(And before someone points this out, I realize there are NRU and Zagat to go '10 aps, believe me I'm contemplating installing/buying those, what I did web-wise was just through the browser)

[pwjone1]

Oh, and one more thing, the Acura Nav package cost me $2k, the Garmin close on $250 (after a huge markdown at Fry's), and I got the Droid nav essentially for free (I bought the Droid because Verizon is the dominant network around here, I already had the data plan for the previous WM phone, so it was a new-after-2 discount, etc. AT&T was smart as heck to make the Apple iPhone deal, Verizon has a thing or two to learn about having current equipment, but in the end, I buy a phone for how well the phone part works, and around here, AT&T, particularly 3G, is "Not exactly".)

Anyway, I am glad I don't own stock in GPS manufacturers (or car companies), as a big part of their revenue stream is about to be cut off, as Droids and iPhones become more prevalent. I live in a relatively high-tech area, MHV NY, so iPhones (and now Droids), Blackberry's, WMs, etc., are pretty common, I would imagine that these types of phones and networks are going to take off in all the major areas, and eventually, there won't be a reason to buy a stand-alone GPS unit. Sort of like what I do now, I rarely carry a calculator, as the phone is good enough in most instances (although I do love my HP12C, for work, vintage). The portable Garmin was bought largely for travel (got tired of the $8-15 / day charges by the rental car companies, it's when you're out of town that you most need GPSs anyway). I flat would not buy one now, with the Phone. It's not as good, but it's good enough. I would still buy a Nav system built into the car, that's inherently got some advantages (and here, Europe is way ahead of the US), but a lot of people are not going to pony up $2k, if they have an iPhone or Droid. It would be nice if the manufacturers could standardize on the dock, and start building that in (the Acura TL system decreases the volume on the audio system, to give you verbal instructions, that's one of the advantages of having GPS built-in, but no reason it couldn't do that for phone verbal directions).

[Tweasol]

Just wanted to point out to everyone shouting "FREEE!!" --

Did you forget about the 30 dollar monthly fee we fork over to Verizon ?

I didn't.

Give me night mode and I'll be happy for now, Yes its new software, just stating my gripes

[samredman]

The Navigation software is weak compared to VZ Navigator, which is not available on the Droid, but is on other Verizon phones, such as the LG Touch. I had an LG Touch, prior to my Droid (but, I didn't trade it in, I gave it to a family member). Recently, I was in upstate New York before my Droid and in my rental car I got a Garmin and I ran both the Garmin and the VZnavigator simultaneously, because I was traveling way out of the urban areas. The VZNavigator out performed Garmin (I had similar experiences on other trips).

So, when I got my Droid I was expecting something spectactular. What a disappointment. It loses its bearings and misses turn offs and doesn't find locations accurately. The best way to describe it is ... it's just fine about80% of the time. On my next trip I will "borrow" my old LG touch with the VZnavigator.

Of course, the phone is just out. Everything is getting updated rapidly. My guess is that they are working night and day to fix the problems and that the Droid navigator will be equal to the best eventually... so, I'm staying relaxed.

[JohnDroid]

Use the built in power control widget to switch between 3 different brightness settings. That's as good as night mode.

[Dave12308]

Uhhhh, I would like to point out the fact that the Navigation app is a beta. It's not going to be perfect.

[mth04]

Uhhhh, I would like to point out the fact that the Navigation app is a beta. It's not going to be perfect.

It works pretty well for me. Used it three times and got where I was going all three times