cincyspider

yup, and you can count on your fingers so why buy a calculator.

And you can type on a typewriter, so why buy a computer? And you can call all your friends so why have email?

why the heck did you buy a Z when a 68 VW beetle woulda gotten you where you wanted to go also?

some people just don't get it....technophobic??

cincyspider

On the Nav...you can tell it to avoid interstates, or take the fastest route, or the shortest route, etc etc....can also add in stops along the way there, and if you decide to go another route, it will continually update your directions based on what you've done.

It is amazing sometimes with what it knows about local streets here, but Im in a city where alot more detail is available too.

Montez

Have it in the Max donot have it in the 350, I really dont use it that much because everywhere I go I dont need it. It really is neat to look at and like someone else said a nice conversation peace, whenever someone gets in the Max they notice and ask several questions about it.

radarman

The cost is $2000 but what a toy! I love it and the cost didn't enter into the equation. The whole car is a blasted toy for me and i love it!

Blk Trk with DVD Nav

WFO Racer

All my cars have a NAV. Give me address punch it in and forget it, no turn at the big tree past the house with the fridge in the yard type of directions .

Aggro_Al

I reluctantly got Nav installed in my 2000 Maxima a few years ago just because others at my work with much nicer cars said it made it so much easier to locate the client sites. So I bit the bullet and installed a Magellan Navigation System with a car kit and portable kit for when I go out of town. I liked it so much that I will never get another car without one. I now have the Magellan installed in my Volvo S60 and the stock Nav in the Z.

Is it necessary?... No. It's sort of like a cell phone, most people really don't need one but it sure is fun or convienent having one.

For those that want to get aftermarket systems, check out AutoNav 2000. These guys are the most knowledgeable retail store on auto navigation and tracking systems I've ever met and I consider myself an expert on GPS and wireless technologies.

Auto Nav 2000

KhanMan

iTrader: (2)

I dont use my navi much for direction my G35 coupe but what I do use it for is to see my MPG. I also use to to find my slef a resturant near where I am if I am hungy. Its just like the yellow pages. Only problems is some the place it tells me have been recently shut down. Oh well in 2004 I will get the 2005 software of Nissan/Infiniti.

AmyCroft

iTrader: (3)

All:

I've put in a Carputer / CarPC like DR.Bonz and Scafremon..

A very clean install by wld350z of La Mirada, Ca

Using the DeLoreme Street Atlas 2003, and the Deloreme USB GPS unit. Voice actuated and have the GPS Software speaking on 89,1 FM.

I'll make a real post with Pic's in the nav area later, but Windows 2000, a Xenarc VGA SCreen and Wi FI 11B plus a Data Cable to my Samsung V205 for internet access in the boonies, works well.

Caution, using the GPS on a PC in car is very distracting.

Once the voice actuation is in place pull down the lid, the Nac console Lid. And just go by voice. Mounted a Mike in the head rest and th e wire runs down the inside of the seat back.

Leave enough room to slide the seat forward and back, for the Mike Cable.

More to post later.

Cheers Amy -

nbdyfcnsqnc

>> yup, and you can count on your fingers so why buy a calculator.

There are two problems with that analogy. (1) My fingers only go up to 10. (2) I don't mount calculators to my car.


>> And you can type on a typewriter, so why buy a computer?

Even if I bought a computer to type, backspace would be a good enough reason. Computers do a lot more. They can even run superior navigation software that costs almost nothing.


>> why the heck did you buy a Z when a 68 VW beetle woulda gotten you where you wanted to go also?

I bought the Z because I didn't enjoy driving my old car anymore. BUT I wouldn't enjoy it as much if I knew I had paid $2000 for a machine with all the computing power of a Sega Genesis. That's just the way I am, and I don't expect others to care.

I could take that same $2000 and buy a computer that's 400 times faster, infinitely more capable, connect a GPS device, and navigate the hell out of anywhere. But, as it is, I don't even want to.


>> some people just don't get it....technophobic??

I probably wouldn't qualify since I've spent half my life programming computers!

cincyspider

Yea, I've run into alot of computer programmers like you...ones that tell you such and such just isn't possible, you can't DOOO that with computers, etc etc ad nauseum. People with no vision should not be computer programmers.

But....it's a good way to thin out that crowd and get rid of the talent-impaired.


and you're right, we DON'T care. So take your mightier-than-thou attitude and don't let the door hit you on the a$$ on the way out.

nbdyfcnsqnc

>> Yea, I've run into alot of computer programmers like you...ones that tell you such and such just isn't possible, you can't DOOO that with computers, etc etc ad nauseum. People with no vision should not be computer programmers.

And I've run into a lot of people on message boards with poor command of multiple languages, although it is somewhat rare in this company.

I didn't say it can't be done. I just said it can be done better and for less money. Call it a vision of mine, if you will.

Also, I'm almost certain I can outdesign and outwork every programmer you have ever met, and quite possibly the whole lot of them at the once.


>> But....it's a good way to thin out that crowd and get rid of the talent-impaired.

That's an interesting take from someone who has never met me.


>> and you're right, we DON'T care. So take your mightier-than-thou attitude and don't let the door hit you on the a$$ on the way out.

Such hypocrisy. You're telling me what to do when I'm just telling others what I value. One is acceptable behavior in a public forum, and one is just rude.

cincyspider

Can you say pompous A$$?

Reggi914

iTrader: (3)

Leave nbdyfcnsqnc alone, i got his back, if you speak to him alittle more, you will learn that he is a REALLY nice guy who is willing to help and put in alot of his own time.
He is just stating his opinion, geez calm down. Just because he doesent think that a nav is worth it, and you do, its no reason to put him down. I have the nav and i dont think its worth $2000, but i still got it because i use it here and there and i think its cool. You attacked nbdyfcnsqnc over a stupic nav?! Lay off and get a life.

KhanMan

iTrader: (2)

so u do you have the pic now amy?

cincyspider

Yea, sure thing Reggi...go back and re-read the posts and if you can't see his moronic, put-down response to this guy's thread, you need a new set of eyes.

No, you don't "need" a NAV. You don't "need" a Z either....but if I was a VW owner comes on here saying I have better things to do with $38K.... After all, I don't need to spend $38K to get back and forth to work, why would you morons buy a Z for, when a $15K 1993 VW rabbit would work just fine?? What would your reaction be?


Nope...I'll stick by my assessment of nbdyfcnsqnc. He's a pompous A$$ caught up in his own self-worth. Tunnel vision me thinks.

Buub

iTrader: (1)

Maps don't announce to you when you're nearing a road-mark, or tell you when it's time to turn, and which way, so you don't have to take your eyes off the road. Maps require stopping frequently or driving dangerously. Maps are Old sk00l!

Is the Nav necessary? Is a 350Z necessary? :-)

Buub

iTrader: (1)

I have met me, and I can assure you that you are very wrong.

synth19

iTrader: (11)

get the nav. chics dig it.

nbdyfcnsqnc

>> go back and re-read the posts and if you can't see his moronic, put-down response to this guy's thread, you need a new set of eyes.

Where's the put down, exactly?


>> I have met me, and I can assure you that you are very wrong.

Can you explain how I am wrong using what I have already written to support your claim?

Buub

iTrader: (1)

I am quite certain I am at least your equal. And considering I probably have more experience than you do (you said you have been programming half your life; I have been doing it longer), it is quite likely that I could school you a bit.

However, what is the point in all that? The world is a big place, and there is a lot more that we all don't know than we do know.

I found it very disconcerting the number of people who would rank themselves like 9 or 10 on a scale from 1 to 10 on C++ knowledge, for example, yet couldn't answer more than half my questions, which really aren't guru level. The point is this: they did not know what they did not know. I.e. they had no concept of all the stuff they had yet to learn.

The key to take here is that a little less bravado and a little more humility would actually go further in validating your qualities in my book. IMHO the cocky ones are the ones who have yet to learn their weaknesses. I know there is a bunch of stuff I do not know, and can learn from others. The difference is, I accept that, and actually try to learn from others, even those who supposedly know a lot less than I do. He might not teach me any C++, but maybe he'll answer that question about "how the hell do I get the spongy stuff off the floor from under my old carpet so I can lay down some tile?!"


An example: less experienced but very confident developers often think anything can be accomplished. The truth of the matter is this: everything is a trade-off. We are given a finite time on this earth to accomplish a finite number of things. Yes, you can write the ultimately perfect code. And in the time you spend doing that, I can write ten times as much usable code. Alternatively, you can spend extra time designing the ultimate object model, only to have the requirements change just as you start to develop, rendering your pristine structure lacking. Flexibility and compromise are important; shooting for unrealistic goals will only bring disappointment.

You have to balance the design you are going for with the time needed to complete it, the budget available, the other demands on the company, etc. The Real World dictates that these things are important. Usable designs will always involve various compromises to meet the needs in the most efficient way.


Case in point (both in thinking bigger is always better, and in proper compromises being better): regarding Nissan nav system...Yet, with only "the computing power of a Sega Genesis”, it is capable of doing everything it was designed to do, and do it well. What would a computer 400 times faster add? Cost. Heat. Electricity drain. Size. Weight. For what additional benefit?

So you have a clumsy bigger contraption strapped together which runs hot, draws a lot of electricity, and would actually cost more if you were to attempt to mass product it, and what does it do that the Nissan system doesn't?

Maybe it can find a route faster? So I guess 15 to 20 seconds is too long to wait? That's fast enough for me. Maybe it could show photos of the destination? I think the map and voice prompts would actually be more useful for locating a destination.

The truth is, the Nissan nav system works well, it's very well made, it's fast enough to do the job it claims to do, but no faster (that's called "efficient design"), doesn't use a lot of unnecessary resources (cooling, electricity), professionally packaged with regular updates, and warrantied.

Sorry you can have your 2.4GHz P4 laptop with power converters and GPS units taped to it. My nav system is a far more useful and usable. You get what you pay for. If the Nissan system is over-priced, buy someone else's. Regardless, there is nothing wrong with the design, and in fact, a good engineer would design something very similar.