[BiturboS4] Nav systems

[John M. Harrison]

Hi fellow S4 enthusiasts,
My dealer indicated the factory NAV system was all but worthless in my
part of the world - the western United States.  I have been playing with
the DeLorme Steet Atlas USA software running on a laptop.  It works
great and is very accurate even in Wyoming.  Dealing with the laptop in
the car can be a challenge, but the dedicated in-car systems I've seen
are just too expensive and limited - hard to justify compared with the
DeLorme software for about 50 bucks and the little serial port GPS for
another hundred.  The DeLorme Earthmate GPS slips nicely above the
sunroof's lower sliding panel and receives well there.  If you already
have a laptop and a car power supply you can be running for under $200
and take it to other vehicles and locations as well.

Many of us have laptops for other purposes.  S4 owners need one to run
the VAG-COM software from Ross-Tech as well as the Bentley factory
manual CD.  Best would be a laptop display integrated into the dash with
the ability to use it just like any other PC under voice recognition.
Funky little factory customized displays are fine, but limited.  Why
shouldn't we be able to program our car displays to contain just what we
want where we want it?

John M. Harrison  2001 S4 Avant silver sport, cold, 6 spd
finally back from the body shop after deer hit number two for the summer


-----Original Message-----
From: Philip Pace [mailto:pjpace at yahoo.com]
Sent: Monday, September 30, 2002 9:06 AM
To: Biturbo
Subject: Re: [BiturboS4] Nav systems


It's not for everyone and you bring up a good point. I've heard lots of
bad
stories about those near fringe areas. The worste one is NY, NJ, and PA
being
on three different discs. You would think that they would include some
overlapping areas or simply use a DVD. Until then Ron has a valid issue
and I
don't blame him. Luckily I'm dead center of a disc (Chicago).

http://www.blaupunktusa.com/travelpilot/travelpilot_01_maps_bundle.html

--- R Sherowsky <sherowsky at adelphia.net> wrote:
> I am afraid I must disagreee on the usefulness of the Audi system.  It
is
> only good if you live in a populated area that is mapped and if your
travel
> does not involve crossing CD zones.  I got the system in my allroad
and
> unfortunately, I live within 30 miles of A CD zone split.  Also I live
in a
> rural area and now of the local small town roads are on the system.
If I
> try to leave from home, I get a prompt that my location cannot be
> determined.  I have to leave my home town, go to the nearest highway
and
> pull off the road to program the system before it will let me procede.
Also
> much of my travel crosses the CD zones which is a real pain.  I was so
> disgusted with the system in the allroad that when I bought the S4, I
> indicated that I specifically wanted a car without the Navigation
system and
> would not pay for the system if the only car they could find had it.
>
> Ron

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