The Digital Driver
New gadgets for cars offer everything from driving directions to cutting-edge entertainment. Our author takes the latest toys for a test spin.Dennis O'Reilly
Dennis O'Reilly is a senior associate editor for PC World.
In-car navigators (clockwise from top): Thales Navigation's Magellan RoadMate 700, Garmin's StreetPilot 2620, and Navman's ICN 630.
Sky-high gas prices and bumper-to-bumper highways? Forget about 'em. We love our cars--always have and always will. New navigation devices, audio and video entertainment systems, and satellite-based trackers help smooth even the bumpiest of byways. Whether you live behind the wheel or drive only when necessary, these gadgets and services put the joy in your ride.
There are lots of good reasons to buy a Global Positioning System navigation device for your car. It can save time and reduce your gasoline bill by getting you to your destination without wrong turns and backtracking. It can help you find gas stations, restaurants, parks, and other points of interest along the way. But for me, the number one reason is never having to hear my wife say, "Maybe we should stop and ask somebody."
GPS devices work by coordinating a signal they receive from one or more satellites with their internal map database. They display your position on an on-screen map as you drive, and when you enter the name of a destination or point of interest, they provide directions to that location on the device's screen (and with a prerecorded voice).
Most new GPS devices for cars store their maps on an internal hard drive such as the 5GB drive in Garmin's StreetPilot 2620 ($1300) or the 10GB drive in Thales Navigation's Magellan RoadMate 700 (also $1300). The StreetPilot contains maps and points of interest for all of North America (and Hawaii); the RoadMate 700 holds data for the 48 contiguous U.S. states and for most Canadian cities.
In contrast, just a few states' worth of maps and data fit on the flash memory cards used by lower-cost devices such as Navman's $700 ICN 630. The ICN 630 has 64MB of internal memory, and it supports cards with capacities up to 512MB. During long road trips you'll likely have to swap cards. For example, I had to take along two 128MB cards to hold the maps I needed for a Northern California-to-Los Angeles road trip using the Navman ICN. I can only imagine how many cards you'd have to juggle for a cross-country drive.
Still, it didn't take me long to get used to having a map on my dashboard. The RoadMate 700 and ICN 630 sent me on slower tourist routes through San Francisco, but the StreetPilot 2620 seemed to know at least some "locals-only" shortcuts. The touch screens on the RoadMate and the StreetPilot made entering data easy, especially compared to the Navman's clunky button controls.
Try as I might, I couldn't faze any of the three navigators. Whenever I ignored their instructions and drove off the prescribed route, they recalculated in a matter of seconds and put me back on target.
The devices' voiced instructions were like having a very clever but overly talkative navigator. For example, the RoadMate 700 often chirped out of nowhere that I should "continue on the current road," when I had no intention of doing otherwise. And when I parked just yards short of my destination, the Navman continued to bark advice like a frantic ringside announcer: "Left, right, right, left, right, left!"
Moving Pictures
You'll obtain a broader view of the road ahead using the 6.5-inch touch-screen LCD that pops out of Pioneer's AVIC-N1 automatically. The device (street price $1800) combines a DVD-based navigation system with digital video and audio playback, and AM/FM/XM satellite radio (you must subscribe to the XM service, of course). The AVIC-N1 uses two DVD-ROM discs to store maps and the locations of 12 million restaurants, hotels, gas stations, and other places in all 50 states and Canada. You can even take a gander behind you by using the optional ND-BC1 Backup Camera ($250 street).
The AVIC-N1's Memory Navigation feature automatically stores the map and route data for your trip in its 64MB of internal memory. Then you can eject the navigation DVD and play a CD (or a DVD movie on the optional $500 AVD-W6200 backseat display) while you access information about the route. The AVD-W6200 has a 6.5-inch LCD and attaches to a front-seat headrest. For safety's sake, DVD video playback is blocked in the front seat while the vehicle is moving. The AVIC-N1's Vehicle Dynamics Display shows data for acceleration, lateral G-force, angular velocity, slope, voltage, and other performance measures on digital displays and on older-style analog needle gauges.
The Alpine IVA-D300's touch screen lets you "feel" button pushes and slider moves.
Touch screens used by the in-car DVD players are key to making the devices convenient and safe to use on the road. Alpine goes one step better with the PulseTouch screen technology in its new IVA-D300 Mobile Multimedia Station. PulseTouch provides tactile feedback as you push buttons or move sliders on the screen, so you keep your eyes on the road. You can feel the edges of on-screen controls, and the feedback varies as you tap, slide, or hold down a button. You can also adjust the screen brightness, color, contrast, and other controls via the touch screen.
The IVA-D300 plays DVDs and CDs as well as MP3 and WMA files on DVD-R/RW and CD-R/RW discs. The device includes an AM/FM/XM-ready satellite radio. It retails for $1500. Add Alpine's MRA-D550 Digital Theater Amplifier to get DTS surround sound and 5.1-channel sound for Dolby Digital; you can buy the two together for $2500.
The 7-inch TFT LCD monitor included in Blaupunkt's $1600 IVDM-7002 automobile DVD player (aka Chicago) is another eye-opener. The player supports Dolby Digital and DTS for powerful 5.1-channel sound. The unit features three audio/video outputs and two inputs to accommodate game boxes and other components (which need to have their own power source).
Phat MP3 Player
You've got a wicked MP3 collection on your PC; how do you play those tunes in your ride? Several new MP3 players for cars hold MP3 files on regular desktop or notebook hard drives. Alpine's HDA-5460 in-dash MP3 player, for example, contains a removable 16GB hard drive. Use the included software to organize your MP3 collection on your PC, and then download the recordings to the hard drive via USB 2.0. A switch on the device's panel lets you search your collection by song title, folder, singer, or album. The HDA-5460 costs $800.
Fast-lane MP3s: PhatNoise Digital Car Audio System.
Another candidate, the PhatNoise Digital Car Audio System, stores recordings on an external hard-drive cartridge that shuttles from the PhatBox player in the trunk of your car to a cradle on your desk. The cradle connects the cartridge to your PC via USB 2.0. Organize your music collection with the PhatNoise software, and then transfer the recordings to the cartridge. You can use your stereo's CD-changer controls to search for and play MP3, WMA, and other digital music files on the cartridge. A 20GB cartridge ships with the system, and you can purchase add-on cartridges in three different capacities: 20GB (for $179), 40GB ($249), and 60GB ($349).
The PhatNoise system will cost you $699 as a dealer-installed option available with new Volkswagens and Audis. If you're not ready for car payments, consider Kenwood's $450 Excelon Music Keg KHD-C710; but you'll have to pay extra to have it installed by a professional. Visit PhatNoise for more information.
In-Car Concert Hall
If you favor quality over quantity, you'll be delighted to hear that DVD-Audio is ready to come along for the ride. The new format combines a 5.1-channel surround-sound version of the recordings with traditional stereo tracks; still, the discs require a DVD player (by comparison, Super Audio CDs also provide 5.1-channel sound, and they have a traditional stereo track that plays in existing car CD players). Many DVD-Audio discs add video, images, and other material along with the music tracks.
Hearing just a few minutes of DVD-Audio recordings on the Alpine system in a demo Honda Element made it very clear to me why audiophiles love the format. Regular stereos just can't match the depth and definition of this high-quality multichannel standard.
Play sweet music with Alpine's DVI-9990 DVD-Audio player.
Combining Alpine's new DVI-9990 DVD-Audio player with its PXI-H990 DVD Multimedia Manager gives you Dolby Digital EX, Dolby Pro Logic II, and DTS ES multichannel playback. The DVI-9990 is the first DVD-Audio player that supports the IEEE 1394-Audio (FireWire) standard for linking to digital-audio sources. It retails for $2400, and its PXI-H990 relative costs $2600.
Roadside Aid
There's nothing like the automobile club. If you lock your keys in the car, leave your lights on and come back to a dead battery, or shred a fan belt on the interstate, help is just a phone call away. But what if the voice on the other end of the line knew exactly where you were? That's the idea behind Networkcar, a service that installs a GPS transmitter unobtrusively in your car to report its whereabouts and its mechanical condition every 2 minutes or so. Networkcar tracks the vehicle's use and alerts you and your car dealer if it diagnoses a problem. The service helps you recover the vehicle if it's stolen. A one-year Networkcar contract is $108, a two-year agreement costs $192, and a three-year deal is $252.
One caveat: When you call in, you give the Networkcar agent your account password; then (to be safe) you have to change it the next time you log on. Why doesn't the company give you two passwords: one for accessing your account online, and the other for obtaining data on your vehicle's current whereabouts?
If you want vehicle tracking and monitoring services but no roadside assistance, DirectTrack lets you check a vehicle's location, driving history (including top speed), and other data via the Web. The service puts a GPS transmitter out of view inside your car. It alerts you by e-mail, pager, or cell phone when the car exceeds the maximum speed you set or when the vehicle travels outside a designated area. DirectTrack is currently available much more widely across the country than Networkcar.
The service also lets you operate the vehicle's power locks remotely and disable the starter in case of theft or to ground the family teenager. Of course, disabling the starter won't put the damper on unauthorized drivers if the car is already running, but maybe you can catch them when they stop off for a milk shake. Monitoring prices start at $8.50 a month, which entitles you to access the system three times online at no extra charge; additional online accesses with this plan cost 75 cents each, and each phone access costs $3. I'm just glad that this service wasn't available to my parents when I was in high school.