Hello.

Unlike many here, I am actually resident in Japan and looking at whether to buy a car navigation system or buy an IPad and install something like Garmin.

First, I don't drive..my Japanese only speaking wife does.

But I am the techie in the family, though both hardware and software navi is a big unknown to me.

We have an IPad, but it has no GPS, so thinking of getting the Mini..think a two year contract comes to the equivalent of 20 US dollars a month. Not sure what happens after that. The two years includes the Mini itself I think. They said that it comes with 7G of usage, after that it slows down. We are thinking to save usage, we will disable all Internet using functions when using for navigation and only allowing them when near wifi. We cannot afford smart phones for the same reason

And then if we get the IPad, we could use something like Garmin, or whatever can work in real time to show routes, traffic jams, even recalculate if a wrong term is made, etc.

At least that is what the Pioneer navigation system in a rented car could do. I saw something for the IPad...Haze? Something like that. It looked relatively primitive compared To the dedicated navigation system. And no intersections were shown.

Does anyone have any specific recommendations, caveats, etc. about using the Mini for navigation in terms of accuracy, functions, etc. compared to a dedicated navigation system. We have a VW and their dedicated ones cost one to 2000 US dollars. Yet on the Internet, Kakaku.com, etc. we see dedicated ones for less than a hundred, with those by makers like Garmin for about 200-400 dollars. They may be dash mounted. Not sure if they can be installed by the VW or other dealers. If a Midi, wonder how we could attach it so a driver alone in the card could read it? Velcro?

Thanks in advance.

paul
Fukuoka, Japan

Prices for dedicated GPS in-car nav system including that of Garmin are down drastically over the last 5 years, and the newer models come with bigger 5"+ screen (vs. our old ones at 4.3") and lifetime "live" traffic & maps updating - and, typically a windshield suction mount, making for easy removal when not in use. Depending on you use the iPad Mini and/or GPS only unit, it could be subject to lots of wear-n-tear and the Garmin is built for moderate amount of abuses including hitting the interior car floor, the mini will likely suffer more.

You can get an good to excellent pre-owned Garmin on eBay for $100 USD or less, depending on features offered, and maps for Japan on a mSD card with lifetime upgrade, for another $30 to $50 USD - that's a lot less than making monthly payments for a Mini. On the other hand, Mini with 4G/LTE data is great as you can use all of its other features when not driving.

For daily commute, I doubt that your spouse need GPS guidance - it's only for driving out of town & over longer distances - my favorite in-car mounting is a CD-slot mounted holder system, good for 5" Garmin, smartphones & even 7.9" Mini or other 7" tablets. It is still a driving distraction but I do use it sometimes, mostly for its voice navigation with turn-by-turn alerts & directions, making the "big" screen somewhat impractical.

Sygic & Co-Pilot are among the alternatives to iOS's Map & navigational featueres, and can be used offline when there's no mobile data coverage. Unless you are devoted to iOS platform, you should look into Android-based Map/Navigational apps on a 7" tablet as they are well developed & incorporate traffic updates in displaying routes & ETA.

It should be relatively easy for any professional car accessory shops to install these GPS unit in the VW & offer a choice in mounting methods. If you do a simple search on Google, you will see examples of VW mounting options & how it was mounted on YouTube.

I think you mean "Waze". IMO, and most who have used it, Waze is the best traffic and map app available and it most definitely shows intersections. It's far superior to anything you'll get from Garmin or Pioneer...however, it does need access to data to provide the real time traffic and map updates. I can't speak for map coverage in Japan, but in the US, Canada and Europe the Waze maps are top notch.

P.S.: Love your airport code...

I use my iPad for navigation all the time, I love it. Since I use it in a different rental car each week, I just prop it up between the transmission selector and the stereo/AC/heater panel. I tried a few different mounts, but I couldn't find anything that was small enough to carry on the plane each trip. Plus, with no mount, it makes it much easier to quickly slide the iPad under the seat, or in my purse when parking the car. Additionally, there's no mount to attract someone who may try to break in to find a possible device.

I use the Navigon app (from Garmin,) for North America and it works great. But, while several other countries/regions are available, unfortunately, there's nothing for Japan yet.

From the Garmin blog, "The NAVIGON app will roll out in the U.S. first and later become available in Europe, Australia, Japan and China." http://garmin.blogs.com/my_weblog/20...l#.Ur2vEdJDtAo

Europe, Austrailia, New Zealand, Russia, Brazil, India, Turkey, Mexico and Middle East are already available from Navigon, so hopefully soon for Japan and China.

But it does looks like there are several offline apps for navigating in Japan available now. Just nothing I have had any experience with.

Garmin owner here, rather than the suction cup approach I use a friction mount on the dash. While obviously it would go flying into the windshield in an accident it's never moved one bit in normal driving.

As it is a standalone unit I can stick it in rental cars as well as my own.

We visit relatives about 650 miles each way for Christmas every year and usually use the car GPS + a Garmin Nuvi with traffic.

This year, we tried something different because I lost our garmin. By the time I discovered, it was too late and couldn't get another one in time.

We mounted an iPad mini to our vents using a Tetrax Xway vent mount and Tetrax Geo vent mount. I normally use the Xway to mount my iPhone to the vent.

We primarily relied on the car's GPS, but this time used Trapster, iExit, and google maps (for traffic). I used the free 200mb data sim from Tmobile for the data, but the coverage was lousy. Next time we will probably just use the Verizon sim and data.

Overall, I would recommend sticking with a real GPS device. At least in the US they are less than $100.

Thank you all for the various tips...it is all a bit overwhelming since even the concept of downloading a map is new. Do the apps automatically use a generic map from the likes of Google, do you have to tell the app to use it, do certain apps only work with certain app?

Also, one thing is not clear, as we have never had an IPad with GPS and cellular access. The Waze one on my first generation IPad looks so so and some features such as railway lines do not show up..maybe if in a moving car they would.

The Pioneer ones I see here in Japan look fantastic, with even the occasional real building appearing. And they give real time traffic reports, estimated time of arrival, auto correct if you turn the wrong way....

If I can get that in an app, great.

But one thing is not clear... It SEEMS thA in Japan, they do not charge you 500 for the device and a set fee. Instead, they charge you 500 dollars and break it down into 24 installments, so you are paying 19 dollars or so per month. And it is not at all clear what happens at the end of the two years. In other words, the cost of the device plus usage is divided into 24 installments. As I do not live anywhere near a shop, I have to wait until I can get to one. What happens in your country. If the device is sold in a similar manner, what is the cost of data only after the two years are up?

Regarding the usage we anticipate, it would actually be local rather than long distance, as Japan is the size of California and most local routes are zig zags. No grid patterns in most towns.

The plans we see here for a Mini say 7 GB per month, after that, not restricted but speed drops off. What kind of usage would one see if one drives 10 or 20 kg a day 5 days a week?

The staff are very circumspect about what happens after the two year contract is up and are not knowable about Apple products really.

We would otherwise prefer to turn off cellular when not driving, the same reason we cannot afford an IPhone and only use WIFI with current IPad first generation

Thanks,

Paul