Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Paddycakes]

I'm looking for a GPS for the car.

The choices are many... but....

What is currently the state-of-the art here in Korea?

Pardon the Konglish, but which one is the "best"?

Have they invented a car GPS yet that updates smoothly (no jerky motion with the delay)?

[Paddycakes]

Anyone own one of these...

iNAVI K2

It appears to be the "best"!

[eamo]

Why not get a PMP with navigation? Take it out of the car and use it for video and audio wherever you go.

[bassexpander]

[hugekebab]

i read on engadget (i think) that an english gps is coming out with full english maps/restaurants etc. cant remember the bloody name buut it might be worth looking into mate.

[Paddycakes]

Bassexpander, thanks for the review on the K2. Didn't know you have to pay for updates. Do you recall the price?

Hugekabab: Do you recall when you read the article? Was it recent?

Was it this one here?

http://www.engadget.com/2008/05/06/xroad-v7-3rd-version-gps-unit-headed-for-korea/

[bassexpander]

www.inavi.co.kr

The good news is that prices on their other models have come down.

You should look into the older Inavi Smart. It's not that expensive. It's got DMB, and what I hate about many of the newer models is that they don't have simple function buttons on the front. You need to go through menus to find stuff. I really miss having one-touch buttons on the front of the machine. It's good to have while driving. I miss being able to just push the "Home" button without having to hunt through a menu to get it.

In all honesty, the 3D graphics modes are cool, but I find I generally don't use them for everyday use. It's much more convenient to just use the mode where you're looking straight down.

By the way, after looking at the K2, m wife and I commented that the color scheme might take some getting used to while driving. I'm sure that's all adjustable, though.

Here are prices from a price comparison site:
http://www.enuri.com/search/Searchlist.jsp?searchkind=1&nosearchkeyword=&es=&c=&keyword=inavi

Basically, the K2 is about 550,000
The G1 is about 400,000
The ES200 is about 410,000
The Star is about 350,000 (avoid due to several hard drive returns. Easily damaged)
The Smart is about 375,000
The Up+ is about 222,000 (no DMB on this model)
The PNS model (great little unit. No DMB but portable) 235,000

Those prices will vary depending on the memory you buy with each model. I've found that you can buy a bigger memory card yourself and download the maps for the larger size off of their site. I saved money that way.

You can also pay extra for TPEG or MBC traffic updates which show you what streets to drive on to avoid traffic. I don't drive enough to bother.

You can also buy the software to load onto certain brands of palm pilots and probably PMPs too.

[DCJames]

I've got the iRiver NV Life and I'm pretty happy with it.

7 inch screen, DMB, and beautiful display.

http://product.iriver.co.kr/p_nvlife_feat.asp


I paid 330,000 won for the 4GB version.

[bassexpander]

The I-river models are nice, too. The one with the big knob on the side is pretty fast when you hunt maps or menus.

[Paddycakes]

Bass,

How smooth is the updating on your current GPS unit?

I'd like to get something that updates at 20 cycles per second (if that even exists) so the map scrolls smoothly rather than jerky.

[bassexpander]

Updating while driving or when downloading updates every few months?

I haven't looked at a lot recently, but my gps hardly updates at 20 frames per second. It sort of depends on how fast you drive?

I really have no idea.

The slow thing I don't like about the Inavi is when I touch the screen to move the map around and search for things in the area. That's when it's slow. Other models are much faster at this, although their maps are also a lot less detailed.

I like some of the GPS models that show the distance to your next 2 or 3 events (turns, etc).

[Phlex]