I had the Connect Nav+ on my old 147 and didn't really find it that good for the price.

 

I'd have to so no to a factory item. Aftermarket units are now so cheap, well featured, portable, easier to update, simple to use etc etc it seems silly spending around £1k plus to have a less featured, harder to use, more expensive system tied to one car.

You can't just plug a car system into your PC and update it with the latest speedcam locations can you?

Cheers,

 

I've been considering getting a satnav for a while, they used to be a bit hit and miss, has the map data caught up with the technology now?

 

Ditch the Brera satnav, get the Blue&Me option
instead (you can't have that with SatNav/Phone option)
and use the money you'll save to get Bose and keep the TomTom.


Edit: Built-in satnav is never going to be as
up-to-date as an aftermarket system.

Try and get the TomTom fully plumbed in.

 

I agree with Nev: I have the satnav system, and it's very poor compared to, for instance, a 'Navman'. If I was specifying again I would opt for Blue&Me and full Bose system.

However, everything else is just glorious. Except for the mud and sheep pooh thrown up by the front wheels throughout winter. That's less glorious. But I'm told I can't have mudflaps unless I have gnomes on the front lawn. and I don't have a front lawn.

 

At a little more cost, and im not too sure if it fits but im sure it does, if i was buying a new car i wouldnt get the sat nav option, i had it in the 166 and it was great, however I would look to fit the pioneer navigation double din unit! Its got everything, Sat nav, DVD, MP3 and bluetooth phone, you can even add digital TV, and take it out of the car and keep it if you want when you come to sell it!

The OEM unit does look good on the dash, this will look even better!

As far as TOMTOM goes, top navigation out there without question.

If its just a tool, then stick with the tomtom, if your after the extra lux see if the double din unit fit, it looks awsome!

 

But I'm told I can't have mudflaps unless I have gnomes on the front lawn. and I don't have a front lawn.

Yup, very true!


:lol: :lol: :lol:

 

But I'm told I can't have mudflaps unless I have gnomes on the front lawn. and I don't have a front lawn.[/QUOTE]


Errrr!

 

If I was specifying again I would opt for Blue&Me and full Bose system.

I was going to specify the Bose anyway (my 147 had it, and so does my Audi, though the latter manages this without losing bootspace). Also 7-hole 18" teledial wheels; Frau Pieno Fiore premium leather & electric seats; Xenons/washers; visibility pack; passenger knee airbag; and heated front screen (which may preclude the use of a TomTom?). If I go for the Alfa satnav I'd specify a CD changer, presuming - perhaps wrongly - that this would be capable of reading CDs with MP3 files burned on.

 

has anyone tried to look at their nav screen with a set of polarised sunnies?
i just bought a new pair of polarised sunglasss and when i look into my navman the screen just goes black.
also when i look into the rear screen of the sud, and some other cars,it shows a chequered pattern with the sunnies on - weird man.
doesnt do it with my other pair of sunnies, anyone know why?

i use a portable navman around sydney and really its only good if you have already got an idea where you are going. especially when first taking off.
and sometimes when i first switch it on, i have to wait many minutes for reception.

also i need to update the data, anyone know how?

 

If I go for the Alfa satnav I'd specify a CD changer, presuming - perhaps wrongly - that this would be capable of reading CDs with MP3 files burned on.

I don't think the satnav unit is MP3 compatible.
And when I ordered, you couln't have the MP3 playing
headunit and Bluetooth/B&M, for some reason.

Also try and check if the manual seats go lower than the
'leccy ones. I don't think we got a definitive answer for that one.
(The manual seat backs are electric as standard anyway.)


Heated screen is just the wiper section, no filaments embedded
in the screen itself.

 

One other thing worth bearing in mind - because of the Skyview roof you have very good satelite connection wherever you want to put your TomTom (it doesn't have to be on the windscreen, especially as the screen is a long way from the cigarette lighter). I have a speedtax camera detector (sorry - "Safety" Camera detector) which I keep just in front of the cigarette lighter (behind the gearstick) which works just fine.

 

One other thing worth bearing in mind - because of the Skyview roof you have very good satelite connection wherever you want to put your TomTom (it doesn't have to be on the windscreen). I have a speedtax camera detector (sorry - "Safety" Camera detector) which I keep just in front of the cigarette lighter (behind the gearstick) which works just fine.

My Fortuna "Slim" Bluetooth receiver exactly
fits the space between the roofliner lip and the glass.
Wedges in perfectly and always has 4 sats in view!

 

My Fortuna "Slim" Bluetooth receiver exactly
fits the space between the roofliner lip and the glass.
Wedges in perfectly and always has 4 sats in view!

i dont even have a cigarette lighter
so i have to hotwire my portable unit in
and wait for a satalite

 

Speaking as one who does have the SatNav option in the Brera, I went for it because I was fed up having to constantly keep sticking and unsticking the holder from the windscreen and cleen off the evidence every time I parked the car, lest it give cause for some unsocialble yob to smash the window to look for it! That gets real old, real quick. That, plus the fact I thought the standard head unit looked like something out of a Ford Focus rather than an Alfa and I couldn't bear to look at it.

On the plus side the SatNav, being integrated, gently lowers the car audio when it announces directions and then raises it again, so you won't miss anything if you like your music a little "punchy", which you almost certainly will if you have the Bose option (and believe me, you do want the Bose option!).

Also, make sure your dealer gets the latest map disc (mine came with 2005/2006 even though it was delivered in October - which quite unbelievably, doesn't have post-code look-up)!

Also a quick note on the CD changer, No, it cannot play MP3 CDs! Avoid it, its a complete waste of money. Instead, get your dealer to fit the iPod cable, its less than half the price and your iPod has the capacity to store all of your music, no having to choose & load discs!

 

I'm with alfamus, the dash in my GT looks a lot more stylish with the integrated system, if you want to keep up with technology go with the portable, if you want the uncluttered dash get the in built it's a personal thing

 

Personally I'd stick with the tomtom or buy an uprated system with your not inconsiderable savings.

Blue and Me, BOSE plus MP3 unit if you can get it.

You can put speedcamera stuff on the tomtom - but noton the satnav. MY little Garmin Nuvi unit is unobtrusive and thin - I'm looking at attaching it via a dash mount leaving the windscreen unmarked....

Simes.

 

It's a question I'm asking myself at the moment.

The Alfa system 'looks' better because its built in; but at £1,500 - 2,000 plus the fact it won't tell you where speed camera's are its a complete rip-off (as are most manufacturers systems) at the moment

 

Still swear by my Wayfinder Navigator & SpeedAlert
apps on my phone.

Admittedly if you need satnav every single day it
is not an optimum solution. (Now that 3G charges
you per-minute not per-kbyte. B@stards!)

But there's no need for unwieldy wiring as both the
phone and the Bluetooth reciever are battery operated
and last a full 4 hour trip with plenty of juice to
spare. (And you can always plug them into
the *** lighter if needs be.)


And you don't look a bit of a donkey if you
have to use them on foot.

 

has anyone tried to look at their nav screen with a set of polarised sunnies?
i just bought a new pair of polarised sunglasss and when i look into my navman the screen just goes black.

Drove with my new RayBan polarised £111 jobies today and couldn't see my Road Angel Plus Guesed the same would apply to my NAVMAN

 

Drove with my new RayBan polarised £111 jobies today and couldn't see my Road Angel Plus Guesed the same would apply to my NAVMAN

Whoops!

So the choice is:
look cool or
know where you're headed!

:lol:

 

FWIW, I decided against the SatNav in my Brera, and am happily using my TomTom, updated with the latest maps and speed camera database. I think Blue&Me is amazing (leaves every other hands-free option I've seen standing) - and would certainly go for that rather than built in SatNav. Apart from the bluetooth phone side of things, you can just plug a USB memory stick in, in the glovebox, so you don't need the CD autochanger. Having said that, my car came with an unrequested and FOC autochanger in the boot, which is useful, but probably not worth paying for.

 

Having used both I can really say that the TomTom is brilliant, but a pain as its dodgy to leave it in the car. The built in sat nav is good, not as flexible as the TT, but less hassle. It's a lot easier to use a touch screen pda to enter routes or change settings, rather than the twist dial and esc key. In summary if I was starting again, I would buy a TomTom with a good dash mount, and spend the money that I had saved on a flat screen tv and dvd/pvr.

 

It used to be the case with the satnav system that the CD changer was mandatory as the satnav disc used to use the slot in the satnav unit and so you had to have the changer to listen to CD's.....

I don't know if this is still the case - the alfa configurer doesn't force it any more. I got a dealer stock brera - and it had the changer - quite frankly I'd rather do without as it eats quite a lot of bootspace...

Simes.

 

It's a question I'm asking myself at the moment.

The Alfa system 'looks' better because its built in; but at £1,500 - 2,000 plus the fact it won't tell you where speed camera's are its a complete rip-off (as are most manufacturers systems) at the moment

the advice i have been given for a portable unit is to wait because soon the the "navman" and "road angel" will be combined into one unit offering both directions and warnings for about the same price of each seperatly