Nav-vy Savvy - Eurotuner Tech

There are a plethora of navigation products on the market - and we're not even talking about all the portable units here. If you're looking for a quick, cost-effective option, you can certainly buy a PND (personal navigation device), but there's a reason why you pay a few hundred dollars for something you stick to your windshield.

The real problem is that portables don't always measure up in terms of performance. Satellite acquisition times on a portable can take forever. But some people find buying consumer electronics from a store less scary than getting a head unit installed at a car audio shop.

However, installing a nav head unit is less complicated than it appears. Any patient DIYer brandishing the proper tools should be capable of connecting one. You might have to find the correct wires for things such as a parking brake, backup light and speed pulse wires; the latter two help the nav perform accurately.

A navigation system also requires a GPS antenna. While it's best to locate the antenna in an unoccupied area outside the vehicle, most will work atop the dash as well.

Because nav systems can be quite distracting, the question of bypassing the unit's safety measures (so functions are available while the vehicle is in motion) is a thorny issue. It can it be done, but as the systems become more sophisticated and rely on the speed pulse wire to indicate movement, some will shut down key functions when movement is sensed.

In this article you will find reviews of navigation products from the major aftermarket manufacturers. Some are DVD-based nav units, while others have hard-drives for map data storage. Rather than simply focusing on the navigation element of these head units, our colleagues at Car Audio magazine looked at the overall package as wellas how well they provided directions. Given their high prices, enthusiasts might want to carefully consider all options before spending their hard-earned cash.

For a full review of these products, see the August issue of Car Audio & Electronics mag.

Clarion MAX675VD & NAX970HD
MSRP: $1199.99
What we like: Easy use, excellent graphics, HDD nav, touchscreen
What we don't like: Separate brain for nav, latest 5.1 decoder for voice prompts, price
Nav features: 30GB HDD, nine million POIs, maps of US and Canada
Audio features: 50x4W max, Ce.NET with balanced audio line transmission and noise canceling
Extras: DVD/video CD/CD player, MP3/WMA, remote control

We were surprised at how user-friendly the MAX675VD and NAX970HD appeared, but our plans ran into a snag when we discovered the nav required Clarion's DVH940N 5.1 decoder to receive the voice prompts. Despite this extra component, the combo was very intuitive and worked nearly flawlessly.

Clarion's double-DIN head unit has the right balance of virtual and real buttons. On the panel, you'll find access to Source, Map, Menu, Band, plus a button to access iPod and an additional one for audio adjustment. While in nav mode, you have two on-screenbuttons - Navi and AV; it doesn't get much simpler than this.

By hitting the Navi button you access the shortcut menu, where you can input a destination, choose route options and search points of interest (POIs). Since the Destination menu is less obvious, we'd prefer a single screen for destination options rather than having to hit Next to access previous destinations.

The main menu for destinations provides direct address input, address book, POI, home and phone number.

Around town, the NAX970HD kept us on course. Rerouting was quick, without any major routing issues. The map itself is easy to read, even in 3-D view.

The MAX675VD is an excellent multimedia source; when used with the Clarion DVH940N for surround sound, you can maximize the capabilities of the unit. We loved having the ability to set individual speaker gains, set crossover points and adjust the delay on speakers.

If you want to make changes to your nav/audio system while driving, the Clarion makes it easy to keep your eyes on the road, instead of searching for items on the screen.
Grade: B+