[monstersinc1]

Used the turn by turn navigation this weekend for a trip from central NJ to the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania. I know the route well, but I decided to try it out. It works very nicely. I have the DVD/CD Radio with no Nav screen. Turn by Turn plays back through that Radio and displays directional information on the LED screen. While listening to the radio if a route change is coming up, it alerts you with a tone (sounds like the captain on an airplane when a message is about to come), put the radio in the background, speaks information to you, and displays direction signals and measurements on the radio.

Nice Feature: If you go of course or you decide to take your own route, the system will automatically ask if you want to re-route. If you answer yes, it will automatically re-route you from your present location.


Some caveats:. While in the Poconos I wanted to use it to go between two areas. The area I was starting from must have been an analog-only cell area as Onstar was not able to download directions to me. Of course, they are nice enough to give you spoken directions when this happens. They also remember what destination you last asked for so you can call back when you are in a better area and then they can download. As more areas put in Digital for the FCC 2008 mandate this problem will probably go away.

Overall I am very happy with it. For the extra $2000 GM wants for the NAV, I'm glad I passed on it as this suits me fine.

 

[4kids]

We are hoping the ONSTAR works for us since we didn't get Navigation either.
Thank you for this info!

 

[mrbuick]

I am of the era of turn by turn navigation by Rand McNally. However I agree that the Onstar turn by turn works well. I have experienced the same "dead area" problem along the NJ shore and the verbal directions they gave worked just fine!
I drove a few miles and the problem went away.

 

[coopermine]

Is there a repeat option? so if you forget the last spoken instruction will it be able to repeat it for you? also is there a way to scroll up and down the directions on the LCD screen?

 

[osli]

The dead areas aren't "analog only" areas but "Verizon Wireless" areas if I understand things properly. A bit frustrating, I suppose, if you happen to live in an urban area that doesn't happen to have Verizon coverage yet for whatever reason.

 

[Vikchic]

I am very excited about the NAV. I purchased a Garmin last year before a trip from Michigan to Norfolk, VA to visit my Navy son, we never broke out a map. I hope this works as well. I also had a situation recently where I drove to an unfamilar town, on my why home, a parade had begun and I was forced to drive opposite from my route home. Even though I was on roads I had never heard of, I kept following the directions and before I knew it, I was home. I would have been seriously lost without it!

 

[Jay]

I agree. The OnStar definitely makes nav an unnecessary option, IMHO. Yes, there are repeat and preview buttons and you can cancel at any time. Funny situation: We used it to get to the north side of Myrtle Beach two days ago. Since we had time we left the route OnStar was suggesting and drove in on some small country roads. Just outside the city, when we rejoined the OnStar route for the last two miles, the gentleman proceeded to give me instructions even though we hadn't been on route for over 70 miles! It's also nice getting the monthly updates and feeling secure in an emergency situation. Makes me want to own GM vehicles down the road!

Jay

 

[rocketman]

I am very excited about the NAV. I purchased a Garmin last year before a trip from Michigan to Norfolk, VA to visit my Navy son, we never broke out a map. I hope this works as well. I also had a situation recently where I drove to an unfamilar town, on my why home, a parade had begun and I was forced to drive opposite from my route home. Even though I was on roads I had never heard of, I kept following the directions and before I knew it, I was home. I would have been seriously lost without it!

I purchased a Magellan a while back and I certainly was pleased with it. If the Enclave Nav works as good as the Magellan, I will be very pleased.

 

[monstersinc1]

Is there a repeat option? so if you forget the last spoken instruction will it be able to repeat it for you? also is there a way to scroll up and down the directions on the LCD screen?

Yes, there is a repeat option and you can preview the entire route whenever you want. You just use the buttons on the radio that normally are used as station presets. The display tells you which buttons do what.

 

[coopermine]

The Enclave NAV is OK IMO. It will be handy in areas where I do not know the route, but when I tried it near my house, like I went for local strip mall and on my way back asked it to guide me to my home, it was taking a longer route. I dont know why, of course there is no freeway in between just a bunch of local roads.

So I don't know if I can trust it with the best possible route available. I am sure it will do an excellent job getting me home when I am lost, I just want it to be a little smart in finding the shortest route.

It could have been "user error" as well as I am learing about this thing every day.

 

[netmag]

We have the NAV and like it a lot. It's fairly easy to use. It's not perfect but I haven't used a NAV system yet that was perfect or always gave the best route. We'll use it mostly when we go places (like other suburbs) that we're not familiar with.

I'm sure ONSTAR could do the same thing but then you don't get the slick lcd touch screen. ;D

Since it comes free for a year, we'll probably also use ONSTAR if we're searching for some place specific.

 

[rocketman]

The Enclave NAV is OK IMO. It will be handy in areas where I do not know the route, but when I tried it near my house, like I went for local strip mall and on my way back asked it to guide me to my home, it was taking a longer route. I dont know why, of course there is no freeway in between just a bunch of local roads.

So I don't know if I can trust it with the best possible route available. I am sure it will do an excellent job getting me home when I am lost, I just want it to be a little smart in finding the shortest route.

It could have been "user error" as well as I am learing about this thing every day.

I would think the Factory Nav is as up to date as the Portables. My Magellan will direct you any way you want to go. You can select Freeway, Longest Route, Shortest Route, etc. After you play with it for awhile, I'm sure you will be quite pleased. Good luck with it.