Is there a portable nav that is iphone compatible and does it all?

Question

is there a portable nav system that will do bluetooth hands free and ipod functions?
Message was edited by: Chris Harmount

Answer 1

After doing long research for a good navigation or hand-held GPS system for my R32, I ended up custom installing my iPhone in my car. It came out very nice, however it's extremely uncomfortable using iPhone's touch screen for tasks such as making calls, using maps, or browsing music library while driving.
The best double-din head-unit I found was Kenwood DNX8120 with Garmin maps and iPod/iPhone interface. It has bluetooth (I think optional), nice music browser, shows album cover images, and has OK UI (it's very difficult to like another user's interface after using Mac and iPhone). However, I couldn't find out if it will fully sync with iPhone and import address book. Also, it is retailed between $1100 to $1600 and add another $500 to $1200 for professional installation.
Two days ago I bought Harman Kardon GPS-810. I was impressed by its functions. I used Garmin for a while and must say the HK 810's interface is much better. The best part – it has wireless remote control like Drive + Play 2, which allows full control over the device, you can do even more using remote than the touch-screen.
*Briefly about music features*
It doesn't control the iPhone for music playback, but I synced an 8GB SD card with my iTunes playlists, inserted into the device, and was very happy with it's own player. It does play AAC and Protected AAC files. The only thing I didn't like in its Music Player is that you can't brows by Artists then Albums. It will start the first song of the chosen Artist. So you have to brows by Album from the main menu.
Bluetooth
My iPhone synced, BUT all the names displayed as juggled numbers. I made calls and received, everything was fine. You can even brows by received calls, dialed calls, and missed calls.
Navigation
I really liked it. The graphics are nicer than any other nav I've seen. Again, everything is fully controlled by the wireless remote including zoom in or out, change view options, and more. I didn't test it for a long trip, but was very accurate for short ones.
It has Photo browser and Video player. The screen resolution and video playback are excellent and it costs only $400.
Despite the fact, that this is the only and best choice for me if I decide to equip my car with nav, I returned it. Why? First of all the bluetooth problem, then there are other complains for battery life (I don't really care about that part), limited map options, such as you can't save your current location or make a call from POI info. Finally, it could be less reliable than, lets say Garmin. The start-up was kind of long too.
Harman Kardon says they are releasing a new firmware upgrade in 2-4 weeks, however when I went to Best Buy next day and asked to replace the unit, I was told that it was discontinued by manufacturer (I haven't verified this with HK yet, will call them on Monday). I was surprised. They checked their database and told me that none of the Best Buy has in stock. So I decided to return it and wait to see what's going on. What if HK releases a modified model instead of a new firmware, because of many customer complains.
I am definitely buying this GPS after the glitches fixed.
I apologize for a long story, hopefully it will be helpful. Good luck!