DVD / Sat Nav System..

[overgard]

Hi Guys,

Can any let me know whether the DVD / Sat Nav System is available as a stand-alone purchase, or it only comes in a pack with the Moonroof, etc.

It doesn't come standard in the U.S. / Japan version in the basic models, and im trying to find out whether it can be purchased separately.

There are plenty of after-market options around, but i would get one that fits neatly in the cars dash. Will probably have to import it from Japan, assuming that it would work over here.

Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks

[Raider]

From what we (wife and I) found, it is all part of a package only.

[vbbuilt]

I think Raider is correct. I just checked the accessories section of MAZDAUSA.com. The NAV isn't available as an accessory, so it can't be purchased separately. So after-market is your only option. Of course, you might try ebay....everything's up for sale there. :D

Vince.

[Raider]

Alpine makes a pretty decent all in one setup.

[snowball]

actually, I was just looking on ebay about this, and they are selling it for around 1100. It might not be the best of deals, and i'm not sure if it is legit, but here you go! :)

[rexercx7]

Yes, the OEM Navi unit is NOT available as an option separately, it goes without saying...only with the Tech package, and that's the end of that story. On the subject of Navi, I really went into that topic heavy, with my local high-end auto stereo shop, who will do just about anything you want, and I mean *anything* in regard to DVD players, Navi units, and especially complete Navi/Stereo units that totally replaces the OEM in-dash getup.;)

Pioneer, Alpine are the premiere makers of those complete replacement systems, and to go retail and have them professionally installed, with maybe a speaker or two upgrade here and there to improve things substantially, and an amp or two, things were looking right around $2400 for the Pioneer unit, and upwards of $3G's or more for a fully decked out Alpine setup.

That's when I discovered the personal portable market, and specifically the Garmin Nuvi 660 with traffic monitor, BlueTooth for yer phone, and an amazing 8GB worth of flash memory storage, which encompasses a hell of a lot of maps and POI's, to say the least. Plus, if you want, it has an SD Card slot/CompactFlash Card slot for loading up personal travel itineraries and putting in MP3's into the system, which can then be played through your car stereo. So that's what I ended up with, and now that Garmin has a Macintosh (yup, I'm a designer/photographer/graphic artist and use Macs) "Garmin Updater" for doing system, firmware, and software updates, it wasn't a hard sell for me at just a little less than $700 delivered.

I'm not saying it's the perfect world's answer, because obviously a dash unit is/would be preferred, but I can highly recommend the Nuvi 660 as the best of the portables, bar none, after exhaustively researching and studying/shopping for portables for more than 3 weeks before I came to that conclusion. I have both a dash mount system, and the windshield system (supposedly illegal in California, but I use mine with impunity so far in SoCalifornia), and it gets the job done and then some.:) I practice removing it from the vehicle and storing it in its leather carrying case when I'm parking in shopping centers, leaving the vehicle for extended periods of time etc., just common sense really. But so far, it's been a perfect performing system for us, and of course it transfers to any automobile you happen to be using to boot, ie it's a portable.

I bought an aftermarket 3-year warranty from Shop-Tech, by the way, which was only $100 or so delivered, which covers virtually everything except breaking it by force, dropping it on the street/concrete etc., and you send it in once a year for a "tune up" for free, which they advise doing as does Garmin. When it came time to update my system's software, maps, and firmware, it was a simple hookup via USB 2.0 to one of my new Intel iMacs, and more than 3GB of new, raw data was loaded into the system, and the firmware/software was updated from v2.7 to v4.86!...about 2 years worth of updates, so it was well worth doing, and ridiculously easy to do.:D

So that's the story on my Nuvi 660 by Garmin, in case anyone was interested in the portable alternative.

Kindest regards,
rexercx7:cool: