Sat-Nav & DVD Player revisted, advice please

well, here we go again. back to my fav subject, choosing Sat Nav.

thanks to everyone who helped before. I had settled on a Tom Tom 700, as that seemed to fit my needs exactly, and was going to buy in next week or two.

However, the original Toyota Sat Nav double din cd/tape player has now decided to die on me. I was going to replace it later in year anyway.

so, really needing to know if it is better to go the Tom Tom 700 and a separate DVD player with a TV tuner and screen setup, or if it's more logical to purchase one of the alpine or pioneer Sat-Nav Unit, with DVD player and tv screen all in one package.

only thing i can see you would lose from alpine/pioneer, would be camera info.

i know with the tom tom setup you can update it frequently for changes, and cameras, etc.

but, if i was to go the alpine/pioneer setup, how often are things updated as it seems to run from DVD disc. so would assume you need to have the dvd disc in the dvd player, so cant play music etc while you drive, unless i am wrong.

really need to know which is best option, i like the alpine/pioneer way, but if tom tom is more practical for sat nav and cameras etc. then i suppose its a tom tom 700 and separate DVD/tv/screen setup.

if i have to go the way of a DVD player/screen/tv tuner with a tom tom unit, any recommendations?

btw, do most DVD players actually play mp3 files that may be nested in sub-folders, rather than just the root.

any help would be appreciated,

thanks in advance

(i have read some of the other threads, these just seem follow up questions)

I use tomtom and very happy with it but i have a few friends who have the pioneer all in one and love it and its coming down in price nicely now so id go for that one

I have just bought and had fitted the pioneer setup, and it is f ing awesome sat nav and dvd with motorised screen reversing camera facility, which i made use of with a little tiny one from maplin,it has voice recognition to and it pin points you great too, i had tom tom 300 ,and road angel navigator now well happy with this one and going to get road angel compact, and if you decide to go for pioneer there is a place you can get ex display reconditioned for half price audio security i think

cheers, for both of your replies

so, if i hav sat nav setup either pioneer/alpine, would the DVD of routes need to be in all the time. so how would i go about playing dvd/mp3.sorry for the basic questions.

also how often are the route dvd-discs updated, i know tom tom are updated all the time.

any recommendations for a camera detector, if i go the pioneer/alpine route.

i do like the idea of built in all-in-one option.

thanks once again

I "think" you need to have the dvd disc in if your using the sat nav, bit of a pain as you can only listen to the radio!! not sure with the pioneer/alpine map updates?? then again you now cant update the tomtom maps!! they charge you?

The way around it would be to stick a cheap single din dvd player below the all in one unit?? or just put up with only radio while your sat naving

i have the pioneer avh-p6500 player with motorized screen and the sat nav, 2 units the the disc stays in the sat nav unit and the screen then becomes touch screen for dvd cd and sat nav not sure about the updates though

I have a single din Alpine Sat-Nav INA 033R and use a separate MP3 6CD Multichanger CHAS-64 from memory (loose under the passenger seat and it`s perfect with no disc skipping I took out the Toyota Amp)

The DVD Sat-Nav cuts in over music when you need to turn, apart from the usual glitches in map software (tells you to turn off and then back on a dual carriageway when it computes a slightly shorter route) its fine.

Every year they issue a new disc for £250 but if I said "file sharing" it could be less than this.

Someone I know had a Navman and his said "Aquiring Satellites" and never finished, the Alpine has a GYRO and uses a speed signal for when it loses a signal.

thanks once again, for the helpful info

i am pretty much set on the pioneer/alpine setup. from the info so far the Pioneer looks really good.

i did find out one thing, apparently, on the pioneer, the system will download the route from the DVD, and you can take it out and replace with another DVD. it only needs the DVD put back in if you are on long journey. so thats handy.

will also need a tv tuner as well. not sure where that will go. pioneer says it will play cd-r mp3 discs, but a lot of my mp3 are burnt to DVD. need to check the options there.

gaz, i like the idea of the rear camera. if only there was a way to hook it up to a recorder, then could make copies of the idiots behind you and send to the police

with the above setup i think i will just need a camera detector to complete the package.

all i need is to source a Pioneer avic-x1r. the prices on ebay look about the figure i can afford around 650 - 750UK. unless i can get a good price here.

i do know it will either be pioneer or alpine i end up with.

anyways, cheers once again for all the help