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| Brand: Dash
Category: CE
List Price: $299.99
Buy New: $249.00
You Save: $50.99 (17%)
New (2) from $249.00
Rating:  141 reviews
Sales Rank: 618
Color: Black
Media: Electronics
Native Resolution: 480 x 272
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 2.8 x 4.8 x 4.1
MPN: 99-1000-001
Model: 99-1000-001
UPC: 892437002012
EAN: 0892437002012
ASIN: B0014CIBWC
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Better than TomTom with More Potential August 9, 2008
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
I have had the Dash Express now for about a month. I returned a TomTom Go720 after about nine months. I also have a TomTom Go300. I've been using GPS since I connected an external GPS to an old Palm Pilot more than 10 years ago. The Dash Express is the best of the bunch. While it's HUGE and clunky, it's worth the space and weight. It's also a little slow. It needs to offer weigh points and some other features but, overall, it's a great product. I use it in NJ, PA and DE most often. I make a regular NJ to DE run once a week. My trip has been shortened in both distance and time because I can take Rt. 95 and know if there is traffic or not. It had offered to re-route when new traffic data has arrived while en route. Dash seems to be interested in adding features users want not those manufacturers want. What an idea! Since it's a mesh-network type device with cellular and WiFi, the more of us there are using a Dash, the better the data becomes. So, my good review will help me if more people buy one. I'll never go back to a TomTom. It's like TiVo, once you are a TiVo user, watching "real" TV stinks!
 Spectacular August 7, 2008
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
After having Garmin's for many years and finally getting completely fed up with their multi-hoop jumping map updates and brain damaged customer support I dropped my Nuvi 660 on ebay and replaced it with the Dash. Dash has made consistent software improvements and responds to user feature requests, the device is twice as good now as the day I bought it.
It is just absolutely excellent.
Makes Los Angeles Almost Bearable. Could Be Better But by Far the Best! August 6, 2008
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
I've Been using the Dash in Los Angeles for about a month. Love it!
It's already saved me a ton of time and gas. There's a monthly fee of $10 for the internet service (which you totally need to make the Dash do it's thing) but I figure that I've already made that $ back when time and gas are considered. The Dash showed me a few new ways to work and each of them cut my normal commute from about 45min to about 35min. To me that's a huge deal. Especially considering that those 10 mins are mins that I would be stuck in traffic. Not just 10 mins of a nice drive in the countryside.
I don't consider myself a technology geek and I'm really not that interested in all the GPS whistles and bells. I bought the Dash for the traffic stuff. And it's by far the best traffic I've seen on any GPS device. That being said a few of the features are really great. The movie search feature works flawlessly and comes in handy. It shows you all the movies and times and it's really easy to navigate. Also the Dash allows you to send your addresses to your car from the internet. This also works very easily and saves a lot of hassle. And finally the yahoo search engine works great too.
Yes, the Dash can be a little slow. Also the Dash figures out the routes first and THEN computes the traffic for each route. This can be slightly annoying and requires you to make some of your own decisions along your route. But still...what are we comparing it to? There's nothing else like the Dash on the market. And besides some of the problems Dash will probably fix. They've recently sent out some fixes that address a lot of the problems I read about in the other reviews. Cool. Really, despite the drawbacks it's still the best GPS out there. There's no comparison because it's the only one of its kind!
Highly Recommended!
 Each GPS has it own flaws. DASH is not perfect but it's worth the price. August 5, 2008
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
Here are some CONS:
1. Unlike Tomtom, you have no options to avoid specific route.(very useful). Unlike Garmin,you will have no option for "shortest route" or "avoid highways". Worst of all, NO "DETOUR" button. Although annoying, you may able to keep rerouting along the road until you get a desirable route. Or you can drive off the given route and hopefully it will recalculate to your expected route. If you encounter blocked road or major road with frequent red light, you may not be able to avoid it if DASH don't give you an desirable alternative route. They may keep routing you back to the same road.
Sometimes, it doesn't always give you alternative route. Like the previous comments, it prefers highways and sometimes only give you highways route. If DASH give you options to avoid route like Tomtom, I would give it 4 stars. However, I give them 3 stars for the "imperfect" alternative route options and the my route feature (it learn the route that you usually commute through).
2. It doesn't "always" tell you which side of the street you destination is on like Garmin. I can't blame it much on this issue though because Tomtom and other GPSs does not specify the side of the destination "at all".
3. The interface is not as nice as Garmin or TOMTOM.
4. I expect the speaker to be a bit louder. It's louder than TOMTOM 920 but my old Garmin NUVI 200 is much louder.
5. The streetname is not very clear. Tomtom speaker is clearer.
Anyway, the main issue is routing options.
PRO:
1. I really like the Yahoo. POI and the extra stuff that come with the internet. The searching time is quite fast, compared to Garmin. However, if you have a PDA with internet access, then you can pass on this feature.
2. I can't really speak about the traffic avoidance because I do not usually commute during rush hour. I heard that it really gives you most up-to-date traffic information.
3. I can expect the improvement of the software without having to purchase the latest hardware. I hate it when TOMTOM came out with the IQ route/lane guidance options but the software doesn't compatible with the older models (Tomtom GO 920/720).
If DASH express can fix the CONS stated above with future updates, I'll give it 5 star.
4. With Wifi access/traffic data, I think the price is more reasonable than TOMTOM and GARMIN. Good for people who has limited budget like me.
In conclusion, there is no perfect GPS. Buy 2 GPS systems, if you can afford them.
 Has a mind of it's own August 4, 2008
2 out of 5 found this review helpful
The unit I got is a v 2.1.0.6. I have gone through a number of Copilot/TomTom/Garmin Nuvi devices and compared to these, the product is still not ready. I was really hoping that the live traffic features will offset all the gripes about the device, but stumbled over a few things that in my case are unacceptable for daily users.
My biggest complaint about this unit is that the Traffic service has a mind of it's own. It desides when to connect/disconnect sparadically (I am in NYC area), so coverage should not be an issue. I was also never able to connec the unit to my WIFI network. You can enter all the settings, but there is no CONNECT button per se. I guess the unit should be smart to know when to use which network, byut I found myself in NOT CONNECTED state for hours while at home or driving. HArd booting the device (2-3 minutes) seemed to get it to connect..sometimes. Since the POI database on the device is subpar to all other GPS devices on the market, this is a huge issue for me. BTW, Yahoo Local search is wonderfull.. when it works.
Besides the ususal gripes about the unit size, I noticed a that I was hitting the the top menu button accidentaly quite alot while driving. Now, the problem this presents is that once you hit it, it stops redrawing the map, and takes a good 3-7 seconds to get back to where you were. Now, while driving this means missing your turn.
Also, I apreciate the frequent voice warnings for turns, but they can get overly annoying, while taking a turn around ramp at I95 the Dash told me to "KEEP on I95 ramp" 6 times !! Now that is annoying in my book.. The Text to speech is also not completely evolved in street name prononciation when compared to Garmin Nuvi.
Lots and lots of things still need to be worked out before Dash subscription charges will make sense to me.
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