Dash Express Two-Way Internet-Connected Portable GPS Navigator

by Dash

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 2.8 x 4.8 x 4.1 inches ; 13.3 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 4 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B0014CIBWC
• Item model number: 99-1000-001
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (180 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #46,209 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)

Product Description

Product Description--March 24, 2008

Introducing Dash Express, the first two-way Internet-connected GPS navigation system. Dash delivers traffic and destination information in exciting new ways, and offers a wide range of new capabilities available from the car that makes a typical GPS practically obsolete. Dash is the smartest way to get from A to B, and find everything in between.

Overview

• Dash Express provides current and truly accurate traffic data
  Dash Express leverages the most comprehensive traffic solution ever—the innovative Dash Driver Network—to provide the most accurate and current traffic information available. Learn more
  

• Live Internet content in your car
  Unlike other GPS devices that can only access content from a static, pre-loaded database, Dash gives you the most current, locally relevant information by using the power of the Internet, including Yahoo!® Local search and other websites you know and trust. Learn more
  
  
• So advanced, it's always up to date
  Dash Express automatically downloads the latest software, features, maps, and traffic data to the device. Why drive around with an obsolete GPS device when you can have Dash? Learn more
  
  
• Plan ahead and personalize from your PC
  Use Send2Car to send any address from the Web or e-mail directly to your device in seconds. You can even use the MyDash website to find or create new search lists and categories, and send them right to your device. Learn more

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What the press is saying

"This is the most drool-worthy device since the iPhone." O’Reilly Radar (10.19.2007) "Dash: One GPS Device to Rule Them All" Wired (10.19.2007) "The most advanced attempt at dynamic content is currently being made by Dash" New York Times (10.24.2007) "Dash is, in our opinion, the pioneer in 2nd generation GPS navigation systems." Navigadget (1.17.2008) "After a hands-on session with the Dash Express, it's looking like getting traffic right could be just the tip of the iceberg for this powerful navigator." GPS Magazine (1.8.2008) "Dash goes to the next level and raises the bar for all GPS navigation systems. Now the static and limited points of interests (POI) seem so yesterday." Ubergizmo (10.19.2007)

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TruTraffic: The most comprehensive traffic resource available

Dash Express has the smartest, most advanced traffic solution available—the innovative Dash Driver Network. Combined with comprehensive historical and sensor-based traffic information, the Network provides users with the most detailed, accurate and current traffic picture available today.

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The Dash Driver Network Difference

Dash approaches traffic in an entirely different way — by collecting it from other people driving real commute routes, during real commute times. Each Dash Express anonymously and automatically sends its position and speed back to servers at the Dash Network Operations Center. The Dash servers then update all other Dash devices in the area with current road speeds. That way, members of the Network always have the best, most up-to-date traffic available.

Dash devices receive traffic info from road sensors, commercial fleets and other sources through our partnership with Inrix, the premier traffic flow data provider in the U.S. However, even the first Dash devices in an area get traffic data that's superior to other GPS devices, as Dash uses these initial cars to calibrate the sensor data. This lets Dash assign it a high (straight line) or medium (dotted line) confidence rating, giving you all the information you need at a glance. The larger our network grows, the better traffic information becomes.

In addition, Dash frequently updates each Dash device with the most comprehensive historical traffic database in the industry — a combination of third party and Dash driver data. Dash knows how fast every road segment you drive historically moves during each of 672 separate 15-minute time periods during the week.

Dash Express users will begin to see the benefits of the Dash Driver Network with only a few devices in a given market. And every additional device in the area just makes the Network better. It takes a surprisingly small number of drivers in a major city for Dash to provide live up-to-the-minute data for most roads during commute hours.

The Dash Driver Network also allows us to provide coverage on nearly 2 million miles of US road, and offers the only source of traffic flow data for surface streets.

All of this adds up to the best traffic data in the industry. The kind of timely data you need to make good driving decisions, as well as accurately estimate and track your arrival time once you’ve selected your route.

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Dash Express Interface

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Routing: Choice is good

Most portable GPS devices offer only a single route to your destination. Dash presents up to three different routes, provides the distance to your destination, and uses real traffic information to calculate travel times for each route. Even after you’ve selected a route, Dash automatically alerts you if traffic conditions change significantly. You can also get a quick snapshot of traffic in your area. Dash allows you to visualize current traffic conditions on both major and secondary roads by color: stop-and-go traffic is red, moderate congestion is orange, somewhat better is yellow, and free-flowing roads are green. Solid lines represent live traffic derived from the Dash Driver Network. Dashed lines mean traffic data is either 3rd party sensor or historical data. As the Network grows you’ll see more and more of the dashed lines become solid. You’ve never had this much traffic information on the road before. And knowledge is power.

Flow data vs. incident data Freeway breakdowns and accidents are nice to know about, but what really matters is the speed of traffic around them. Most GPS devices that show traffic rely primarily on 'incident data,' which only tells you where and when an incident happened, not how it's affecting traffic now. Dash uses the speed of traffic, or flow data, to help make the arrival times the most accurate on the road.

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Faster Traffic updates
For Dash drivers, live traffic information is broadcast instantly over a high data-rate cellular (GPRS) connection, rather than via a carousel on a one-way analog FM signal like some other "connected" devices. As a result of the two-way, "always-on" connection, the depth and breadth of information Dash can receive is far superior to most other GPS devices.

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Internet Connected

No matter where you’re headed, with Dash you'll always be able to find exactly what you need, because Dash connects you to the vast and always-updating Internet. A typical GPS device only accesses a canned database of information that stopped being current the moment it was pre-installed at the factory.

Dynamic data is fresh data
Using Dash, you can connect to Yahoo! Local search and find unlimited, up-to-date information all in real-time, and rated by real users. Yahoo! community ratings make sure where you’re headed is really somewhere you want to go.

With a touch of a button, you can find everything from the cheapest gas station to the latest concerts, the best restaurants, the closest yoga studios, dog-friendly parks or even nearby apartments for rent (see "Saved Searches").

And, all of this searching is done from a single, keyboard-based interface. With Dash, you don't have to learn the confusing folder/category structures that many GPSs use. Dash lets you search for content the same way you would on a PC—simply type a word and in seconds Dash dynamically returns the latest results.

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Two-way Connectivity

Dash Express wirelessly connects to the Dash Service using both cellular GPRS and Wi-Fi radios. For cellular, Dash uses a GPRS network composed of multiple carriers, so the coverage range is larger than any single national carrier (see map).
Although Wi-Fi has a more limited range, it typically transmits data faster than GPRS, making it ideal for downloading new software and features to the device. In addition, Dash has a powerful (high gain) Wi-Fi antenna that lets it connect to networks from much greater range than even your typical laptop so you can connect to your home network from an impressive distance away. In many cases, you’ll even be able to transfer information from your driveway.

Dash Express constantly looks for, and connects to, whichever network is available (GPRS and/or Wi-Fi). Sometimes, it even connects to both at the same time, so it's always ready to send or receive information.

In the rare event that you're outside our coverage area, the Dash device still functions as a traditional, unconnected GPS. Using maps, historical traffic data, and points of interest stored in the device, Dash has all the information it needs to help you navigate around and get the information that's important to you.

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Control Dash From Your Computer

The Dash experience extends beyond the device itself. Whether at home, the office, or out of town, you can log into your MyDash account from any Internet-connected computer to easily manage and send information to your device. Send2Car does what it says, and more There are two easy ways to send addresses to your Dash Express. Just log into MyDash, type an address, click Send, and the selected destination appears on your device within seconds. (If the device is off at the time, the address will be cached and re-sent the moment it is turned on.) You can even rename the address, and add notes and phone numbers. Imagine sending a Dash friend the address of your favorite restaurant with a note to "meet me there at 7 pm." There is also a software plug-in for most web browsers and Microsoft Outlook. Simply highlight the address, right-click and select "Send2Car". The Dash Service quickly validates the address and transmits it to your device, all in seconds—no typing required. And, if you’re already on the road, someone else can send addresses to you just as quickly. Send2Car is the fastest, most intuitive way to send addresses to your Dash Express.

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Saved Searches, MyLists & MyFeeds

With MyDash, you can easily add the power of the Dash community to your device. Browse our library of user-created and locally relevant searches, such as "Great Steakhouses," "Bay Area Athletic Events", and "Apartments for Rent". You can even share your own local expertise with other users. Save time by creating shortcuts to your most commonly used Yahoo! Local searches. Enter your search terms on MyDash and send them to your device. Seconds later, those search buttons will appear on your device, allowing you to perform the searches you want with just one touch right from the car. "MyLists" let you group addresses into a single search category. From your favorite coffee shops to the locations of your son’s basketball games, with MyDash you can create and send MyLists to your device so you can easily organize and route to the places that matter most to you. If you want to see other Dash users’ recommendations just browse MyDash for publicly available MyLists and send what you want to your device. You can share your own local knowledge as well, or keep your MyLists private so your favorite local dive doesn’t become a permanent hot spot. Continually refreshed location-based content is showing up all over the Web, from the latest concert dates and times, to the most current airport delays. "MyFeeds" allows you to view up-to-date content at the touch of a button — just enter the URL for the source of the information on MyDash and send it to your device. Every time you hit the button, the Dash service will go straight to the source to get the most recent content and display it on your device.

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Auto Updates

With the exclusive AutoUpdate feature, the Dash Service updates and improves your device without requiring you to connect to your computer or take it back to the dealer. Dash updates software, maps, and historical traffic information seamlessly. This two-way connected feature not only saves you time and hassle, it ensures the accuracy, timeliness and relevance of your Dash Express content, maps and software. Most other GPS devices rely only on static map and traffic data that are pre-loaded at the factory months before.

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Theft Resistant

The unique "theft-deterrent" feature can remotely disable your Dash device instantly, removing your personal data, shutting the device down, and making it a worthless target to would-be thieves.

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The Dash Service

All the Internet-connected benefits of this system require a subscription to the Dash Service. Superior traffic information from the Dash Driver Network saves you valuable time, Yahoo! Local search gives you the convenience of finding exactly what you’re looking for, and access to the MyDash website lets you customize and load locally relevant content onto your device. The Dash service also gives you free map updates (which can cost over $200 on some other systems) plus the latest software and feature updates from Dash. Once you experience connected personal navigation, we’re certain you’ll never look back.

Each device comes with a FREE three-month trial period. To subscribe, select from one of these service plan options.

• Purchase a two-year prepaid plan for the equivalent of $9.99 a month
• Purchase a 1-year prepaid plan for $10.99 a month
• Purchase a month-to-month plan for the rate of $12.99 a month.
  

As part of any Dash service, you get unlimited usage of all Dash connected features, including cellular connectivity, all map and software updates and unlimited access to MyDash. There are no extra cellular or WiFi charges—Dash takes care of it all. For comparison, each map update alone for other automotive GPS devices typically costs from $149 to over $200.

A service plan is not required. Even if you choose not to subscribe after your initial trial period, you’ll still have a great GPS device in Dash. It will simply be missing the life-changing connected features including live traffic, search, and Send2Car. However, the onboard maps, routing, address book, address entry (using its touch screen keyboard) and points of interest will ensure you still have a great GPS experience.

Note: Currently, Dash Express is only available in the United States.

Find Dash Service coverage for your area

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Device Specifications

Hardware
Dimensions	4.8"W x 4.1"H x 2.8"D (122 x 104 x 71mm)
Display Size, WxH	3.81"W x 2.25"H (9.7 x 5.7cm); 4.3" diagonal (10.9cm)
Weight	13.3 ounces
Screen size	4.3" widescreen display measured diagonally
Display Resolution	480 x 272 pixels
Display Type	WQVGA color TFT LCD, anti-glare technology, polarized screen
Touch Screen	Easy-to-use touch screen lets you select from on-screen menu options
Touch-sensitive buttons	Menu and volume buttons quickly react to a light finger touch
Speaker	Superior high quality speaker delivers easy to hear turn-by-turn directions over ambient car noise
Battery Life	Up to 2 hours of normal use (or 72 hours in suspend mode)
Battery Type	Rechargeable lithium-ion
High Sensitivity GPS Receiver	Allows quick acquisition of GPS signal
GPS Chip	SIRFstarIII - high performance satellite signal processor
Wi-Fi & Cellular (GPRS)	Uses Wi-Fi and Cellular (GPRS) network to keep device connected at all times
12v Car Charger	Charge your device in the car
AC (Wall) Charger	Included to charge at home or work

Features

• TruTraffic: Get true, up-to-the minute traffic information from other Dash users
• Pre-Loaded Maps: Built-in maps enable you to travel all 50 states
• 2d, 3d Maps, Detailed Directions/Maneuver List: Route to your destination using the 2d map (both car up and north up), 3d map or detailed turn-by-turn directions list
• Traffic Alerts/Detours: On-screen traffic alerts tell you when there is a significant traffic delay and gives you the opportunity to detour/reroutes
• Alternate Routes: Get up to 3 routes for all your destinations so you can choose the best route for you
• Customizable Traffic View: Customize the level of traffic information you would like to see on the map
• Map It: Map to any destination (even if you don't want to route there)
• Address Entry: Enter addresses in numerous ways (house number, street, or cross-streets, or select from your recent destinations, favorites, or address book)
• Address Book: Store and access all of your addresses right on the device
• Favorites: Store your favorite addresses and searches for easy access and routing
• Yahoo! Local Search/Unlimited Points of Interest (POIs): Pre-loaded with a database of POIs plus accesses unlimited POIs that are never out of date via Yahoo Local Search
• Send2Car™: Send addresses to your device from any internet-connected computer
• MyDash: Dash user website to let you customize and manage the content on your Dash
• MyLists: Customize the information on your Dash with search lists created and updated by you or other Dash users
• AutoUpdates: Get the latest software, maps and features
• Wi-Fi Settings: Configure your device to connect to up to 2 access points, as well as open networks
• Partner Content Platform: Enables users to get content from third party web services in a number of ways. Supports standard geo-data formats such as GeoRSS and KML while also providing a developer API so third party developers can build additional great services for Dash users.
• QWERTY Keyboard: Intuitive and easy to read word entry
• Automatic Day and Night Mode: Screens can automatically switch between day and night mode depending on the time of day
• Gas Prices: Search for gas stations and get gas prices, so you can compare prices - and then let Dash route you there
• Movie Listings: Search for movie theaters, see what's playing (when and where) and get ratings - and then let Dash route you there
• Theft Deterrent: Call Dash to remotely disable your device if it is stolen
• Text to Speech: Voice guidance gives you the street for your next turn
  

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What’s in the Box:

• Dash Express
• Mounting arm and cradle
• Mounting arm extension and wrench
• Dashboard mounting disk
• Car (12v) power adapter
• Wall (AC) charger
• USB interface cable
• Protective pouch
• Installation Guide
• Getting Started Guide
• Alcohol wipe

Product Description

Stuck in traffic and want to know if you are going to make that meeting on time, or need to call and warn someone? Will you make it to your kid's recital, or be home in time for dinner? Wouldn't it be nice to know which route to work is going to be faster today before leaving your driveway, and be automatically updated if traffic changes once you're under way? Knowledge isn't just power, it's a time-saver, too. And Dash Express has the smartest, most advanced traffic solution available?the innovative Dash Driver Network. Combined with comprehensive historical and sensor-based traffic information, the Dash Driver Network provides Dash users with the most detailed, accurate and current traffic picture available today. Dash approaches traffic in an entirely different way - by collecting it from other people driving real commute routes, during real commute times. Each Dash Express anonymously and automatically sends its position and speed back to servers at the Dash Network Operations Center. The Dash servers then update all other Dash devices in the area with current road speeds. That way, members of the Dash Driver Network always have the best, most up-to-date traffic information available. It's a growing network for better information. However, even the first Dash devices in an area get traffic data that's superior to other GPS devices. That's because Dash devices receive traffic info from road sensors, commercial fleets and other sources through our partnership with Inrix, the premier traffic data provider in the U.S. Starting with the first devices in each market, Dash adds further value by using these initial cars to calibrate the sensor data. This lets Dash assign it a high (straight line) or medium (dotted line) confidence rating, giving you all the information you need at a glance. The Dash Driver Network provides coverage on nearly 2 million miles of US road, and provides the only source of live traf

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

215 of 228 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good product but can be much better....., April 2, 2008

By 

Xing Li (Los Angeles, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Dash Express Two-Way Internet-Connected Portable GPS Navigator (Electronics)

Updated April 17th, 2008. Unfortunately Amazon will not allow me to change the star rating but as of today, I am officially downgrading the product rating to 3 stars. From very good/great to just good. Please see Cons sections (7) for details.

Let me start this off by saying that I have used all major brands of GPS.

Magellan (1st Gen + 2nd Gen [Maestro]), Garmin (1st Gen + 2nd Gen [Nuvi]), and Mio 230. Sadly, of all the above, my favorite was the 1st gen Magellan.

A summary of what I think of the other devices:

1) Magellan Maestro: Good GPS hampered by a mule of a cpu and horrible software stability. The sucker is slow and crashes like no other. It could've been good but instead became a liability.

2) Garmin Nuvi: Better than Magellan, very stable but has no predictive type-ahead addressing. Garmin need to pull their head out of their thighs and add this feature. Very little faults but also nothing to shout about and not to mention the most expensive. Way over-priced.

3) Mio: Best screen contrast/resolution out of the 3. Very smooth resolution and gps update. It's way too chatty. I do not need to be alerted of every bend in the highway. Suffers from usability problems and just plain to hard to use. No left or right street announcement for destination.

Now the initial review for Dash Express
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Pros:

1) Excellent screen resolution and brightness. More on the brightness later.

2) Traffic flow is magical. Has to be seen to appreciate. Extremely accurate traffic data. Based on recent events I believe there is a 5-10 minute lag between real-world traffic and sigalert/push to dash.

3) Usability is top notch. Simply the easiest GPS I have used to date.

4) Minimalism. Have you seen GPS where there are so many stuff on screen that you can't even see the map? Dash is smart for presenting a beautiful and minimalistic layout where the emphasis is given to the map, as a GPS should. Finally!

5) Automatic Re-routing is both fast and accurate.

6) Routing so far has been excellent.

7) Very responsive. Touch operations are responsive and consistent.

8) Wifi supports WPA/WPA2.

9) Left/Right side of street is spoken for destination. Mio does not do this.

10) The only device to give me the route I actually take from my home to my parents' house. Not sure if it's luck or based on traffic info.

Cons:

1) Screen is too bright for night operation, even when tuned to lowest brightness. Hopefully they fix this. It appears they are using a very dark gray of blue for the night background when they should use pure-black for better contrast.

2) Cannot accurately judge car direction when coming from stand still to very slow motion. Think turning on the car in a parking lot.

3) Text to Speech quality on street names is bad. The spoken content is concise and excellent but the street names voice renders are just bad. Has a lot of trouble with Spanish street names. Half the streets in Los Angeles are Spanish based. For example, Cordova St is pronounced as Cord-"ee"-va Ave. Even worse, Virginia Road is spoken as Virgi-"ne" Road. Other systems don't have this problem. Dash needs to license a higher quality speech engine.

4) When you select a destination, it will give you 1-3 routing options to choose from. This process is a bit slower than I would like.

5) GPS re-acquisition after park/shutdown is slow.

6) No auto-zoom in when initial setting is zoomed way out or auto-zoom out when on highway to see more distance.

7) Noticed 2 cases which broke Dash. A) Driving past a destination in a straight line for several blocks made Dash to perform never-ending "recalculating" when a "u-turn" redirect should be used. B) When going to the LAX airport via route of I10W -> I101S -> I105W, on the ramp from I10 to I101, it first said to get on ramp on left to 101 which is correct but then it starts changing the name of 101 ramp to 105 ramp before correcting itself after I got on to 101.

*April 17* Was on highway CA-22 south/east bound and I missed the "beach st/blvd" exit. The unit did not start to recalculate until nearly 2 miles after the intended exit. Worst to come. Recalculation goes into an infinite loop/stalls and by now I was about 4 miles off the Beach exit and on a local street heading north on Brookhurst. The unit crashed and rebooted itself shortly after. During this whole time, the map shows me still on CA-22. It is unforgivable for the unit to have this problem. Having a GPS is supposed to save you from the huge problem of missing or taking the wrong exits when traveling on freeways. Due to this problem, I have downgraded my product rating from 4 to 3 stars.

8) In 3D mode, did not test this in 2D mode, vehicle position on map is approximately 2-3 seconds behind real-life for local traffic speed. For example, once you past lets say Garvey Ave in real-life, your virtual car on map will pass the virtual intersection about 2.5 seconds later. This is very annoying and they need to calibrate the firmware to compensate for this "lag". Further test show there is a ~100ft lag between car on screen and actual location, at least in the Los Angeles area. This is beginning to annoy me quite a bit. Other gps systems do not exhibit this problem.

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Overall:

Good new GPS with exciting future but the company must make fixes as soon as possible. If they do not fix the critical problems I have mentioned here, re-routing issue, night-time visibility, and speech quality, within the next 4-8 weeks, this product will become obsolete by more rounded competition such as Nuvi despite the ground-breaking traffic-view feature.

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not quite ready for prime-time, May 17, 2008

By 

Shopperholic (Copiague, NY United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Dash Express Two-Way Internet-Connected Portable GPS Navigator (Electronics)

I wanted to love the Dash. I really did. I thought the concept was brilliant. I am changing jobs in a few months and will be using roads that aren't on the main traffic maps but have a LOT of traffic. I thought Dash would be perfect for my new commute.

I bragged it up to my coworkers before I even got it, which was a mistake. The unit is really still in development and in my opinion was not ready to be released to the public.

The biggest issue to me is the lack of gps functionality that I have grown accustomed to with my Garmin 2730 such as:
The close-up window that pops up when you are approaching your turn.
The ability to have spoken directions or not. (With Dash you mute all or nothing)
The ability to avoid toll roads and dirt roads.
The lack of a comprehensive POI database ON THE UNIT. If you can't connect to the network and you need to find something, you're probably screwed. There is not a whole lot on the unit.
On the Garmin, if you don't know the actual street address but you know where it is on the map you can still go there because you can go to a point on the map. On the Dash, I couldn't do that. It was a problem since the road my job is on doesn't have a name according to dash. I had to set up a google map link then send it to car. Way too much work when I should be able to tap a spot on the map and say "go here".

I recently took both my Dash and my Garmin side by side on the dashboard on 100 mile trip. The Dash took me on a strange and circuitous route that added about 15 minutes to the time enroute. It also tried to send me down a road that didn't exist. The Garmin tried to route me around traffic that didn't exist, but at least it used a real road to do it.

Some of the alternate routes the Dash would suggest were mind boggling. There are several routes I can take from home to work. Dash would come up with one, the same one I get from the Garmin, then suggest two other routes that basically had me drive 5 miles past my exit and then double back. Huh? Once it even gave me the option to make a complete circle around the beltway to come back. This stuff is fun to giggle at when you know where you're going but I couldn't trust it to go anywhere I didn't know. The Garmin doesn't always come up with the best routing but it's never been off by that much.

I sent back the Dash with great sadness. The traffic is great. But the GPS is poor. It's too much money to just use it as a traffic receiver. Maybe in a year or so I'll try it again.

36 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Revolutionary in some areas, good in others., April 8, 2008

By 

David Zylberberg "Z-man" (Rockaway, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dash Express Two-Way Internet-Connected Portable GPS Navigator (Electronics)

I've owned a few different units over the years and it seems everyone does certain things very well and in other areas could use some improvement. This unit is no exception but a few of the things that it does VERY well are features that I love. I travel a lot of long distance traveling, 5-12 hours typically 2-3 times a month. I don't use my GPS as a media device nor for bluetooth so these functions are not important to me.

My history with GPS units include the Garmin 2610, Garmin Nuvi 680 and the Magellen Maestro 3250. I'll run through a few pros and cons of each unit.

Garmin 2610
Pros
-best routing preferences I've seen, you can rank major hwys, secondary roads and local roads on a scale between 1-10 for routing preferences.
-has ability to find POI's along your current route

Cons
-no traffic
-big and bulky
-$150 annual map upgrades (I believe this price has come down).
-long time to boot up
-lose reception and directions are gone

Garmin Nuvi 680
Pros
-small in size, packs a lot of features, easy to use
-quick to map and has ability to find POI's on your current route

Cons
-Limited routing preferences (no-uturn, avoid tolls, avoid highways and avoid unpaved roads) You can pick shortest or fastest or off road
-MSN connectivity not ready for prime time, I commute 30 miles to work and work right at the Lincoln tunnel. MSN does not pick up a signal until I am 2-3 miles outside of NYC, WAY too late to help me with traffic. The traffic is pretty useless as a result even within 10 miles of the largest city in the US.(returned it as a result after 9 months)
-even when MSN works you can only see regular fuel prices (I drive a diesel truck so it doesn't help me locate diesel fuel stations)
-can't use zip codes

Magellan Maestro 3250
Pros
-if you don't like the route you can click on a specific turn in the navigation to eliminate that portion of the route and the unit will recalculate the route with the exclusion (very cool feature)
-has 3 options Nuvi has for routing, plus use most highway
-when highway traveling you can search upcoming exits for food, fuel and lodging (very cool feature)

Cons
-NAVIGATION IS HORRIBLE!!!! I can't stress this enough, this unit CONSTANTLY tries to reroute you around ghost traffic. Traveling from the NC boarder to Morristown NJ, the unit read 16 hours with traffic for an 8 hour trip. At one point the unit tried to reroute us 45 miles south on I-95 while we were traveling north. When we arrived at the trafficed area there wasn't anything there and it was 11:30pm when it would be VERY unlikely a traffic issue would exisit. Traffic is very important to me and if for no other reason this is the worst unit I've ever owned(I bought it for traffic)

The Dash unit does a few things very well.
Pros-
-Traffic is amazing, even with the unit just being launched last week. I travel home during some serious traffic times and the unit does a fantastic job of keeping me up to the minute on traffic.
-Connectivity works very well, a world of difference from the Garmin
-Send to Car makes life very easy to send addresses and searches right to the unit
-Yahoo Search is also a fantastic feature, many many POI's on the other units I've owned are not still in busines Dash does a great job in this area and is second to none.
-Yahoo tells me the prices on each grade of fuel and diesel also!
-gives up to 3 routing choices

Cons
-when coming to a turn there isn't a split screen or any beep or any type of indication of when to turn.
-location of the car isn't 100 percent accurate like the other units
-no "along current route" searches you can search in your area or in a city but not along your current route
-does not offer routing preferences

Overall I think the yahoo and traffic capabilities are great features and make up for any minor shortcomings of the product as others have mentioned. The fact that dash has promised at least two upgrades a year at no additional cost, makes this unit with the 10 dollar a month service charge pay for itself. With that in mind, there are some improvements I'd like to see to make this unit the best in every category. No unit I've used is the best at everything, but Dash is so good at some of the things that are important to me, the things it doesn't do well are only an afterthought for improvement.