Dash Express
Dash first made themselves known back in 2006 with promises of a new type of GPS that would take navigation to the next level. While initial predictions were for nationwide availability in Q3 of 2007, that date slipped a couple of times, but today you can get your hands on one. We’ve managed to get 500 hundred miles of quality time in with the Dash Express over the past few days– Is the Dash Express for you? Here is what we found.
This GPS isn’t for everyone. This isn’t going to be the “killer GPS” that suddenly starts taking significant market share from the big names. It does however, do a few tasks very, very well and if those are the features you need, this could very well be the “killer GPS” for you. You can purchase the device and service from dash.net or from Amazon who has an exclusive for about the next 30 days. The price originally announced at $599 has been scrapped, and the new price is $399. The monthly subscription costs remain the same. (More on that later.)
Physical
The first time you see this GPS you will immediately be struck by the size. This isn’t a “slip into your shirt pocket” type GPS. You won’t be using this GPS to walk around the downtown of a big city. The Express measures 4.8 inches wide, 4.1 inches tall, and 2.8 inches in depth, and creates a device just under one pound in weight. Think of it as the size of a softball rather than the ubiquitous deck of cards comparison.
The 4.3 inch touch screen is very bright, and colors don’t wash out at all when viewed from very high or very wide angles. The touch screen is perfectly sensitive (you don’t have to tap too hard) and it was very precise. There is also a screen alignment function should it come out of sync.
Typical day/night modes are included. The night mode even shows the headlights of the car icon illuminating part of the road ahead of you… a nice bit of eye candy. 
The day and night modes can be automatically changed based on sunrise and sunset. In addition, the brightness setting can automatically change based on the ambient light conditions.
Buttons, Connectors
On the left side of the Express GPS is a USB port and a USB switch. A power switch is located on the right. Most GPS devices place their speaker on the back of the device, facing away from the driver but perhaps getting some “bounce” from the windshield. On the Dash Express the speaker is located on the top, and was loud enough in our noisy car environment.
There are also two buttons on the top, one for volume and the other for a “menu” key. The buttons have great “action” to them with a feel more like a laptop’s touch screen. Tapping the volume button brings up the volume setting on the display, from there you can tap up or down, as well as muting. You can also double-tap on the volume button to automatically mute the device. Dash has always seemed “a bit different” (in a good way) and some of that cute quirkiness appears in the volume numbers which curiously go to a volume of “11″. The “menu” button at the top of the display cycles you between the map display and the menu system.
There were a few times when I went to adjust the angle of the GPS in the mount and found myself accidentally tapping the buttons, but once you get the mount where you want it you probably won’t need to move or adjust it later.
Mount
With a GPS as big and bulky as the Dash Express there is no need to hold anything back in designing a solid mount, and they didn’t. This mount is the strongest GPS mount I’ve ever seen. The suction has a “press” button to help squeeze out every last bit of air as well as a “lock” to further help hold the suction. While not quite as versatile as a mount with a “ball and socket” type joint, this mount does have enough joints to articulate the GPS exactly where you would like to place it.
If you’re worried about theft, this GPS does raise a few small issues. Due to the physical size of the device, size of the mount, and complexity of the mount you might not have the patience to take the GPS and/or mount with you, or even locking it somewhere in your car. It just isn’t as fast to “assemble and go” as other devices, and you certainly won’t want to put it in your purse or pocket. The power cord connects to the mount and the GPS slides into a holder on the mount.
In the Box
In addition to the GPS and the mount, a few more goodies are included in the box. A Getting Started Guide will get you up and running along with an Installation guide that walks you through setting up the mount, charging, etc.
A nice form fitting case is included, though you probably won’t carry the GPS around too often. You also get the car charger, USB cable, adhesive disk if you don’t want (or legally can’t) suction the mount to your windshield, a mount extension for further reach, as well as an AC adapter. A couple of Dash stickers are also thrown in.
Routing to an Address
If you know the physical address you are going to, the Dash Express works much like other GPS devices. From the Menu, select ‘choose a destination’ -> ‘type an address’ -> and then select the stae (if different), city, house number, and street name.
For those of you who might have experienced a few quirks or restrictions on other GPS models, the Dash Express seems to get it right. For example you can enter letters and dashes into the street numbers (yes, they do exist occasionally). It can recognize states spelled out by name or by their abbreviation. Finally, the single keyboard layout is QWERTY.
One feature we did miss though was being able to smartly account for spelling mistakes. It doesn’t handle spelling errors at all.
After selecting an address the GPS will show you the address it matched to, as well as the direction and straight line distance from your current location. You can choose to view a map of the location, save it as a favorite, save it to your address book, or create routes to that location.
“Route(s)?” You ask? Yes. In my mind one of the most brilliant things about the Dash Express is that if there is more than one reasonable route to the location, it will show up to three routes to pick from. People argue with each other about the “best” route, and people argue with their GPS about the “best” route. You will find yourself arguing with the Dash Express less because it is just more easy going than other models. However, that is not to say that the Dash is prefect at routing by any means. You will see a few examples of this later in the article.
For those of you wanting to squeeze every dollar out of your gas tank, this feature can be a help with the wallet too. One drive I recently took presented me with two routes. One was an estimated 3:57 and 249 miles. The second was two minutes longer estimating 3:59, but only 215 miles. The shorter distance route that will take me two minutes longer will save me lots of fuel to the 34 miles it shaves off and the lower speeds I’ll be traveling.
Yet another reason to love this feature is that despite my stubborn brain trying to convince me otherwise, the Dash Express often came up with creative (and indeed faster!) ways to get to my destination than I would have come up with myself.
Each route option is presented with an estimated travel time based on current and estimated traffic conditions, as well as the route distance. Each route is drawn on the map for you to see and toggle between.
If you want to pan in and zoom around the map viewing the route preview, the map updates are fairly slow when compared to other devices. The map zooms in and you sometimes wait several seconds before the map is redrawn.
Once you’ve picked a route (sometimes there are three, sometimes two, and sometimes it only offers one) you tap Go and navigate on your way.
Routing to POIs
Routing to the built-in POIs is pretty simple. From the menu select ‘choose a destination’ -> ‘browse places to go’ -> and select a category. All of the built in categories (that don’t need two way connectivity) show up with Blue icons. While I’d normally complain that the ‘Food’ category isn’t broken down into sub-categories, the ‘connected search’ feature we will discuss later largely addresses the issue. Just like routing to an address, you will be presented with up to three routes to pick from.
Menu System - GUI
The menu system (GUI) on the Dash Express is fantastic. While part of the simplicity could be attributed to a lack of many customization type features offered by other manufacturers, the menu system is drop dead simple and easy to use. Everything you need is just a couple of taps away, and the buttons are plenty large. We also really love the menu button on top… If you are working your way through the menus and need to quickly get back to the map… just tape the menu button and there it is. You don’t need to keep hitting ‘Back’ as you do with many other GPS systems.
The Radios
Before we get into talking about searching for POIs and Traffic (what makes this GPS what it is) let’s take a step back and talk about the radios/antennas built into the Dash Express. This is what is sometimes called “two way connectivity”.
First, there is obviously a GPS chipset which receives signals from the GPS satellites, processes them, and computes your location. Dash is using the infamous SiRFstarIII chipset inside for that task. You don’t always get equal reception in different devices with the same chipset, so it is still worthy of noting that the reception is very good. Acquisition times were fast, and the signal was accurate.
Second, a GPRS radio is built in. This communicates over the cellular phone network to send and receive data from your GPS. As such, there is a coverage area you need to be within to get the most out of your GPS. I found many areas where the coverage area was listed as ‘Coming Soon’ however I was able to get GPRS coverage.
Third is a WiFi chip. Just like the Wifi chip you might have in your laptop, this is also used to communicate back and forth over the internet to send and receive data for the various connected services. If the GPS parked in your garage or driveway can “see” your own WiFi network it can join the network to perform its tasks. You can specify password details for up to two protected networks. If the Express GPS finds “open” networks in its travels it will automatically join them. You can turn that feature off if desired.
In order to take advantage of the “connected” services you will need to be in range of either the cellular network or an open wifi network. (And of course you need to have an active subscription.)
All of those radios do take a hit on the battery though. The battery specs at “up to” 2 hours. But again, this isn’t a GPS you are going to take walking with you so battery life won’t be a big issue for their target customer. In our testing we were able to get as long as three hours of battery life.
Connected Search
This is where the Dash Express starts to show what it was really designed for. Above I mentioned how I dislike when the Food or Restaurant category isn’t broken down into sub-categories. Here is how the Dash alleviates what would otherwise be a setback…. Connected Search.
From the Menu, select ’search (connected)’. From this menu I type in “japanese” as I’m in the mood for sushi. I click ’search’ -> ‘nearby’. My search is sent out wirelessly from the GPS to Yahoo, Yahoo gathers up the search results, and sends them back to the GPS. What is even better is that the results are sorted by RELEVANCE rather than just distance or alphabetically through the Yahoo search engine.
Don’t want the relevance sort? That is okay too. You can pick to sort by distance, alphabetically, or by RATING.
This works with most anything. A search for “coffee” showed listings for cafes, diners, and retail stores that sell coffee. A search for “iPhone” showed all of the local AT&T locations. Searching for “iPod” gave me some nearby Circuit City locations. To my amusement a search for “Garmin” came back with “No matches found on Yahoo Local”. I’m sure that was unintentional.
Once in awhile the searches just don’t make too much sense. Wanting to know just how far I could push the limits, I searched for “shovel” and got results for a Tae Kwon Do school, a police station, and an apartment complex. A more appropriate search for “hardware” brought up much more appropriate locations.
It would be great if in addition to the rating, we could read reviews. I suspect that is something that will come in future versions of the software.
There were a few times when this groovy internet hookup with nearly infinite POIs let us down, however. The built in POI databases on most GPS devices are pretty good at determining the “proper” location of a POI versus perhaps their mailing address. The connected search wasn’t always as considerate.
For example when we asked it to take us to a nearby ski resort, the “connected search” directed us to their corporate offices, about 10 miles from the actual ski area. Just a small “gotcha” to watch out for.
Fuel Prices
The connected search feature also connects up with nearly live fuel prices. Updated a few times per day, you can search for fuel prices based on stations closest to you, based on the lowest price in the area, or view fuel prices near your current location.
Routing Customizations
One potential big turn-off for some people will be the few routing customization options. No multi-destination routing, not even one waypoint at this point. You can’t tell it to avoid toll roads, nor to avoid highways. No way to avoid unpaved roads. No way to avoid specific roads nor maneuvers. Basically, if you don’t like either of the (up to) 3 routes it offers, you’ll need to just deal with it and let the device re-route when you miss its suggested turn.
I do hope some of those features make it into future software revisions.
Multimedia
Other things you won’t find on the Dash Express are multimedia options like MP3 players, Video players, and photo viewers. If you want them, you won’t find them on the Dash Express, but this aspect doesn’t bother me at all. I’d much rather see them implementing revolutionary NAVIGATION features as they are doing.
Traffic: “TruTraffic”
Complimenting the “connected search” aspects of the Dash Express, the Traffic services are the second revolutionary feature of the Dash Express. Other GPS devices have live traffic reporting… but not like Dash does. Similar to other traffic services, Dash uses data from INRIX to power its traffic service. Live traffic reports from fleet companies and road sensors are delivered to your GPS in order to paint a picture of traffic on the road ahead.
But Dash takes this one step further. YOU become part of the data. If you get stuck in traffic on a particular road at 6:15 pm on a Friday evening and that data becomes part of the profile Dash keeps for that segment of road. Over time and with more data, the traffic profiles and the traffic prediction models improve. The next week on a Friday evening at 6:15 on that same stretch of road might yield the same traffic, and other drivers can be warned about it.
A fun task is to plan a route to a nearby city on your Dash. Leave it on the screen where it presents route options for you. Watch throughout the day as the estimated travel time changes based on current and/or predicted traffic levels.
While not deliberate, I discovered just how interesting and accurate that data can become. I was driving down a nearby road that is littered with traffic lights during my review test of the Dash Express. I wanted to go back and repeat a certain stretch of road again as I had missed seeing something on the display. I looped back around by way of a parallel street, and then started driving up the road again, about a mile behind where I had previously traveled minutes ago.
Where there had previously been no traffic information, there was now a solid green line over the road. Hey, those are my tracks! That is my data! It was a total eureka moment. But to further my amazement, you could even see which traffic lights I caught on green and which I caught on red. Where I had “missed” the green light you could see a couple hundred feet of road where the traffic/speed profile showed a solid red line.
Now by itself that isn’t terribly interesting… I mean to someone else driving behind me the fact that I missed that light doesn’t really mean they will miss it too. But just noticing how fast the Dash network reacted to the data– and the accuracy of that data– and then imagining how interesting it will be with much MORE data… that really makes me start to believe in this type of traffic system and the advantages over a more typical traffic model.
Traffic Display
Traffic on the map is displayed in green, yellow, orange, and red colors depending upon the current traffic flow. This is fairly standard although many other devices only show three different levels.
If the colored traffic lines are dashed, that means the data is coming from a third party. This data can be either estimated based on historical traffic patters (what the traffic is like on that day of week and that time historically) or based on current conditions. The current conditions come from fleet companies, road sensors, etc.
When the traffic data on the map is in a solid line, this is data being augmented from other drivers in the Dash network. Either another driver with a Dash device just recently drove that road segment, or it is historical traffic data that Dash themselves have constructed for the road segment, day of week, and time of day.
If you are driving towards your destination and the traffic conditions changed against your favor, a male voice will announce that the traffic conditions have changed. (The regular navigation voice is female.) A yellow box will appear on the GPS showing the estimated time of the delay.
This makes the Dash Express like a good wine— it will get better with age as they gain more customers and more historical traffic data. The system also tries to be smart about the traffic alerts and estimates it provides. If it knows there is a ten minute delay on your route right now that is 80 miles ahead, and it thinks that delay will likely be gone by the time you get there– Dash will try to be smart and won’t accidentally sound the alarm. Likewise if there are no CURRENT delays on your route but based on historical traffic patterns Dash thinks there will be a delay by the time you get there– the Dash network is designed to take that into account as well. While we’ve spent 500 miles with the Dash it hasn’t been quite enough time to fully grasp just how much better this will be over traditional traffic systems, but it looks real good.
With all of this good historical traffic data built into the device, I would like the ability to plan a route using a starting time of a date/time in the future. For example if I’m headed into Boston tomorrow morning for a meeting, I’d like to know how long it might take me if I leave at 8:00 am. Or I might like to know what time I SHOULD leave if I need to get there by 9:30 am. In addition, when viewing the summary of routes it might be nice to know how much of a delay is accounted for in each of the routes. It shows what the total estimated time is for each route, including the delay, but it doesn’t break out what the amount of the delay is.
Following a Route
We’ve talked about how the two most important pieces of information you need from a GPS to navigate are a distance to turn field and a “next turn” graphic or intersection icon. Dash delivers these two pieces of information well. In the top left corner of the display an intersection icon appears showing the type of intersection and the path you need to follow. Next to that the distance to that maneuver, followed by the name of the next street. This is well executed.
On the other hand, the more subtle aspects of following a route can be difficult at times on the Dash Express. The colors of the display are fairly dull. Dash says they do this on purpose so that the traffic information (displayed in red, green, orange, and yellow) will “pop” more and stand out from the rest of the map. It took some time getting used to following the highlighted path.
Something else that stood out was the lack of significant auto zooming as you approached intersections. While navigating complex, unfamiliar intersections I found myself spending much more time trying to view the map than I would with other GPS devices. Without an auto-zoom at intersections, many medians and tight streets were difficult to read on the display making me unsure of the proper road to take. I hope that an auto-zoom function is near to the top of the list of Dash’s Enhancement To-do List as navigating in unfamiliar areas can sometimes be more challenging than it needs to be.
I also didn’t like that one way streets are not labeled as such on the map. The underlying maps obviously know about one way streets, however they were not labeled on the map.
Dash is quick to point out that their target audience is people who are hard-core commuters. Thus, many people in their target audience will know where they are going most of the time and be using the Express to provide them with vital traffic information about their route.
At one point I was in a friend’s driveway, no more than 30 feet from the road (which was mapped), and the GPS just couldn’t build a route to any location I would give it. It kept saying ‘No Routes Found to destination’. The weird thing was that about 10 minutes later it started to build routes again. But then 10 minutes later it was back to “no routes found”.
The only hypothesis I could come up with was that as the GPS adjusted our position something was happening that was preventing it from figuring out where to start from. However, other times when we asked it to plan routes from locations that were significantly further from the nearest mapped street it worked fine. Hopefully this was just an isolated incident and across 500+ miles of testing we only saw it that one time.
Text to Speech
The included voice was fairly good. Not the best I’ve ever heard, but it was satisfactory. There were a couple of times when the voice didn’t start speaking as soon as it should have. For example in a rotary I had already taken the exit (and the car icon on the display agreed) before it reminded me “take the second exit”. The speaker was plenty loud enough and was very clear.
One female voice is included, that is used for the navigation instructions. A male voice will announce traffic information.
Scared of State Lines?
Normally I don’t pick on GPS devices too much when I don’t agree with the route. I’ve seen every GPS on the market create strange routes from time to time and since people can’t agree on routing, I don’t expect I’ll always agree with the gadget.
I did however find some routes that really pointed to a bug in the software that raised my eyebrows a bit. The GPS actually had me drive 17 miles up one road and turn around in place and come back down 8 miles over the road I had just driven. You can see a screenshot on the right and a Google Map of the weird segment of the route below.
There must be some sort of bug either with state lines, with bridges, or with that bridge in particular. The location where it wanted me to turn around and backtrack was EXACTLY on top of a bridge where the river flowing below marks the state line. Maybe it is just scared of heights.
A Really Strange Route
Then there was this really strange route. Checkout the map below. The Dash Express took what is typically (by my own fairly frequent driving of the route) a 110 mile 2:15 drive into a 269 mile, 6:14 zig-zag across the state. Zoom in one level on the map and I’m sure you can see many much better routes than what was picked, particularly between Kingfield and Newport. The route displayed is what was picked by the Dash Express and was the only option presented. You can see the screenshot on the right and the Google map below.
I’ll reiterate though that most of the routes the Dash picked were very good. Many routes it picked were my preferred routes, and routes that nearly no other GPS devices pick. It just seems that when it misses (which again, wasn’t that often in our testing) it really missed.
My Dash
After the traffic service and live POI searching, the next best feature is certainly MyDash. This website portal offers numerous ways to enhance the experience of using your Dash Express GPS.
Send2Car is a way to send addresses directly from your computer to your Dash device. The beautiful thing about this service is that it doesn’t require your GPS to be connected to your computer. It all happens over the air. Type in an address on the website, click Send2Car and if your Dash GPS is connected to the network, wherever it might be, and the GPS will receive the address. When I’m going on a trip I never plan the trip when I get in the car… I know my destination before I get in the car. So this is beautiful.
You can also attach short notes to the GPS. Imagine this. You are home and realize you forgot to get milk at the grocery store. Your spouse is still at work, but will be going by the store on the way home. You pull up MyDash, and send the address of the Store to your spouse’s Dash device. Along with the address, you type a note “forgot milk, sorry!”. When your spouse gets in the car and turns the Dash on, it will display a note that says ”A new address has arrived! [View] [Close]. You can view the address and read the notes with the reminder not to forget the milk.
There are also plugins available for Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Safari, as well as for Outlook 2003 so that you don’t even need to re-type the address if it is available in one of those programs.
Saved Search is another nice component of the MyDash service. Say you find yourself frequently seeking out certain types of businesses. Starbucks might be a good example if you are a caffeine junkie. So you create a Yahoo search for “starbucks’ and save it to your MyDash account. Send it to your GPS and now you have quick access to a saved search for nearby Starbucks locations.
You can also build, save, and share the equivalent of custom POIs. You can make a list of your client locations from the comfort of your PC for example, and send that list to your GPS.
Finally, for bigger geeks, if you have a location of places that is in KML format or GeoRSS format on the web, you can tell MyDash where that feed is located, and send the feed location to your GPS. The dynamic list will appear on the GPS and be constantly updated with new information.
Over the Air Updates
Having all of those nifty radios packed into the Dash Express has advantages beyond just sending down destinations, traffic, and live searches. Software updates can also be delivered over the air directly to the device. The updates are downloaded in the background, and then you are notified on the device that a software update is available for you to install. Once you agree to the update, the new software is loaded into the device and the Dash Express reboots. If you are driving, you can defer the update to a more appropriate time.
The updates don’t stop with just the software though. Map updates are also included in the service fee and I’ve been told those updates should be available at least twice per year. The traffic model will be updated every month.
Service announcements and tips can also be broadcast to Dash users from Dash themselves. For example in the image on the right Dash announced to their users a tip for switching between the 2D and 3D views.
Subscription Costs
In order to get all of the nifty traffic, search, and MyDash features you will need a subscription. While the device will navigate without a subscription, it would be pointless to do so. You could spend less money on a more capable device if you are not going to use the connected services.
When you purchase the device you will get one month free, then two more months free when you join MyDash. If you pay ahead for one year of service the costs breaks down to $11 per month and if you pay for two years in advance it comes out to $10 per month.
Cost of Ownership
With TomTom’s recently announced IQ Routes which also takes into account the actual speed drivers took to drive a road segment, some drivers might be wondering how the two systems might compare in price. Since we haven’t yet been able to evaluate the IQ Route system yet, we won’t have a full picture answer. Still, here is a short comparison of price and the most significant features.
| Dash Express | TomTom 730T | |
| Device MSRP |
$400
|
$500 |
|---|---|---|
| 1st Year Monthly Services | $10 |
$0
|
| 2nd Year Monthly Services | $10 |
$5
|
| Map Update After 1st Year |
$0
|
$100 |
| Fuel Prices 2 Years |
$0
|
$30 |
| Lots of Route Customizations | No |
Yes
|
| Live Two Way Search |
Yes
|
No |
| Total | $640 | $690 |
A few notes about this chart. We are comparing the current MSRP prices as established by the manufacturer. The Dash service fees are based on purchasing two years of service up-front. The TomTom service fees are for the traffic service based on 12 months included, and $60 for the year after. Dash says map updates are included in their service updates, the current North America map price from TomTom is $100. This isn’t meant to be a full feature comparison, rather highlighting the most significant aspects of the device as they relate to each other.
Overall Results
If I’m going to be spending some time trying to get around a larger, unfamiliar city, the Dash Express isn’t going to be my first pick to take with me. The inability of the GPS to auto-zoom as you approach intersections, and map that is sometimes difficult to scan quickly makes for it to be not the best choice when you are in tight unfamiliar areas.
On the other hand if you are a hard-core commuter who keeps the radio tuned to stations with frequent traffic updates the Dash Express is your dream GPS.
So, will it have built in wifi in addition to internet over bluetooth?
Also, traffic based on the Dash network is going to fail. They need to work on a standard format of data for device based traffic conditions that all gps makers can agree on.
It will have some other form of Internet connection other than via a Bluetooth phone, however I don’t think they have disclosed yet exactly what they will use for the connection.
I’ve heard a rumor (don’t know if it is true) that they will be augmenting their own traffic data with other sources to begin with since having only a handful of initial customers won’t provide enough data.
I would love this unit to be successful. I’ve owned 3 Garmins. While Navagation is quite good there traffic stinks.
My concern about Dash is will there be enough customers to be able to preform the up to the min traffic. A lot of people are not going to want to pay the monthly subcription (which I think is reasonable) But in todays age nobody likes to pay for anything.
I got burned with Garmin twice with there traffic so I will wait to see how this unit pans out
Greg - Dash will be relying on outside traffic services to supplement their own driver network to get better traffic data.
My understanding is that it will have both cellular and wifi built-in.
I do have the same concerns about lack of drivers initially, and especially coverage. I would like something that will work virtually anywhere, not just around metro areas. There always seems to be a big push for traffic info for commuters. I commuted for many years and a GPS would have been of very little use. You already know the patterns, the roads, and local radio stations have current traffic info. The real need is for traffic in areas you’re unfamiliar with. Of course, that does include metro areas, so if you’re passing through it may be of help. But I want something that helps me when travelling outside of the metro areas (I understand coverage may be limited in the middle of nowhere) where it is the unexpected (accidents, construction) that can seriously delay an otherwise pleasant daytrip or vacation. I’ve been told that there will be coverage in remoter areas, but I’m not sure how good it will be, so I’m hesitant about getting onboard, at least initially.
As far as traffic coverage goes, I am almost sure they are expanding as nessasary beyond metro areas. I pre-ordered a dash, and then found out that my region was outside of the coverage area. I emailed dash, and I initially became very concerned when they said “it was coming soon, but they would look into it” as we all know this device itself is about a year late from its initial release date. I was very happy when they came back about a week later and told me that coverage was now available in my area. I haven’t received my device yet, but so far I am impressed with their problem resolutions.
dburr,
Have you looked into how the device connects with their service? I sent an email to Dash on this subject, particularly how it connects to their service, and whether I was going to have to purchase cellular service, or anything else. They basically said that everything was built-in and all that was required was to pay for their service, nothing else is required. I was wondering if that was your understanding. I’m not sure I understand it all so I wonder if I’m asking them the right questions.
George - they are correct. All you need to do is pay for their service. Please go to their page and make sure service is available in the areas you travel in.
I did look at the service coverage map. I’m in VA, a little south of Washington, DC. The coverage seems a bit sparse for the east coast, but I guess it’s coming. I find it interesting that the best coverage seems to be right in the mid-section of the country, at least it looks better that either coast. I wonder if it was just easier to get it up and running those areas.
Remember they are piggybacking on GPRS connections so they are using the AT&T and T-Mobile networks primarily for their coverage.
Tim,
Does that mean those networks have better coverage in the US mid-section? Is the AT&T network the same as that for cell service? If that’s the case, I don’t really anticipate any real problems because I have AT&T cell service and it’s worked fine just about everyplace I’ve been.
Also, has anyone heard/seen whether Dash is still on schedule for the release of Dash Express. I didn’t see any indication on the website one way or the other.
George, if you have good AT&T coverage where you normally go then you should have good service through Dash.
I can’t imagine the silence from Dash is good news although they do indicate they will be sending out an email to all pre-order customers in the next day or so. I suppose we will know more then.
Well mark from dash finally responded today - although we still don’t have the information that we need - “when is this device shipping”. At this point, they are either shipping this month or not. Given that there are only a few shipping days remaining in this month how come a date has not been penpointed yet? As far as the coverage, I had to call them to specifically ask them to turn on coverage in my area.
i just got the email. here are the deets:
We’re setting a firm ship date of March 27th, 2008
Dash Delays Ship Date.
I hope those of you who receive the first units will let us know what you think. The GPS functionality is important, of course, but I am particularly interested in the connectivity aspects, traffic info, etc.
For those of you subscribed to this post, we have now published our full review of the Dash Express on this page.
This unit really looks like it has some potential. What I like is that the Inrix data comes in via GPRS. I’ve noticed that with a TomTom for example, the data that comes in over the Plus GPRS connection is much more complete than the RDS supplied data. I’m going to assume the same will be true of Dash.
For me there are a few issues stopping me from buying one immediately.
1. Low WAF (Wife Approval Factor)
2. I doubt they’ll sell many of these in my area to start so some of the traffic features will be useless. It would be better if they could somehow collect traffic info from all AT&T cell phone users anonymously. Relying on the 3 geeks who buy a dash may not help me much.
3. I need European maps as an option, even if the fancy GPRS features don’t work.
4. Is this TeleAtlas maps based? If so I’ll hold off for IQ routing on TomTom. With a much larger installed user base, I think it has potential to work better, faster.
I think I’ll wait for a year or so and then re-evaluate what DASH brings to the table.
Great review. Sounds interesting, but the reference to “hard-core commuter” mentioned a couple times in the review is what I’ve been concerned about what some time, that this is not the best device for traveling, which may be confirmed by the lack of some routing customization. I will be interested to hear what others have to say once they have them. The connectivity, especially the traffic info, sounds pretty neat, but is it enough to buy this particular device?
First off I want to state that I am not a paid employee of Dash nor have they paid me to make the following statements. I have however been allowed to test drive this device before the general public was able to purchase one.
After having my dash unit for almost 1 year now I can’t imagine being without it. It allows me a direct connection to information on the Internet.as well as it is portable, and it has never let me down. The fact it will never be out of date like the other thousands of dollars worth in paperweights sitting on my shelf from Garmin, Tom Tom and Magellan is an added plus.
I have had numerous people in my travels stop me and talk to me about “that thing on my dash” almost every day. But for me that thing was more than a GPS…It’s a dream come true. The conversation usually starts “Is that a GPS on your windshield?” I tell them that it is, but it is also the next level of the future of information delivery in their car and they need “Dash Express.” I have even invited them to take a look at it first hand and show them the numerous bells and whistles like movie times, gas prices and the local weather and Weather Alert rss feed I created myself.. This usually gets them thinking of something they would like to spontaneously look up from the internet while out on the road. like the nearest (Starbucks) I just respond “With a Dash you are only limited to your imagination.”
I can think of many times Dash has helped me while on the road but the following is an example of one of my favorite Dash moments that stands out.
For several years I have always kept a laptop in my car with me for emergencies and had a access card for the Internet. This was very difficult to use in the car, internet searches and responses were slow and these requests did not take into count my current location. And this was after waiting 10-20 minutes for it to start-up. Along comes Dash… I have always been impressed with the Internet search ability of “Yahoo local” and Dash, but on one particular day. My family and I were driving to dinner at a brand new restaurant in town . we had decided to leave around 4 to beat the dinner rush when we encountered a bad accident that had just happened right in front of us and were forced to stop on the Highway and wait for the emergency crews to clear the road. We had invited friends to join us and they were in a car right behind us. To make matters worse it was now 4:30pm on a Friday and we knew that by the time we got to the restaurant so would the rest of the working world and it would be at least another hour wait to get a table. My wife and I tried calling information on our cellphones to locate this new restaurant’s number but since the restaurant was so new there was no listing yet. Just for giggles I checked Dash. typing in the restaurants name… Bam there it was and a phone # as well. I called the restaurant and made a reservation for 45 minutes from then. When we arrived there the line outside the door was huge. I heard several people complaining that the wait was going to be 2 hours. I walked up to the receptionist and said I am 5 minutes early , gave my name and asked if they were running on time with reservations. she replied “Right this way I have your table ready” THANKS DASH!!!
m Bellon,
Thanks for adding your personal experience. While I don’t doubt that the experience in getting to the restaurant is a great example of the benefits of DASH connectivity, for me it doesn’t really answer the question, how good of a GPS is it? I can probably relate similar experiences with my old Garmin StreetPilot, which doesn’t connect to any service. Granted, I’ve probably learned to “compensate” in some ways for not having the connectivity, but they are minor shortcomings in my opinion. What I’d like to know is how well does the DASH get you from point A to point B, and maybe more importantly to me, assume points A and B are not simply a commute from home to work. What about a cross country trip, a vacation? How did it perform when you’re in an unfamiliar area?
I must say the Dash looks quite intriguing to me! I am curious on a couple of features of the Dash. If anyone can help me it would be appreciated.
Does the Dash have “speed limit” warnings (alerts if you exceed posted speed limits by a predetermined amount)? Does it show your current speed on display? Is it PC only or can I use Safari for Mac to access MyDash? Can you designate a “home” and “work” destination?
It does not have speed limit warnings. It does not show your current speed. It is not PC only, there is a MyDash Plugin for Safari and the web portal works great on Safari. You can designate home and work as favorites.
I’m supposed to have one today but UPS LOST IT@!@!!
dburr,
Hope they find it and you get it soon.
Interesting, ABC news just did a short story on the DASH. The usual pitch about commuters and traffic. But they also said there are a number of I guess similarly capable GPSs coming soon.
People - If you had any doubts about Dash, please listen to this:
As you can see by my previous posting, I was pretty bumbbed about not getting my Dash. I ended up calling the Dash cust service just to see if they could do anything. I at least hoped that they would get their shipping fee back from UPS. Dash started a tracer on my package, but to no avail and it looked like I wouldn’t be getting my package anytime soon. Dash said they would call me back if they heard anything about my package. Shortly before I was leaving work for the day, my phone rings. Guess who - Paul Lego the CEO of Dash called me to see if he could help at all. As you could expect I was a little floored that the CEO not only heard about one customers problem, but he actually called me personally. I went through all of the steps with Paul and he stated that he had a few connections that he would try to use. Well to keep a long story from getting longer - guess what showed up at my house a few hours later - I GOT IT!!. Paul even sent a follow-up email stating that he had tracked my package as delivered. I have never experienced this level of customer service before. Dash has made big strides in showing that they care about every customer. So please let people know about this service as I am very proud to spread the word about a company actually caring about their customers instead of seeing them as dollar signs.
dburr,
WOW! That’s great. Thanks for passing along your experience. If it is any indication of their future level of customer service that in itself is a selling point. We all have customer service horror stories we can relate.
Well, we can pretty much guess what you’ll be doing this weekend. Please let us know your impressions when you can.
M.Bellon, I saw this same post of yours over at Amazon. I realize you like the product, but your announcement that you are not an employee and the tone of your post just smacks of press release. You may want to tone it down a notch.
Jeff, there is a way you can display your current speed, but not on the map display. From the map display click on your car icon, then click on ‘trip info’. Your current speed, distance traveled, elapsed time, average speed, and maximum speed are displayed.
What info can displayed on the map screen. I have a Streetpilot 2730 and like how I can set up the map screen to tell me ETA, miles to destination, miles to next turn, time to next turn, ect. Can the Dash do this or does it only show certain info? Thanks
It displays the distance to the next turn, the next turn intersection type, and the name of the next street along the top. At the bottom it cycles (via a tap) between arrival time, distance left, and time left.
All,
Thanks for such an informative discussion (and great site Tim). I am especially curious as to dburr’s experience now that he has had it for a couple of weeks. Certainly the customer service story was incredible! And thanks to LordHamster for identifying the employee. That review sounded a little too good to be true.
My questions are these: is the functional GPS as good as a Garmin or Magellan? I live near Boston and Boston and Cambridge do their best to confuse even the residents by seeming changing the direction of one way streets on a random basis. So having a great point-point solution is priority one.
Secondly, as a bluetooth device for a phone, do you all find (this and/or other GPS devices) to be highly functional or drowned out by noise from the road? I have a bluetooth earpiece, but often forget to bring/charge it, so having something permanently in my car would be great if it really worked, as I do believe hands-free speaking is safer.
Thanks again to all. Cheers!
Hi Dan - For the record, I don’t have any specific reason to believe that the “m Bellon” review came from a Dash insider. It could very well be that it was just someone who was happy to have been a beta tester for them and relating their experience. Though it does seem a little over the top and they did copy/paste their comments in a number of places.
Getting to your questions. Strictly as a GPS system getting you from point A to point B on an unfamiliar road, it doesn’t currently perform as well as some of the bigger names. The map doesn’t zoom in close enough on intersections as you approach them which makes it more difficult to follow. Dash will probably tell you that this is a traffic/commuting system first, and a “get me to an unfamiliar place” device second.
The Dash Express does not have Bluetooth, so you won’t be doing any hands free calling with it. With most Bluetooth based devices I’ll take a quick call, but the sound quality is rarely good enough that I’d want to carry on an extended conversation. But again, that feature is not on the Dash Express anyway.
Tim,
I haven’t understood the rational to market the Dash as a “commuter” device, leaving out some of the functions we all expect in navigation, as if commuters only need traffic data, not a good GPS. What about when they’re not commuting, and what about the rest of us? I don’t commute, but I want traffic data as much as anyone else. But I also want a good GPS.
I think Dash saw a market opportunity where they think they can provide a better traffic service than anyone else. I think they’ve done that. They also have an infrastructure in place where they can make improvements to the navigation aspects, and push out those changes when they are ready.
To a large degree I commend them on picking a feature and market segment, and focusing on it without getting distracted by things like photo viewers and MP3 players. The navigation aspects are a little rough right now, but I suspect they will improve and I know they are working on those improvements.
And that isn’t to say that the Dash is terrible at pure navigation, it just isn’t as good as the big names right now.
Tim,
I understand what you’re saying, but to market a device lacking key GPS functionality because it’s for “commuters”, again, as if commuters don’t need the functionality, is what I’m wondering about. I would have jumped right on it, mainly to get the traffic, if I was hearing more good stuff about the routing. I hope they get there.
If I’m going to an unfamiliar area, yes I’d still rather have a Garmin, TomTom, etc with me. But I’d still get there with the Dash, I just might have to take my eyes off the road a tiny bit longer when consulting the GPS. It sounds like in the current state, the Dash might not be for you.
Hello - I have to say I think that overall this device is awesome. I will list some of the pros and cons below.
pros:
routing eta - when this device gives you an eta as to when you will be there, it have never been more than 2 min off.
traffic details - it shows dashed lines when traffic comes from historical or Intrix data. Yesterday I could actually tell that another dash user was driving in front of me because I could see the solid traffic lines he was making.
traffic avoidance - I love the way it figures out when you have traffic and determines how long you will be in that traffic and offers alternative routes.
OS - the best feature for me is the operating system, it will definately allow for 3rd party apps. It also is great pulling georss feeds in off of the internet. Right now I am pulling in live weather and also interesting sights near me from the virtualglobetrotting site. I could also pull in stocks, house listings etc.
I am very interested in this GPS but may wait until the routing gets a little better. I install tile so I go to different places all the time so need good routing also I do most work in or around the Twin Cities in Minnesota so the traffic part sounds very nice. I use a Garmin Streetpilot 2730 now, it is very good with routing but the Navtraffic is not that great.
dburr- What kind of info do you get with the live weather. Does it just show like a 5 day forecast?
Here are the cons:
Routing: for some reason, it doesn’t even consider some routes. I have 2 major interstates near me, and it never considers one of them when I am going to work, but if I take it anyways, it does accurately give me traffic and eta info, so I know the DE knows the highway is there - odd!
traffic details - some of the only traffic information they collect is only historical from only me. In other words, one day I went home a way I usually don’t go, there happened to be an accident and I was stuck for about 10min. Now the DE always assumes that there is traffic in that location even though it was a rare event. I’m sure once I take that way home again with no issues the DE will adjust, but it also will screw up the eta the first time.
GPRS connectivity - I’m not sure if I’m hitting a lot of bad cell zones or what, but although I do get GPRS connectivity, I get more searches “timing out” than I was expecting. I have no issues with this when using wifi.
Overall - I would have to say that this is definately a young device and it may not do somethings as well as a device you may already have, but the upside of this device is on another planet. I expect about the time you start complaining about your current device (appox 1-1/2 years after purchase) DE will have 3rd party applications and map updates and OS upgrades.
One other thing that is intriging about the device is there appears to be a camera chip on the board according to some specs I have seen. I’m not sure what they are planning for this chip, but with the device having gprs and wifi - it could be something fun.
@Cary - I use yahoopipes geofeeds http://pipes.yahoo.com/pipes/search?r=format%3Ageorss
(Sorry if Im not supposed to post addresses)
Basically you can plug any of the 1654 feeds already there or make your own. This means you can get a feed for a 5 day forecast if you want or you can get any georss feed into your device how ever you want it. just take a look at yahoopipes and search for geofeeds and you will see all of the feeds you can use as well as making your own
dburr,
It definitely sounds like it needs more data to more accurately represent traffic flows on some roads. I guess that will come with time and additional devices. It always seems to be routing issues that are the downside in the discussions. It is a concern for me since I want it as much for traveling as for around town. Has there been any word from Dash about these issues? Any word about the first updates to the device? I know it is early, but those of us on the fence may not need much to move us to purchase.
I may have asked this elsewhere, but is $399 what it will be selling for indefinitely, or is it temporary?
@CARY - obviously my last posting didn’t take because I used a web address 0- but the short answer is if you go to yahoopipes and search for georss pipes, you will see 1654 feeds available that you can put in your DE. You can also make your own feeds there. So you can basically input any feed meaning it can be a 5day forcase or any other feed you can dream of.
George - Dash has said they are working on the routing issues - but I think that the real issue is that ALL GPS’s use a similar algorithm to route, this is actually one reason as to why I did choose the Dash, because since the OS is over-the-air updateable I at least have hope that I may not be stuck with that same algorithm for the life of the device. The $399 is the price of the device as far as Dash can see into the future from what I’ve been told.
I live in one of the states that don’t let you stick a GPS to the windshield. Does anyone know how well the dash mounting is? Just seems because it’s big that it would shake and maybe the dash mounting disc may come loose.
dburr,
Thanks. Your info helps alot.
There has been discussion about the size? To get a little perspective is there something to compare to? I have a Garmin SP 2610, which is heavy, and big relative to newer devices. In fact, the idea of attaching it to the window always scared me because of its weight. But it isn’t clear to me whether the Dash is just big compared to newer devices, or this thing is huge.
I haven’t seen one in real life but I guess you could use these measurements to help compare, The Express measures 4.8 inches wide, 4.1 inches tall, and 2.8 inches in depth, and creates a device just under one pound in weight.
I have a garmin 2730 which is the same size as the 2610 and yeah they are kinda big compared to gps’s these days aren’t they.
Thanks Cary. I saw the dimensions, guess I was wondering what people’s perspective was, as in was it bigger than they thought. There have been a number of comments (in various forums) commenting on its size. Do they think it is in the way, for example? The size of the 2610 never bothered me, again I always worried more about the weight, so I never attempted to mount it to the windshield.
In reference to the size. IMO - The DE is huge. I really havnen’t seen any photo’s that really show the depth of the size. Luckly, I haven’t had to carry my device too much, but I would say that the only way to take it with you is to carry it as it definately would not fit in a pocket.
George - Here are some photos I took a few minutes ago to illustrate the size.
dash 1
dash 2
dash 3
Thanks for the photos. As long as it doesn’t cause an obstruction, or somehow affect your field of vision I suppose it is fine.
Sorry for the second post. What I meant to say is as long as it doesn’t obstruct your vision to a serious degree. I know any device would to some extent. In fact, I’m surprised sometimes by how high on the windshield I see GPSs or radios mounted in other vehicles. Guess you wouldn’t do that with this.
I haven’t had a GPS that didn’t include Canada. What do you actually get for Canada, nothing, or only major highways?
Nothing shows for Canada.
Thanks. Just wondering. May make a side trip into Canada when we’re in ME end of June.
I know that drive well, George.
Me too. We’re living in VA, but my wife and I are both from New England. So, every year we’re back there to recharge, ME, MA, VT, primarily. That’s one of the reasons I’ve been so interested in the routing capabilities. While much is familiar we do spend alot of time traveling cross country throughout NE, so having good routes is essential. And the traffic would be handy for avoiding the inevitable slowdowns on the interstate.
I really can’t be sure, but I don’t think this will work at all in Canada. I will ask them today about the map, but I know that none of the other features will work, except the possible exception of wifi.
I received email notification that dburr had added a comment, but I don’t see it included on the website. Is there a limit, or another page of comments?
dburr,
If you were responding to my question about Canada maps, Tim responded that I would see nothing. But I’m not sure I understand what you mean about it may not work. I assumed it would continue to track me, there just wouldn’t be any roads to route on. Are you saying that it might not work at all?
@george - No what you said was correct. I assume It would still work, there would just be no map.
Thanks dburr.
Your comment that at first didn’t appear on the website showed up after I posted my response to you.
When you say it doesn’t auto-zoom do you mean it doesn’t show you an upcoming turn in a zoomed in view as you approach it, or that it doesn’t zoom in on your route as you get closer to the next turn, or both? I agree that the zoomed in view of the next turn is important, but regarding zooming in on the route I often don’t use the auto-zoom. How tight can you manually zoom in? Alot of times I just stay zoomed in to a few hundred feet. Depends on the route.
George, you can set the zoom level with the zoom buttons on the map, but it doesn’t dynamically update like other GPS devices as you approach intersections or slow down. The furthest zoomed in level shows about 1/2 mile vertically on the screen which I personally don’t think is close enough to get the level of detail you need in more complex intersections.
Thanks Tim. My Garmin SP 2610 will go down to at least 200 feet I believe. Dash definitely needs to zoom in more.
I just reread your review and saw the part about the turn graphic, which was the other thing I was asking about. Does that help much to make up for the lack of auto-zoom or not being able to zoom in closer than 1/2 mile?
I am interested in buying Dash Express
Well, you can purchase it over here.
I know Tim tried the Dash on some trips in New England. I would love to hear more about experiences people have had with the Dash on extended trips of maybe hundreds of miles, on vacation, out on the interstates, middle of nowhere, etc. In particular, how was the routing, did you find the traffic info useful, etc? What about POIs along the way? There are a number of very positive reviews out there, but they deal mostly with local trips, traffic, and connectivity.
I have had the Dash for a few weeks now. This was my first GPS system so I can’t compare it to others. After reading some of the previous posts the Dash sounds like it may be lacking some of the finer navigation features that Garmin and TomTom models currently have. I have been extremely pleased with what the Dash is capable of right now and I am willing to accept some of its shortcomings because I know as time passes the connectivity of the dash will allow it to be updated and improved without me having to by a whole new system. I do realize that comes at a price of $10 a month for the service subscription but I figure I more than save that much every month just using the search for gas stations and their current prices which are updated several times a day. You would be amazed at how much prices vary even when the stations are close to one another. The other day I found a gas station nearby that was 12 cents cheaper than one I would normally go to. That saved me about $2.20 a fill up which I do about 4x a month for 2 cars. Already the Dash is going to save me about $18 this month in gas. I am a fan already and I suspect my fondness will grow even greater as it improves itself over time.
Thanks Dave for your feedback. I like to think I know where the best gas prices are in my area. Kind of makes me wonder if there’s one out there I’ve overlooked. My hope is that features, like gas prices, will be just as useful anywhere I go. For example, are gas prices limited to metro areas?. Not knowing how the info is collected, does it have prices for stations located on interstates, for example.
George, I haven’t had to fill up yet while on the interstate, but I know that it has given me prices of stations on the interstate when I have been close to an interstate so I am confident it would be useful anywhere you go. However, I was disappointed once when I went to a station the Dash had listed as the lowest priced and found out when I got there that the price was if you got a car wash with a fill up.
Thanks Dave.
I have a GPS with me all the time, so while it is handy close to home I also do a fair amount of traveling. I don’t commute. At first, I was concerned about how good the unit would be for traveling, but it seems that there are quite a few positives, not the least of which is its potential.
Hope you didn’t go too far out of your way for the car wash gas. I happen to see a station the other day that advertized .15 cents off each gallon with a car wash. I wonder how that would have looked on the Dash?
I’ve read most of the posts and I’m excited about purchasing a DE. the big thing that is holding me back is that i’m reading about the lag time and also that the devices marker on the map seems to be off by a few blocks, and some people miss turns as a result. does anyone out there know if this is a problem with the hardware or the software? Specifically: is this something that can be fixed by a firmware update somewhere down the road or will we have to wait for the DE2 for this to be fixed?
drjak - I’ve probably driven a thousand miles or so with two different Dash devices and haven’t seen any significant lag nor the “marker” off by more than a few feet.
Tim,
I think drjak read/saw the same review I did on CNET. There they complained about the issues he mentioned (and I sincerely apologize for any implied disloyalty by being on other sites). They did some test in San Fran and missed street turns and had the device off by a few blocks. Obviously, that is concerning. They also suggested waiting for the D2.
My thought in reading all of the above is that for a pure GPS, there are probably less expensive options that are better for just getting me from Point A to Point B. I am sure in several years I will buy a GPS with good traffic guidance and routing, but the premium seems extreme right now.
Finally, thanks again for your feedback on bluetooth through the GPS. Not going for that is going to save me a lot of cash.
Cheers.
I’ve got a lot of respect for CNET, but there is something not fully understood about their issues. I haven’t seen the problems they apparently saw reported by others, nor have I seen it on my devices. Either they got some bad reflection of GPS signals from a building (something that can happen with any GPS), the GPS has a defect, or they misread what the GPS was telling them. That is my guess anyway. What they saw doesn’t seem to be a widespread issue.
The Dash has some rough edges here and there, but I haven’t seen any of what CNET saw.
Tim,
I read some reviews on Amazon that noted as a Con that it is difficult to tell when/where to turn. In your review you mentioned it had distance to next turn and a turn icon. I seems that at least some of the reviews are referring to experience with a split screen zoomed view of the upcoming turn that apparently Dash does not have. Could you clarify this point? Have you had any problems with when to turn not being clear? Thanks.
Sure, if you search this page for the word “zoom” you will find most of what I’m about to say. Here is how the typical Garmin or TomTom device works. You are driving along on the Interstate with your exit 10 miles ahead. The zoom level will be “out” at about 1/2 - 3/4 of a mile or so. Then as you approach the intersection, say 1/4 mile or so, the GPS will zoom in further so you can see the details of that intersection more closely.
The Dash’s zoom level doesn’t change from where you set it. The closest zoom level in shows about 1/2 mile of the road ahead. So as you approach confusing intersections with lots of tightly packed roads, it doesn’t provide as detailed (or “tight”) of a picture that other devices do. In many places, this limitation is fine, however when at confusing or densely packed intersections it will cause you to need to stare at the screen longer to figure out where to go, as the details you need to see are smaller on the screen since it doesn’t zoom.
As you pointed out, it does show the distance to turn and the direction of the turn, but in complicated intersections you really need the map to show you “which right” and the zoom just doesn’t take it far enough.
Thanks. My 2610 brings up a split screen detail of the turn as you approach it, that’s in addition to the autozoom feature the device has. It is that split screen feature that I believe some are referring to that is missing from the Dash, but I wasn’t sure what you meant by ““next turn” graphic or intersection icon,” in your review. Is it just an arrow, or something that appears at the top left corner showing you which way to go?
Right, there is no split screen nor autozoom on the Dash. At the very least it needs autozoom. By “next turn graphic”, many devices have something that takes up just a tiny bit of space that shows something slightly more detailed than an arrow… like a round circle for a rotary or an angled arrow that shows just how sharp the turn is.
The Dash does show something beyond just a left/right arrow, but not enough to replace a good autozoom or splitscreen.
I just got a refund for 1 year of service. I was unhappy with many things about the unit. Most of all I am sorry I wasted $400. I could have bought alot of good stuff with that kind of cash. My 4 year old Roadmate is better at most functions and local Yahoo gives you old data. My office moved 5 years ago and Dash sent me to old office. Too much $$$$
The poi’s on all GPS’s are not always accurate it would be no different with yahoo. Things change everyday way to hard to keep up. Alot of places show on my Garmin p.o.i. list that have been gone for a long time even after a few map updates.
Indeed, if anything the POIs on the Dash have the possibility of being more up-to-date as the Yahoo listings are updated on a near continual basis rather than waiting for a map update.
I’ve used the unit for about a month and am very happy. I especially like the real time notification of problems when there is a problem. I also like being about to find stores by name and ‘nearby’ great for finding a Walmart in an RV.
Will the DASH work in Canada?
Does not have Canada maps but they say they are looking into this for the future.
Another Dash Express Price Drop.
I thought I’d share this: Dash User Satisfaction 70%.
Dash Express June Software Update
I am really interested in the “routes” feature, where it gives you (up to) 3 routes to initially choose from. Does any other GPS device do something similar? Doesn’t TomTom have an alternate route option?
The Dash and TomTom methods are different. The Dash method selects one route that it thinks is the fastest, and up to two other alternatives based on where traffic might be a problem (but isn’t at the time of planning.) It doesn’t always generate multiple routes– only when it thinks there might be other viable alternatives.
The TomTom ‘alternate route’ feature doesn’t look for the next most reasonable route per se. Instead it takes a look at the original route and tries to come up with the best route that avoids as much of the first route as possible. Think of it more like a “scenic route” option. It won’t likely be the next best alternative to the first route– only the next best alternative that uses as little of the first route as possible.
Thanks for responding Tim. So, does that mean that Dash Exp is the only GSP that gives you the multiple routes option? Why is this? I believe that I once road in a Lexus car, who’s GSP offered a multiple routes option from the get-go (shortest, fastest, and a 3rd option). I would think this would be a popular option.
Most GPS devices do offer different settings you can establish if you want fastest, shortest, avoiding highways, avoiding tolls, etc. But you generally set your preference ahead of time and leave that setting rather than taxing the GPS to make all of those options available with every route created. Most people set their device to pick the fastest route and go with it. If they don’t like the route they can add a waypoint on most devices to force the route to go through a different location.
Just a quick note that the Dash Express is $199 today only at Amazon. Good chance to get in on the deal if you have been on the fence.
Hi, I am a truck driver and I was just wondering if this would be a good fit for me? I’m guessing that it wouldn’t I kind of need something that wouldn’t cause me to travel on roads that trucks shouldn’t be on and warn me of low bridges.
Correct, the Dash Express would not do that. There are not any good devices on the market that offer commercial truck features like that.
Junk product. The routing is poor and worse i have seen in any GPS device. The wirless communication is horrible. The GPRS connection drops in and out and Wireless data can not connect to secure Access Points. Plus lot of $$$… Are these guys kidding? Why would you pay for any bucks for something like this??
As I just recently purchased my 8th GARMIN GPS, a 775T model, after immediately returning the Nuvi 880, which I got to experience the Speech To Text feature (which was’nt really working and required another whole piece to activate it), I was quite impressed with the 775T, as it not only has all of Europe included with the US, but features an appearently all new feature, called ‘Lane Assist’, which really is very helpful in n o t missing a Freeway turn, plus they re- ‘Bolded’ up their Font and left it in CAPS ! !, all of which I believe is crucial, for reading and absorbing turn info quicker !…
Well, a friend of mine showed me his DASH yesterday, in his Mini Cooper, and I was blown away by being presented wit multiple ! ! routing options, and all the traffic alerts etc… As mentioned before, the one thing that I was totally missing, is the ALL BOLD AND CAPS ! ! Fonting of the key infos in the small boxes ! Trust me, the Upper/Lower Case format is not helpful for absorbing data fast, regardless of how good an eyesight you have !..
I hope my comments are somewhat constructive, and as of right now, I’d love to get a GPS that would combine the DASH’s absolutely beautiful qualities with some of the GARMIN’s good and user-friendly feats, as mentioned, loud and BOLD CAPS info blocks, in particular the squares that give you the prompts for turns etc.
Thomas - thanks for the comments. Study after study has shown that writing in all caps is more difficult to read and takes longer to read for most people. Glad to hear the Garmin works well for you and your capitalization preferences, but you are in the minority with that lettering preference.
I pre-ordered one of the Dash Express and loved it so much I bought one for my wife. Well, my car was broken into yesterday and it was stolen. I called Dash to report it stolen and they informed me that they are no longer making their own hardware and will be selling their traffic networking services to mobile devices and car companies. They cited the economy as the major problem. Personally, I think this sucks b/c I loved the device, but thought it important to update this review.
I have a Garmin 660. I don’t know if I missed a discussion of my topic, but the most annoying feature (or, non-feature) is its inability to let me set a different route. I can put in ONE waypoint, but that’s all. So, if I put in a waypoint that forces the GPS to route me through there, I csn’t do the same thing for the next, or the next, or the next one. From there on, I am forced to follow the GPS route. That’s not a problem when I am driving a route with which I am familiar (and the GPS “Recalculates,” but it is useless if I don’t know the route or know a shorter route that the GPS doesn’t offer me.