I think it is mainly for people who travel a lot. I'm more like you - the
times we go to unfamiliar places I Mapquest the markets, restaurants,
laundromats, etc and navigate while my wife drives. In earlier times we did
find ourselves spending a lot of time trying to figure out how to get to the
hotel we could see on the other side of the canal in a strange town at night
when we couldn't find a place to buy a map - things like that.

At work we bought a Lowrance iFinder GPS and matching MapCreate software. We
often have to go to wild places in all sorts of weather, and saving one
misadventure in our Sno-cat at night will easily pay for it. Anyway, the
software has selectable details that can be loaded into the GPS. We rely a
lot on the topo stuff and the back roads. It even has every two-track dirt
road on the rez - without a GPS the only sane thing to do out there at night
is to pull over and wait for daylight. We can also selectively load
restaurants, hotels, etc, into the GPS. Not bad for about $300 US total, but
like a map it is not something a driver alone can use without pulling over.

Mike

If one only goes out of their area 3 days a year
it makes no sense. In this case I'd recommend
mapquest since it's free.

I may just be different but I go to lots of
places other than work/local-stores all the time.
The nav is great for getting me there.

But would I pay $1k for this. Hum... No, when I
ordered a Mini last year I didn't because all it
did was navigation (the deal fell thru but that's
a different story).

The Honda nav has a lot more than just navigation.
It has address/type/phone info on a million
businesses in the US. This and the ability to
search these adds tremendously to the value.

Here's why:

Ever been on a trip (or out of your normal area)
and needed to know where the nearest gas station
is?

Or needed cash and want to find the nearest ATM?

Or the nearest restaurant? (The nav lets you
specify fast-food / Mexican / Italian / Thai /
American / etc. I found a great Cajun fish
restaurant this way.)

Ever had (or a passenger ever had) a headache /
toothache / etc and wondered where the nearest
drugstore / grocery store was?

Or had a flat-tire / out-of-gas and need the
phone number of the nearest gas station so you
can call them to send someone out?

Or nearest Honda dealer? Or the nearest Target or
other kind of shopping? Or the nearest hotel? Ever
wanted to find the nearest post office / police
station? Or hardware store / stereo store?

For me these features make the Honda nav unit
worth the money.

The newer nav units have real time routing
around traffic jams. And have restaurant reviews.

On a more minor note: I've lived in San Francisco
for 23 years and I and friends have been surprised
that it occasionally finds quicker routes. I also
really like the fact that I don't have to keep
referring to the map and/or figuring where I am
and where I need to turn next. I get to pay
attention to *driving* because the nav takes care
of routing.

I have 2005 Accord w navigation and love it (and
because it only comes with on the EX w leather it
really bumps the total price up a *lot* more than
$1k).

Honda/Acura seems to have the best OEM unit. I've
been told the Toyota unit takes a long time
(~4 minutes) to recalculate if you go off the
route (the Honda unit takes about 20 sec). Friends
with BMWs don't like the clumsy rotary/press input
(Honda has a touch screen). I've looked at the
Alpine after market units and they have more
features and about a $3k price.

I will never consider another car without a *good*
nav unit.