I have had a few different GPS units over the years. My first was a Garmin GPS 12 which didn’t have any road maps or anything else; it was much more appropriate to use in the forest, but  I used it everywhere and even hooked it to a laptop so I could get maps.  It was a awesome device, but hobbled by older technology and Selective Availability when I used it.

My next unit was also a Garmin, the Garmin eMap to be precise.  Now that SA was off, it was much more accurate, but it did not have WAAS or any other technology that could give me good fast fixes.  The eMap was a great device, but the maps were not very detailed unless you spent a ton of money on memory and a Garmin CD.  I loved it anyway.

Wayne sent me his Dash Express since he hated it.  I was initially a little skeptical about the device, however after playing with it for the better part of a week I think I have found an almost ideal GPS device for me.  With the Dash, you can do so much more than just navigation.  It’s devices such as the Dash (and Apple’s own iPhone) that can bring location specific information to you whenever you need it and wherever you are. Continue Reading

Dash Express is notifying their subscribers to expect a big update today for their big GPS. These updates arrive wirelessly using either the device’s built-in Wi-Fi or cellular modem. Highlights of the upgrade:

MyRoute - learning of your preferred routes for often travelled to locations.
Search Along Route - to find points of interest around your travel route.
FasterFind - dramatically decreased the time it takes for the Dash to find the GPS.
Performance Enhancements - maps redraw 50% faster and you can toggle between 2D and 3D map views faster, User Interface Improvements.

Unfortunately I didn’t see “Shrink size of device so it won’t flop around dash” on the list of enhancements. Full text of the email after the jump.

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Looks like Dash is finally coming to their senses. I just received an email stating that they’ve lowered the price on their Dash Express GPS by $100 (which had already happened over a month ago at Amazon) and extended my free connectivity by three months.

Since launching the Dash Express in late March, we’re off to a great start! Every day we continue to grow the Dash Driver Network leading to better, more accurate traffic info to help you in your daily commute. To maintain this momentum and make the Dash Express affordable to even more customers, today we lowered the price of the device to $299.99.

We know that being an early technology adopter has its ups and downs, particularly when it comes to pricing fluctuation. We want you to know that we are so appreciative that you were one of our first customers. As a thank you for your early support, we are extending you an additional three months of free Dash service. This service extension will be given to all customers that purchased the Dash Express on or before May 31, 2008. The additional three months will be automatically added to your account. If you have already purchased a Dash service plan, it will go into effect at the end of the three month extension.

Here’s my original review just in case you missed it the first time around (Here’s a quick three word summary of the review - “Don’t buy it”).

Link: Dash Express Review: Three Words - Bulky, Buggy, Beta

Amazon.com just lowered the price on the Dash Express GPS (for which they are the sole distributor) by $100 to $299. This pricing drop is not surprising given that the far superior Garmin Nuvi 760 is on sale at Costco for $349. You may remember that I bought this device in April and reviewed it here. My recommendation? Head to Costco.com and pick up the Garmin Nuvi 760 instead. The Dash Express is a 1980’s design relic too big, it’s painfully slow to calculate and re-calculate routes and the advertised traffic sharing is only helpful if you live in an area where lots of other Dash suckers owners are using and sharing their trip data. You’ve been warned…

Link: Amazon - Dash Express Now $299

Last night I received an email from the Dash Express folks that they are updating my new GPS with software to enable historical traffic prediction. This compensates those of us in areas where enough other users aren’t sharing traffic flow data. The email also indicated that toward the end of next month they’ll include some performance and stability fixes. My advice: Avoid the Dash Express until more users have it and they put this beast on a diet (it’s WAY too big for most dashboards). Check out my original review which has pictures showing the size - and the all to frequent system crashes.

Link: Dash Express GPS Review: Three Words- Bulky, Buggy, Beta

The Dash Express Two-Way Internet-Connected Portable GPS Navigator exploded overnight onto many online blogs - prompting blogger Jason Calacanis to proclaim it “Best Product of 2008“. In case you missed the hoopla around this release, the Dash Express is your typical automative GPS guidance system with two innovative features. First, it includes a WIFI and GPRS cellular transmitter for moving data onto and off your device (think updates and real time exchange of traffic flow). Second, it talks to Yahoo Local Search for real time searches (when in a data coverage area). It’s marketed exclusively through Amazon for $399 and using the data transmitting features requires a subscription that starts at $10 per month when prepaid. My testing tempered my enthusiasm for this device. Read about my experiences on the next page.

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