Pioneer AVIC N5

Pioneer’s flagship N5 from the N Series aims to bring the best in portable navigation to the masses, although the price point of $1,500 makes it rather hard to cough up for most people. I suppose you’ll purchase this only to show off to your friends and whoever else who steps in your ride, since it comes with a motorized mechanism that reveals the hidden 7″ display at 480 x 234 resolution. The N5 reads data off a DVD, which is rather mind boggling since optical drives tend to be pretty noisy when data is accessed. The maps courtesy of TeleAtlas are fit into a couple of DVDs, covering the entire US, Canada, Alaska and Hawaii. It is able to track up to 8 receivers simultaneously, and comes with Bluetooth connectivity. In addition, it can be hooked up to an iPod, XM and Sirius devices albeit with an additional adapter that’s sold separately.