Hello everyone,

I have two questions, please advise.

I'm a novice driver and I got my licence less than a year ago. Prior to that, I never drove because I was in New York City, and now I moved to a suburb, where you cannot move without a car. Less than a week ago, I bought a brand new Toyota Camry.

I have a problem in that, I always lose my way while driving, especially on highways. Even after getting all the preparations for going to my destination, i.e.printing directions from Mapquest, as well as Yahoo!, and studying what exit to get off, I still get very nervous, and feel that I'm going to get lost, hence I always take one person with me, who can direct me in case I'm about to get off the wrong exit. And I found that in fact, at least once per trip, I was about to take the wrong exit/turn. Therefore, I reside less than 4 miles away from my job, and I take the streets instead of the highway (hence, I don't think the total mileage for my car in a year would add up to be more than 3,000 miles).

The problem is, once in two months my job sends me to different places, which are about 30 miles away from my home. If I am alone, and do get lost, I don't want to get out of my car and ask strangers, or go to the gas station for directions (which I still won't follow!). It is extremely important for me to depend on a navigation system, which will work accurately, and take me with peace of mind from home, to where my job sends me. In case my job sends me somewhere more than 50 miles, definately I'll use other conveyance such as bus, train, plane, etc.

Please help me determine what type of navigation system I need for my car. Should I have one that is installed, or one that I can simply plug into an outlet? In other words, I want a simple, but effective navigation system, which furfill my purposes. Please advise.

My other question, (which is not that serious) is regarding anti-theft devices. Since I have got a brand new car I would like to have some kind of anti-theft device. What do you suggest, and where can I get them from? What do you think about window etching?


Thanks in advance for your help, and I appreciate

I have the factory navigation and it's great. For cheap portable alternatives, look up the Garmin iQue and Garmin Quest. You can get one for around $450-$550. The Quest is about the size of an iPod. They require you to hook up to a computer to load the unit with maps from a CD. They have enough memory to store your region so unless you're driving cross country you shouldn't have to hook up to the computer very often. You can punch in addresses and it will give you turn by turn instructions by voice, and if you miss a turn it will automatically re-route you. All my cars will have nav from now on!