Car Tech forum: Alpine NVE-P1 navigation map update rip off

I'm in the same situation and wonder if you ever found an update solution that didn't include giving $99 to Alpine?

Thanks.

John

You think that's bad, back in 1998 I purchased Clarion's flagship head unit, the MAX2256, a double din CD cassette that was one of the first video head units on the market. It alone was $2k, with the TV tuner pack, VCR, and 18 disc changer and CD based VOICE nav unit, the whole deal was $4k. (today you can get most of that for less than $1k of course)The dealer I purchased it from was out of the voice navigator units and Clarion was back ordered so he got one from another dealer he knew to fill my order. I put it in my car not knowing it needed CD's to work, they were supposed to be included in the box but the other dealer pinched them for unbeknownst reasons. The CD's covered the whole US but you only got one region included with the $600 package, you were supposed to call Clarion and they'd give you a code.
Went back to my dealer every week for 6 months, kept giving me one lame story after another why he didn't have them. Finally about a year later he called me up and he had them. I called Clarion to get the code to activate them and they said they only issued codes for 90 days after date of purchase!
So all these years I have had a 600 dollar brick in my dash.
That's okay I never get lost.

at this point doesn't your android/iphone cell phone have all the navigation most people need? Was looking at indash GPS units at Crutchfield, $550-1500, most around $700 still.
If I had money to throw at it I guess. I don't.