Apple's iPhone: A Poor Man's GPS?

I was pleasantly surprised when I got my iPhone recently to realize that it has a pretty good built-in GPS system.

The "Maps" application, provided by Google, can pinpoint your current location and give you directions on how to get from your current location to any destination you enter.

This is really handy if you're lost, or if you just want to estimate how long it's going to take to get somewhere.

A mounted iPhone can work as a pretty decent GPS system.

The "Maps" application also helps you find nearby services, which is something I haven't seen on other GPS systems.  Let's say, for example, you're speeding up the Taconic State Parkway from New York City, as I was recently, and want to find a place to stop for dinner.  Using Maps, you can search for "restaurants" and it will locate restaurants in the area or by ZIP code, if you know it.

All this is made easier to work with when mounted on your car's dashboard or vent system, such as with the DLO VentMount, which lets you mount the iPhone either vertically or horizontally, and eliminates most of the hassle of having a PDA in the car. 

I'm going to use Maps on a few voyages and keep you posted about how well it fares as a car navigation system.