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Actually,Acura promises quarterly updates for 5 years so they are getting even further behind. The info comes from the initial press release which I quoted in post 37.
I'm not a lawyer, but I suspect a press release on preliminary specifications doesn't constitute an enforceable contract. I suspect there's some disclaimer somewhere that says specifications may change, yada yada yada.
Anyway, there's this little tidbit on page 76 of the 2019 Acura RDX Navigation Manual:
And if you have any further questions about your ( complete lack of ) rights as a consumer, read the 5 page End User License Agreement beginning on page 78. Enjoy.
Besides, they're just making this up as they go. Give the poor multinational corporation a break!
Meanwhile, in the less "mature" environs of the upper midwest, I think I saw a bulldozer chase a tractor out of a corn field today. There are all kinds of neighborhood streets around here that were farm fields a few months or a few years ago.
And if enough corn fields get transformed into neighborhoods, then they start thinking about building a highway bypass around the former corn fields, routing the revised highway through some different corn fields and having all kinds of fun with new interchanges.
My wife finds it distressing if her GPS tells her she's traveling off road. I think it's kinda fun. YMMV
POIs are another interesting issue. For instance, why is it that Subway sandwich shops randomly relocate every 6 months?
And why is it that no GPS data base seems to know about some Interstate rest areas that haven't moved in decades? My bladder protests.
I've gotten plenty of bad advice from GPSs over the years but the funniest thing was one day I was stuck in slow traffic for quite a while in a snow storm and the Garmin woman came on and asked me if I wanted to switch to "pedestrian mode".
It reminded me of the opening credits to Office Space.
What improvements have been made? Or is just data update?
I would consider updating if the interface face was improved. Currently no upcoming street displayed or speed limit information. Current very dated software on my 2015 RDX.
You're in the 2019-2020 RDX forum, but I can tell you that the update for my wife's 2017 RDX wasn't worth the $200 or so it cost. It's strictly street and POI data, and pretty worthless at that. It was a year old when it was released. The user interface did not change.
You're in the 2019-2020 RDX forum, but I can tell you that the update for my wife's 2017 RDX wasn't worth the $200 or so it cost. It's strictly street and POI data, and pretty worthless at that. It was a year old when it was released. The user interface did not change.
They charged you for the map update? Are you shitting me? Is Acura gonna start charging for updates at some point?
My Garmin Nuvi is about 8-10 years old but it came with free updates for the life of the unit. And they put out at least 1-2 updates a year. AFAIK, there has been only one nav update since the 3G RDX has been out. We're still on July of last year.
Garmin owner here also... for my technology absent 2006 LR3. The Garmin is about 6 years old I would guess but is about 6 years ahead of the 2019 RDX navi. Updates are free and frequent, easy to install and it is easy to use and for a couple hundred bucks I could buy a brand new one that's even bigger (mine is 6") with Alexa. I can move it from car to car and of course in rentals. I know this is all off topic, but what a great piece of equipment. I don't get the one single update in the RDX, which is what, about 90 days from 2 years ago? I have mentioned before about how great the nav and graphics are in my neighbors 2019 E63 MB, or whatever it is. Sure...it's a 90K car, but he just bought a new 2020 GMC Denali pickup and thte grapics and tecnology spread across that dash make my RDX look like a 8 year old Honda Accord. I was pretty wowed by it. I still love driving my RDX, but I still remain unimpressed with their software.
A lot of folks bought Garmins "back in the day" (I can't believe I said that, as i don't particularly like that phrase!), I own two, most recently purchased one has lifetime free updates. They are both sitting, unmissed, somewhere in a drawer, probably dead. I haven't used them in at least 5 years, probably longer, with Google maps now doing most of my navigating. I don't want to be moving devices around car to car, of have that big thing sitting dash top. My smart phone is always in my pocket so I "never leave home without it". I bought the RDX for the way it feels and drives, not for the GPS. With my Android phone and Google maps (and now that Android Auto has come to the RDX) I rarely, if ever use the RDX native GPS. I will at times display the native map while NOT navigating in familiar territory, just to see where I am going. That way I don't have to look out the windshield.
They charged you for the map update? Are you shitting me? Is Acura gonna start charging for updates at some point?
My Garmin Nuvi is about 8-10 years old but it came with free updates for the life of the unit. And they put out at least 1-2 updates a year. AFAIK, there has been only one nav update since the 3G RDX has been out. We're still on July of last year.
Map updates for previous Acura vehicle navigation system updates are distributed on DVD, and HERE charges $149 for "most recent" release. That usually trickles down a bit as it becomes "less recent".
It's unknown what HERE will charge for 3rd-gen RDX updates once the bundled "map care" subscription lapses.
FWIW Garmin gets their map data from HERE, and up until about 10 years ago they typically charged about $100 for a map update. Then they started offering "lifetime map" update plans bundled with their devices, at incremental cost. No doubt they did this to stay competitive, not because they are such nice people. Updates are available for download quarterly. And that actually means every 3 months.
I still have a 6" Garmin Nuvi mounted on the dash of my "beater" 2005 MDX, and it is like a breath of fresh air compared to the built-in nav in my 2019 RDX. Especially the completely intuitive touchscreen. And the voice recognition that sorta works.
In reality, I hardly ever need a GPS nav to begin with. 99% of the time I get in the car, I know exactly where I'm going. And If I run into traffic, I probably know alternative routes better than anyone else.
If you were to combine the best features of the RDX's built in nav, Android Auto, Google Maps and Waze, they still aren't as good as my ol' Garmin. Which I never was very impressed with either.
In a good week, I get to "Wander" someplace new, or at least somewhere I haven't been in a while. And I'm a lot more adventurous if I have a reliable GPS at my disposal.
I vaguely remember the days of stopping at a gas station to ask for directions. Or I was told some people did it. Not sayin I ever did it. Maybe my wife did it for me, so I didn't have to turn in my man card?
Haha....yep. And that was back in the day when I could remember the directions the gas station guy gave me...now I would be like...what did he say exactly?
Yeah, hand highlighted AAA TripTiks are a throwback. I finally parted with my large collection of AAA tour books. But not my road atlases; those still travel with me.
Anyone who thinks paper maps are obsolete doesn't understand the value of backups. Or the value of a really big folding display that never, ever crashes or runs out of power.
TOPO maps... don't leave the trailhead without them!
When I try to update the navigation map on my 2019 RDX Aspec it will say updating, but then that will disappear with no indication that the map update is continuing. Should I see something to indicate that something is actually happening? Should I just leave the USB in the USB connector in the console and somehow it will update after a while. I have downloaded the new update twice and I am using a 32 GB USB stick that is formatted with FAT32 and following the instructions. I have done this before on my Honda Accord and never had a problem and it shows constantly the update status in percentage.
There's no indication that it is still updating. You just leave the USB in and it should keep flashing if it has a light in the USB stick. It will notify you with a message when it is done.
Thanks for your help! Someone also said that it takes about an hour to update. Thats some pretty poor programming where it says updating and then that disappears and you have to just guess that something is happening. On my 2016 Honda Accord it will say what percentage of the update has completed. Again, some bad programming.
I noticed that if you messed with it you could see once again it would say "map updating" but I don't ever think I have ever seen programming where you don't show the status so you know that something is actually happening and the "map updating" message fades away. I even brought it over to the dealer with the downloaded USB and showed them and they seemed to be lost also. Called Garmin and they told me you needed to put the USB first into the cars USB port first even though the instructions don't show that. Of course, that is the way it is on my 2016 Honda Accord. It writes something on the USB then you download the files from the internet. Then you go back to the car again.