brooklynite

Ok here is my very frustrating problem:

I want to look for McDonalds, (and I am right in front of a 3 year old McDonalds). I go to MENU, PLACES, BY NAME, and I type McDonalds and vola! it starts searching BUT the first place it finds is 2300 miles away in Alabama!!! I am in Los Angeles, California. Same thing with Barnes and Nobles and other destinations.

ANY SOLUTIONS? Is the search by name feature not working properly for you guys either?

Now if I go through categories, it does find the close by McDonalds under restaurants, but what if I am looking for something that is not in the main category list? Here is where I have to find it, basically for anything I need I have to go to Category, Advanced, Type a keyword, hopefully a related category shows up (sometimes it doesn't) then type in my destination and search. And then if the category is wrong, it does not find it again.

mcafee_jones

Hey the same thing happens to me too. When I search by name, it usually can't find the location or if it does, it lists the one that's like 5 states away. Usually, I have to search by category and then it finally shows up. What a pain! I have a 2006 by the way with the v3.5 NAV DVD. Acura sent me a survey regarding the navigation system a few months ago and that was my chief complaint in the survey. If only the system could limit results to a smaller area (without having to use the Search within a vicinity option).

aznbo187

iTrader: (1)

Same here, I have a feeling I'm searching wrong?

datmrman

You're not alone: Searching business on Navi

Try experimenting with the "Advance" search feature. I have better luck finding local places through that route than a simple name search.

brooklynite

Yes, the advance feature is to FIND the category first. Now you after scrolling through all the menus you have to decide if BLOCKBUSTER is:

Shopping
Video and Equipment Rental
Entertainment
Business Facility
etc.

Now the people who plugged in the information in the NAVI database were not in sync so one person has categorized Blockbuster under Video and Equipment Rental, the other as Shopping.

The NAVI system is definately faulty. YOU DONT HAVE TO GO THROUGH THE PAIN OF RESEARCHING WHAT CATEGORY THEY DECIDED TO PLACE BLUCKBUSTER IN.

And guess what, once you find the Category, it does not save it, so next time you want to find BLOCKBUSTER in a different area, you have to go to ADVANCED and find the CATEGORY first.

I am waiting for a smart lawyer starting a class action.

I have an 06 with 3.5 DVD. This is a software issue not database so future updates on the database will not correct this problem. What a waste of $2000 extra for a NAVI.

MAU1976

Hello Guys,
I think that you have to set up the state you are at before you start looking for places. I set my to WI and I never had that problem before

Jrbn2g04AcuraTL

Thats what i was gonna say after reading their complaints but I think they know that already....

brooklynite

hey thanks I will check that out!

brooklynite

How do you setup your state? I looked all over the setup area.

brooklynite

Please dont let this thread die! Bump!

IIIII

lmao, you have to set state and city before you do a search.

Alabama is the first state when you put them in ABC order.

FiveLiterCheater

They must've got it confused with heaven, cuz thats where you'll be if you keep eating that crap.

octl

I suppose this is something that should have been part of Dealer prepping for the car.

You must set-up which State you are in, right at the beginning, so the NAVI won't be pointing you to a McDonalds 3k miles away, Lol

aznbo187

iTrader: (1)

I'm pretty sure I have my state set already, unless it relocates your state everytime you start your car, which I doubt. But I'll recheck next time I do a search again.

KatyTL

How do you set it to your state? I was trying to find a Subway and it sent to Fl., Cal., and NY and I'm in TX?!?! Why does it not take you to the one close by? Help!

Will Y.

If you look under "address" the Nav can be set to look within a state. Otherwise, searches under "name" do not have the option of limiting by state.
To find chain establishments, the easiest way is to choose "places," locate within a "category" and then search by "name" (at the bottom of the screen).

xristos

You can choose your STATE by going into the "find by INTERSECTION" in the upper right corner.

I don't know if it will keep it saved in memory after you turn off your car though.

brooklynite

The NAVI should be able to locate a place by its name, this is all BS. The NAVI has a software glitch and is not working with NAMES.

Adding this problem to the DATABASE clearly being at least 8-10 years old, makes the NAVI not worth the 2 grand extra.

How the hell would I know what category Barnes & Noble falls under? Shopping? Books Publishing? Books and Videos?

JERU

Yeah, hopefully they fixed this issue in the 2007. Like the previous posters, there are ways to get the info that are a bit more involved, but the straight forward way is a joke. When there are other people in the car and I look up Chain names like that, it gives me a 4 hour trip to get a taco. The people in the car start giggling. It is annoying ....

brooklynite

I know, I have had that moment with others who own Korean cars and the system works better than mine.

It seems to me like I am the only one that is pissed about paying for a product dearly, plus 4 years of interest on top of it that does not work properly. Everyone else is just living with it and very happy. Well, since I just moved to LA area, I dont know whats where and I need to look things up and besides the database being updated to 1998 (I guess), this particular bug annoys the hell out of me.

Would this be something I could take in for repair, and once the dealership says they cant fix it, take it up with ACURA headquarters and ask for a refund? This is a serious issue. They cant sell you something that doesn't work, this is BS.

levon1830

The system works, just not the way you would like it to, unfortunately.

I do agree with you that it is sometimes annoying that you cannot just search for a business by name without first having to figure out which category under which its filed, but that's the way Alpine has it designed. I seriously doubt you will get anywhere with Acura corporate, since you can find the location closest to you (assuming its in the current database on your disc) by searching through the categories.

Although its no consolation for you since you own an '06 TL, the system in the '07 TL seems to work well with searching for places by name.

brooklynite

Can the software be upgraded or just the NAVI database can be updated?

Xpditor

"Find nearest FAST FOOD"

That will have the McDonalds across the street from you at the top of the list and then spread outwards from your location.

It will even give you their phone number. You can tell it to call the number and it will dial it if your cell phone is linked.

That way, you can make a reservation at Chez McDonald and pre-order your Big Mac and shake. LOL

WONDERING why you need the navi to cross the street? Are you a little old lady with a big shopping bag?

j/k :wink:

Xpditor

You can upgrade to ver. 3.60 but that is a data base update with additional cities and a few glitches fixed. It is not a new system.

It is not a new generation navi system like the TSX, RL, and the new TL have.

levon1830

brooklynite

thanks for the info! jumped ahead of myself by a year I guess!!

bluenoise

That is a self-contradicting statement. A smart lawyer would not start such an action as it's completely without merit.

Xpeditor nailed it. To find the nearest McD's just say, "Find nearest fast food" and you'll see it. Try that with all those other navigation systems. Or, go "Find Place>Restaurant>Fast Food>Keyword "MCD" and you'll get it.

I do agree with you, though, that the "search by name" should allow a little slop and not be so literal. I ran into the same issue when trying to find a Starbucks out of town and tried all manner of searching by name before finally going the advanced route. Now that I know that, it's pretty simple.

Setting the state does not appear to limit the search to the state. I'm set for CA, but I get results just like the OP when searching for McDonald's by name.

brooklynite

Ok, my McDonalds question was a bad example since the NAVI finds Restaurants with voice command. A neat marketing tool that the salespeople are trained to use while casually showing you the NAVI system.

The problem is, and this is where the smart lawyer gets excited, that the categories are not the same. Lets say you have 3 Starbuck stores near you, here is how it goes:
Starbucks, 1.1 Miles (Under Shopping Category)
Starbucks, 1.6 Miles (Under Restaurant Category)
Starbucks, 1.7 Miles (Under Eating Places Category)
Starbucks, 2.1 Miles (Under Coffee Shops Category)
Starbucks, 2.2 Miles (Under Business)

Well guess what happens if you pick "Coffee Shops" for category when you look for Starbucks.

Trust me, it would be cheaper for them to replace our 06 TL's software chips with the 2007 if in fact the problem has been resolved, I really doubt it though.

redman042

Unfortunately you are just going to have to live with it the way it is. The problem is not so much with Acura but with the data provided by Navteq. Navteq is the source for most nav system databases, and if Navteq doesn't categorize the data correctly, there's nothing anyone else can do. Perhaps the '07 TL does better because its CPU can do more powerful searching and filtering of the data, but the '06 will not get any better than it is now. People keep hoping for functionality updates on the next nav disc, but that will never happen. I'm sure Acura is quite done tweaking the 04-06 nav system now that it works pretty well overall and now that this version of the navi isn't even been manufactured anymore. They will only provide updated data on an annual basis, and that's it.

The 06 TL nav system is a first and foremost for NAVIGATION, which it does extremely well. The YELLOW PAGES function is a nice addition, but it is not its primary function. As time goes on the new systems will do Yellow Pages better, but obviously the existing systems won't.

You got what you bought (unless you want to trade it in for an 07), and I suggest you take some time to learn work-arounds to get the results you need. Once you get the hang of it, you will be able to get the results you want. It will involve a little more hassle than it "should", but I don't think you have any other option.

brooklynite

I agree with you that the ACURA TL Navigation system is one of the best, and I have never stated anything different. I also do not expect NAVTEQ to categorize all businesses in a perfect matter, yes, some WALMARTs will be categorized under Shopping and some under CLOTHES, etc.

I am actually impressed by the number of businesses that are included in the system, including the company I work for which is very small with probably less than 20 people (when the database was created).

The problem is not with the database at all, it's the search function that is flawed. Maybe I am not clear with my question. What I am asking for does not require more processing speed. For goodness sake the system actually does find the nearest biz but just not by name. I just think one should be able to look for WALMART by name, not category. Its not about an extra click, its the fact that once you get in the Category trap, you wont necessarily find your closest Walmart if its not categorized under the cat you just guessed. And it doesn't have to.

A simple routine software to provide a simple search on a database is already in the navigation system but not linked to the proper sections of the software. If we dont bring it up, no one will. And as you see, no one has thought about it for years and even the 07 models have the same problem.

I am not asking for anything advanced, I just think the system is flawed and I dont know why everyone here is defending ACURA and trying to convince me that I am being picky, lazy and want too much.

Finding the nearest Walmart is a basic function for a navigation system and the TL does not do that with just the name of the business. Mapquest.com did that 10 years ago. Walmart.com did that back in 1997. I feel I was misguided into buying the NAVI by "find nearest chinese restaurant" salesmen pitch and I fell for it. I ended up hearing the exact same sentence everytime I take my car in for oil change and see people doing the test drive.

I actually ended up calling ALPINE today and the person was of no help and said they have no tech support, only sales. She asked me to call ACURA. Then I called ACURA Client Services, the guy asked everything he legally could ask (from VIN to my doctor's mother's maiden name) just to say, he doesn't think there is a problem, and if there is, there is no solution to it. Then he told me to go to navteq.com and report the error. I did, however the NAVTEQ site is for errors regarding the database like streets and turns (like if your navigation shows a one way street as two way or something like that).

All above said, I think we do have an option. I paid dearly for this car, and still am and it has to function. I am paying interest on the navigation that does not work properly for me and it sucks. You may be rich but I am working my ass off to pay for this car and the functions I needed and decided to pay for. Some guy, somewhere was probably supposed to fix this part of the software and probably closed the ticket and took off to catch an after hours 1/2 price beer at the local bar and you think its fair for me to be stuck here trying to find the nearest walmart by guessing the category?

Its not about the extra steps. If enough people complain, they will issue a patch. Its worth the try as I am planning to keep the car for another 4-5 years.

redman042

I understand where you are coming from and just want to clarify that I am not defending Acura. I also wish the function worked better. I'm simply saying that, whether you are right or wrong, your complaints will fall mostly on deaf ears. In the eyes of Acura, and most customers, the current system is "more than good enough" given the competition and given the newness of the technology. It will get better as technology advances, and we should expect it to, but Acura simply won't spend time or money upgrading an older car model's nav system that is considered to be fully functional, albeit a bit cumbersome. It's not Windows XP. It's a specialty item in an automobile.

I also don't think the fix is as simple as you make it sound. I would guess that the CPU in our nav is very slow and the RAM is limited (to keep component costs manageable). Navteq probably stores the POI data in several different tables that are presorted on the DVD, to reduce load time and hardware demands when searching. When you do a search by category, the nav is able to grab just the data from that category, load it into RAM, and sort it by distance. The reason global searches don't have a "sort by distance" option is that, if you tried to search the ENTIRE POI database and sort by distance, the CPU would have to load the entire POI table for the whole country (or state) into memory, then filter it by your criteria. I seriously doubt it has the RAM for that, and the slow read speed of the DVD drive would make the load operation take forever. I can't think of any way they could put another presorted table on the DVD to deal with this situation, since you could be anywhere in the country when you do a search.

I believe that the reason this limitation exists is because they couldn't find a way to do it better with this hardware. They've been selling this system for years, and yet they still haven't addressed this issue. I doubt it's out of pure negligence. There must be a better reason.

rockyfeller

iTrader: (6)

This is a HUGE frustration for me too....I embarassed myself a few times showing passengers what my naviagation "can do" and it showed me buinsess destinations in FL and TX like 2500 mi. away!! Had my passengers laughing and slapping their laps. Even if the navigation is superior to most every car out there, there's still definite reason to complain about it's "search" function. Looks like there wasn't enough R&D to refine and tweak it properly. The database has so many POIs programmed in, more than you could expect or ask for.....it just doesn't know how to effieciently sort this info. It will at least find the nearest gas station, atm or resturant as these are all voice commands, that's a good thing.....But what about "find the nearest Macy's"? Can't help me there can it.

I had a 2006 MB E350 and the navigation in most senses compared to the Acura one totally SUCKS!!! It looks good and attractive in the car but it is very confusing to use and doesn't even have a touch screen. I mastered it but it has a long learning curve and almost every owner complains about it. But is does a GREAT job at searching for things nearby and has saved my ass several times, even if it doesn't have even close to the amount of POI as the Acura has.

There's no doubt future Acura navigations will be far superior to this one and we're stuck with our frustrations. That being said with all the positives, I must say I don't regret opting and paying extra for the navigation system.

urbaita1

Seriously? That is ridiculous - never going to happen. Better go buy a lottery ticket, your odds are better.


And I don't think any software upgrade can correct this problem. As a previous user stated, the database was coded by dozens, if not hundreds, of different people, who, while following a classification system (not a good one), still managed to put similar stores in different categories.

In all likelihood, they will not go back and reclassify the old ones, for a really long time, if ever, as they are focused on updating the exisiting database - because that's where the money is. OEMs like Acura will continue to pay them for the product that works, albeit not perfectly.

Remember it took Microsoft almost 20 years to get an operating system that was somewhat stable.... ala Windows XP (ok 2000 was good too).

TLmnop

I have to disagree with you. This most certainly can be fixed via software. As a former developer of GPS navigation software (not for Acura or Johnson Controls), I can say with most certainty that this is not an issue with how the POIs are classified but with how the software is using that classification. Most of the major GPS nav systems (built in and stand alone) use the same NAVTEQ database. Most (if not all) have the ability to do a by-name search without choosing a category to see the results. A simple "by-name" search sorted by distance is all that is needed. Forcing you to go through the categories basically makes the search useless because of the classification problems you mentioned.

All that having been said, I do agree with you that a class action lawsuit is not likely to happen nor would it yield any benefit (except to the lawyers).

brooklynite

Thank you! finally one person agrees with me on this entire thread!

The categories are great if you dont know where you want to go but you know you need "paper" or "fast food" or a "gym".

If you are looking for "J. & Smith Partners" or "Walmart" near you, ACURA NAVI is not for you, find it in superpages.com then get in your car. That's ACURA's stand.

Andrew McCarthy

Doesn't searching by "keyword" and sorting by distance to travel work?

TLmnop

You would think that would work. However, when you do this, the results show up in categories instead of just a list sorted by distance. You *still* have to open up each category to find the one that has the location you are looking for. If you are doing something different to get this to work, I'd love to hear it.

Even my 13-year old daughter is frustrated by this. She said the other day "You want me to go get the one [Magellan Roadmate 800] out of mom's car? It's easy to find stuff on it."

Andrew McCarthy

I tried it last night with Wal-mart and I now see the problem. What a pain!

Cap'n Ken

Hey guys - new TL owner obsessed with GPS stuff ...

I agree that the search leaves something to be desired in the '06 system. But having a big-screen navigation, voice command, etc. makes up for some shortcomings in my mind (I've been using TomTom GPS on my Treo to this point).

And POI databases are already out of date by the time they are written to the disc. That's pretty much universal (I mean, how could anybody keep up with new Starbucks opening?!?).

What would be ideal is to not have the POI data stored on the DVD, but rather on flash memory (the POI file is 1.14GB - I have 2GB in my pocket right now) for easy and regular updating. Imagine a USB slot in the DVD player. You could download the update from Alpine or Navteq (either pay per update or subscribe to an update service) and transfer it into the navi system. Or better yet, build a WiFi antenna into the system and have it talk to your home network automatically for updates.

Yeah, wishful thinking. But if my phone can get Google Maps and online POI, why can't my car?

evantec

I bet in a couple of years, a POI DVD will seem as dated as a hard-drive for the NAVI. The NAVI will probably just get its POI info from the Internet, so it's always current. This is assuming wireless-internet-access everywhere (Wi-Max, or cellular data if they can hook it up without a $50-a-month-plan). Of course, like the XM-NAV-traffic, it'll probably be another 5 bucks a month for it.

Even then, there will still be bugs, so like Cap'n Ken said, a Flash-Memory solution would be a great idea (so we could store the CORRECT addresses for things).