Perhaps this may have been posted about already, but I noticed why I do not really leave the navigation on the map mode. I sat in my friend's IS350 and instantly recognized a major difference. The navigation map was so much more visually appealing. The road lines are straight and the text is straight. The TL in comparison has such an ugly archaic system! The words of districts and streets go diagonally and such...

My comparison is like Apple design vs Windows. Apple has resigned products and it makes a world of difference!

Is there a way to upgrade this crap???

 

Quality of design is more a function of performance than aesthetics...does the TL Nav system PERFORM better than the Lexus one? If so, than your point is really just a function of what you find more visually appealing. Beyond that, you are comparing a system which is virtually unchanged (in the TL) from the '04 model until now and will likely be substantially different in the '09 model, to a system in a BRAND NEW generation of the IS. That's really comparing "apples to oranges" if you ask me. Finally, if you're really that disturbed by this, perhaps it's time to think about trading in the TL for the Lexus. Personally, "how the map on the NAV" looked wasn't a huge selling point for me.

 

I don't understand why you're trying to base the navigation just by the looks. I used to have a Garmin navigation system in my previous car and it looked like crap, but it functioned well. Thats the whole point in the navi isn't it? To work, not to look good.

 

I agree with ttribe and blacktls07 on most of their points. The current system is not a perfect system and does have its flaws, but I will agree with the statement that it is one of the best factory navi systems in the market. If you want to talk about archiac systems, sit in a Benz or a BMW. They don't even have touchscreen.

Here are some older threads of people with similar views as you:
I hope Acura will blow us away with their navi system in the 4th gen TL.

 

The Nav in the TL works reasonably well, and that is the main thing; I like the split screen mode of presenting directions, and the method of address entry is not bad. But the map display really is quite poor, quite dated - nowhere near as good as my Garmin Nuvi 350 ($400) or most currently available portable units (with 3D perspective, and much better rendering of street names, as the OP mentions). Since this is a reasonably modular unit, and the technology is changing really fast, I can't see why it was not updated for '06 or '07; they added WMA/MP3, after all.

No car is perfect. For me, the TL has a number of weaknesses, but it also has many strengths. Choosing a car is a matter of weighing all the strengths and weaknesses. It may have a less-than-ideal navigation system, but it has a lot of other great features, and that's why we buy it. The OP is asking about upgrading the Nav - a sign of commitment to the car. I find the IS 350 interior much less attractive overall - stupid metal pedals, flat shiny featureless platform around the shifter very reminiscent of the Camry, etc.

It's funny that the argument here is that function is what counts, not looks/aesthetics - yet most TL owners in this forum can't seem to stop spending time and money on better looking rims, non-functional spoilers, grill mods, body moldings, under-body lights, changing interior lamps from color 1 to color 2, and everyone goes 'ooohhh, ahhhhh, show me a pic'

The nav system sits smack bang in the middle of the dash, and unlike all those exterior mods, is actually seen 100% of the time by the driver; it makes sense, therefore, to want it to look good.

At first, I thought it would be next to impossible, due to it's integration with other functions, but I now realize that it's not as integrated as some other Nav's, and that should make it a bit easier to upgrade. In the '04 RL, for example, the Nav system display was also used as a 'soft screen' for the climate control; the only way to change fan speed, temperature, etc, was via the integrated display. But in the TL - thank goodness - the screen is only used for audio and nav - so it's conceivable that you could put in another unit. The TL does have a small amount of integration between the nav system and the climate control ... supposedly taking account of latitude/longitude to control the fan speed, etc ... but I think one could live without that bit of brochure-ware.

Does anyone remember when cellular phones were integrated into the car - an actual phone wired into the center console, on the high-end cars? What do we have now? Bluetooth. Manufacturers finally got a clue that they could not keep up with the fast changing technology of the phone world, so better to interface than integrate. I think nav systems are a similar challenge - look at where we are today with traffic integration to the Nav - just getting started; in three or four years, today's traffic integration will be infinitely superior. Nav systems should be modular DIN-sized units that can be swapped out like the car stereo - that's where I think the trend will go.

 

The problem with our NAV system is not with Acura...it's with the company they buy the database from. IIRC, there are two companies out there...and by far the one Acura uses is the worst. The Pioneer AVIC-Z1 in my son's car uses the other one and there is no comparison. None. It blows ours away with the displays. But the overall integration and functionality isn't as good. But it's close enough that given a choice between the two I would choose his. And if that system were factory installed, the functionality would probably be just as good.

 

Maybe the lexus system is based off apple.

Acura/Honda nav systems are made by alpine, the navi software is made by alpine, but the map data is collected by Navteq.

 

I love my tl...I will probably get another TL....but everytime I see someone criticize how dated and archaic the nav system is compared to so and so I always see the argument--"the tl Nav is based upon 04 design and your comparing with a 2008 car" ---
BS--Acura JUST CAME OUT with the RDX and it has the same archaic look that was found in the 04 TL GPS. The fact that they have not made any efforts to update the Nav shows how they are just resting on their laurels....if the 2009 TL GPS looks ANYTHING like the current version I wont be wasting the 3500.00 --maybe its time for acura to move away from alpine and goto someone who can make a modern day gps. Either that or charge maybe 750.00 for it instead of 3500

 

Seriously!? Because it doesn't look as neat-o as some other manufacturer? Does it work? Actually, it works quite well and its integration into the car is superior to that of cars from manufacturers with far more cache attached to their names. Personally, I've seen a Lexus nav in action and that same Lexus owner saw mine...he was envious of mine.

Let's get back to basics here...what's the complaint about - aesthetics of the software or functionality? If you don't like the aesthetics, fine, own up to that and admit that's the driver of your preferences. Personally, when it comes to something as technologically sophisticated as a nav system, that seems a little goofy to me, but to each his own. My response to the OP was about his statement that the software is "poorly designed"...that's simply an untrue statement based on its actual implementation; especially when compared to available alternatives (taking into consideration ALL facets of the system).

 

I have to admit...

My dad's Lexus RX400h's navi is more visually appealing. The screen has higher resolutions, and the whole system appears to be more colourful.

Nonetheless, I don't think our navi system is "poorly designed". In fact, I think it's much more intuitive and easier to use than the Lexus' one. I really don't think screen resolutions alone will make a navi system "poorly designed", and I think our navi system is already pretty nice.

Of course everything about our TL could be much better. I wished our car could have many of the features that my dad's RX has, like rain sensing wipers, auto-dimming side mirrors, better resolution navi-screens, better sound system, etc.

But hey, for around 63% of the cost of the RX400h, I'm pretty satisfied with my car.

 

easy solution ... go buy a lexus loll

 

After using this Nav system for a year I can say that it is useful only in the case where you know the address where you are going and simply need directions along the way.

The screen resolution and map graphics suck to the point where it is almost useless as a "map" (i.e. to be used in lieu of a fold-up map). The search functionality also sucks big time, as is well documented in another thread. The new aftermarket GPS systems kick butt on the TL Nav. There is no excuse for it's poor execution.

Those of you defending the Nav system are simply putting on blinders. The TL is a nice car and I like having the Nav, but we're just not getting the value for the extra coin we shelled out for it.

 

Archaic? You havent used a screenless Audi Navigation setup yet.

My complaints are the low resolution and the completly useless search results (based on name). You can get around searching by name though.

 

I didn't want to make anger anyone by flaming the system because I do very much like my TLs. It's just a certain detail I noticed from comparing to my friends IS350 and I wanted other's opinion.

But let me restate a little bit from my orignal post after a little more thought. The navigation map and the overall styling of the screens is not very aesthetically pleasing, and I am sure most of you would agree. Too outdated for 2007. Come on... brushed chrome for the audio? That was years ago.

I can't really speak to the software. It works fine when navigate and that's about all I know. The problem with the software that could be corrected is perhaps relevance. I find myself barely use the functions that it includes. I believe you when you say that it is pretty good compared to what is out there, but there are a laundry list of things that could have been done better.

Which leads me to wonder why did Acura design a car so well but choose to include to use such a mediocre nav. The things they could have done to make it better are pretty evident...

 

all and all, i hate stock navi. it doesn;t do any help. i still lvoe my Garman 660. Best navi ever.

 

Based on the comments here, I agree that our TL's nav is at least equal, if not better, than most OEM navs. Compare to the portables, such as Garmin and Tom-Tom, our TL is dated in terms of functionality and database search capability. Overall, I think our nav is fine for what it is intended for normal use - ie. finding a route to get you from point A to point B. If you want to use it as a yellow book/directory, you will be frustrated. Also, if you want it to give you mapping of brand new neighborhoods and roads, you will be lost. When compared to the portables, our nav is superior in terms of screen size and ability to coordinate with other functions of the car, such as bluetooth and audio system control.

 

I got a kick reading that first thread! (McDonalds). Yesterday, I was 70 miles from home and needed to find a Costco. I'd seen it from the freeway, and I knew it was about 5 miles away. I punched in 'Costco', and got locations in Nevada and other states! (I personally know of at least 6 Costco's that were reasonably close by). I persevered, and noticed that my search for 'costco' yielded 'costco' (which I chose first), but also 'costco pharmacy', 'costco hearing center', etc. Each one pulled up a different set of costco's, some as close as 20 miles away, but none of the entries corresponded to the one 5 miles away that I'd seen from the freeway (but did not know how to get back to).

Finally, I used the browser on my PDA to visit 'google local', and found it immediately; then used the address from google to enter into the car system, and I was off and running. I could have also called 411 on my phone, had them connect me to Costco, and gotten their address that way.

When I got home, I pulled out my Garmin NUVI 350, and punched in Costco. First of all, it sorted the Costco, Costco Pharmacy, and Costco Hearing Centers in one long list, sorted by distance. Second, it had the one I was looking for in Vacaville, CA. I bought the NUVI about 1 year ago; I bought the Acura last week. That costco has been there for a few years.

Today, I wanted to get to Santa Cruz, CA. I simply wanted to get to the city, I had no specific destination in mind. But it seems I must pick an address (my NUVI has an option for 'City Center'). I finally guessed at a street name of 'Main', and a number of "123" - figuring most cities in America have a 'Main Street'. I know you can say things like 'show City Hall', but can I enter such things as a destination - eg, City Hall, Santa Cruz?

I'll keep trying to learn how to get the most of my built-in navi, but I'm going to start carrying my NUVI at the same time on any kind of trip to unfamiliar destinations. Several other posters put it perfectly - once you know the address of where you want to go, the Acura nav does a good job of getting you there. The search features, however, leave a lot to be desired.

I do love the fact I can enter destinations street first; the NUVI insists on you entering the city first, THEN street. The Acura system takes your street plus street number entry and then presents a list of cities for which that street address is valid - and this has worked very well for me. I also appreciate the fact that I can enter street names verbally - it has no problem understanding me saying a variety of street names, even complicated ones like 'sequoia'. Again, the Acura system is great once you know the actual address.

 

"Costco Wholesale" seems to works best for locating the Costcos in the LA region of SoCal. I usually use "category/shopping" before entering a store name. Of course, finding "Starbucks" even in the restaurant category is still mystifying due to the sheer number of them and the different names they use...

There is a "community" directory in "category" which has buttons for city hall, courts, post offices, etc. to guide users to those specific areas of cities and towns as well.

If you have a business telephone number, the Navi can locate the business if the number is on the disc, too.

To me, it seems that the Navi system works pretty well, but the data entry people for the Navi disks make things more complex.

 

The last time I punched in Trader Joes, I got locations 2000+ miles away even though I was less than 10 miles from the nearest one to where I was at that moment. If I do a search by the city/town where I know it to be, then it comes up.

This is clearly one of the biggest fuckups in the design of the TL Navi software.

 

i hope this hasent been said i didnt read the whole thread but is a "pretty" map really important you are supposed to be DRIVING....

 

they should consider moving away from alpine like a previous poster said .. not to be biased or anything but for example the lexus nav is both great quality and resolution and the guidance of the system works extremely well to the dot .. both parts are excellent ..for acura to be taken more seriously as a luxury car they should really update these small details which can make a better visually appealing vehicle

 

Try using Mercedes' Comand system or BMW's I-Drive...you will see what "poorly designed" really means.

 

TL navi is the worst Navi ever. the software is just so annoying to me. I can't really loate anything that i wanted to locate. Only thing that is good is if you have an address. booooo TL navi

 

As has been said, the TL's navi is far, far superior to that of Mercedes. Yeah, the "search by name" sucks, but at least there are some workarounds. In my in-laws' GL450, there isn't a way to search for a business at all. You have to search by "shopping center," assuming you know the name of the shopping center. Is the place you're looking for not in a shopping center? Too bad...You won't find it then. And, it's no fun entering text with a little joystick as if you've just made the high score list on your favorite arcade machine.

So, while the aftermarket units offer some great advantages, they still lack some things that are more important to me than pretty graphics and simple updates. For example, it's built in. I don't know how many stock nav systems have been stolen in smash-and-grabs, but lots of aftermarket ones have. How many of the aftermarket ones duck the audio system's volume when giving spoken directions? If the worst that can be said of the TL's navi is that the graphics suck and the "search by name" is crap, then it can't be the "worst system ever," IMO.

But, to the point of this thread, yes, the software is poorly designed, when it comes to searching by name. Visual aesthetics are another matter.

 

if you owns Garmin 660 , then you know why TL navi is poorly design. in term of ( software) who cares about graphic or voice cmd. it is useless to me.

 

Discovered a cool feature today with the NAV. Made me feel a bit better about it.

I wanted to take a drive along some back roads, basically a scenic route I fancied taking. The only way to do this with any nav is to enter multiple intermediate destinations. At first, I was horrified that the only way to enter a 'waypoint' in our nav is to 'Search Places on Route' - which allows you to pick a restaurant, store, etc along the route but not another address. However, I decided to explore the 'Today's Dest' feature. Using this feature, you can enter destination 1, then destination 2, destination 3, etc up to 5 destinations. You can also sort the list by 'order of entry' or by 'distance'. You then get directions to destination 1, then 2, etc. The entire route is saved as a 'previous destination'.

Also, you can enter a destination by looking at the map, and simply pointing to a location - that would have worked for me above in getting to 'anywhere' in Santa Cruz.

Doesn't excuse the crappy search and the out-dated map display, but these struck me as cool features. The ability to build a list of 5 destinations has no equivalent on my NUVI.

 

Excellent reason to not buy a NUVI!! My old Garmin Quest allows multiple via points on a trip, and you can easily move them up and down the list to change the sequence you reach them. I looked at a NUVI manual on line, and it only allows a single via point to be entered. Just looking at the manual, it seems to be more of universal trip gadget, audio books, mp3 player, translator, etc than a pure navigation device like the Garmin Street series and even the quest.

One feature the NUVI appears to have, in common with other Gamins, is the ability to plan your trip and waypoints on a PC and then move the waypoints and route to the Garmin.

It would be a wonderful thing if we could do that on our TL Navis.

But first, let's find the COSTCO whose parking lot we are sitting in!

 

I was mainly trying to present something positive about the TL Nav in order to be objective. I find the NUVI to be incredibly well designed, intuitive, and was perhaps the best piece of consumer electronics I've ever bought. In the one year I used it, I was constantly impressed by it's location finding features, and it's guidance features. If the Quest is even better, then that's great! It looks small and portable, which are other great features of the NUVI. Other Garmin's I've seen are fat and bulky, which makes them impractical in my mind.

I just discovered another good feature of the TL nav, which addresses a limitation I noted above. When you are already on a route, you CAN enter a waypoint as a regular address. You just can't do it from the 'Change Route By' screen! While on the route, you can either press the Menu button twice, or say 'Menu'. This is what it says on page 71 of the manual:
Entering a Destination from the
Menu Screen (while on route)

If you say “Menu” or press the MENU
button twice, the system displays the
'Enter destination by' screen. Follow
the procedure described in Entering a
Destination, which begins on page 25.
After selecting OK to the Calculate
route to screen, your new location can
be used either as a waypoint or as a
replacement destination."

I stumbled across this accidentally today while on a route. It's not clear how to do this by voice command, since saying 'menu' while on a route takes you to the 'change route by' screen; maybe you have to say 'menu' twice. But anyway, pressing menu twice let's you pick a new route by any means, and then you are asked if you want to make this a new destination or a waypoint on your current route. Sounds like a feature they added later and didn't integrate very well, but nonetheless, useful! They still say, on page 67,
"Waypoints are routed to in the order
they were entered (number 1 first, etc.),
with your final destination routed to last.
If you wish to create a custom route of
several destinations, and then control
the order of routing, the function
“Today’s Destinations” is probably a
better choice"

 

I absolutely love my 10 TL except for the Navigation. You would think the default for someone searching for a restaurant would be in the general area of the driver but the default is Chicago or Seattle or anywhere else. Yes there is a feature that you can narrow the search to a city or zip code but it is obvious that there was little effort to perform a user evaluation to determine the best setup. If that we're no enough you have to pay $180 for map updates. When I bought an update after owning my car for over two years there are still roads that do not appear in the software.

Ford took the right step and built a system that meets their customer's needs. I tried to find ways to point out some of these issue to Acura but there is no system to provide meaningful user feedback to corporate. I am buying a 2014 MDX in the next few weeks but will not buy the navigation feature as my iPhone with google maps is better. I just hope Acura listens.

 

I doubt they will I tried to submit a question/feedback about the maps and never heard back from them.

I live in a new development and I do not want to update my navi until I know the new roads are in the system.

 

 

The biggest problem with the '04/5/6 TL Navigation system is the routing algorithms. Whomever wrote them should be shot!
.
.

 

Since I got my car 2 months ago I have not used the navigation to guide me to any destination. It's fine for quickly determining what street to take for a detour, but for live traffic, or to get the route to a completely unfamiliar place, I just use my phone. Google Maps is awesome for that.

I agree, the maps in the car are hideous. Part of the blame is the low resolution. I guess I'm just spoiled from using my phone all the time. Plus there's smoother animations, auto zooming in and out, and a bunch of other features that the car does not have. Searching for a place is another rage-inducing topic.

 

Holy threadbump, Batman.

I like the straightforward look of the maps. They do exactly what they're supposed to do: They function as maps. There's no need for the cartoonish gewgaws that come on mobile-phone mapping systems or portable systems like a Garmin. My wife has a portable Garmin and whenever I've used it I miss the clean interface of the Acura system's maps. There's no need for a navigation system to have two lines indicating the left and right edge of the road. Anyone who doesn't know a road has two edges should not have a driver's license because that person is clearly too stupid to drive. (A road with three or four carriageways, on the other hand, such as the Garden State Parkway near Red Bank, is a different matter and it's important to have four lines to show the four carriageways.)

Perhaps I like the Acura's look because it reminds me more of a paper map. I've always liked maps and when I was growing up I looked at them a lot whenever we were going somewhere on a family vacation.

The search function can be maddening, though.