1. - you won't get a recall. Recalls are mandatory repair and (as mentioned) usually for safety related items.

2. - You probably won't get a TSB, but there might ( ) be database improvements in subsequent updates - which I am guessing you'd have to pay for.

Related to #2, how DO the 4G nav systems get map/poi updates?


3. Why do you need the nav to find the B&N or Staples in your neighborhood, when you already know how to get there?

 

I guess what a lot of people miss here, is that most POI's on a Navigation System PAY to be listed..

don't believe me, call and ask Navteq..

I would say a good solid 90% of the street addresses are there, but POI's listed by name on any Nav system are a crap shoot..

is it Barnes&Noble, Barnes & Noble, Barnes and Noble?

the POI database is dependant on a lot of factors,

who entered the data into the database? there is more than on data entry operator @ Navteq, so how did they enter it?

is the business a franchise or Corporate? that determines who pays for the service via Navteq.

is the Business a DBA? Great it's an Applebees, but is it DBA as Applebees and the company (franchise) that registered it is called Joe Blows Restaurants?

Nothing is free in this world, and Navteq POI listings are no different, companies pay to be listed, and they pay a premium to be the first call up on the nav, same as google, they pay google to be at the top of that list..

all HDD/CD/DVD based nav systems will always be 18 months to 2 years out of date, it's unfortunate, but it is reality it takes that long to compile the data for 2 countries (US and Canada) and get it to market..

the web based Nav systems are as up to date as possible, but even my Blackberry Storm VZ Navigator is sometimes out of wack, the data is only as good and the person putting it into the database.

Garbage in = Garbage out.


Navteq POI database SUCKS, in general.. My Alpine H/U my Chrysler H/U and now seeing the Acura are all programming by Navteq.. all have the same issues, same listings, same POI's and they all suck..

I gave up using POI searching long ago, I google it on my phone and get the acutal address.. WWW.411.COM FTW...

 

The POI dataase in the 3rd Gen was/is pretty awefull too. That was an Alpine system, but not sure who compiled the database.

Not only is it out of date, but there are a multitude of spelling variations (WalMart v Wal-Mart) and a lot of variation in the Catagorization. Those two thing alone make it difficult to use the POI data.

Sad thing is, spelling and catagory consistency is such an obvious thing to have, yet it started out bad and never got fixed.

 

most of you here are complaining about the lack of POI's and such. Have you reported any of these issues to Navteq, the maker of the maps? If not, go a head and do it.

 

Alpine = Navteq same database, even if the Headunit is different


yeah I've said that several times in several threads.. even posted the link to the report site here in this thread..

 

See post #2 in this thread? It's a job for Navteq. I just get no love on this board.

 

I agree that it's not perfect, but updates to the Nav system when it comes to POI are based largely on user input. If the user community doesn't visit Navteq's web site and provide updated street and POI information, that stuff never filters down into the retail product.

As far as plain old address navigation, I think Honda/Acura's nav systems are far, far, FAR superior to any others that I've tried. Both in ease of use and in accuracy. Save for NavTraffic which isn't much of a value add, but is kinda neat from the 30,000 foot view!

 

Acura claims "only" 7,000,000 POI's, and there are of course many, many more than that across the U. S.

As far as addresses are concerned, Navteq draws from all manner of mapping data to record them, but even that is not perfect. GPS technology itself uses a type of grid system to locate addresses, and it's not completely foolproof, either.

As you can imagine, there are hundreds of billions of addresses and separate business locations in the country, and I personally think GPS does an astonishingly good job of taking you places. There are big metro areas (L. A., San Francisco, Washington, D. C., etc.) that I would not even attempt to go to anymore without nav. Even so, it's an aid ... not a foolproof personal tour guide.

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I agree 100% that the navigation DISC needs to be updated free of charge. It is 2009, and my other vehicles (who also get map data from NavTeq) are up to date far more than my TL. I have called multiple times and they say there is no newer disc.

 

So far the Nav is great for me.........every location in California is spot on--even a litle known B&B in Mendocino Ca. Now that's in the sticks.

I like it.

 

I do find the estimated arrival times to be way off compared to my 3G....

 

By address, or by name? It sounds like the 4G Navi has all the issues the 3G owners have been complaining about. The nav works great with addresses, I rarely come accross one the system can't locate, and they're usually in newly built out areas. The POI database, on the other hand, is totally useless. If you want to see how a POI database should work, try any Garmin. Navteq may charge people for listings (and then screw up HOW they're listed) but my crappy old (circa 2003) Garmin Quest finds lots of places the TL doesn't know about that I'm pretty sure never paid to be listed. For example, my wife wanted to go see a friend of hers that has a little sewing shop near Gettyburg. Just for the hell of it, I searched for it in my Garmin and it was there! When I told the owner it was in the Garmin database she was really surprised.

If you look at the 3G Navi forum, you'll find a ton of threads all complaining about the same thing - NAVTEQs miserable database. And yes, I know you can report issues. But based on the update my daughter just got, it takes more than two years for them to fix anything (or maybe Home Depot and Costco don't pay up.)

 

it may sound silly but isnt there a way to switch navtec to garmin ? Since you have got the hard drive. cant you work it out with da nav system ?

 

Guys - you who are b!tching about the Acura nav must not have had experience with really sucko systems. I've done Mercedes, Acura, Lexus, Garmin and Magellan, and I can tell you the Acura system is hands down the finest one out there, bar none.

NO nav system has 100% of anything in its database. Can you imagine how amazing it is that it recognizes literally BILLIONS of streets and separate intersections and freeway ramps to within a dozen feet of their actual physical locations? That's almost unbelievable by itself. Add 7,000,000 POI's to that, and I honestly don't know how it's possible to store and recall all that data.

As for Staples and Appleby's in a specific area, all I can say is big deal. Can you believe my first couple of Garmin units (the de-facto king of GPS) had no listings for Wal-Mart? Wal-Mart, for godsakes, the biggest retailer in the friggin world. But it found addresses and knew where I was like a champ, so I loved it anyway.

GPS navigation is one of the 9 wonders of the world. It's not perfect. But it's still such a wonderful tool that to complain about little niggles is silly. People 10 years ago would have killed for half this system, and here we're complaining about some office supply store not being listed. Get a grip.

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Not to mention they all use nearly the same database, either its Navteq or Tele Atlas.

 

31 miles. 1 hour and 15 minutes. In the middle of nowhere North Carolina. I think the logic behind the navi is too simple.

Known Interstate = 60mph average
Known Area but not interstate = 25mph

 

lol "2 miles an hour so everybody sees you" :sing:

 

unless there's traffic being reported and then it could be spot on.

I drove to and from the Cape last weekend and during my 2+ hour drive it was 3 minutes off on the way there and 1 minute off on the way back. This was with traffic detection enabled. Using addresses I've been very happy with the Nav.

One thing that SUCKS about the POI is the order in which things are asked. Every other system I use, asks you the city FIRST making searching for something common easier to locate. It's ridiculous that a restaurant named Moby Dick's (9 miles away) comes up with a search for a restaurant that's 800 miles away

 

I agree here in NY area th navigation stinks, especially when trying to find stores close by and it pulls up stores halfway across the country. I called Acura to complain and they say the next Navi update will be available in September 2009

 

The nav on my 07 Accord was way better than my 09 TL..like WTF

 

I'll be the first to admit that the Navi is not the best when trying to look up places by name but are half of you even reading the Navi directions? Are you trying to use keywords to look up places? Are you trying other entry methods? From the way the POIs are formatted it looks almost like they just take a data dump from the nearest phone book and that is why you are seeing a ton of different spellings for common places. I have had much better luck on my Series III navi in the TSX by using keywords and using sort by nearest. There are a few that get by but it improves the reliability over just searching for Wal*Mart in general. Yes, I still get those crazy hits every now and then when the nearest store is 1,100 miles away but they are reduced in frequency.

Good luck with Acura. All you will get is a notation that you have the newest disc and perhaps a secret TSB if they manage to improve the product. It really is up to Alpine and their information source, NavTeq.

Now what I wish they would bring back is touchscreens. I hate that little wheel they are using for entry. I have not tried (or know if it is possible) to enter destinations from the voice control on the newer navi systems.

 

In 2004 I pointed out 2 major errors to Navteq and they were never corrected. I would have to disagree with your statement that they are good at responding to customer suggestions.

 

Long weekend trip to Sauble Beach steered us wrong. Acura Nav sent us on the following trip. It's estimated time was over 5 hours although it only took us 3 1/2 hours. Here's the route.



Google estimates 4 hours and is not it's preferred route. Our Garmin and Google picked the following route.



Why didn't the Acura Nav send us on the obvious shorter route? Only option is Prefer Highways is on. Any ideas? Any similar stories?

 

^^^ is it even available in your alternate routes options when you first choose a destination?

Just so everyonek knows, the map data is always a year behind. The updates come out once a year around September-November, listed as the new year for the updates.

IE

2010 Update = All data gathered in 2009; usually up until June of that year
2009 Update = All data gathered in 2008
etc etc.

So they gather data/changes/etc. for roughly the first half of the year, then go into processing/software changes, they roll it out and the next year begins.

I won't argue with the claim that the POI naming and categories need work; i.e. why does Whole Foods show up in like 5 different categories? Why does Jack's Urban Eats show up as 'eating places' and a restaurant ?

But definately get the updates as stuff is added yearly.. My entire neighborhood was missing until last year!

BTW For you 4G Nav owners:

http://www.navigation.com/is-bin/INT...m=Homegn&pg=gn
(350MB Update)

Gracenote Update..

 

*blink*

Am I the only person who thinks the Navi system is pretty dang flawless?

I always seems to work fine for me and is accurate almost every time in distance, speed and location.

As far as the POI index, it's really silly anyway. Restaurants have such a high failure rate that relying on the TL or Zagat to tell me where to eat just doesn't make sense. And considering the economy, I wouldn't rely on it to find local businesses either.

If I need to find something, I can use Google Maps on my BlackBerry, get the address, enter it into the Acura Navi system and it takes me right to it.

*shrug*

 

I <3 4G TL Nav system; leaps and bounds better than the 3G; touchscreen was nice but the dial isn't bad. I usually do as you do - google the address and i'm set. My 3GTL is in the shop till Friday so i'm enjoying a 4G TL Tech loaner right now

 

No. Not even one of the 3 alternate routes. Last night I switched Highway to min and still it still picked the longer route. As for updates, Hwy #6 and #10 (both shorter and faster routes) have been in existence for over 50 years. They are considered larger arteries than the broken path Acura selected.

Even when I selected to avoid certain roads like #86 and 401 highways it still routed me down and around the long way.

Only thing I can think of is to add a waypoint somewhere along the better route, but I shouldn't have to do that.

 

Have you considered moving to an area that your TL likes better, because it obviously doesn't care for your current neighborhood.

Just kidding!

 

Put me in that catogery too. Just for $hits and giggles, I used the "point of interest" mode to see how that would work and I purposeful chose "pizza hut" because there is only one and I live on an island, so how could the navi mess this up? Well it chose a pizza hut in miami, florida and believe me, you, there is no road from where I live to miami. I guess the new TL can swim too. I looked at street by street guide and it was making up names in the atlantic ocean!!!

I called Acura yesterday, and they have absolutely no answer for it but will fly down a couple of reps to look at my car and duplicate this situation. I tried the same route again today and the same outcome.

 

Just for kicks, I tried entering in "Home Depot." The closest one around me at the time was the HUGE home depot right outside the Holland Tunnel in Jersey City, NJ. My TL didn't list it as a result....

 

Just a quick question about the Navi..I just picked up my new 09 TL yesterday and I notice that right when you start the car and have to hit ENTER to get to the Navi screen, you can't do so right away as soon as you start..looks like it takes a few seconds before you hit ENTER and go off the main screen..is this normal? I find I have to push it twice or three times before I get to the Navi screen if I try to do it as soon as I start.

Do others notice this too?

 

The system is a computer ans needs to boot and launch applications. This is normal and actually much faster then most DVD based systems. For me it usually takes about 5-10 seconds before the map is available and a couple more before voice command is up and running.

 

What I have found out is that many times the navigation displays the store by their "legal" company registered name, not their dba name which is what we are used to see on the store sign.

I have also noticed that the traffic re-routing doesn't work if all major highways are shown in "red", it shows a message indicating "no available route" !
Is like the Nav system is not aware of the other 1000's of streets available away from the highway. I take those to avoid the crowded highways, plus with a 6-speed my left leg cannot take the 2-hour traffic jam workout..until I get home. (Houston, TX) - I don't think I will upgrade my XM-traffic-weather when it expires.

 

Yeah it's very laggy when it first starts up, and ignores your button press if you hit it too soon. They could have done a much better job with the start up experience, speaking as a software engineer. I gave them mediocre ratings for the start-up questions in a JD Power navigation survey.

 

Sorry for the super super late reply but it was in the middle of bf NC with no traffic reporting. Had another good one yesterday. Heading back from the in-laws and it proposed that I get off the highway and take the backroads to get home. 18miles, 48minutes. That is NYC traffic. However, haven driven this way a million times, I ignored it and passed the exit. After recalculating, it came up with 21miles, 23minutes. Why the F didn't it go that way the first time? I have it set for quickest and highway.......

It is so stupid it is laughable.

 

2 weeks ago I was in MI and wanted a direct route home to Indy. Since 'direct route' isn't an option on the new Nav, it routed me along an interstate to the east. I picked avoid roads, picked that interstate and it routed me along the same interstate to the west. I did the same thing, then was back to the interstate going east. Retarded.

I canceled the route, again chose 'Go home' and after it calculated, I picked 'Show routes'. Voila, there was my direct route as Option 3. Sawed off 40 miles and nearly an hour of drive time.

Try Show Routes next time you program the Nav - might work well for you.

 

Maybe borrow a Garmin Nuvi and see what route it takes compared to the onboard one?

 

I HATE that. Sometimes this will happen to me as well. I know there is a faster way and then when I start going that way it recalculates a route that is several minutes faster. I'm not quite sure why it does this.

Another annoyance is pictured below.



2.4 miles and 1 minute to go, on side streets? Crap I'll have to go over 120mph to make that.

All that being said and done. The times when I need the Nav system (when I don't know where I'm going), it works well and gets me where I'm going within a reasonable time of the initial calculation.

 

i agree with the GPS issue i never really noticed it until i searched for some certain things and of course they werent there. RECALL soon.

 

but this is typical operator error. I live in Oakland and commute to San Francisco. My navigation works perfectly fine. However, I know what you're talking about.

Its a matter of inputting it correctly and following instructions.

It is funny that you wanted to recall this, you have a better chance of winning the power ball than a recall for your operator error.

No offense but next time, RTFM.