What is the version that comes with the TL. Is it still the White Disc, or is it something else?

I am trying to get a handle on the difference between 4.62 offered and then retracted by Alpine, 4.63 offered on ebay, 4.64 newly offered by Alpine, and 4.73, now allegedly offered on ebay.

Thanks

 

I dont think there is a disc.
I believe the Nav system is loaded into the car's hard drive.

 

That is correct. Hard drive based...boots much faster too!

 

Great info. Thanks!

 

How does it get updated? Wireless like the Dash Express would be way too cool but I doubt it.

 

Updates will probably be installed from DVD disks I'd imagine. I did not see any mention of support for wi-fi or other wireless support. Although, it'd be cool if updates could be delivered via the Sirius XM radio....where maybe you pay an annual or monthly fees for updates and the updates are loaded right into the navi system on a regular basis with no intervention from the TL owner. That'd be pretty cool.

 

As I understand it you will still call into the update line to order the update, but with a twist.

You will give the update line your navi's unique ID number and then they will either send a disk or flash drive (for the USB port) that will update the hard drive in the car assuming it is the correct ID number.

 

Now that the 09 TL is out, what's the real answer? How do you upgrade, and what is the cost to do so? This factor will determine whether I get nav or not.

 

There is no "Nav" box in the trunk of the 09 like in the others (I can't find it anyway), so not sure where it is mounted. I suspect it may be in the dash behind the stereo unit. Since the Tech package only includes a single-disc player, perhaps they mounted it in the dash where the multi-disc hardware is on the non-Tech. Sure would be a pain in the butt to repair or replace it that's where it is. Too, there is no Nav anti-theft code now, so I guess Acura's put it somewhere that they are not worried about it being stolen.

Anyway, on Page 129 of the 09 Nav manual, it states that:

However, in the bullet point before this one, the manual states that:

Update DVDs are not available at your dealer. However, the dealer may order an update DVD for you out of courtesy. There is no program for free DVD updates.

So, it appears that the update process is via DVD (not wirelessly or via USB interface); you have to buy it yourself; but you cannot/should not install it yourself; and if it's like previous updates, it'll probably still cost $185 friggin' dollars! Way too much, in my opinion, for what few changes are often made and for what even fewer changes a typical user sees/benefits from in his/her geographic area (wow/that's/a/lot/of/slashes///!)


Anyway, on page 90 of the Nav manual, there's an option to say or select "Map Update Status" and that:

This operation can only be carried out during inserting update disc.

I would guess that since the Nav can rip music from inserted CD's, the CD/DVD drive is capable of reading and loading the Update Discs from the dash slot. Now, I don't know this for sure as the manual doesn't state this, but this is my best guess. It seems to be very tightly integrated with the rest of the car, and is much more "computer oriented" than before, so this makes the most sense to me.

 

It sounds like you are right about the upgrade procedure, 04WDPinSC.

I'm with you on the price of the upgrade too, $185 is way too much, especially as they have upgraded almost nothing in the areas I travel since I got my 04. I need to find out if that's the case with the 09 as well.

 

Im glad you pointed that out. i was on my way to the bottom of the page to state that very same thing. So now my question is, is the guy who started this thread referring to the UPDATE disc version? Or was he thinking the NAV was still DVD based?
BTW (09 Tech Grigio/Parchment Rocks!!)

 

He was probably still thinking that the 09's Nav software is disc-based and wondering if is backwards compatible with any of the 3rd gen's nav hardware (or if it could be hacked to be made backwards compatible). Even though the software is stored on the 09's hard drive, if it is updated from a single disc, does that update disc contain the complete Nav software or is it just an incremental update that only contains the changed files? The hard drive gives Acura the opportunity to pack more info, features and points of interest into the Nav's database. However, if the update is stored on a single disc, either it's only an incremental update, it's stored highly compressed and decompressed upon update, or the 09's Nav doesn't contain any significant more info than the 07 and 08's does, it's just faster because it's running from a HD instead of from a DVD. Unfortunately I haven't run across any specifics on this, so I can only speculate. Wish I could give the OP a definite answer, but I can't. The closest I can come is version 7.7 (this is what's printed on page 91 of the Nav manual). I'll check and see if the actual version in the car is different tomorrow.

 

The upside to this is that, in many parts of the country, you really don't need to buy the updates every year. I haven't bought one for my TSX in 2 or 3 years, and still feel like the information is quite current.