Nav update & override on 2004

[Greg_M]

Originally Posted by mlibanio

P.S. You can make a hybrid disc of 8.1 and 9.1
Just replace the Loading.KWI and Version.KWI of the 8.1 disc with the same files as the 4.1 or 5.1 disc. All the new data will be there, except your firmware will be older. Trust me, there are no "real" functional upgrades from 4.1 to 8.1, other than the updates with regards to positional accuracy. You get your OVERRIDE back, but you lose a certain amount of accuracy. You really notice the difference on highways with lots of off ramps. 4.1 gets confused and jumps all over the place, while 8.1 and 9.1 are far more accurate.

So it looks like I have to decide between these three choices:
1- Get update, keep override, but have less accuracy
2- Get update, loose override, but better accuracy (maybe put a switch in the speed wire)
3- Get another Garmin and store it in the "secret" box for use when the Prius nav isn't sufficient

I think I'd prefer the 2nd option but the 3rd option is probably the better one.

[Greg_M]

I just went out to my Prius and finally looked at the detailed areas that it covers and it's pathetic! I never realized that it was soooooo bad because my local area is covered pretty decent but most of the country isn't covered in detail.

I have version 4.2. Did the detailed areas increase dramatically since that version?

[firepa63]

Originally Posted by Greg_M

I just went out to my Prius and finally looked at the detailed areas that it covers and it's pathetic! I never realized that it was soooooo bad because my local area is covered pretty decent but most of the country isn't covered in detail.

I have version 4.2. Did the detailed areas increase dramatically since that version?

The country is covered in detail. You have to select the Region you want the details for.

[Greg_M]

Originally Posted by firepa63

The country is covered in detail. You have to select the Region you want the details for.

I select the region and each region has very spotty coverage except for the northeast. I'm near charlotte (just close enough to be in the detailed area) and put in an address in Anderson, SC and while it found the address it also stated that in some areas along the way there would not be turn by turn directions. Both addresses, mine and his, are within 5 miles or so of I-85.

On my 4.2 disk about the only area in the northern part of SC that shows detail is the greenville area, western NC is basically only the Charlotte area and GA isn't much more then the Atlanta area. When I look at the detail areas in the different regions they seem to only be around the the major metro areas.

My system shows blue areas where the detail is when you pull-up each region. Basically every region excluding the northeast is quite sparse.

So my question was, has this improved dramatically or is it still basically the same?

My wife and I prefer the nav system in the prius but if Toyota's coverage hasn't improved substantially since 4.2 then my money would be better spent buying a Garmin and stashing it in the "secret" drawer for when the Prius' nav system comes up short.

I've thought about maybe taking a ride over to the Toyota dealership to take a look at the latest nav system regional detail.

[hill]

You also have to be zoomed into the 700 foot scale or closer before small roads & dirt trails show up.

.

[Greg_M]

Hill,
I don't know if you are responding to me. In case you are, my 4.1 maps will show me where in each region there is detailed information available to give me turn by turn directions to an inputted address. It isn't very much of the US. I have the original disk that came with my Prius when it was new. My 2004 Prius was manufactured in Oct 2003. So it doesn't matter how much I zoom in if the information for turn by turn directions to an entered address isn't there then the system can't help me. I don't use the zoom. I let the software control the zooming.

I want to find out how much better the mapping info is now. I have a Garmin with 2009 maps on it that only has half my street on it. I recently bought a new Garmin with 2010 maps on it and it now shows my street correctly. My street has been here since 1998.

I would think that since Toyota and Garmin get their map info from the same company that it should be the same but from what I've read it isn't.