Has anyone updated their Nav DVD?

Whoa - $250 has go to be a mistake! If you go to Honda.com you can order the update (and I believe they use the same system) for $6, which is just the cost of the shipping. If you look, Honda just updated their nav software from a 2-D view to a 3-D view on some of their screens, so there's hope for us yet! Too bad that I don't think their $6 discs would work in our Priuses since they have more buttons on theirs. Darn.

Please keep me updated on this! I'm a Realtor in Phoenix, and with 125,000 new residents each year we have new streets every single day that aren't found on my NAV system - and there are new freeways too - which means if I want to go somewhere the Nav system is always trying to direct me without using these new freeways which SUCKS!

Come on folks, update the DVDs and add features too - there's no reason to be 4 or 5 years behind road construction!

Oh, and I really need to use the system while driving. Why oh why can I fiddle with the audio system, climate control system, point to things on the maps, etc., etc. but not enter a destination. It sucks when I'm on a freeway for an hour and need to add new points and have to pull off the freeway or risk totally passing an intended exit. Argh.

-Ben

 

$250 is the going rate I am afraid. Group buys tend to be cheaper. Toyota/lexus only updates once a year, so it wont have the roads you need for some time. Our upgrade (the 2004 version) is due out in the fall. We all have 2003 in our cars.
As for the destination blackout, that is a safety feature. You can get in there and disable the speed sensor, but that voids your warranty. I know many lexus owners who have done it, so I can easily steer you in the right direction if you want to go that route. It involves cutting some wires and installing a switch.

 

the blackout override has been discussed on here in the mod section, including detailed instructions.

group buy is a great idea for the NAV upgrade!

 

First I was having trouble deciding what to do with the extra $3000 I saved not getting the NAV/ bluetooth system. Now I guess I'm going to have to figure out what to do with the $250 I'll be saving each year on NAV DVD's!

To each his own, but honestly, the more I read about with the NAV and Bluetooth, the more happy I am that I skipped package 9.

Nate

 

It's a love/hate relationship.

I LOVE walking into my car with my phone (Nokia 6820) in my pocket and it integrates after 60 seconds or so of driving. I LOVE punching in an address and finding my way to the place with not that much of a trouble. And if I'm not in a hurry, it finds some interesting ways to get places.

I wish that there was some better connection with the phone (it shows the caller ID on the Multi-Display only some of the time, and the antenna strength not at all.)

I wish the Navigation would be able to update itself somehow so that it would know all the updated freeways and bridges that we've got in the SF Bay Area. And it would be nicer if it was a "little" more user friendly. And it is really silly that you can do a bunch of stuff while the car is moving (setting the radio stuff) but you can't put in destinations or anything. It is the same type of brain power and punching...oh well.

Saying that...I would get a Package 9 in a heartbeat again.

 

I agree - I couldn't live without the Nav system at all, especially being a realtor. It's awesome. Now, the fact that the discs are $250 just makes me think that a lot of people are going to be selling copies of the discs, like they already do on ebay every once in a while.

It could be a lot better, that's for sure, but I still could not live without it. If you have updates on the errors, go to www.navteq.com and suggest the updates!

 

Have only had the car since the end of Feb., and in that time the NAV has told me how to get somewhere/or back from somewhere where I otherwise wouldn't have been able to. In my eyes, it's already paid for itself.

-m.

 

One glaring flaw IMHO is that the nav package doesn't have airports listed - unless I'm missing something. Fortunately it had the Airport Marriott at BWI so Nav Lady was able to get me within signpost distance without any trouble. The Nav system is just another of those things you can't live without once you have used it in anger. It can't figure out the new road construction at the "Mixing Bowl" in Washington but then neither can anybody else!

 

I just used it to drive to the Oakland Airport in CA last night. I found by setting the destination by Category, Travel, Airports, List, picked OAK.

I think that the destination names aren't always spelled the way I'd expect, so it helps to just pick from the Category list.

 

Thanks. I thought I had tried that and guessed the airport name would be the code: IAD for Dulles, BWI for Baltimore, etc. Is OAK Oakland?

 

I think that it's in there as "Oakland International Airport", though I don't remember exactly, I am sure the airport code (yes, OAK for Oakland) isn't used as the name. There is definitely a category for airports though, and then if you hit the "list" button it should show you the closest ones in your region first ...

 

I'm really enjoying my Option 9 package.

Just last weekend my 4yr old son was hungering for some Chinese food - specifically HK-style noodles (which isn't available in every Chinese restaurant). The one we usually frequent was closed for lunch so I switched on the GPS, looked for Chinese restaurants then proceeded to call each one via my BT phone w/ the 1-touch dial button on the Prius display panel. Quick & easy!

I saw xlarimer's post about the 6820 taking 60secs to connect - wow am I happy I stayed w/ my ancient T68i. I was tempted to upgrade because of the Edge technology but decided not to. It literally takes my Prius about 5secs to connect to my t68i from Prius Power On. Now I have the BT on all the time on my phone. Battery life is still pretty decent (about 3-4 days between charges).

 

Is www.navteq.com the right spot? Someone posted that GDT is the provider of the map data now, not navteq?

 

I had a Navi in my MR2and in the 3 years I had it I didnt update the disc at all. Sure its a pain not all streets are there, but it rally isnt a must to update all the time. After 3 years, then there have been enough changes to make it worth while prehaps, but most of the changes are either new small side roads, or totally new main roads, that take a while to build anyhow. Most of the main roads dont change that much.

YMMV of course.

 

Sorry I took so long to get back to you!

I found BWI -- under "Baltimore Washington International" -- but no Dulles. Since I'm not sure precisely where Dulles is, I couldn't scroll around on the map looking for it (well I could, and did, but at 0.5 mile scale I got bored quickly!).

Los Angeles Internation Airport is there, as well as Oakland as I mentioned before, (had to drive to each recently), so that is good.

Hardly any BART stations though :-( (Bay Area Rapid Transit, our light rail). I added them in under "My Places" or whatever it is called...

 

On my non-automotive GPS map, IAD is called "Washington Dulles International Airport". That does seem to be the official name, see: http://www.metwashairports.com/Dulles/. They also expect you to know that BOS is "Logan International Airport", that ISP is "Long Island MacArthur ...", and so on. ATL is "Hartsfield Atlanta ..." on my outdated map, even though the official name was changed, oh, some seven months ago, to "Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta ..." JFK is listed as "John F. Kennedy ..." which is also pretty handy for searching. (Didn't that use to be "New York International Airport"?) God help you in the highly unlikely event that you are flying to MPV (which, as you know, is Montpelier, Vermont), among other reasons, because then you would need to know to look for "Edward F. Knapp State Airport".

 

Hmmmmm. Velly interlesting. Since Travelocity and all the other airport utilities use the international code it sure would be nice if Nav Lady did the same thing - is Toyota listening?

 

Here in the UK I am still using the 2001 disc supplied with my Nav - I may upgrade in a year or two as there may be enough new roads to warrant it. But an upgrade is expensive here as well just for a new DVD! This is the main reason that puts me off upgrading.

But it is funny driving on new roads is my area where the Nav just shows me in the middle of nowhere until I get back to a road it knows about