[NoCars]

I am considering an EX with Navigation. I would be interested any hearing what owners of this system think of it. Is the system covered under warranty the same as the rest of the vehicle? I have seen and played with the Nav system in an Acura TL, it appears to be the same as the on offered by Honda. Was fun to play around with but I don't know how useful it would be in the long term.

Greg

 

[VideoNavi]

IMHO, Navigation is worth it! Not only is it good for finding address destinations and route guidance, but also for making you and your family have a sense of adventure. Picture this... Driving down the interstate everybody is hungry. You don't want fast food again! So you punch into you navigation system - Restaurants, Italian and sort by distance to travel. It shows you 3 or 4 Italian restaurants within 5 miles. You make a choice, tap OK your routed to a new restaurant you would have never known was there, probably just far enough off the interstate! Think about this with hotels, gas stations, sight seeing attractions etc.. You get the picture... worth it!

Even more worth it if you build a video decoder (see post Video On Your Navi) to also play movies :-}

 

[nyvram]

My friend...you gotta do it. If you're like me and plan to keep this thing for 10 years...an extra 2K for this geek-toy is absolutely worth it. I've played around with them and they R O C K.

It'll find just about anything...granted I'm a newbie when it comes to GPS but this system is so easy to use and intuitive that the wife will get as much use out of it as me. The features and cool things are too long to go into but things like showing you the gas stations nearby on your journey (including their respective logos!), the voice telling you waht to do "turn right up ahead", hospitals, rerouting if you take a wrong turn, 'show me routes w/o tolls roads or interstates, etc etc' and the fact it pretty much all fits on a single DVD make this a no-brainer in my book.

No more maps for me!

PS Your mileage might vary based on whether or not your city is covered in 'detail' mode. Luckily where I live, Nashville, it is.

 

[ckonarske]

One of the most useful features is one that you don't really appreciate until you experience it and that's just the fact that you've always got a map of the area you're in displayed right there on the dashboard.

Looking for a particular intersection (that turns out to be unmarked) on a stormy night?
When you see an intersection coming up ahead, just glance at your dash and find out whether it's the one you want.

Or try to find a restaurant that you can't remember the name of, but you remember that it was on x street somewhere near y road. All you have to do is look at each one of the restaurant icons near the area in question. When you find the right one, double click the joystick on the icon representing the restaurant you wanted and the car directs you right to it.

Now for the bad news. These databases aren't perfect yet and they give the NAV the wrong data and you know what means. GIGO. As far as I know,though, all current systems use pretty much the same data so it can happen with any of them. The one thing that saves it under those circumstances is the aforementioned map right there on the dash. Usually one look at the screen will tell you that you were getting bad directions. Once you get used to what to trust an what not to, it's a great system. I think it won't be long before most cars will have some kind of nav system.

Welcome to the club and good luck with your new Ody.

------------------
Chuck
'01 MB EX-NAV Pics and Projects

 

[groupset]

I'm expecting delivery of my '01 GG EX-NAVI at the end of this month. I've been a GPS geek for several years now (I owned a handheld GPS long before the government turned off SA - you other GPS geeks know what I'm talking about). I currently use Delorme's Street Atlas 7.0 on CD-ROM on my laptop, with a Lowrance Eagle handheld GPS unit, for out-of-town trips. The handheld GPS today would cost around $100; the Delorme software is about $39.95 (street-level detail of the *entire* continental U.S. on one CD-ROM), and the laptop is probably $1,000 (on up). So when I decided to get the Odyssey, I had to decide whether or not to spend 2K on a system that apparently wouldn't give me as much detail as my home-rigged outfit. I lurked around this forum and the Acura TL forum for a long time reading all the pros and cons of the navi system from those who have used it; here's what sold me on it:

1.) It will be *much* easier for my wife to use the Honda system, and this will primarily be her car. She still can't comprehend how to hook everything up in order to use my laptop system, much less how to set the software configuration for it.
2.) The Honda system is built in. Mine sits on the floor between the two front seats and slides around everywhere. (Plus it has caught its share of drips and spills from the cupholders right above it.)
3.) I'm impressed with how Honda has integrated the voice directions (along with A/C controls) into the touch-screen system. (I'm impressed with the touch-screen system itself - you ever try to hit the "+" key at night on a laptop sitting on the floorboard when you're driving through a rainstorm at 60 mph holding a cup of coffee in one hand??)
4.) I'm a little concerned about the lack of detail for all areas of the U.S., but I'm banking on the fact that Honda will continue to update the DVDs. (And I like the fact it's a system that requires only one DVD.)
5.) I'm sure other geeks out there will think of all sorts of ingenious uses for this built-in screen. (Not to mention the way to get video on your navi screen detailed in this and the TL forum!)

I'm looking forward to my new Ody (assuming my wife lets me drive it!).

David

 

[NoCars]

Thanks for the replys!

Seems like people with the system really like it even though it may seem to have some shortcomings. I noticed that in most discussions concerning in car navigation systems. Also seems that a lot of people who have never had an in car system have doubts about its value or usefulness.

Does anyone know if this is the same system that Acura uses? I have only seen the Odyssey system in pictures and it looks very similar. It would sure be nice to see one in person before commiting to purchase it. I haven't noticed a navigation system offered in any other minivans.

By the way, where is the DVD unit mounted?

Greg

 

[groupset]

This is the same system as the one used in the Acura, NoCars. The DVD unit for the navigation system is mounted under the front passenger seat. (Click this link to go direct to the FAQ section of the Tech link on this forum: http://www.ebicom.net/~dhyams/odyssey.html Scroll down and check out the navigation system FAQs for more info.)

David

[This message has been edited by groupset (edited 05-10-2001).]

 

[VTEClover]

I like my Navi so much, I got my wife an 01 Ody Navi so I could use my own Acura TL Navi back again. Since we have both the Acura and Honda Navi systems, I can say that they are virtually the same systems based on the Alpine GPS. Acura has the Acura branding and Acura dealers and the Honda has the Honda branding and Honda dealers on the maps.

Now $2K is a bit more to pay on top of the premium for the cars, and the resale of Navi systems is only $400 over non-Navi Ody (I checked last month just before we picked up our new Ody which was on backorder). But look at the alternatives, 1) you have to use paper maps, 2) you pay more and get a goose neck smaller screen GPS that is not integrated into the dash and sound system, or 3) you simply drive w/o assistance from the real time map - so you don't know short cuts around traffic jams, etc. I've used the Navi to avoid cul-de-sacs and take side streets around traffic jams and with the Navi continues to work with you until you get to the final destination, you never have to stop to ask for directions.

So its a neat gadget that will save you time and be useful for years to come. Granted, I expect nicer, faster GPS systems in the future, but the Acura/Honda system is relatively easy to use today. I like it better than the BMW GPS and it responds faster.

If you really want to lust, check out the new Acura MDX Navi. It offers a new feature called bread crumbs to allow you to track a trail off road and then trace the route back again. This would be helpful for all those "unmarked" roads not in the database and in all those small cities that aren't in the database as well. For the future, I'd like to see the integrated Trip computer as well. [BMW trip computer will direct the Navi to the nearest gas station automatically]. But for today, the Ody is the only minivan with a Navi. We intent to use it daily as well as on trips around the 48 states.

------------------
2001 Ody EX Navi, GG
2000 Acura TL Navi, Gold, Comptech sway bars, metallic tints

 

[NoCars]

Thanks for all the info. Put deposit down a GG EX w/Nav that dealer expects to have in around the 22nd of May. Just in time for a Memorial Day weekend trip.

Greg