TL info

I am looking at purchasing a 2005 TL, with navigation. I have a few questions that the dealer could not answer:

How many channel receiver is the actual GPS receiver? My Garmin GPS 5 is a

12 channel.

Does the Acura GPS receciver have WAAS capability?

What is the accuracy in feet on the Acura navigation?

Where is the antenna? Does it have any problems with low signal levels, or aquisition, since it is apparently not on the roof?

How far in can you go on the receiver? My Garmin can overzoom to 80 feet full screen.

Is there a screen that shows sginal level of the various satellites and a compass heading etc, similiar to the GPS 5.

Can the DVD player also play MP3 songs on a CD?

Thanks in advance,..

Does anyone have a link to webpages addressing these issues?

Skip

Reply to
SKIP
Loading thread data ...

I'm looking at the Navigation User's Manual as I try to answer your questions. My car is a 2005 model TL.

Not addressed.

Not addressed.

Well, it knows what street you are on and the direction you are traveling. So, I'd say +/_ 10 feet or so, more than accurate enough for street navigation. Actual specs aren't stated.

My antenna is in a small pod on the roof in the center of the car just above the rear window. I've only had a signal drop once when I was driving in a pretty deep valley in West Virginia. Drop lasted about 1 minute.

1/20 of a mile (or 80 meters).

No.

Haven't tried this. I'll let you know. Nothing in the manual discusses this, so I don't think it can.

You might want to look up Navigation Technologies, 10400 W. Higgins Rd. Rosemont, IL 60018. I think they build the nav side of the unit.

Paul

Reply to
Unknown

UPDATE: No to the signal levels of the satellites. North compass heading is shown on screen and the user can select to have the display oriented always to North or in the actual direction the car is headed at that moment. North arrow is always shown on the screen.

UPDATE: I did a test of this with MP3's on a CD-R disk and the system cannot read the disk. It gives a "FORMAT" error and ejects the disk.

Reply to
Unknown

Reply to
SKIP

I dont' believe anyone said the accuracy is 1/20 mile, instead, the screen can be zoomed to 1/20 mile, meaning the area you see on the screen equates to 264 feet. It's extremely accurate, in fact, it also factors in things like yaw rate and speed when calculating the position. BTW, just to correct a few things others have said, the antenna is on the rear speaker shelf. The one on the roof is the XM antenna. You actually can get satellite info but you need to bring up the diagnostic screens to get it. To get into diag mode, press and hold the MAP,MENU, and CANCEL buttons. Lots of really cool stuff there but you can screw up the system royally if you're not careful. You've been warned! :)

Reply to
Dan

Dan:

Cool. Sounds better. I do like my Garm>> Thanks to everyone regarding the TL Nav info. I will look up Navigation

Reply to
SKIP

For several years before buying my '04 TL with Navi, I used a Garmin dash unit (StreetPilot Color). It's really a very nice unit with the only slight negatives being it's relatively small screen size and downloading the maps can be a bit of a pain unless you buy additional and/or larger RAM chips.

However, even with that experience, I can tell you that I've sold the Garmin unit and I love the TL's Navi. It's just accurate. It calculates very good routes with different routing options if desired. The screen is larger than the Garmin units. It's integrated with the TL's voice system, the Bluetooth system (for calling POI telephone #'s), and the HVAC system.

Reply to
Lee Florack

A dealer in Texas advised me that when each new model year comes out, is when they update the DVD for the Nav. Has anyone found that to be true?

Reply to
SKIP

Reply to
E Meyer

"SKIP" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@adelphia.com:

Yes. They have to, just like a paper map. Streets change and are added. Highways are re-routed. Etc., etc., etc...

Reply to
TeGGeR®

They do have new versions come out periodically but it's not been

12 months as far as I remember. It's more like 18 months on average.
Reply to
Lee Florack

Do existing users have to pay for the updates, or are they automatically sent to them free of charge? If they charge, how much are they?

Reply to
SKIP

The DVD updates are mostly maps and POI updates but can include software patches. I say that so the price won't surprise you as much (hopefully) as it might. I just bought the latest upgrade for my 2004 TL. It was $185, plus $12 for 2-day shipping, plus $15.91 sales tax. Total was $212.91. I don't know if I'll update every time but we'll see.

Reply to
Lee Florack

A great conversation on nav. I have a 2004 TL WO/Nav, they were not readily available when I bought except with stick shift. Didn't consider it a big deal at the time but have changed my mind. I would have waited for a nav unit had I known. Nav's like air conditioning was, if never had one don't miss it, once you have one can never own a car without it again, at least in my opinion.

Faced with trading in my 04 with only 11k miles for an 05 with nav I elected to buy a portable unit instead and give nav a try. Bought a Garmin 2620 which is fantastic. Though more expensive than previous model it is superior in that it contains a hard drive so all maps are in it already, no downloading necessary and also no battery necessary as routes saved and so forth written to drive. Decent screen size and resolution, decent speed, all the features near as I can tell of most any nav unit. yes I will get 06 TL with Nav installed, there is no doubt, but for something in the meantime the garmin 2620 has proven to be an excellent choice. Will keep that in second car and for travel times when rental used.

George in NY

Reply to
George in NY

I will second the recommendation for Garmin SP2620. I have been using a Garmin SP2610 for almost two years (same as SP2620 except CF card in place of hard drive). Very good navigation unit. Voice prompts are excellent and easy to follow. Route calculation and recalculation are very fast.

I would recommend SP2610 over SP2620. SP2610 with a 2GB CF card is equivalent to a SP2620 in terms of functionality but more reliable than a hard drive. Downside is you have to load the maps yourself, but you have to do that only once. Upside is SP2610 comes with map CDs and license unlike SP2620. So if you choose to buy another handheld Garmin GPS for navigation while walking or hiking and want to load street maps, SP2610 comes with license to download maps on up to two units.

I am considering buying a TSX or TL this year and I still have not decided whether I will buy one with navi primarily because SP2610 is a very good nav unit and is 1/3rd the price of Acura navi. I would expect Garmin to update maps and POI mor eoften than Acura since that is their primary business. Also Garmin continues to add features in firmware well after initial product launch which I doubt would be the case with Acura updates. SP2610 is portable and can move to a rental car when I am flying. On the other hand, from what I hear Acura navi is indeed very good. Other plus factors are built-in with larger screen and voice commands. I may not know which way I am going to go until I have spent a day with Acura navi :)

==================================================================== Khalid snipped-for-privacy@gonehiking.org

Reply to
See signature for email addres

I didn't get the navigation system, but the stock radio does play Mp3 encoded discs wonderfully.

Reply to
Don Moore

Did Acura add MP3 support to their CD palyer and not make a big deal of it?? I remember reading a review of 2004 TL audio system in an audio magazine and they had an interview in there with one of Acura audio system designers. Interviewer explicitly asked about lack of MP3 support and the designer said something to the effect that MP3 is inferior quality and they were going for high quality audio system in TL, and therefore MP3 did not belong there. Acura still does not list MP3 support in the specs on their web page.

-- Khalid

==================================================================== Khalid khalid AT gonehiking.org

Reply to
See signature for email addres

not sure. but our 2005 plays mp3 encoded discs just fine. The audio is 5.1 surround. A high quality mp3 320 bitrate is really no different than cd.

Reply to
Don Moore

Actually, on my '99 there's a "secret" setup screen that tells you what satellites are being tracked and their signal strength, among many other diagnostic items. Look at

formatting link
for infoon the secret screen and other info. WAAS would (by my understanding) not be too useful as it is supposedly available only along the coasts (spill over from the oceans) and larger lakes, like the great lakes.

The nav tries to track you to a road on the '99, anyway, and uses the gyro plus odometer to try to show your location more accurately.

There's a compass on the upper right of the screen. Touch it and it changes it's mode of operation.

--Mort

-- Mort

Reply to
Mort

"" wrote: > "See signature for email address" > wrote in > message news:jcfwe.7738$ snipped-for-privacy@news.cpqcorp.net... > > Don Moore wrote: > > > I didn't get the navigation system, but the stock radio > does play Mp3 > > > encoded discs wonderfully. > >

I just recently bought a TL and the answer is No, they did not add support for MP3 in neither the Nav system option nor without. I don?t know if Don Moore is actually driving a TL. My guess is he has a TSX or with the multimedia player or an RL which supports MP3 natively.

Reply to
melvisdog

MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.