Well there are some very good points why I want one in the GS3

1) Looks damn nice
2)depending on which, I can play movies when i need to sit in teh car a bit
3) MY *** GETS LOST EVERYWHERE!!

but the main problem is me taking my eyes off the road for too long

 

My dream setup... I'm waiting for next gen. navi's with traffic guides...

 

what monitor is that?

 

I wholly concur with WWEST. I find the system in LS totally inferior to my Garmin Street Pilot3. The Garmin sits atop my dash with the Lexus screen off.

 

If there is actually something better than the Lexus NAV, which there should be aftermarket, is it cheaper than the Lexus NAV option price? The Garmin is probably cheaper overall, but what makes it so much better than the great Lexus NAV? One thing, is that it's mobile, so you can take it from car to car.

Any other aftermarket NAV suggestions? It seems a waste to have both this great Lexus NAV and an aftermarket one.

 

Kenwood would be my choice for a aftermarket navi. Yes, Alpine has a nice one too and many are familiar with it cuz it was developed and on the market first. But kenwood's is more user friendly, DVD based for increased database and quicker retrieval, touch screen, and they had time to improve on Alpine's weaknesses.

Earlier post mentioned Bose? ...OVER-RATED... I would never buy a car with a Bose system in it.. and if so i would take it out.. Bose speakers and often times their amps break as soon as the warranty period is over. Not impressive. As for their car systems they also make it wereby you can't integrate other brand components leaving no flexibility. And Bose is good for jazz and top 40 but if you want to turn the bass up their speakers cant handle it.

Unless you are really into overhauling your stereo system it may be better to wait until your next car before going aftermarket. You get what you pay for.

You can go with a screen and navi combo with kenwood or go with the KVT 911DVD navi combo that kenwood has. With this you can watch DVD movies, Local TV, Satellite Radio all in a touch screen single dimm format. Don't worry about the extra space the 6.5 screen will cover that up when the unit is on.

 

I love it, and I hate it!
Comments go with my 2000 GS400 with NAV

pros:

-FUN to use, and finds a good path *most* of the time.
-Nice when going to someone's house, and you just type in the street name, house number, and you then choose from the cities it gives you. Takes you right there *most* of the time.


Cons (lots - I paid my money so I'm griping!):
Constantly needs re-calibration and it may be the limitation of civilian GPS, because it will routinely be 100-200 feet off, which at times affects your screen view, and will cause you to miss turns. You need to go into the NAVI menu and recalibrate your position to correct this. It seems the Art. Intelligence should try and "recalibrate" your position better based on this turn is "here", etc.

Old databases that cost $350 to update the hard-drive... BOGUS! My Lexus dealer (Kearny Mesa Lexus in San Diego) just said (today, BTW) that 2000 and later Navi units don't get a courtesy update, only 99 and earlier. AND this was after I told him it got my wife caught in a never-ending loop on the south side of Las Vegas, by herself. She called in near tears, because she really depends on the Navi to get her places safely (maps are not her forte, so we bought this Navi Lexus...) This COULD be a safety concern, but Lexus didn't seem to bat an eye at my concerns for a courtesy update, so looks as if I will have to pay the money to get the extra safety.
There is also so much new construction here in SoCal/San Diego, that alot of the streets from the '99 database just aren't in the NAVI, so it's a little worthless if trying to find a quick route using new roads. Everyday I drive through a "black hole" on my Navi screen to get to my home.
In fact, I-15 through San Diego is labelled as a "side street" on the '99 Nav database, and for just travelling through town it tries to take you on a round-about way using other "known" interstate routes to avoid what you know is a perfectly good interstate. It's just a pain, and you have to just turn off "bitc*in' Betty" as she clamors to get you back on the proposed track.

I don't think it is worth the $XXXX that is for sure (maybe the new ones have better ergonomics?)

The other downside to the whole interface is two or three button pushes to do *anything*. ARG!! I can't tell you how much this grates on my nerves and people in the car. Beep! Beep! Beep-beep! Just to look at your current MPG and get back to the map!

Want to change your radio station to another preset.. ?Hit "audio" button (beep), then your radio preset on the screen (beep), then hit "map" again (beep) to get back to your map, all the while trying to drive sanely. It is so much safer to have "one button/one function" setups in moving vehicles.

Want to just turn off the A/C? Hit "climate" (beep), touch the "A/C" icon (beep), hit "map" again (beep)... see how that could get old after a few days???


Even changing the interior temp up one degree takes two button pushes of the temp button. The first push of the "up" or "down" arrow only displays the current interior set temperature. It takes a !second! push to change the temp. Who came up with this???

And, the "miles till empty" isn't even on the same page with the MPG readout or "miles driven"??? Who came up with that? It's on the "menu" page??? WTF?

Another gripe. Add a sensor so that if someone is sitting in the passenger seat, then the NAVI lock-out is disabled, so your passenger can input new nav coordinates WHILE YOUR MOVING. I can't tell you how many times you get going, and realize that you'd like to have your wife input some NAV address, but have to input a couple strings of letters/numbers at one or two stop-lights which is not good for the mood in the car... (the thing only takes input when you are stopped... Gawd, I already agreed to be careful and take full responsibility when the thing booted up!)

Thanks for listening to me whine and pule about "how I spent alot of money on a NAVI system in my Lexus,and wish it was more ergonomic and easier to use, and cheap to update."

I *would* get NAV again, but look into aftermarket units with more value and features... and then have the sensible environmental and radio controls that are on the standard panels.

My two cents,

Thanks,
Dr. Rings, MD
San Diego
Former F-14A/B backseater (now *there's* a computer that needed help -- even the Lexus NAV would have been a step up!!!)

 

QUESTION

i have never used a navi before. i always thought there were monthly subsciption charges to use it. can someone clarify this for me? i'm thinking of getting a used OEM navi system to put in my car.

 

That's the beauty of it all - NO Monthly Subscriptions, only have to pay for software upgrades (every couple of years) as my fellow members mentioned on here.

 

Someone correct me if wrong, but I thought you couldnt add the oem nav after the fact due to a change in the wiring harness that feeds the a/c/heat controls.

 

TXLeXTC, I've done it

Posted here, more detail is on my site, but my site get too much traffic most of the time.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...threadid=74280


"That's the beauty of it all - NO Monthly Subscriptions"
You never have to pay subcription for any navigation system (factory or aftermaket), for some car, like the OnStar system, you pay for the realtime roadside assistance, not the navigation usage.

OEM nav system is the best you can get, beside, no one will even think about stealing your OEM nav, but if you have an Alpine unit in your car, you better what it. Navigation sys requires clear sky to operate, if it's cloudy, your navigation signals will be blocked or the sattelite is NOT above your head at the moment, you will get inaccuate display, beside the fact that your map maybe out of dated. That happen with OEM or aftermarket nav.
Also, tinted rear window also effect the nav performance.

Anh

 

HMMMM. This changes everything. Have you been able to get everything else up and running? ETA on full write up?

 

"Have you been able to get everything else up and running? ETA on full write up?"

I am waiting for another hard drive from my seller (thursday), my existing nav hard drive is bad. Thus, I can only test everything else but the navigation part.

"ETA on full write up?" soon, but I will make this available to the people that actually donated to mysite. I get several thousand visitors for the last few months, but very few donation, not enough to pay for the web hosting monthly service fee. This is just an attempt to raise some money to run the site.

Hee hee, the site is free for anyone, that is why my site is busy most of the time, try early in the morning, you maybe able to get in.
:eek:

 

I will gladly help with a donation or whathave you if this gets up and running 100%. Just let me know because I am VERY interested.

On a seperate note, why not move to a webhost that doesnt have bandwidth restrictions? There are plenty at reasonable prices....

 

I was looking for an aftermarket nav but I couldn't find one without the flip up screen which I find too busy and eventually annoying. Has anyone seen one for mounting inside the dash with a smaller screen.