No, I use the Garmin in my other vehicle. Would be no point to have the Garmin in my RX330 that already has a NAV. I have the 2610. See here.

 

I have an Rx330 with Nav, and I have to say I like it. I live in Los Angeles county and it works beautifully here. We recently drove up the coast into some more rural areas of California, and the maps were great, but the route guidance got a little flaky there. There were times when it just wasn't able to compute a route, but even then the maps allowed us to get around fine. I do have two complaints:

1) The POI database is not trustworty. We asked for the Holiday Inn, Santa Maria and ended up at Burger King. We asked for Cambria Winery and took a good 30 minute joyride before realizing it wasn't the Cambria Winery we were expecting. Always call the phone number given for the POI to make sure it's for real and at the indicated address before actually heading there.

2) The voice prompting is cute on your test drive and annoying in real life. This wouldn't be so bad except that on late model Rx's you have to turn it off every time you set a new destination.

That said, I find the system extraordinarily useful once you learn its limitations. If you are in a mapped area, you need never get lost or turned around. You can fearlessly explore side streets without being afraid that you won't be able to find your way back to a main route. The POI database even treated me to a Schlotzsky's near Disneyland. Those are few and far between in California, and as a former Texan I miss them a lot. The other feature I really enjoy is the extroardinarily detailed knowledge of freeway on and off-ramps. The system knows what side of the road to enter and exit on, whether its a loop or a straight ramp, and most importantly, if you are in a densely built up downtown area it can take you straight to the on-ramps.

Also, in defense of the POI database, if you turn on restaurants you can at least find the streets where they are concentrated, and then go cruise the street looking for a good restaurant. This strategy works great even if the POI information is less than 100% perfect.

 

I got the 2003 DVD nav update and it seems to have a lot more POIs available. Haven't done much testing with it yet. In any case, any map or navigation system is only as good as the info on it, so I feel that what I paid for the update was worth it.

 

I would never buy another vehicle without a NAV.

 

What did you have to pay for the dvd upgrade?

bob

 

$275

 

Is $275 a good price? I thought they wanted $500 or something ridiculous like that?

bob

 

.....give me some more insight on the Garmin 2610. I have the Streetpilot III and while it's fairly good most of the time, I find it has a number of shortcomings. Most significantly it is SLOW as molasses. Especially when I miss a turn and it has to recalculate it takes forever and ever and ever. Puts me in a very awkward position driving around wondering where I'm supposed to go next. Sometimes it can go into a perpetual loop if I'm travelling in a different direction (and the destination is relatively far away), and then the only remedy is to stop for a while along the side of the road and let it "catch up". Have they made the calucation / recalc times much faster in the 2610??

I'm making the above comments in comparison to the Acura Nav system in my '03 MDX, which, I believe has got to be the best Nav system in the world!!! It's calculations and re-calculations are lightning fast, it's POI database is possibly the most comprehesive available (8 million POIs) and the businesses are "ultra-well-organized" (unbelievably good search engine) ......FYI, believe it or not, I bought the MDX over the GX 470 I really wanted, mainly for the 2nd generation Acura Navigation System!!!!!!!!!! (speaks volumes about the Acura Nav system)

Thanks in advance, for your input!

 

I upgraded from a SP3 Night and day performance difference. Recalcs are instant. Touch screen is awesome. well worth it!

bob

 

The 2610 is way better than the SP3. It recalculates very quickly because if you go off route, it just recalculates to get you back on the previously made route (so it doesn't recalcuate the whole route again). Also, the touch screen is awesome. The search functions are much better than on the SP3 and on the RX330 nav. The # of POIs is incredible. Of course, the voice is not a nice woman's voice like on the RX330 -- it sounds more machine like (similar to the SP3).

 

I have to disagree on the Garmin female voice. The Lexus is more refined but the Garmin is very natural sounding compared to a computer voice.

bob

 

I think I'm gonna sell my SP III on ebay and get myself a 2610! ......really great to have one of these when travelling (as well as use in my other "commuter" car), ............Unfortunately I can't take my MDX along with me in a carry-on bag to my destination

 

I have a HD based nav system in my 98 GS400, and I love it. The graphics are childlike compared with the DVD based one in the RX, as is it's response time and POI's. Still, I love the system. Perhaps that's what's good about living in the NE, there is hardly anywhere that is not mapped.

My wife and I like it so much that we are currently looking at 2001 RX's so we can get it with the NAV and make that our main go-to car.