Quote:
Originally Posted by Intrepid175
I'm not the one you're asking but I'd like to offer an answer anyway. I've gotten some good sevice out of the factory GPS but I've found it limited in the way it routes for longer trips. I can force the route I want by adding waypoints but it took a while to figure out how to do that. It's not intuative, IMO. I've also had problems finding some roads in the database. What's in the DVD isn't always what the road is called locally. I've tried many variations and on more than one occasion, simply couldn't get the system to accept what I was looking for. I've also tried using the "find" function, such as, "find nearest gas station" and got routed through a very old neighborhood and onto a dead end road on which there was no gas station. Nor was they any evidence visible that there ever was a gas station at that location.
The system is Ok, but only just. I like the "built in" look of the factory installation but the aftermarket systems offer much more flexibility for a lot less money.
JMO, FWIW!
Drive Safe,
Steve R.
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I have to agree there. It works fine as in it will get you where you are going, but it certainly could do a better job in routing. the 2 biggest gripes I have about routing....
1) ANY mode seems to place way too much emphasis on interstates and freeways. Even using the direct mode, it will still take you miles out of the way just to jump on an interstate or freeway for a bit rather then use normal state backroad highways. In comparison, the old (antiquated now actually) HK traffic Pro I have in my pickup does the other extreme as it will route doing the absolute no shiat shortest route even if it means cruising through residential areas or stair stepping city blocks. I'd rather have the traffic pro's extreme over our nav's over emphasis of major roads. It sorta defeats the purpose of having a direct mode if it's still gunna send you to nothing but major roads anyways.
2) the limit toll roads mode doesnt seem effective at all. for example here in NJ, I-295, a normal free interstate, pretty much parallels the NJ turnpike, at no more then a mile apart at the most throughout most of it. Even with the limit toll road option, the civic's nav still wants to always put me on the turnpike even if it is like .5mi longer on a 20mi route using free I-295. That annoys me. Again with my traffic pro comparison, when you select no tolls on it, it totally ignores those roads like they didnt exist, even if taking a free route takes you miles and miles longer.
When it comes to POI's....they implimented that VERY poorly as well. Of course none are going to have every place around and none of the ones that closed up shop, but for what the civic's nav does have, it is so poorly organized that it is all but useless. Like say you are in an unfamiliar city doing some shopping and want to find the nearest say Office Depot or something...a chain you know exists everywhere. Half the time you punch something like that in you may get the closest match being like 600mi away depending on how you enter it. It's like there is no standard in the database cause Office Depot will give you a set of matches, OfficeDepot another different set, Office depot Inc. another, and so on. You often have to make up to 4 or 5 attempts to get anything nearby unless you just happen to guess the way the nearby one is inputed in the POI database before exhausting your possibilities. It would be SO much more effective if they went through and at least standardized at least the major nationwide chains for stores, gas, resteraunts, etc so they come up as intended vs second guessing all the different possible itterations of their names.