Passat 05

Thanks Garrettoomey for your quick reply and all the work you're doing here!! Re: your second YES, does it tell me that I can use the USB adapter.... OR does it tell me that I need to connect to the mobo?

I'm sure it's been discussed somewhere but I can't find it. I have previously installed a 60gig HDD with the Z3 image, upgrading my Z2 to a Z3. Now to upgrade the upgraded Z3 with the new 2009 maps I believe that all I have to do is hook up that 60gig Toshiba to my PC and use the Recovery function in TrueImage to update LData and SData. Is it that simple or am I missing something here Oh, and can I use an USB 2.5" hard drive adapter for this or do I still have to connect that hard drive as the master drive on my secondary IDE channel

Ipod is not important to me. Drop me a note if you want to sell it for half!!!

It could very well be the antenna getting infrequent fixes and the unit guessing, based on speed and motion sensor, which way you're going. It's like going through a loooong tunnel, when you come out the other end the unit will make a correction based on the new satellite determined position. If you have the antenna inside the car, temporarely put it through the window on the roof to see if that takes care of the problem. Mine is under the dash and workes perfectly since slightly moving it a couple of times.

I just returned from driving a rental in Europe. Took my Garmin 760 with me and was absolutely thrilled how well it worked over there. I have the Garmin in addition to my Z3 because the Garmin has more detailed maps and far better routing. My suggestion therefore: Get a 700 series Garmin, you'll have no problem finding European maps for it. You may have compatability problems with the pioneer in Europe anyway. As I remember the fm tuner is calibrated different for frequency stepping.

Kenwood has the KNA-G510 Garmin GPS adapter that works on certain Kenwood DVD units and is identical to their latest in-dash Garmin GPS. This Garmin GPS is far better than the GPS in the Pioneer for routing and map detail. (I'm using a Garmin 760 for all my routing ... with the Z3 just displaying a nice 7" map). I travel daily and am not too happy about having to use two units and wonder if there's a way to hack the KNA-G510 into the Z-series? Any thoughts - other than negative ones?

djhuab I'm looking forward to your review!!! Although I have the Z3 in my car, I'm using a Garmin 760 for all my routing. Garmin is infinately better in that department and I understand that the GPS section of the Kenwood unit is in fact supplied by Garmin. Another thing that I like about the Garmin is that "free" maps can be downloaded and installed. It would be interesting to find out if that also works with the Kenwood. If this Kenwood is as good as the Garmin 760 then I'll be trading my Z3.

If you rely on your GPS the way I do, you need to have a Garmin along for accuracy. Garmin uses the same mapping that Google Maps use which is Navteq instead of the cheaper TeleAtlas mapping used by Pioneer. You can read much more about it at: http://www.gpsmagazine.com/2006/07/navteq_vs_teleatlas_which_one.php I'm on the road every day and have saved a lot of time by using my latest Garmin 780 (Garmin 250W before that). The big map on the Z3 is nice but for detail and getting there the fastest Garmin is the way to go. I just wish Garmin would finally come out with an in-dash unit so I c

JWG you crack me up You mean to tell me that you can see an oval instead of a circle when you use what Pinoneer uses: 500x240 I have modified all by background screens with the full circle VW logo over the full height of the Carbon, Wood and Steel images and it always shows up round. The question earlier was: What should the image size be and the correct and short answer is 500x240 because that is what Pioneer uses. Yes you can use just about any other resolution and as long as you stick to the 2 to 1 ratio they will all display circles rather than ovals.

When the Z* hard drive is hooked up to your PC, you can right click on any of the screen images to be found on the 17.5 gig partition under "BG" and select "Open with". From the drop down list chose your photo editing software (Photo shop). Here you will see that the images are indeed all 500X240. All Z1, Z2, and Z3 images have always been 500x240. No need to confuse anyone with some theoretical values. Using the above method you can change the CPYCUSTOM.BMP to be found under BG/COPYRIGHT, by simply painting with the black background color over anything that you don't want to show up.

All that Teleatlas needs to do is buy a Garmin or Magellan and discover for themselves what's out there . The mere fact that I need to have my Magellan on for routing alongside my 7" Pioneer screen for a better map overview (I do a lot of travelling) shows just how far behind Teleatlas really is. The Avic will not have much of a future if it continues to use Teleatlas mapping.

I don't lie you little idiot, show me one area that is improved. I'll be happy to drop in my other HDD to show you that whatever you just discovered was already on the Z2 image. And by the way, I drove 30 miles north of Toronto yesterday only to get a message that "Guidance was not available for this area". What good is guidance when 30 miles away from the core of a 3 million city, and while still being in a well populated area and on 80 year old roads there is no guidance. Large lakes with a 25 mi shore line are still not on the map either. Turning on my Magellan the guidance works ever

500x240.

Not sure how this became a double post but I see no option for deleting it.

I agree with smarsh, absolutely no visible difference in my area, Ontario, either. I feel sorry for those that pay money for the "upgrade".