ML3504ME Posted March 28, 2008 Report Share Posted March 28, 2008 After owning my D3 for less than three weeks, I have finally decided to dump it in favor of the Alpine W205 with blackbird Nav. The D3 is a decent unit in many areas but the area I needed it to be great in which is Navigation, it failed miserably. I will never bash the unit solely because of the navigation feature because there are many people on these threads who have no use for navigation and to those people I say you have a great unit. To the rest of us who rely heavily on navigation, you know the D3 is not to be trusted to route out of the driveway. If anyone is interested, i will do a comparison of the two and post my findings. The grass may not be so much greener on the other side but if the navigation is reliable I am happy! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
lightsout Posted March 29, 2008 Report Share Posted March 29, 2008 I am interested to know what exactly it was about the Navigation that you didn't like? Was it the interface of the maps, the accuracy, etc... The D3 is the first Navigation unit that I have used so I do not know how it rates among others. But from my use of it, it seemed ok. The Navigation although not 100% accurate all the time does do a pretty good job of taking you were you want to go. My complaint would be that should have a little bit better detailed maps. I also reviewed the Alpine W205 with the blackbird add on and it seemed like a really nice combo. It just was a little too expensive by the time you put the two together. From what I have heard, Alpine makes the best Navigation. I would be interested in your review of the unit and it's features. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mlarco52 Posted March 29, 2008 Report Share Posted March 29, 2008 a guy on here acctually did his comparasion on the alpine with the blackbird.....he came to the conclusion that he preferred the d3 over the alpine any day... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
whtcrxghst Posted March 29, 2008 Report Share Posted March 29, 2008 I have never used a blackbird in a deck, but I have used it as a portable. Didn't like it as much as my D3 or Z1. Funky graphics and not very many POI Quote Link to post Share on other sites
wpageabc Posted March 29, 2008 Report Share Posted March 29, 2008 So what are the findings? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ursus Posted March 30, 2008 Report Share Posted March 30, 2008 Installed my D3 on Friday, used it today, and I found out exactly what he's saying. I live in Northwest part of Greater phoenix and wanted to go somewhere in Scottsdale (East) and the Navi kept on telling me to get off freeway early to go local, I was like huh??? so I double checked to see if the "avoid freeway" thing was on, but it wasnt. Its hard to explain so I have a drawn map. Essentially, it'd rather you driving 15 miles local. This can be avoid by changing the "prefered exit" prior to departure, which is no big deal i guess, just wish it had as good as a impression as its ipod interface, WHICH IS OMG SEXY! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
whtcrxghst Posted March 30, 2008 Report Share Posted March 30, 2008 Just curious, do you have it set to find the shortest route? Or the fastest route? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ML3504ME Posted March 31, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 31, 2008 I am interested to know what exactly it was about the Navigation that you didn't like? lightsout, I like everything about the navigation (ie. controls, maps, user friendliness) except the process it uses to determine routes. There were many times when the navigation took me on a wild goose chase just to find a destination that was only a few miles up the road. There were also times when the unit would direct me off the road I was currently on only to place me back on the same road in the exact same spot which is absolutely dumb! People have suggested to play around with the route settings which I have done but still received the same results. The unit also lacks the ability to "avoid uturns"so whenever I missed my turn, the navigation would tell me to "make a u-turn" for the remainder of the trip! Why doesn't it have the smarts to forget a damn uturn and choose a another route based on the direction I am headed in? The navigation also has the tendency to want to route me through residential communities that has one way in and one way out! I tested the D3 navigation side by side with my Garmin (purchased in 2006) & Verizon phone with VZ Navigator (purchased spring 2007) on multiple short and long trips and as expected the D3 could not measure up. By the way, I have the D3 set to show multiple routes and all I get are multiple routes that are way out of the way! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ML3504ME Posted March 31, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 31, 2008 Installed my D3 on Friday, used it today, and I found out exactly what he's saying. Ursus, We are definitely not the only two who thinks the D3 navigation is seriously flawed. Check out the other posts. http://avic411.com/forum/viewtopic.php? ... light=duck http://avic411.com/forum/viewtopic.php? ... light=duck http://avic411.com/forum/viewtopic.php? ... ht=routing Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ML3504ME Posted March 31, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 31, 2008 a guy on here acctually did his comparasion on the alpine with the blackbird.....he came to the conclusion that he preferred the d3 over the alpine any day... Over the weekend I think I found the thread you are referring to and from what I read, he compared the D3 with the Alpine W200. I am having the W205 installed. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dr. Feelgood Posted March 31, 2008 Report Share Posted March 31, 2008 fellas, I agree with what Ursus and the other gentleman said 100%. i owned the AVH-p7500dvd and Avic 9dvd units hooked together in the past.. not only was the processing faster on the older unit, but it didn't have these inaccurate and redundant directions i too have had the nav system tell me to get off the current road only to get right back on it.. i too have had the navigation unit try to get me to go through tons of local roads when set on shortest, and far out rods when set on fastest... it appears the D3 is just not smart enough to find a balance between the two. Also, I have had NUMEROUS situations where the D3 asked me to make a right turn, then a U turn, rather than have me just make a left in the first place... very dumb!!!! Again, its not a matter of knowing how to use it, I've had pioneer nav systems for the past five years... and the D3 is by far the worst one regarding navigation! I also agree that for minimal use of navigation, if one primarily usues the Xm, IPOD, DVD features, then for the price, its still a good unit! THinking about giving this one to my wife, and purchasing the Avic Z2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Julius Posted March 31, 2008 Report Share Posted March 31, 2008 Are you saying you want your wife to get lost now? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mr kleindl Posted April 1, 2008 Report Share Posted April 1, 2008 your the second person that Ive seen do this Quote Link to post Share on other sites
lightsout Posted April 2, 2008 Report Share Posted April 2, 2008 Well I can say I have had a few let downs with the D3 Navigation as well. However, for the most part it has got me where I needed to be. I have never used any other type of Navigation so don't really know how to compare it to any others. Anyone know if the Z2 is any better? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DEEJAYH Posted April 2, 2008 Report Share Posted April 2, 2008 all pioneer navigations are a let down! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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