bluemoose Posted July 6, 2007 Report Share Posted July 6, 2007 what about the Z2? Does the Z2 navigate better than the D3? My priority is navigation speed/accuracy. Should I get the D3, Z2, Eclipse 5510, or the portable Garmin Nuvi 660? Thanks! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ike Posted July 6, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 6, 2007 Reading some of these comments and other posts is making me ill. It seems like Pioneer just creates a Navi that CANNOT calculate the shortest or fastest route. Isn't that like the WHOLE point of a Navi ? I keep seeing replies saying to have it calculate 6 different routes and choose the best. Well, if the Navi has 6 different routes in its head and one of them is the shortest, why doesn't IT pick the shortest ? If the best this D3 can do is find a 400 mile route on a trip that's really only 300 miles on typical roads, then it's useless to me. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tr1ple8 Posted July 6, 2007 Report Share Posted July 6, 2007 Ok, now I am really getting worried that I made a bad purchase. I make frequent trips that I have to hit up Map quest or Google for directions. I wanted a NAV unit to avoid this. It sucks that I would need to get directions the same way and compare them with the D-3. Defeats the purpose. Oh well, all I can do is hope for some miraculous update to solve the problem. Is it possible that it is just a flaw in miscalculating distance, like maybe it is miscalculating speed and distance which could give you a longer trip time and more miles??? I am grabbing for some hope here... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rapayn1 Posted July 6, 2007 Report Share Posted July 6, 2007 For me, changing the speed expected to be traveled/driven on the highways, helped the time get closer to the GoogleMaps, MapQuest and Yahoo Maps selections, but the routes given were still different from those online. Pioneer's choice is still always the longest (time and distance wise), but it is better if you tweak other aspects of the trip route. It can be smart, but it needs a LOT of help to get there. In this case ignorance is bliss. If I had never checked (they always say curiosity killed the cat) online with Google, Yahoo and Mapquest, I simply would not know any better and I would have continued to have been happy with my purchase. I mean I don't use the navigation to tell me how to get somewhere I already know how to get to. So, if I don't know how to get somewhere, I also don't know if I am going the fastest way or not. All I care about at that point is that I get there and I get there in the time I allocated for arrival. Only when one can contrast and compare does this even become an issue. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
johnx50 Posted July 6, 2007 Report Share Posted July 6, 2007 I'm writing Pioneer once a month asking when they are going to release software to fix the routing problem. I think they will have to sooner or later. I have used ever make but Tomtom. Magellan's in rental car and I own a portable Garmin. Both of them are very good. I just know that there is something very wrong when the pioneer actually has you back track down the same road you just traveled on. I'm writing reviews on Amazon as well warning buyers. I want to be writing that they fixed the nav part because the XM and Ipod interface is the very best and it looks great in my dash! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
FiremistSLK Posted July 6, 2007 Report Share Posted July 6, 2007 Bluemoose and Ike.... These replys are right on about the stink-o navigation of Pioneer nav units. We have been seeing posts like this for a while. If navigation is your main interest, then DEFINATELY go for the Garmin NUVI 660! I have a Garmin Quest II and it NEVER looses sat lock or sends me into never-never land....the maps are complete and accurate. Software upgrades are FREE from their web site. I will buy a D3 just for how it will look in my dash and of course XM and iPod connectivity. Otherwise, my Garmin will nav for me on long trips. My 2cts. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ike Posted July 7, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2007 Bluemoose and Ike.... These replys are right on about the stink-o navigation of Pioneer nav units. We have been seeing posts like this for a while. If navigation is your main interest, then DEFINATELY go for the Garmin NUVI 660! I have a Garmin Quest II and it NEVER looses sat lock or sends me into never-never land....the maps are complete and accurate. Software upgrades are FREE from their web site. I will buy a D3 just for how it will look in my dash and of course XM and iPod connectivity. Otherwise, my Garmin will nav for me on long trips. My 2cts. I'd go for Garmin if they had an in-dash, double-din car radio/nav. I did a little research before I purchased the D3 and didn't see any negative reviews. Even after found this site, I really didn't notice a lot of negative comments regarding the nav - that is, until now, after I've seen the very poor performance for myself. Like I said before, I wouldn't care if the D3 was 20-30 miles different on a 300 mile trip. And I don't care if the ETA is off by several minues or even an hour. But to put me on a route that is 100 miles more than a very standard route !!!!! ????? That's a complete failure in my opinion. I may speak to Best Buy about an exchange for a Kenwood - if I can determine that it's any better. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bluemoose Posted July 7, 2007 Report Share Posted July 7, 2007 not to take this off-topic, but can anyone point me to a Kenwood or Eclipse forum?(for users of their navigation systems) I just want to read what those guys have to say. Thanks! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
minirx7 Posted July 8, 2007 Report Share Posted July 8, 2007 Compared to my factory Chrysler navigation, i will say the pioneer really sucks @ass.. My chrysler navi was WAY more realistic in terms of distance and routing, this pioneer is like its drunk or something. I would NEVER recommend the Pioneer for navi purposes as there are far wiser choices than this. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ike Posted July 9, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 9, 2007 On the way home from vacation in Duck, NC today, I had the D3 plot the course home. Sure enough, nearly 400 miles and over 7 hours for what should only be a 300 mile trip requiring 5 hours. Click on the picture below to see where the D3 makes it's BIGGEST mistake. The route in purple is from Yahoo! maps. The Red lines with arrows represents the route that the D3 picked. In both cases, Yahoo! maps and the D3 are trying to take me from Route 158 North to Route 264. The Yahoo! maps takes the shortest distance between two points (straight line) and routes me straight up route 168. The D3, for some completely unknown reason, continues on 158 going in a south west direction and then up 17 North - WAY out of the way. In fact, when I ignored it's plea to go south west on 158, it recalculated multiple times and kept trying to get me back on its ridiculous route before finally giving in and following route 168. As soon as it gave up and went route 168, it instantly knocked off close to 80 miles from the remaining distance. You can see the triangle it makes as opposed to the more direct route from Yahoo!: Why on Earth would the D3 pick this route, extending the distance by nearly 80 miles? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
minirx7 Posted July 9, 2007 Report Share Posted July 9, 2007 On the way home from vacation in Duck, NC today, I had the D3 plot the course home. Sure enough, nearly 400 miles and over 7 hours for what should only be a 300 mile trip requiring 5 hours. Click on the picture below to see where the D3 makes it's BIGGEST mistake. The route in purple is from Yahoo! maps. The Red lines with arrows represents the route that the D3 picked. In both cases, Yahoo! maps and the D3 are trying to take me from Route 158 North to Route 264. The Yahoo! maps takes the shortest distance between two points (straight line) and routes me straight up route 168. The D3, for some completely unknown reason, continues on 158 going in a south west direction and then up 17 North - WAY out of the way. In fact, when I ignored it's plea to go south west on 158, it recalculated multiple times and kept trying to get me back on its ridiculous route before finally giving in and following route 168. As soon as it gave up and went route 168, it instantly knocked off close to 80 miles from the remaining distance. You can see the triangle it makes as opposed to the more direct route from Yahoo!: Why on Earth would the D3 pick this route, extending the distance by nearly 80 miles? I KNOW WHY!!! because the Pioneer Navigation is a piece of $hit. I love the unit it and all but seriously, the Navigation part of it is really flawed. Its like its routing longer distances on purpose all the time!!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ike Posted July 9, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 9, 2007 I KNOW WHY!!! because the Pioneer Navigation is a piece of $hit. I love the unit it and all but seriously, the Navigation part of it is really flawed. Its like its routing longer distances on purpose all the time!!! Don't know why you love the unit then ! It's a NAV. There are plenty of full featured non-nav "radios" out there for less than $1000. Is eveyone in here satisfied with the D3 (and other Pioneer Nav's) as a radio, XM, backup cam monitor, DVD player, IPod unit with a Nav that cannot pick a simple route correctly ? Had I known about this problem before my purchase, I definintely would've looked at another brand. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
minirx7 Posted July 9, 2007 Report Share Posted July 9, 2007 I KNOW WHY!!! because the Pioneer Navigation is a piece of $hit. I love the unit it and all but seriously, the Navigation part of it is really flawed. Its like its routing longer distances on purpose all the time!!! Don't know why you love the unit then ! It's a NAV. There are plenty of full featured non-nav "radios" out there for less than $1000. Is eveyone in here satisfied with the D3 (and other Pioneer Nav's) as a radio, XM, backup cam monitor, DVD player, IPod unit with a Nav that cannot pick a simple route correctly ? Had I known about this problem before my purchase, I definintely would've looked at another brand. But honestly, this i s the only unit that has everything that works so well together and at a price of $699US, there isnt much competition out there. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Heliskier59 Posted July 9, 2007 Report Share Posted July 9, 2007 I have seen the same problem with some routes in Massachusetts....WAY OFF routes. If I ignore the suggested route The D3 will keep prompting me to turn back for 30 miles adding almost 100miles to the trip...if I select recalculate route from the main menu it will then realize its mistake and select the appropriate one. It's as if the automatic rerouting when "off route" is a different algorithm than manually selecting "recalculate route"... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ike Posted July 9, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 9, 2007 I have seen the same problem with some routes in Massachusetts....WAY OFF routes. If I ignore the suggested route The D3 will keep prompting me to turn back for 30 miles adding almost 100miles to the trip...if I select recalculate route from the main menu it will then realize its mistake and select the appropriate one. It's as if the automatic rerouting when "off route" is a different algorithm than manually selecting "recalculate route"... On my trip to North Carolina, I tried the manual recalculation option and it didn't seem to make a difference. I had to ignore it's instructions multiple times before it would agree to pick a new route. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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