Honda Car Forum

I am looking at a new TL, wondering whether to get the car with the nav
system installed by Acura, or finding a 3rd party.
I understand that you get the voice command system with the Acura nav
package. What else would I miss?

My coworker got an after-market nav system for a new Accord. For about the
same price as the factory price, got a nav system, DVD player integrated
with the LCD panel. He also got an iPaq with the deal (I am not quite sure
why)

TIA

>
>I am looking at a new TL, wondering whether to get the car with the nav
>system installed by Acura, or finding a 3rd party.
>I understand that you get the voice command system with the Acura nav
>package. What else would I miss?

I have the 2003 TL-S with Nav. I have used Garmin GPS devices inthe past. I
would go with the Acura integrated device, simply because the 3rd party install
could violate the warranty leaving you with no warranty at all. The integrated
Nav system by being an Acura part, and installed at the factory, fits the space
and the other systems on the car, such as On-Star, etc.

Also, putting a DVD screen onthe insrtument panel is NOT a good idea at all
from a safety perspective. If cell phone use is considered distracting, what
about a movie playing onthe panel? The best place for such a panel, IMHO, is
the back seat. The driver should not have any access to that screen.

Just my 2 cents.

>Also, putting a DVD screen on the insrtument panel is NOT a good idea at all
from a safety perspective. If cell phone use is considered distracting, what
about a movie playing onthe panel? The best place for such a panel, IMHO, is
the back seat. The driver should not have any access to that screen.<

It is also quite illegal in many jurisdictions to have an active video screen
visible from the driver's seat while the ignition is on.

In addition to the navigation, you also get touch screen functions for the
stereo, calendar & a calculator. Not to mention the voice activation. You
would also have the ability to dial phone numbers of places that you find
with the navigation if you have a Bluetooth enadled cell phone. Can't do
that w/ a 3rd party device.

"yuki" <notread_news@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:NvSdnWf-3_vCAljdRVn-uA@comcast.com...
>I am looking at a new TL, wondering whether to get the car with the nav
> system installed by Acura, or finding a 3rd party.
> I understand that you get the voice command system with the Acura nav
> package. What else would I miss?
>
> My coworker got an after-market nav system for a new Accord. For about the
> same price as the factory price, got a nav system, DVD player integrated
> with the LCD panel. He also got an iPaq with the deal (I am not quite sure
> why)
>
> TIA
>
>

don't listen to all the negative responses you might get.
the navi is a must. 10 yrs from now, you'll be like
"how did anyone ever get around without navi, and
traffic reporting, and a dynamic control unit."
sorta like all the cassette tape advocates when the world
was switching to CDs. the map people will come around
one day

btw, i drove the regular 03 TL as a loaner for my TL-S
and the dash looked retarded w/o the navi, as did the guages,
the off color lighting, and the off color steering wheel and
window buttons (it was tan interior, mine is all black).
i thought the slot in the dash was a cup holder, until i pulled
it out and saw it was a pen drawer...wtf? it reminded me of
when pontiac had special tape drawers



"yuki" <notread_news@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:NvSdnWf-3_vCAljdRVn-uA@comcast.com...
> I am looking at a new TL, wondering whether to get the car with the nav
> system installed by Acura, or finding a 3rd party.
> I understand that you get the voice command system with the Acura nav
> package. What else would I miss?
>
> My coworker got an after-market nav system for a new Accord. For about the
> same price as the factory price, got a nav system, DVD player integrated
> with the LCD panel. He also got an iPaq with the deal (I am not quite sure
> why)
>
> TIA
>
>

Can anyone using the Acura TL onboard computer comment on the
performance of its voice recognition? Can't read anything posted about
it so am assuming it is darn good?

Anyone using the Handsfreelink? What are the comments if any from
calling parties? Noise reduction, echo cancellation good?

Thks -

The voice recognition is pretty darn good. It takes a little use to know
just how to say what the computer will understand. If you study the
commands in the help system, then it isn't too bad.

It's worth it's weight in gold!!

Haven't used the handsfreelink yet. Waiting to get my new Bluetooth cell
phone hopefully in the next couple weeks.


"Dan" <daniel_france@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:78be7212.0406100209.7513270b@posting.google.c om...
> Can anyone using the Acura TL onboard computer comment on the
> performance of its voice recognition? Can't read anything posted about
> it so am assuming it is darn good?
>
> Anyone using the Handsfreelink? What are the comments if any from
> calling parties? Noise reduction, echo cancellation good?
>
> Thks -

"kbstreet" <kbstreet@comcast.net> wrote in message news:<6T7yc.6700$eu.5239@attbi_s02>...
> The voice recognition is pretty darn good. It takes a little use to know
> just how to say what the computer will understand. If you study the
> commands in the help system, then it isn't too bad.
>
> It's worth it's weight in gold!!
>
> Haven't used the handsfreelink yet. Waiting to get my new Bluetooth cell
> phone hopefully in the next couple weeks.
>
>

Great news. It's IBM's ViaVoice software they're using, which they
managed to run from a small footprint OS on the car's onboard chip...
Means at last we have a powerful embedded voice recognition that can
run from thin clients in noisy environments...

That's quite an achievment and news we've been waiting for years...
Will allow voice-enabled browsers from phones/PDAs to be served voice
markeup languages w/o being tied to a server based platform to process
the speech (Embedded Text To Speech works already fine).

Many Thanks!

PS: When choosing your BT phone to work with your handsfreelink, make
sure you go through reviews on the net. There are some issues with
some phones.