Member Since: 21 Oct 2006
Location: County Durham
Posts: 76
SATNAV
Hello All
I wonder what your opinion is of the D3 satnav system. My dealer tells me it is very good. I have been using satnav for 5 years or so in the form of a Garmin unit that cost a fortune. Is very slow to calculate routes and gather its whereabouts. It is however very, very good in terms of choosing a suitable route. It allows me to zoom out as I please and select the level of detail. This is very useful if you have no map. It changes automatically from day to night modes, etc, etc. I recently bought a road angel when at the festival of speed... it is very poor. It does none of the above although it does have full postcode search and is very fast to calculate routes (usually bad ones) and acquire satellites.
I would like to think that the D3 system is as good as it gets.
The D3 system is pretty good. On the premium version you get TMC (traffic info) and voice control. It can also store loads of destinations (at least 100 from memory) and you can store voice tags with these, so they can be recalled easily.
However, I've been used to SmartNav (by Traffic Master) and I must admit that all CD/DVD based sat nav systems seem inferior when you're used to this. SmartNav is by far the best and the only one that routes you around congestion properly. TMC on the LR system doesn't even come close to how SmartNav does performs.
This is why I've just fitted it in my D3, even though I've got the Premium LR sat nav. Now I have the best of both worlds. I now use SmartNav for the sat nav and I have the backup of the colour mapping on the LR screen.
When you use them both at the same time, often they both choose difference routes and the tests I have done so far, SmartNav has plotted a better route each time, even though the ETA time may initially indicate otherwise.
Matt
26th Nov 2006 9:35 pm
Paul J.
Member Since: 09 Dec 2005
Location: Leafy Cheshire
Posts: 7258
IMHO the satnav on the D3 is poor.
The roads are displayed as sticks (even in 3D mode) rather than true birds' eye view. The system is sluggish and sometimes fails to respond when zooming in and out. The re-routing options are limited. There is an annoying disclaimer screen - WHY DO I HAVE TO ACCEPT THIS EVERY F*&^%$£ TIME I GET IN THE CAR !!!
I have a Tom Tom Go in my other car, which costs £300 vs D3's nominal £1500-2000. The Tom Tom beats it hands down. The D3 system leaves me with the impression that it is a previous generation of technology (at least 2 generations???).
Not good for a premium vehicle.
The only reason I have the LR satnav is because I wanted the leather seats and other goodies that came with the SE and which you didn't get with the S. This upgrade cost £6K and I would rather have paid £4K and foregone the satnav.
Sorry to go on, but the substandard satnav is a constant source of irritation for me.
I'm not overly enamoured of the D3's satnav system. I think that the TomTom I had before buying the D3 was a far better system, it's maps were more up to date, POIs more comprehensive (and you could also add to them!) and it's route calculation system was much more 'sensible'. What do I mean by that? Well, a good example of the D3's SatNav system's stupidity came about in the summer when we took our caravan to the Vendee. We drove from St Malo via Nantes and Rennes. Despite both of these cities being served by excellent ring roads, the D3's satnav decided that we needed to tow our 8 metre van staright through the middle of each of them. Needless to say, we ignored the bloody thing!
And before anybody writes in to tell me this – yes, I have got the route preference set to toll and major roads but it makes no difference.
The only good thing about the D3's satnav is that unlike the TomTom, it doesn't shout at me when I go 'off roading' at 70mph round the new (????) Wetherby and Ferrybridge sections of the A1(M)!Now an ex-D3 owner after 7 happy years. Miss the car but not the big bills
You'll be stuffed in Darlo then. Every time I go back to my home town they have changed the road layout! Back in the game!
28th Nov 2006 9:18 am
DiscoHead
Member Since: 22 Nov 2006
Location: Berkshire
Posts: 91
I had a loaner for three days last week with the Sat Nav on. I thought I'd play with it as it was something I'd wondered about.
I really didn't find it very good to use and have to say that my £300 TomTom is much much better.
However, I do think these things come down to personal pref and would suggest you try and get into a vehicle with it in and see what you think.
28th Nov 2006 10:30 am
boldlygone
Member Since: 25 Sep 2006
Location: Surrey
Posts: 13
Re: SATNAV
Please see my post of my SatNav solution, I think the Alpine is far superior to the LR version:- http://www.disco3.co.uk/forum/topic7372.html2006 RRSport 2.7 SE, Tints, Supercharger Grill & Vents, Tow Pack, Roof Rack, Buckingham Blue, Alpacca.
28th Nov 2006 10:45 am
randalls
Member Since: 02 Mar 2006
Location: aberdeenshire
Posts: 703
agree with most points here, the TMC is completely useless up here in the NE of Scotland - as it takes months & months for updates to get done eg for roadworks. Which are left on the system for months after they have gone. The maps are pretty much out of date even when a new disc is provided (although this I understand is not landrovers fault). The system has a very strange sense of direction for roads that are fairly nearby. I find it wanting to go around for miles to get there. (yes have switched off dynamic navigation etc). Where it is good is the display is large, the telemetry system from the vehicle ensures there is no loss of route directions (ever) and the re-routing system is reasonable. Having to be stationary to insert POI's is bad- I mean how risky is it to be stopped next to a 'safety camera' fiddling with the unit to put in a POI !!!!!!! 2007 TDV6 HSE 'Silver Lady'. With 'free' privacy glass LOL.
Taking the greenpi$$ is: Green taxing your citizens more & using some of the money to buy nukes.
28th Nov 2006 11:41 am
Chaz
Member Since: 20 Sep 2006
Location: Preston
Posts: 37
Is there any way on the LR satnav to adjust the volume of the directions given? I have found a menu where you can set it from +1 offset to +8 offset but I would prefer a -1 offset! The reason being that although I may wish to hear my music at a high volume I don't need to sat nav woman to come in at an even higher one.
29th Nov 2006 9:26 am
10forcash
Member Since: 09 Jun 2005
Location: Ubique
Posts: 16534
use volume control whilst she's giving you directions - either the twiddly one or the steering wheel one
or turn it off
29th Nov 2006 10:29 am
photothames
Member Since: 28 Jul 2005
Location: Surrey
Posts: 77
I agree Chaz, I also find +1 sometimes to loud. The company car I had a VW Touran with built in Sat Nav let you go down the Minus side of the scale, which was great to get the volume you wanted.Andy - 2006 HSE TDV6
29th Nov 2006 2:26 pm
Hasgaroth
Member Since: 09 Nov 2005
Location: Warwickshire
Posts: 14
On my D3, the SATNAV makes some bizarre choices - the quickest route from Stratford to Norwich is along the M6, then A14, then up the A11 - 160ish miles, about 3 hours. The SATNAV claims the 'quickest' route is down the M40 to London, round the M25 and up the M11 - this would take 4.5 hours, and is 60+ miles further! Odd! The route we normally take is the 'Shortest', which turns out to be the quickest! (Probable not explained very well - long day!)
Anyone else had stranges results like these? Or is there an update available to the system? (Ours is an '05 model)
10forcash, I think that that only adjusts it for that anouncement, not subsequent ones.
I can imagine a situation when it works a bit like that. In mine, if the stereo is off, but was previously on quite loud, the satnav voice will similarly be loud, even though the offset is only on +1. Turning the volume down in this situation cannot adjust the offset as it is already at its lowest level, but my experience is that the satnav volume does go down, temporarily. To get a more permanent satnav volume reduction you have to turn the radio on, turn it down, and then off again.
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2007 TDV6 HSE 'Silver Lady'. With 'free' privacy glass LOL.
The route we normally take is the 'Shortest', which turns out to be the quickest! (Probable not explained very well - long day!)
