Stupid Nav.

[bigdog9586]

Or is it me. While on trip in wife's STS w/Nav I wanted to go to a restuarant near where I was staying. Clicked on the points of interests and of course selected restuarants. Chose ALL as I just wanted to see what was near but unlike my Garmin which would have spit them out starting with the closest and listed all moving to those farther and farther away. Am I missing something on the STS Nav or is it just a piece of junk?

[WillySTS]

Originally Posted by bigdog9586

Or is it me. While on trip in wife's STS w/Nav I wanted to go to a restuarant near where I was staying. Clicked on the points of interests and of course selected restuarants. Chose ALL as I just wanted to see what was near but unlike my Garmin which would have spit them out starting with the closest and listed all moving to those farther and farther away. Am I missing something on the STS Nav or is it just a piece of junk?

You're not missing anything...that sounds about right...you have to go to the screen and click on the icons close to your location to see what they are if the icons are generic, otherwise the icons give somewhat of an indication as to what type of restaraunt it is by logo.

[bigdog9586]

Thanks, that what I thought. It's a real shame when a $200 Garmin out preformes a $2K+ STS.

[WillySTS]

My aftermarket Pioneer Nav in my '03 Silverado is pretty slick too(that is, better than the one in my STS) and the bluetooth is flawless for 1 phone. #2+ phones have to be linked manually is the only flaw I can think of.

[trackbait]

I put my GPS to the test today for a thorough test - right along side the Garmin stick-on.

I knew where I was going (about 60 miles away) and there 3 different ways I could have gone, all within a couple of miles of each other, but knowing the area, I took the longest mileage but virtually clear sailing in no traffic. Had I taken the "recommended' route, yes it was shorter by 6 miles, but the traffic is terrible any time day or night. Both the Garmin and STS NAV recommended the same route initially then things went downhill quickly.

The Caddy - POOR results vs the Garmin. In fact it kept telling me to turn here and there, which would have made absolutely NO sense whatsoever. On highway exits, the STS Nav only showed exit numbers, not street names. The Garmin did both.

On one MAJOR intersection of two Interstates, it never "told" or displayed the way I was supposed to go, when I already knew where I had to move from one to the other. The STS Nav still showed 4.7 miles to the next 'turn'. Have no idea where that would have taken me.

The Garmin performed flawlessly. After realizing I picked another route than the 'shortest' it quickly re-displayed the next best option. The magenta line was clear and correct.

The STS - A HUGE dissapointment. Lacked definition (mimic 3D), No clear cut "line" to follow, voice was close, but could have easily missed the mark. The two were fairly close on time to destination and miles, but that is about it.

I'll stick to my Garmin and use the DVD (with lockpick) for making calls and watching DVD's and TV with digital converter connected to Aux Vid in.

It's a damn good thing I knew the area well and what really threw me, was missing the transition from one Interstate going E/W, transitioning to another Interstate going N/S. That was a MAJOR error in my book. Left me with little confidence had I reallly not known where I was going.
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SUMMARY - STS NAV -----> Just short of junk...

[bigdog9586]

One more thing it told me to do on the way to eat. Decided on where to eat and it was about 8 miles which went fine as all freeway. Told us to take the exit, stay in left lane and turn left onto the surface street. Just as I was turning left wife saw it to the right and thats when the Nav said to make a legal U-turn when safe to do so. We went down about 1/4 mile and turned into a parking lot and Nav said you reached your destination. What a piece of junk.

[next2pool]

The whole GM nav issue is a very sad one for me. When I returned from a stint in Japan, I was in charge of advanced engineering for GM. We virtually had Nav ready to go in 1990--way ahead of the competition. Then the lawyers caused us to chicken out and we took a passive follower role. When we finally did it, we came out with the shitiest system of them all. Not only that, we outsourced it to various suppliers so that there was no consistant GM system. Inexpensive cars had good ones and premium cars had shit--no wonder we are belly up!!

[hugo]

My free year of Directions & Connections is about up and I was planning on letting it expire and just renewing the OnStar and using the built in Nav system.

I agree programming the Nav can be a PITA but I would only use it a couple of times a year and I prefer its operation to the OnStar Directions & Connections system.

I have tested both systems going to places I knew and they both worked OK but after reviewing what you guys have said I'm thinking a hundred bucks a year to keep Directions & Connections would be cheap insurance for the one time I really need help.

Any comments on the Directions & Connections system?

Are the upgrade disks for the NAV worth the outrageous price they are asking?

In hindsight, I'm beginning to think I should have saved $3,650 and skipped the NAV package.

[EChas3]

I think it comes down to competition. Who choses a car by the quality of it's Navigation System? It's a factor, but few buyers do (obviously not me).

The aftermarket is another story. There is competition for every feature/function. To spend more than $1,000 you would have to hire a chauffeur.

In all honesty, a car that could run (or interface to) any major aftermarket GPS system would have a tremendous advantage. Look at the software and applications available on phones already. GPS is not much more accurate than cell-phone tower triangulation. When the best applications become portable, technology flourishes.

Microsoft/Ford anyone?

[bigdog9586]

If they just made a small glovebox in the front of the dash where you could velcro or mount a certain size GPS to it and furnish the power, speaker wire and a antenna and the GPS makers would have a model availible in a week to fit it.
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Originally Posted by EChas3

I think it comes down to competition. Who choses
==============
a car by the quality of it's Navigation System? It's a factor, but few buyers do (obviously not me).

The aftermarket is another story. There is competition for every feature/function. To spend more than $1,000 you would have to hire a chauffeur.

In all honesty, a car that could run (or interface to) any major aftermarket GPS system would have a tremendous advantage. Look at the software and applications available on phones already. GPS is not much more accurate than cell-phone tower triangulation. When the best applications become portable, technology flourishes.

Microsoft/Ford anyone?

[WillySTS]

Originally Posted by hugo

My free year of Directions & Connections is about up and I was planning on letting it expire and just renewing the OnStar and using the built in Nav system.

I agree programming the Nav can be a PITA but I would only use it a couple of times a year and I prefer its operation to the OnStar Directions & Connections system.

I have tested both systems going to places I knew and they both worked OK but after reviewing what you guys have said I'm thinking a hundred bucks a year to keep Directions & Connections would be cheap insurance for the one time I really need help.

Any comments on the Directions & Connections system?

Are the upgrade disks for the NAV worth the outrageous price they are asking?

In hindsight, I'm beginning to think I should have saved $3,650 and skipped the NAV package.

The wife and I decided, when we bought our STS-V new, our 1st NEW Cadillac and quite possibly our LAST new car, we decided since we got all the bells and whistles...we're gonna "Ring every bell and Blow every whistle!"...whith that said, we have Onstar,XM and everything else and are loving it! Yes, there are better nav's out there and better blue tooths and even faster sport sedans...so what...there always will be. It was nice enough for me to buy it nearly 3 years ago and I still love it now. I recently took a trip to another city and got more use out of my nav and onstar than I ever have. Just 'cause there are better ones out there doesn't mean the one you have is worthless.

Case in point;
I also have 2 HD tv's. One I bought in 2005 and is a 50"DLP 720p. It is connected to a 7.1 surround sound in the living room. I also have 46"LCD Sony 1080p in the bedroom, no surround. Now, just because the bedroom TV has a GREAT picture doesn't mean the front TV is worthless. We still enjoy watching TV in the front room as much as we ever did...time/progress marches on...don't trip out.

[turnerbend]

There are now three (3) things men will lie about. Their gas mileage, their sex life and their Cadillac NAV system....they are crap.

[WillySTS]

Originally Posted by turnerbend

There are now three (3) things men will lie about. Their gas mileage, their sex life and their Cadillac NAV system....they are crap.

I didn't say it was the greatest...I'm just sayn' it's in there...you're stuck with it...make the best of it...like I do with my gas mileage(how could I care about that?)...and my presciptions for Cialis are still current...I'm good.

At least it looks good and has one of the biggest screens out there

[MacMuse]

Originally Posted by hugo

... Any comments on the Directions & Connections system?

Are the upgrade disks for the NAV worth the outrageous price they are asking?

...

If you have a phone with GPS, then skip the Dir & Con.

As for the Nav discs - I'd love to have an updated set that shows the 13 mile stretch of I-355 around Joliet/Chicago that's been open for like 3 YEARS! But the 2008 discs still don't show it. I would definitely not buy a set every year, but maybe once every 3-4 years.

[MacMuse]

Originally Posted by EChas3

Microsoft/Ford anyone?

I cringe at the thought of being surrounded by cars running Microsoft software.

(oh dang, my windshield just blue-screened again)