2008 MS3 Navigation

[CHICO2003]

Diverting your eyes from the road to watch a movie isn't dangerous? To say it's no different than listneing to the radio is just plain wrong. I never "look" at my radio when I'm driving.

Later that day...

I just realized I read your reply wrong. It's apparent that I thought you said watching when you actually said listening.

Sorry should have waited for coffee before responding.

I still think the facotry Nav is a good choice when you balance operation with style. Mazda did such a great job designing that interior it seems blasphemous to mess with it.

haha it's all good. I knew what you meant...

AGain, it's not something I do on a regular basis... in fact, I only did it once just to see what it was like! as long as you don't freakin WATCH it (which IS possible to do if you value your life) you're fine. if you have passengers, they can (like you) listen AND (unlike you) watch. just another feature an indash model offers that the factory nav doesn't.... all for less $.

does anyone hear watch the colbert repor... or how about the OReily Factor? PTI? shows like that you dont' actually have to watch... you get the jist by listening. granted, PTI has a podcast... but you get the point. having this feature DOES serve its purpose at times. in the end, even if you're the most staunch critic of "watching tv" while you drive, it's nice to at least have the capability.

 

[CHICO2003]

I'm more interested in seeing a pop-up frame that will accept a touchscreen with little/no modification.
I see better functionality in building a carPC...

I've used a carputer and... ugh... it was a horrible experience. maybe the setup was just wrong... so very wrong. who knows? all I know is... when i'm in the car, i want/need instant gratification. waiting for an actual computer to boot up... having to deal with all the usual nonsense we all deal with with our own computers... error messages for starters.... plus, the one I used, had a shrunken windows xp desktop (on a 7' screen) I had to use a freakin stylus to navigate and NOTHING was easily visible (shrink the screen you're looking at now 3X and tell me how easy it is to read.)

In short... nah... no way in hell

 

[EwingSpeed3]

CHICO, is your AVIC using the car's VSS or just some internal sensor? How accurate is it with your position and speed?

 

[CHICO2003]

Mine's as accurate as can be. Can't tell you how impressed I am. That said, you need to make sure (during the install) that it's calibrated properly. A buddy of mine (who owns a shop) installed it for me... said calibration was easy. he hooked it up to the speedometer and, after a few trial runs, was satisfied.

Since I use this thing on a regular basis (always on the road visiting clients... sometimes well off the beaten path) I can attest to this thing's accuracy. i've tried other nav systems... a friend of mine has a $700 garmin. damn thing tells him to turn like 3 seconds before he's supposed to. (we can be at an intersection and it shows us as being a little past... so weak!) he's gotten used to it but... i NEVER have that problem.

 

[funkyman]

There is no solution without cutting stripping stock wires on the MS3`s,that is to watch DVD and TV.I don`t recomend it unless you plan to keep the car beyond 3-4 years.Nothing looks quite like a stock NAV as well.

 

[EwingSpeed3]

There is no solution without cutting stripping stock wires on the MS3`s,that is to watch DVD and TV.I don`t recomend it unless you plan to keep the car beyond 3-4 years.Nothing looks quite like a stock NAV as well.

That doesn't frighten me much. Any quality wire work can be reversed and if taped back together right, who is going to see it underneath all the plastic if everything is working right?

 

[Antonio DiMarco]

The 08 Nav is better than the 04

The ONLY thing you miss out on in the info bar is the radio station/cd track #/ etc (which goes without saying) I know some also don't have the clock but there's a workaround for that. everything else, temp, trip computer, etc. works just fine so there's no downside there.

And yes... the AVIC D3 will copy your phonebook so you can literally just put your phone away and use it to call people if you prefer.

In terms of the 'blasphemy' of messing with the stock HU... lol let's get real for a second. while it looks good and all, it's not like the indash nav I posted looks bad. Many might agree that, with it's 7" screen that displays all types of stuff.. it looks better! (the factory HU is all buttons and knob... big deal!) as far as the popup nav... the resolution is horrible and, with its placement being where it is, sunlight reaks havoc. plus, it's not a freakin touchscreen so you have to mess with that idiotic remote pofs! lol

seriously folks... not like it really matters to me but, for anyone thinking about a 3/MS3 with bose/nav... save your money and get an indash setup like the one I posted. they truly are worlds apart. if you don't believe me, try one for yourself. most bestbuys and circuit citys have them on display so you can try them out. after you do, come back and tell me the factory setup is better.

I actually agree with in terms of resolution if we're talking the Nav in my 04. The 08 is light years ahead in both features and resolution. I don't find it all that bad with glare either (the tilt feature does a good job counteracting glare at least in the NE)

I used my Mazda Nav all the time and as long as the DVD is up to date it navigates well- better in fact than my wifes Garmin 2610 (I've experienced the 3 second delay on the Garmin and can attest to how annoying it is).

That said I simply like the Mazda Nav becaus eit looks slick and gadgety. So many people spend lots of money on all kinds of wings and interior bits to make their car look good or different. For the money I think the Mazda Nav offers both decent operation and cool looks for the cash.

That said I do wish it had touchscreen (like the CX-7) but the newer joystick controller is a huge improvement in overall feel and positive feedback. My 04's joystick never gave me positive feedback especially when hitting "enter"

 

[zoomzoom485]

Nav Tv

We install an interface called NavTv in the shop I work at. It's pretty cool. You can watch DVD's while driving. Some models interrupt the GPS signal, I'm not sure about the Mazda one.

 

[CHICO2003]

LMAO here we go again.