Toyota Whereis 13 vis V14

[Leeder]

Hello to All

I am disappointed with the Toyota Whereis 13 version versus Garmin's City Navigator Australia 2007 both of which use the Whereis mapping software. Garmin is far more precise in estimating arrival times (almost to within 2 minutes) and always, without fail, selects the shortest or quickest way which was not my experience with Toyota's V13. I cannot see why the settings for travel time are so conservative, Maximums are Residential 40km, Main Street 90 kms and Freeways 120 kms. What are main streets - highways? if so 90 is too slow. In NT the legal speeds are 130km? There are other issuses most of which have been raised by members in this form.

Has anybody upgraded to V14 and if so, could we have some feedback please?

Regards

Mark

P.S. New to this forum, Grande AWD, purchased 23/1/08, fully optioned with nudge bar, front parking sensors (my wife insisted), towbar, side steps, matts and cargo matt. Almost exclusively used on long country trips including night time which brakes my heart when I see the shiny new car covered with bugs of all kinds. There are one or two minor issues otherwise very pleased and happy with the car. I am ex Nissan Patrol, 1991 petrol/lpg so the contrast from one to the other is astonishing

[castr10]

I purchased the sensys whereis V14 dvd for the RAV satnav (same used on Kluger). It will not alter the settings you describe since, I guess this is a function controlled by the firmware in the Fujitsu unit installed. I cannot understand why Toyota provides the whereis software dvd full of many features however provide a unit installed that cannot access these features. It's a ridiculous situation, since you can purchase much cheaper portable units in the market which will give you access to features such as these. If I had known this, I would have purchased the model WITHOUT sat nav and then purchased a portable attachment. I only hope that Toyota Aust researches this and can provide a cheap upgrade path for the Satnav's installed to keep Customers satisfied.

[Taka]

Where did you purchase the V14 software? And how much?

I can run my V13 on a copied disc.... ;)

[Leeder]

Castr10 - Thank you for your informative feedback

[Leeder]

Taka - what software did you use to copy the DVD?

[Taka]

Roxio, but I found that I could not get the full map. No route I can select to country town but the original work.

The map works in Melbourne itself strange....

[Leeder]

Thank you Taka,

Regards

Mark

[Leeder]

You will be able to get the full map if you use DVD+R DL (single sided double layer 8.5 GB disk)

Roxio, but I found that I could not get the full map. No route I can select to country town but the original work.

The map works in Melbourne itself strange....

[Taka]

Thanks, I may want to directly copy to disk rather than making an image that I have done before.

emmmmm... anyone in Melbourne who like to treat with coffee while I am making a copy of the V14 disc???

[Kruzenvax]

To me - especially if the new version of the disk does not add any features, just the up to date map - Grande's satnav (well, actually almost any card satnav I've seen) is next to useless comparing to the portable units. And I don't even take into account the issue of properly positioning the screen so you don't have to look away from road. I have an old TomTom; the only thing where car's satnav seems to be better is faster picking of the satellite and navigation in tunnels/city; This howvere will no longer be the case when I'll upgrade my tomtom to 920.

[Taka]

That is true. The GPS receiver in the portable may not be updating the data very well. I think they can be improved on reception strength and update rate. Most are using 1Hz update (so your car position will update every second).

The Toyota sat nav looks like it is way stronger than portable in the undercover car park and update much quicker on the road, although we could be fooled by the software tricks. You see the sat nav can have input signal to the sat nav and calculate the distance you travel and hence even you are inside the domain tunnel, it will still show where you are.

One thing I really don't think the Toyota sat nav. It is that I cannot custom my poi. You see i have a full set of fixed and mobile speed camera for my garmin.

[Kruzenvax]

You see the sat nav can have input signal to the sat nav and calculate the distance you travel and hence even you are inside the domain tunnel, it will still show where you are

Lost you here. Are we talking about satnav interacting with the car (e.g. speed, direction) etc - so it estimates the position based on that when the satellite signal is lost? If yes - GO920 has a EPT thing (gyroscope, etc) that does the same thing - as far as I hear - nicely.

The same as receiver; they get better each day even in portable units.

That is true. The GPS receiver in the portable may not be updating the data very well. I think they can be improved on reception strength and update rate. Most are using 1Hz update (so your car position will update every second).

The Toyota sat nav looks like it is way stronger than portable in the undercover car park and update much quicker on the road, although we could be fooled by the software tricks. You see the sat nav can have input signal to the sat nav and calculate the distance you travel and hence even you are inside the domain tunnel, it will still show where you are.

One thing I really don't think the Toyota sat nav. It is that I cannot custom my poi. You see i have a full set of fixed and mobile speed camera for my garmin.

I have all cameras in my TomTom (actually 2 sets - one from natove maps and one that I have uploaded). It even shows the speed limit on the camera (not variable - e.g. 40 school zone). And all sorts of stuff including speed warnings, estimated ToA, etc. Bottomine - its nice to have 2 satnaves just in case but if I'm limited to only one I'd vote for the protable!

Edited March 2, 2008 by Kruzenvax

[Leeder]

Totally agree. I have an 'old' Garmin 276C which is basically a marine unit but which can also accomodate Garmin City Navigator Australia software which is far superior to Toyota software in just about every way you care to imagine and which I can interface with my laptop. Why not the Toyota software (USB memory or cable)? This would not be an expensive option

[Leeder]

I would like to know exactly what version 14 has to offer over V13. Unlike most computer software, there is no trial or demo version to try. I am particularly disappointed with the speed limitations (important to estimate approximate ETA's) and, in my experience, often the quickest route is not the quickest at all.

Thanks, I may want to directly copy to disk rather than making an image that I have done before.

emmmmm... anyone in Melbourne who like to treat with coffee while I am making a copy of the V14 disc???

[Kruzenvax]

In all fairness, I don't think it is realistic to expect car satnav to have the same flexibility/functionality as portable units. After all, TomTom is a minicomputer running linux with the power that exeeds some desktop PC's 10-15 years ago. So you can have ant functionality you want on top of just GPS traking.

Car satnav, AFAIK is firmware based, integrated with the rest of car electronics, has to be simple.

Totally agree. I have an 'old' Garmin 276C which is basically a marine unit but which can also accomodate Garmin City Navigator Australia software which is far superior to Toyota software in just about every way you care to imagine and which I can interface with my laptop. Why not the Toyota software (USB memory or cable)? This would not be an expensive option

[PC XT]

In all fairness, I don't think it is realistic to expect car sat nav to have the same flexibility/functionality as portable units. After all, TomTom is a minicomputer running linux with the power that exceeds some desktop PC's 10-15 years ago. So you can have ant functionality you want on top of just GPS tracking.

Car satnav, AFAIK is firmware based, integrated with the rest of car electronics, has to be simple.

Totally agree. I have an 'old' Garmin C which is basically a marine unit but which can also accomodate Garmin City Navigator Australia software which is far superior to Toyota software in just about every way you care to imagine and which I can interface with my laptop. Why not the Toyota software (USB memory or cable)? This would not be an expensive option

Portable aftermarket GPS is great until some one steals it had several Garmin and TomTom, I agree the std Toyota one is very average/ simple but has got a great screen and it does work.

[Taka]

I would like to know exactly what version 14 has to offer over V13. Unlike most computer software, there is no trial or demo version to try. I am particularly disappointed with the speed limitations (important to estimate approximate ETA's) and, in my experience, often the quickest route is not the quickest at all.

I expect that there are upgraded map. So they will not show I am off the road when I travel through the Pakenham bypass and the new area in the Tullamarine freeway.

[Leeder]

I would like to know exactly what version 14 has to offer over V13. Unlike most computer software, there is no trial or demo version to try. I am particularly disappointed with the speed limitations (important to estimate approximate ETA's) and, in my experience, often the quickest route is not the quickest at all.

I expect that there are upgraded map. So they will not show I am off the road when I travel through the Pakenham bypass and the new area in the Tullamarine freeway.

I hate to say this but what we get in Toyota Kluger satnav is very poor cousin to the most basic portable GPS unit. It is simply not reliable in more ways than one. I need to travel long distances and it helps me a lot, when planning my schedule, to know the arrival times, distances etc ... The Kluger satnav is not very good at this for a lot of reasons but the most annoying is that some of the proposed routes are, couriously, very challenging. So, I still take my Garmin 276C unit which has never let me down. The point is that Garmin uses the same software vendor as the Kluger, i.e., City Navigator Australia 2008 is "Whereis" software. For example, I cannot key-in my home address, it will not accept my street number but someone elses a few houses away and so on. I could go on with more examples .... there is not a logical reason for the limitations put on WhereIs V13 versus WhereIs on Garmin GPS units. Please keep in mind, this is software issue, not hardware and in this respect Toyota has let us down badly.

Would like to hear comments from anyone with WhereIs V14 software

[Taka]

You live in a newly developed area Leeder?

The map is only good for 2006 in v13. The map is much better this day.

The disappointment that you guys talked about is the map database.

The only thing that Toyota system cannot fix is the fact that there is no custom POI (point of interest). Without that, I cannot put all the mobile camera and fix camera points......

[Leeder]

You live in a newly developed area Leeder?

The map is only good for 2006 in v13. The map is much better this day.

The disappointment that you guys talked about is the map database.

The only thing that Toyota system cannot fix is the fact that there is no custom POI (point of interest). Without that, I cannot put all the mobile camera and fix camera points......

Taka, I live 10 kms from CBD Melbourne and even that close to the City, there are some limitations. For one, it will not accept my street number which is 4 but defaults to 27. I had this problem with a other addresses as well .... ? There are a few other annoying quirks not to mention the often curious routing. And yes, it would be nice to input POI ...

[mrbishi]

I would like to know exactly what version 14 has to offer over V13. Unlike most computer software, there is no trial or demo version to try. I am particularly disappointed with the speed limitations (important to estimate approximate ETA's) and, in my experience, often the quickest route is not the quickest at all.

I expect that there are upgraded map. So they will not show I am off the road when I travel through the Pakenham bypass and the new area in the Tullamarine freeway.

I hate to say this but what we get in Toyota Kluger satnav is very poor cousin to the most basic portable GPS unit. It is simply not reliable in more ways than one. I need to travel long distances and it helps me a lot, when planning my schedule, to know the arrival times, distances etc ... The Kluger satnav is not very good at this for a lot of reasons but the most annoying is that some of the proposed routes are, couriously, very challenging. So, I still take my Garmin 276C unit which has never let me down. The point is that Garmin uses the same software vendor as the Kluger, i.e., City Navigator Australia 2008 is "Whereis" software. For example, I cannot key-in my home address, it will not accept my street number but someone elses a few houses away and so on. I could go on with more examples .... there is not a logical reason for the limitations put on WhereIs V13 versus WhereIs on Garmin GPS units. Please keep in mind, this is software issue, not hardware and in this respect Toyota has let us down badly.

Would like to hear comments from anyone with WhereIs V14 software

I totally agree, the database leaves a lot to be desired as well as the rouites it decides on. I also many times cant punch in a particular street number, you then have to try and guess or pick one close, but as you know it can make a big difference in whether you turn left or right for that number and you could end up nowhere near where you wanted to go, this is for Sydney metro. Also the route it decides on can add many km's to your journey on experiments I have done. Its okay most of the time but I guess if you want close to 100% reliability Im sure there are better alternative units around. I hope the next software release fixes up some of the problems. Sometimes I wonder?.... when you buy top of the line you would expect that something as simple as software would be delivered with the best features.

[Taka]

I have to agree on the numbering, since once I was pointed to the wrong place in the long main road (not good).

What makes me feel strange that is ... the portable unit and stuff are using the SAME map. Why the database is so lacking???

We need update urgently. We need feedback from the V14 owners since the V15 suppose to turn up in next Sept/Oct

[Mikeyboy]

It isn't just Toyota.

When I have set the navigation to my parents house, it goes to the other end of their street. This street hasn't been changed in the last 40 years.

In my friends BMW 7 series, the navigation went to the same, wrong, address.

BTW, it was quicker setting the address in the Kluger than using I-Drive.

[Taka]

It isn't just Toyota.

When I have set the navigation to my parents house, it goes to the other end of their street. This street hasn't been changed in the last 40 years.

In my friends BMW 7 series, the navigation went to the same, wrong, address.

Haha it is funny. I think it is will be the problem of the underperformed Sensis map.

[PC XT]

Upgraded V13 to V14 on the weekend I think we gained a compass and some other minor stuff IT WORKS

All I can say is google is your friend at this point in time