2013 Owners - Is the TomTom Nav nice?

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coloradovrs

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2013 Owners,

Can you tell me if the 5.8" TomTom Nav is nice? I'm in the market and the 2013 GT is my favorite of the day, but 5.8" sure sounds SMALL. Plus how does the backup camera look on such a small screen? Thank you for sharing your experiences!!
 
Though "size does matter", but resolution is probably more important in this case.
Our current 7" has poor resolution. Don't know about the new one.
 
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I have a TomTom Go 2505. Works great. Resolution is very good. Zoom in and out is one touch.

Make sure you get a unit with lifetime Map udates
 
Gunga said:
I have a TomTom Go 2505. Works great. Resolution is very good. Zoom in and out is one touch.

Make sure you get a unit with lifetime Map udates
Click to expand...

I think he means the new TomTom that comes with Mazda new vehicles.

The new NAVI manual is available on MazdaUSA.com.
Anyone can down it to check it out. It has traffic and reroute for it.
No sure about life-time map.
 
Yes I'm asking about the new standard CX-9 factory TomTom Nav that's on the the 2013 GT? It's only 5.8" so that sounds puny : ) but quality may make up for the smaller size? Please let me know what you think?!
 
Have not seen this new one yet, but 5.8" is quite large for a GPS - if it's squarish rather than wide screen 16:9 like our phones.

Most units are 5" or less.
 
I test drove a 2012 with the older, larger screen and it was really blocky/pixelated/poor graphics. Just bought a 2013 today (and just joined the forum... intro post forthcoming!) and the graphics are much nicer despite the smaller screen (this goes for all the functions, audio, nav, etc). I am really happy with it so far, though I might find it easier to use my iphone for nav than tomtom.
 
Congrats! If you end up using the iPhone you find that you can hear turn by turn instructions through the stereo system. Also you'll be able to stream music at the same time and it will fade whenever there is a command to take an exit, etc.

The downside is that incoming phone calls will always take priority over the maps. Map data disappears while you are talking.

It would be interesting to find out if the Mazda maps are in anyway affected by incoming Bluetooth phone calls. Let us know if you can.
 
Nice Navigation with some minor bugs

HOLOHOLO said:
Congrats! If you end up using the iPhone you find that you can hear turn by turn instructions through the stereo system. Also you'll be able to stream music at the same time and it will fade whenever there is a command to take an exit, etc.

The downside is that incoming phone calls will always take priority over the maps. Map data disappears while you are talking.

It would be interesting to find out if the Mazda maps are in anyway affected by incoming Bluetooth phone calls. Let us know if you can.
Click to expand...

The 5.8 inches is perfect on the screen. The screen is sharp. But even at a lower brightness, I find it too bright at nights.
When a call is answered through bluetooth, it goes to the audio screen and we have to hit the Navi button to go back to the maps during the call.

The iPod / iPhone integration is by Gracenote and they have done a pretty sloppy job. I found 2 bugs:
1. When song is playing and we receive a call on alternative iPhone app - like viber / Skype, the bluetooth turns on. But after the call is disconnected, the music remains paused and the song does not resume. It requires skipping to next song or the previous song to resume audio.
2. iPod menu hangs intermittently. The song list don't show up. It required re-connecting the phone to read the songs correctly.

But overall the car is great! I love its driving dynamics so these glitches are just minor to me.
 
2013 CX-9 Nav

coloradovrs said:
2013 Owners,

Can you tell me if the 5.8" TomTom Nav is nice? I'm in the market and the 2013 GT is my favorite of the day, but 5.8" sure sounds SMALL. Plus how does the backup camera look on such a small screen? Thank you for sharing your experiences!!
Click to expand...



I went from a 2011 CX-9 GT to a 2013 CX-9 GT, and the NAV is MUCH better! The TOM TOM has much better resolution and acts like a real GPS for a change. Very impressed with it! The new features on the 2013 are awesome. Pandora, Mirrors, rear audible alarm, electronics, and instrument lights - all much nicer. Gracenotes has issues, but they are still working on that.
 
I have a 2013 Touring with Tech, which has the 5.8" screen and TomTom nav. I like it. The screen definitely doesn't seem small to me. I have always felt it was plenty big as a backup camera. I have also been happy with the nav.

Can I ask what you're considering as competition for the CX-9? Because it really depends what you're comparing it to. I've never owned a nav system except for my cell phone. Compared to iPhone with either Google Maps navigation or the Apple Maps navigation, the TomTom nav is dreadfully slow and the screen is low-res and crappy. Compared to the Toyota Highlander limited that I drove several times, the CX-9 nav is fast and looks great. I also drove a Hyundai Santa Fe with the top nav package, and the screen on the Hyundai is bigger and better than the CX-9's screen.

The process of entering addresses is a pain. The voice commands don't work well so I always use the touch screen. The responsiveness and quickness is better than industry average, definitely better than Highlander, but using that touchscreen after using iPhone and iPad is like going ten years back in time. Soooooo sllloooooooow to register my button presses compared to iPhone.

So, it depends on what you're comparing it to.
 
Senor Valasco said:
What are the issues with Gracenote? Is the "Resume Playback via USB" a Gracenote issue? I didn't think it was. What exactly are they working on?
Click to expand...


The resume isnt a Gracenotes issue. I actually dont have problems with Resume. Its just you cannot update Gracenotes from the Mazda site like the manual says. It always says to check back later... go figure. I have had no other issues with the Audio system. I keep an Ipod plugged in all the time.
 
I'm not completely sure I understand the Gracenotes problem. I connect my iPhone via Bluetooth and have had no problems. It works great on music and podcasts both. I thought Gracenote was for showing you the song title on screen when you play music. Not only does my CX-9 show all the song titles correctly, it also shows me the names of obscure podcasts that I listen to, even when I download them the day they get released. So I am pretty confident that the CX-9 is getting the "song" and "artist" names straight off of my phone.
 
LawHawk said:
I'm not completely sure I understand the Gracenotes problem. I connect my iPhone via Bluetooth and have had no problems. It works great on music and podcasts both. I thought Gracenote was for showing you the song title on screen when you play music. Not only does my CX-9 show all the song titles correctly, it also shows me the names of obscure podcasts that I listen to, even when I download them the day they get released. So I am pretty confident that the CX-9 is getting the "song" and "artist" names straight off of my phone.
Click to expand...


YOu are correct - artist and song come from your sending device. Gracenotes is a large database which gives additional information, album art, CD track names, etc, and can suggest similar songs to what you listen to.
 
How do you get it to show album art? I have never seen album art on my screen. Do I need to change a setting somewhere?
 
LawHawk said:
How do you get it to show album art? I have never seen album art on my screen. Do I need to change a setting somewhere?
Click to expand...

Thats what Gracenotes is for... You download Gracenotes onto a USB drive, then update the Mazda system via the USB port. You update it under your Phone section.
 
Bob2525 said:
The resume isnt a Gracenotes issue. I actually dont have problems with Resume. Its just you cannot update Gracenotes from the Mazda site like the manual says. It always says to check back later... go figure. I have had no other issues with the Audio system. I keep an Ipod plugged in all the time.
Click to expand...

Bob - This is interesting news. So you keep an ipod plugged in all the time. You listen to a song, shut car off, return to car at some point later and your iPod resumes where you left off? This wasn't the case when I test drove a 2013 cx-9. I wonder if they fixed it. Is there a software version you could report. This would be an important finding. What ipod do you have?
 
I think i misundersttod the "resume" issue. Yes, i keep the IPOD plugged in all the time. But you are correct, when you re-start the vehicle, you start over with your IPOD session. I have about 4000 songs, so it takes a minute or so to re-load. Sorry for the confusion. But, i do keep it plugged into USB all the time.
 
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