How come the Infinitis doent have the built in DVD player but the Nissan Armada does? A buddy of mine just got a new Armada and his center console looks pretty similar to my G but he can pop in a dvd in his slot and watch dvds on his console. How come the G's dont do this? Am i missing something here? I tried to do a search but wasnt successful.

 

it is illegal for the driver to watch dvd/movie while driving BUT im sure there is a way to make it work. there is no vehicle that can play dvd while it is moving except for the dvd player which is for back passenger only.

 

well his car wasnt moving when i watched the dvd but I think the Infiniti's cd slot should also be a DVD-rom so we can watch dvds while in park at least

 

The Armada/QX56 has a DVD Entertainment system and also it's Navigation system is DVD based. The G doesn't have the option for a DVD Entertainment System and the Navigation is hard drive based.

 

In the M cars equiped with the Bose Surround Sound system, or with the Mobile Entertainment, allows you to watch DVD's on the Nav display while the car is parked!

 

Yea, the DVD based navigation system is really an older technology. Since they have the DVD player in the car already for the navigation, they allow you to use it to view DVDs while in park (with the parking break on). How many times are you going to sit in your car with the parking break on to watch a movie anyhow?

The new navigation system in the G is a newer technology, and since it is hard drive based it gives us the option to rip music to the hard drive. So it's really a trade off and personally I would rather be able to rip music then watch a movie while my car is parked on a 7 inch screen.

 

????? Huh? The DVD for the Navigation is my Armada is under the passenger seat. Are you saying that in the Armadas that have DVD in the dash have to remove the NAV DVD to watch a movie. I dont think that is the case. I would assume the Nav is still under the seat.

 

No, I think you are right. The Armada and the QX56 both have the Navigation Entertainment package... so the player is in the dash. However, it only plays in the back seat while moving. To watch a DVD in the front, you have to be parked.

 

Yep!

 

There is a video input in the center console that can be used to plug in any sort of video input device.. Just plug in your video ipod or a portable DVD player or whatever you want.. Problem solved! Again, this only works when in park.

 

I'm not sure I really agree with you. Harddrive based NAV units were around before DVDs. The original Acura TLs were harddrive based and most considered it an upgrade when they moved to DVD based. I think they might be back to harddrive again though, not sure. It's a tradeoff between harddrive nav systems and DVD based. The flexibility factor is different. DVD units are easier to upgrade the software, harddrive units may be able to store more maps (or may not depending on the size) but can be more difficult to upgrade. Some of the best units out there are DVD based. Neither method is "older" technology than the other. It's entirely about implementation. The music box feature and DVD is not and should not be mutually exclusive.

 

IMO, hard drive based Navigation systems are superior. They allow for more storage capacity and quicker access times. Upgrading the software should be painless as it's done from the CF card.

 

Agreed. You needed a new DVD with all the map info whenever there was an update every year or two.

With the HD-based setup you will probably have an update which is just the delta of the original maps and the new information, patch the maps/POIs/etc and call it a day.

Should be cheaper not only because they don't have to press CDs (it's probably a download) but because the mechanism to update is already in the car and all they basically have to do is take your money and give you a file to download and let you do all the work.

 

I had the DVD based navigation in my 2005 coupe (the same one they have been using since 2003) and it was slow and lacked many features that the new system has.

The new system is harddrive based and has much faster access times. I don't have to wait for it to load up when I start the car. And perhaps other companies have attempted to use a harddrive based system in the past, but that does not change the fact that the harddrive based navigation system is a better/newer technology.

The reason the G has the musicbox option is because of the harddrive based navigation system. And although I do agree they should not be mutually exclusive, they are. You can not get the musicbox option without the navigation system.

 

Maybe I misunderstood you. I read your comment as a generalization that hd based nav is newer and better than harddrive based nav. That generalization is incorrect. If you were referring to the specific harddrive based nav that we have, compared to the DVD based nav in previous generations, then yeah, I'll have to agree with the comment.