STX-550 head unit

BigPete · Feb 23, 2012

STX-550 head unit - Update.

The European web sites are saying that the unit is essentially crap - see
http://forum.qashqaiclub.co.uk/tomtom-software-for-connect_topic6454.html

After living with the GPS for 6 months I can confirm that the unit ( in my stx 500 at least) is rubbish.

The maps are years out of date
No speed camera data
It often says "No map data for this location" when I am driving through major cities - like Newcastle
Handling of roundabouts is ridiculous
Many street names are missing - I guess due to the old map data.

Nissan tell me that there is no update planned, so I have started the search for a replacement unit. Going to be difficult to find one which can handle all the dash buttons. In the mean time, I have dug out my old tom tom - at least it knows where to take me.

I would be interested to hear other STX owners opinions, experiences - apart from the GPS I am very happy with mine. If anyone has an idea on how I might be able to locate a suitable replacement, I would be eternally grateful.

cheers

Dave · Feb 14, 2013

Needed approval.

The Woo · Feb 14, 2013

I've not had mine long enough to form a decent opinion re GPS.

Have you found a way to load iPod content onto the hard drive?

BigPete · Feb 16, 2013

I dont want to sound like a sniveller - but the hard drive seems to be a joke also. The only way I have found to get stuff onto the hard drive is to load a cd into the unit and play it right through while it is recorded. I bought an old Ipod from the local op shop and just leave it in the car.

Why would anyone put a hard drive into a car unit these days when usb type memory is so cheap - they could have put 32gb in for a few $ and not have worry about bumps etc. Confirms my opinion that the unit was designed by Noah while he was waiting for the rain to stop.

Thank goodness the rest of the ute is so brilliant.

Busiboy · Feb 16, 2013

Stx radio sans GPS is a decent unit, no fuss, straight forward works.

GPS is my phone although I prefer my Tom Tom

The Woo · Feb 17, 2013

How about playing songs and charging via the USB port from an iPhone? Mine doesn't recognize and beeps constantly.
Normal?

I'm astounded that the hard drive is so fussy as to how it gains the upload.

BigPete · Feb 18, 2013

The Woo said:
How about playing songs and charging via the USB port from an iPhone? Mine doesn't recognize and beeps constantly.
Normal?

My Iphone is a 3gs on IOS 4.1 and it works ok in the STX - I am not about to upgrade it.

What version of Iphone and what IOS do you have. Apple stuff around with their interface some times. In my old xtrail, my iphone worked perfectly for a while, then apple upgraded the IOS to 4.3, and it stopped working - no music, although it would still charge ok. After about 5 months, Nissan released a firmware upgrade and it was ok again.

Here is a link to the apple forums - looks like they have done it again.

https://discussions.apple.com/message/19702962#19702962

At the end of the link is a suggested fix that might be worth trying if it applies to you

If you copy your music to a standard USB stick, that will allow you to at least play it. The interface is not as good as the Iphone one, but not hopeless. I tested mine with a 32gb stick and it was fine.

BigPete · Feb 18, 2013

Hmm - maybe this is an alternative

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=271083760005

Anyone had experience with these. I woulf have to forgo all the dedicated buttons for the existing unit, but it does seem to have all the functionality - and an up to date map. And considering that Nissan charged me $210 for an update to my x-trail maps, it sounds like it would pay for itself if they do issue an update some time in the future

The Woo · Feb 18, 2013

Pete, I'm using an iPhone 4S on iOS6.
I have put a lot of my music onto a normal USB and that works ok (jumbled listings, but ok), but for some reason some don't copy successfully over from my iTunes library.
I will try that suggested fix, thanks for the link mate.

Last night I loaded about 20 of my CD's onto the hard drive. I was massively relieved to find that you DO NOT need to play the CD right through for it to record. It records it quickly in the background. It recorded an entire Men at Work album in the 5 minutes it took me to get to work this morning.
So, if you have the music on CD, it's not the end of the world. The menus for music on the hard drive are very good, giving you options to search by artist/genre etc.

And yes, I spotted the ebay unit, not sure I could forgoe the button usage to have something like that in this vehicle. It would p*55 me off daily looking at it.

The Woo · Feb 18, 2013

*** Oh, and my dealer suggested that he puts all his music onto a disc and copies it into each new drive vehicle he gets.

Adam777 · Feb 18, 2013

I too have been stunned by the age of the maps on the 550 mine is just coming up to 6 months old and other than the shite shifting of the gearbox is about the only thing that grates on me, i have been searching around for a while and i am going to replace the maps with Navteq's version. I have had a sat nav in the uk which used Navteq mapping and it was spot on, really accurate and navigated roundabouts perfectly!! I have tried and tried with the nimrods at nissan but i have come to the conclusion they are a waste of skin hence researching an alternative for myself

http://www.navigation.com/is-bin/IN...ShowAllProducts=YES&PersistNavigationMenu=YES

Adam777 · Feb 18, 2013

I personally cannot see why the head unit is shit because firstly i cannot see a company with a reputation as good as Bose getting involved in putting their equipment in a vehicle with a second rate head unit and damaging the sound of their products. I have also had an Audi with a Bose system fitted in it before some sticky fingered assholes took it from me and was also very impressed with that too.
I just think that the only problem with it is the 3 year old maps and thats no one else's fault other than nissan themselves and to install it in a 60 odd grand vehicle is just plain shit in my opinion.

The Woo · Feb 18, 2013

That link looks very promising.
I note it says within the notable updates that the Ballina bypass is included. Now, I drove that road under GPS guidence just last weekend and I'm quite certain it was all mapped on my December 2012 build.
I need to get it back from rust proofing and check if the Brisbane airport tunnel is in there.

Adam777 · Feb 19, 2013

as for the music issue i just plug a usb stick into the centre console and as long as the tracks are all named correctly for example if there are a couple of different albums on there rename the files with different names so for first album just have track numbers as normal 1 2 3 etc then for the next album put a . after the track number so it reads like 1. 2. 3. this causes all those tracks to stay together alternatively i put each album in a different folder and my unit lets you browse each folder separately

Adam777 · Feb 19, 2013

mine hasn't got jack shit upgrades on it shows me driving across nothingness most of the time i even checked the gps aerial to see if there was something on there affecting the signal!!

Adam777 · Feb 19, 2013

The Woo i wonder if your vehicle has a newer map version than mine? when you go in the settings menu what map version is installed on your sat nav? my vehicle is slightly older than yours so maybe mine is an older version?

The Woo · Feb 19, 2013

I shall check the version it lists when I get the vehicle back tomorrow evening and advise.

The Woo · Feb 20, 2013

Okay. Below is an image showing the version in mine. Same as yours?

I checked the notable roads that you'd hope were included. The "Clem 7" tunnel is there, but the "Airport Link tunnel" is not.

Adam777 · Feb 20, 2013

No mine is an even older version than yours, just shows what liars nissan are as they swear blind there is no updated version to mine! :wristy:

Is the new banora point upgrade on yours do you know?

The Woo · Feb 20, 2013

So we'd assume this is month/year of version update?
Lying cocks.

I'm not familiar with Banora Point well enough to know if the upgrade is shown. Can you provide some info for me to check against?

*** The Clem 7 tunnel opened March 2010. It's there.
*** Airport Link tunnel opened July 2012. It's not there.

STX-550 head unit

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