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[YorkieSue]

[b] [b]I am struggling mightily with the biggest disappointment in my new Prius purchase life. No matter how many times I read the manual on navigation I do not understand how to use the GPS. It has no memory, does not let you access familiar places when the info has already been inputted many times before, is a nightmare screen to try and UNCONVOLUTE...I HATE THIS PRIUS GPS and am sick to my stomach that I allowed myself to be swayed to buy it. From now on I will bring my USER FRIENDLY and portable Garmin devise from my RV with me. What a waste of thousands of dollars to have this 'pink elephant' in my car. Does anyone KNOW how to use this awful 'perk' in the prius? Thanks. YorkieSue

[Tripod137]

My wife and I use the GPS all the time. She uses it more than I, but we don't have any problems storing addresses, marking "favorite" locations, recalling previously entered places, using Voice to enter destinations. Sure, I haven't figured out how to "record a route", yet, but I will find it. To start with, s your GPS finding the Satellite?

Have you set your HOME yet?

[dopeysjon]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(YorkieSue @ Sep 5 2006, 11:03 AM) [snapback]314633[/snapback]</div>

[b] I am struggling mightily with the biggest disappointment in my new Prius purchase life. No matter how many times I read the manual on navigation I do not understand how to use the GPS. It has no memory, does not let you access familiar places when the info has already been inputted many times before, is a nightmare screen to try and UNCONVOLUTE...I HATE THIS PRIUS GPS and am sick to my stomach that I allowed myself to be swayed to buy it. From now on I will bring my USER FRIENDLY and portable Garmin devise from my RV with me. What a waste of thousands of dollars to have this 'pink elephant' in my car. Does anyone KNOW how to use this awful 'perk' in the prius? Thanks. YorkieSue

I struggled with my '05 for a long time, but finally I think I have it working as well as it ever will. It is very convoluted, and a great disappointment to me, too. I heve it functional, but its use is very awkward. Also, its database is waaaaaay out of date, at least two or three years. I haven't gotten a quote, but I understand that updated DVD of database costs almost as much as your Garmin unit.
The only reason I have it on my vehicle is because it was preinstalled on the car I wanted. I thought it would be neat.
Its primary redeeming feature is its automatic rerouting when I get off the established route. Yes, it works, but it is far from the neat gadget I envisioned.

Jon

[eagle33199]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(YorkieSue @ Sep 5 2006, 01:03 PM) [snapback]314633[/snapback]</div>

[b] I am struggling mightily with the biggest disappointment in my new Prius purchase life. No matter how many times I read the manual on navigation I do not understand how to use the GPS. It has no memory, does not let you access familiar places when the info has already been inputted many times before, is a nightmare screen to try and UNCONVOLUTE...I HATE THIS PRIUS GPS and am sick to my stomach that I allowed myself to be swayed to buy it. From now on I will bring my USER FRIENDLY and portable Garmin devise from my RV with me. What a waste of thousands of dollars to have this 'pink elephant' in my car. Does anyone KNOW how to use this awful 'perk' in the prius? Thanks. YorkieSue

Lets see if i can help you out a little...

"It has no memory"
- There is a mode that allows you to track a route (people say it looks like dropping bread crumbs behind you as you move)... i've never wanted/needed to use it, so i can't tell you off hand how to access it.

"does not let you access familiar places when the info has already been inputted many times before"
- There is a "memory" function to remember addresses. If the car is located somewhere you want to remember (ie you're driving along, see a restaurant, stop, and like it, decided to remember where it is) you can hit the "mark" icon from the bottom of the map screen to store the location. Otherwise, if you hit the menu button on the top right (plastic, not part of the screen), there's a menu with a list of options, including one that, i believe, says locations (if not, it has a blue flag on it). select that, and it'll put you into your remembered locations menu, where you can add, edit, and delete remembered locations. you can also put names for these locations, such as "Home", "Work", "Chipotle", "Mom's House", etc. You can recall them by going to the destination button (to the right of the screen) and selecting the big blue flag. Additionally, some of these can be selected as "hot spots" and linked at the bottom of the destination screen. There is also a "previous" section in the destination screen where you can recall recent destinations.

Needless to say, it'll take a little getting used to, as the UI is different than other GPS units out there. Remember, when you're accessing any of these screens, if you don't see something you want, look at the top right area, it might say something like "1/2" in a button, allowing you to scroll to a second page of menu items. Also, when inputting addresses, do it "backwards"... put in the city, then street, then number. it helps to narrow down the search area as you go, making things quicker.

[Marlin]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(YorkieSue @ Sep 5 2006, 02:03 PM) [snapback]314633[/snapback]</div>

No matter how many times I read the manual on navigation I do not understand how to use the GPS. It has no memory, does not let you access familiar places when the info has already been inputted many times before[/b]

I guess you need to read some more.

There are memory locations. Click on the Menu button, and one of the onscreen buttons is for the memory points. Use this for your favorite locations. To choose one as a destination on the Destination screen, simply press the memory button. To add some random map position, such as your current position, to the memory points, simply press the Mark button on the map screen.

There is a destination screen button for bringing up the list of recently entered destinations. I think it's on the second Destination screen. (Did you know there are two Destination screens? There's a little "1 / 2" and an arrow button on the top of the Destination screen. Press it and you'll get more destination entry options, including I believe, the recent entered destinations option).

[Ichabod]

I've never used another GPS device, so I didn't have any expectations coming into it. I read the manual to know where things are, and I've had no trouble storing addresses, setting destinations, or marking current position.

I can see where the UI is confusing though, and it still takes me a couple tries to get to things like inputting a POI name. I love the voice control though and I rarely use the UI now when I'm traveling as I already set most of my important "memory" spots already.

In spite of that, I like it, and the only thing I really wish it had was elevation marks.

[mbarrows]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(YorkieSue @ Sep 5 2006, 01:03 PM) [snapback]314633[/snapback]</div>

[b] I am struggling mightily with the biggest disappointment in my new Prius purchase life. No matter how many times I read the manual on navigation I do not understand how to use the GPS. It has no memory, does not let you access familiar places when the info has already been inputted many times before, is a nightmare screen to try and UNCONVOLUTE...I HATE THIS PRIUS GPS and am sick to my stomach that I allowed myself to be swayed to buy it. From now on I will bring my USER FRIENDLY and portable Garmin devise from my RV with me. What a waste of thousands of dollars to have this 'pink elephant' in my car. Does anyone KNOW how to use this awful 'perk' in the prius? Thanks. YorkieSue

We also have an Acura MDX (2003) and the GPS system on it is very intuitive and quite easy to use. I have Magellan 700 which is not as easy to use as the Acura but still gets me to where I want to go (use this in my 2002 Thunderbird). The'05 GPS in my wife's Prius is by far the most difficult to understand and use. I'm not as unhappy as you appear to be but I think Toyota could do a much better job designing their GPS system.

[withersea]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Ichabod @ Sep 5 2006, 02:36 PM) [snapback]314659[/snapback]</div>

I've never used another GPS device, so I didn't have any expectations coming into it. I read the manual to know where things are, and I've had no trouble storing addresses, setting destinations, or marking current position.

I can see where the UI is confusing though, and it still takes me a couple tries to get to things like inputting a POI name. I love the voice control though and I rarely use the UI now when I'm traveling as I already set most of my important "memory" spots already.

In spite of that, I like it, and the only thing I really wish it had was elevation marks.
[/b]

Same here. The Prius Nav is the only one I have used and my experience pretty much mirrors Ichabod's.

[Soylent]

Does the nav system really use GPS? I thought it just uses a compass and a map from a DVD to track where you're going.

[NineToez]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Soylent @ Sep 5 2006, 11:02 AM) [snapback]314672[/snapback]</div>

Does the nav system really use GPS?[/b]

Yes, GPS along with speed sensors coupled with map data from the map DVD can pinpoint your location and estimate travel data like distance and MPG.