2010 Hack question

[MrChristian]

I know there are "hacks" for GenII, I just want to know if there are any for GIII. In particular I'm looking to have the "Nav-Disable" disabled. I don't want to be inputting destinations while I'm driving, I want my Navigator to do it (the Mrs.). We're about to head out to Chicago on a roadtrip, and not having to bring along another GPS navigational unit for burger/taco detours would be preferred.
2004 - 2005  Prius
Does anyone have any suggestions about what other forums I should be checking for the latest and greatest prius mods?

[HTMLSpinnr]

Fortunately voice recognition allows you to speak in addresses, or pick destination POI's from a list. MUCH more usable while driving.

[Gord]

Rick, how good is the voice recognition in the car? Can you ask it to "Display Restaurants" and it will?

[HTMLSpinnr]

Yes, or you can even say mexican. To navigate, you can choose by POI near you, then a category, and it will give the closest three it's aware of. That being said, some POI's are miscategorized (a fault of the data provider), so sometimes more general is helpful.

[MrChristian]

It's good to hear that someone has had some good experience with the voice recognition. Dialing seems to be ok. With regards to the navigation, there are way too many sub menus. For me it seems like such a hassle to have to fuss around with the voice recognition, which is frequently hit or miss (maybe I should spit the marbles out of my mouth, or maybe the unit should take the potatoes out of it's "ear") even when it recognizes what you're saying it's a bit of a pain navigating through all the sub menus. When you find what you want (just choosing a submenu) it seems like you have to confirm things two different ways before it finally executes your decision. I'm learning that there are a number of shortcuts but it still seems like a hassle. I'd much rather herd cats than have to deal with the navigation solely through voice commands. This is the exact reason I hope to have the Mrs. Navigate through the display (she's worse off with the voice commands as it doesn't register half of what she says). The Nav-unit itself isn't nearly as intuitive as significantly cheaper navigational units on the market. I'd hate to add more unnecessary things to our roadtrip, but I guess my Garmin Nuvi will be indispensible on this adventure.

[HTMLSpinnr]

Having sub-categories helps out with discrimination in difficult to "understand" situations as it limits the choices the car must choose from or match.

[MarinJohn]

After my experience with the gen 2 voice recognition, unless it improves drastically, I will be ordering my next Prius (plug in only) as bare bones. (My gen 2 was top-o-the-line). I think the stereo and nav are better quality as after market installations, and certainly less expensive. Live and learn.

[HTMLSpinnr]

John - take a NAV version for a test drive and compare it. I genuinely think once you tweak a couple of settings to remove voice guidance at every question, it's VERY usable.

[Treasure]

Just purchased 2010 Prius with Nav. Believe Nav purchase was a big mistake. The lockout as you've all discussed is irritating and the voice recognition rarely understands me. Get tired of starting over. Will probably go back to my Garmin on the dash. Very expensive useless purchase. I won't ever recommend the Nav and will do my best to let Toyota know how poor their product is.

[a64pilot]

I've had Nav with other cars, drove me nuts. I have not experienced Toyota Nav, but the Garmin is just so easy - intuitive and cheap, this time I did not get Nav, I'll just do the Garmin.
Toyota may have it licked, but I bet the disk to update the Nav data base will cost more than a new Garmin.