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Brand New Owner -Nav Questions

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Main Forum' started by tommygun, Mar 10, 2012.

  1. tommygun

    tommygun Who was that masked man?

    Joined:
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    2012 Prius
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    Five
    Just picked up my 2012 Model Five w/ ATP. Love it (more details to come), but it seems to require too much touch screen action that could better be accomplished through voice recognition. The nav screen always seems to jump back to map display after I've finished an audio transaction. Any way to just keep the audio screen in place until I select the map display? I don't like having to go back to audio to change stations. Also, the nav voice instructions are sometimes only useful for part of the trip. Is there any way to squelch the voice while driving without going into setup and using the touch screen? Answers are probably in the manual but I haven't found them so far.

    BTW, to those who fret getting that first ding, I got hit by a NYC cab on my way home from the dealership. Nothing major, but I got a real super-ding my first time behind the wheel! Adjuster coming Monday. Can anyone beat that one? :eek:
     
  2. tumbleweed

    tumbleweed Senior Member

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    Yes there are some options to make it a little easier to live with. The screen always defaulting back to map can be turned off. There are also some options to limit or turn off voice guidance. Hint, go through chapter 8 of the nav manual that will help. RTFM :D

    Edit: Setup is in chapter 8 of my old generation 6 nav system manual. I just learned there are two different nav systems used on the 2012, probably each with it's own manual.
     
  3. Felt

    Felt Senior Member

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    I was not very happy with the nav in my 2010 IV until I read the manual. I still have issues with the map software, but I think the hardware is pretty good. I have driven coast to coast three times, and it sure works wonders on a trip.
     
  4. dragonfinder1

    dragonfinder1 Junior Member

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    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    Five
    The only two gripes I have are that you can't do much while the car is motion ( I fixed that ) and I haven't yet found a way to display the altitude. Other than that it works pretty good.
     
  5. tommygun

    tommygun Who was that masked man?

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    Thanks, folks. Obviously, I need to spend more time with the manual. Dragonfinder, how did you work around the limitations while car is in motion? Right now I just want to be able to turn voice guidance on and off without fumbling with touch screen. I don't know if it's possible.
     
  6. MrBillTulsa

    MrBillTulsa Member

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    The answer to your screen jump issue stated above is found in the Navigation System Owner's Manual on pages 43 and 44, item #9.

    Your car has a very sophisticated and very involved nav, audio, and electronics interface system installed. No one should believe that they can operate and understand every aspect of the system without some study.

    I find the nav owners manual to be very well written and understandable. It's a good read - give it a try.

    MrBill

    :eek:
     
  7. dragonfinder1

    dragonfinder1 Junior Member

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    Unless you have someone there to walk you through the process of "voice", you just need to read the manual and sit in the car and do what it tells you and after a while it will be second nature. As for the motion bypass, I got this from Beat-Sonic, also cproaudio is building a bypass as well. He has most of the wiring done, but you still have to " wire it in ". PM him for purchasing info.
     
  8. Matt M.

    Matt M. Member

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    I read through the entire manual, and I feel that one of the major weaknesses of this car (I have a Four with solar roof package) is that the voice commands are so limited. On our 2008 Honda Odyssey van, you can control EVERY setting and function in the audio system and climate control with a voice command (if you can remember the right words to say). The 2012 Prius "premium HDD nav", only has about 20 voice commands total. A few of them are very powerful, like being able to say "play artist Goo Goo Dolls" when you have your iPod connected. But there are a lot of voice commands I miss from our van, like being able to change the display between audio and map, being able to switch radio tuner preset stations, etc.

    Overall I'm still very happy with the car, but I think the voice command capability is very weak.

    And to second what someone wrote above, yes it's pretty easy to turn off the function which automatically switches from the audio screen back to the map screen after a few seconds.
     
  9. ny_rob

    ny_rob Senior Member

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    Wow, that sucks!
    I just brought my Prius Five home to L.I. from the PA dealership yesterday too. The NAV wanted to send us north to the GW Bridge, through the Bronx, Deegan, Cross Island, yada, yada... finally to the LIE. No way was I gonna drive a car with 95 miles on it through the Bronx. So we went south over the Verazanno to the Belt Pky. I didn't know that they were once again doing major road work on the Belt Pky and that the lanes were just wide enough to get by without so much as maybe one foot clearance on either side. Needless to say I was sweating bullets all the way to the Cross Island where I picked up the L.I.E. east.
    Of course where I joined the L.I.E. there was a dumpster hauler (overloaded with broken concrete) directly in front of me, a tractor trailer in front of him, and a landscape dumptruck towing an open mesh trailer with heavy (dirty) excavating equipment in front of him. I'm absolutely astounded I didn't get a windshield chip on the way home!

    BTW- in mixed driving from PA to L.I.(164mi) on it's maiden journey I got an indicated MPG of 55.3 on Trip A odometer. I'm aware that's indicated vs actual but it's still pretty darn good!

    Congrats on your new car tommygun... hope you don't live in Manhattan cause that would be the first of many dings for your new car.
     
  10. Dog Face

    Dog Face New Member

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    Hey Matt, I agree with you and was pretty disappointed by the lack of voice commands. You can set options to expanded voice commands. Have you tried that? Also, Bing (via Entune) has some really cool voice command applications using "natural language interpretation". You can search for something using a voice command, click on it, and add it as a destination. I'm still experimenting with it.
     
  11. tommygun

    tommygun Who was that masked man?

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    Thanks for your empathetic response. I'm glad you and Prius made it home without incident. I have lived in Manhattan for 36 years, and I've never played crinkle-fender here before. It seems the greatest chance of dings is in suburban supermarket parking lots. Although quite annoying, I try not to let such things bother me too much.

    It seems that every nav system is programmed to select the weirdest available route. It still beats pulling over and unfolding a map. Best of luck enjoying your gas-sipper. We both have superb taste in cars.
     
  12. jdcollins5

    jdcollins5 Senior Member

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    Like other have said, if you will take the time to read the manual you will find that there are settings that tell the Nav what routes to take and which routes to avoid. The system also gives you three different routes to choose from: shortest, quickest and alternate.

    So if your car is giving you the weirdest routes, and you will not take the time to learn why, is this really the Nav's fault ?
     
  13. tommygun

    tommygun Who was that masked man?

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    It appears that the most common response to an inquiry is "read the manual." Trust me, I have, although I will admit to not having memorized it. My comment about nav systems was not specific to this one. In fact, I do like the multiple route choices you mention. I've used many systems over the years. Sometimes they pick the best route and sometimes they don't. Even the Prius nav is imperfect technology. So far, compared to the Infiniti system I had before, the Prius seems to require more touch screen input than necessary. I really like the car, but I don't like unfounded assumptions like "if you take the time to read the manual."

    :D
     
  14. Matt M.

    Matt M. Member

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    I agree that no nav is perfect - don't follow your nav's directions if it wants you to drive off a cliff! ;-)
     
  15. dragonfinder1

    dragonfinder1 Junior Member

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    That's funny, actually you don't really need to read the manual, just place it between your head and the pillow when you go to sleep and the next morning you'll know it all :D
     
  16. tommygun

    tommygun Who was that masked man?

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    OK. My mistake was putting it under the pillow. All I got was the table of contents.:)