Question about navigation

I don't think there is any way to get the steering wheel controls to control an aftermarket NAV system. But the upside is that you can take it from car to car.

Phil

 

I do Real Estate Appraisal in Kalifornia and a lot of my site's are in rural areas. The Toyota GPS system sucks out in rural areas towns and small cities, however the map data seems to be ok in medium to large size cities. IMHO I would get a Garmin system or something similar. For the price and options no way is it worth $2000.00. There are a host of other problems also, very limited use while moving, just try putting in two intersections and nav to the location, etc. etc. etc. <_< Fairly disappointed in this system from Toyota.

Wildkow

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Wildkow @ Aug 22 2006, 10:07 AM) [snapback]307459[/snapback]</div>

Another advantage of Garmin's units is that some of them can be set up with a number of "via" points (for instance a list of garage sale locations) and then programed to provide the fastest route from home to the via points and then back home again. I don't know all of the units that can do that. The Street Pilot 26XX and 27XX can, however.

 

the main advantage is that it's integrated into the MFD, and not a seperate unit with yet another screen that you'd have to look at in the car... plus, being integrated makes it look a little nicer, IMO. It's basically the simple decision you have with most high tech devices (there are some exceptions) - do you prefer form, or function? in other words, do you want something that looks amazing, or something that has way more features and could be more useful? cause the toyota system looks great. But the 3rd party systems are definately more useful, easier to upgrade, come with more features, can be used outside of the car, etc...

All that being said, i didn't want to have to worry about taking a GPS with me or hiding it in the car every time i park or worry about it getting stolen, so i opted for the toyota system, and am fairly happy with it. I'm familiar enough with the cities here that i generally know what areas are going to be bad traffic versus good traffic, and can turn such that it forces the nav to change its course to suit where i want to go. besides, for most traveling where you'd need a nav, 90% of the time will be spent on the highway :-p

 

I opted for an aftermarket nav that I got a bunch of components to integrate with the MFD screen.. Better map coverage and software than the Toyota OEM version. No steering wheel button (because mine is a Classic Prius), but I can use the Map button on the Classic console to switch to the GPS display and there's strap-on steering wheel remote available for the nav box, although it probably would not work nearly as well on the G2 Prius due to it's larger centre pod on the steering wheel..

Garmin now has a built-in nav unit with traffic for vehicles available- it uses the same maps and software as it's standalone models, but it comes with a remote control and outputs NTSC composite video so that it can be displayed on any vehicle screen..

For me, the biggest benefit to a built-in is the convenience and security (less worry about theft because it's built-in, and much more convenient than having to take it off and hide it and then reinstall every single time). A close second is the screen size- most of the portables have tiny little screens so you can barely see any map detail or context- once you've used a nav with a large screen, anything smaller simply won't do..

 

I've had my Prius with NAV for over two years and am pleased with it except for minor irritations with the voice-activated feature. The geographical location is accurate to about 50', I have set the system to automatically change routes if I decide to change my route during a drive (it "corrects" to my changed route in about 1 to 2 city blocks). The geographical features and street names are surprisingly detailed and accurate. Since it uses a combination of satellite links and dead-reckoning, it stays reasonably accurate even when not linked to satellites - as in an underground parking garage. I like the integration with the MFD and Prius.

<_< Here's a link to an online DVD issued for the Lexus NAV system - same as the Prius NAV excepting location of the dash buttons. Runnig it will give you a good picture of how the NAV system works and may help you make a choice.

This runs better if you have a high-speed - like DSL - connection.

http://www.lexus.com/models/es/interior.html#dvd