Navigation Package or not?

For all of you who keep repeating this ... the true nice part of having the integration (which is ONLY available if you have Nav on the Gen 3 Prius from Toyota) is that you can look at Playlists and the menu screen from your iPod on the Nav screen. I have 3,200 songs on my iPod ... just being able to control tracks with steering wheel controls ain't gonna cut it.

 

Quite frankly, I don't know what the point of discussing about the prius nav is. There are enough reports of users unsatisfied with it to conclude that's it's value is questionable at best. Fact is factory navigator are a lot more expensive than portables with criminal update charges but buyers are looking most of the time for it's convinience (larger screen, cable-free) and integration with sound system. To me, in the Prius, considering it's quality, it's an expensive convinience that I simply say not in this life, but if you think it's worth it, go for it, it's your money. I have experince with both factory and portable and I have to say I'm a big fan of portables because they focus in the navigation piece, that's their business. I often see people saying I don't like the small screen size of portables, fine, I actually find that they do such a good job of highlighting the most important stuff and their screens are so much brighter than factory units, that makes them so much easier to follow compared to factory. Not to mention, of couse, that they are much cheaper and require much cheaper updates. So, I'm not sold to the convinience of the factory units, and the one that comes with the Prius certainly didn't help it. If someone says that he like factory navs because they belive the navigation piece is what they like the most about them, then him/her has either no experince with portables or is being riped off without realizing it.

 

If you need the latest greatest Nav all the time portable is the only way to go. I never considered the Nav because the portables just keep outpacing the Car Navs on updates and keep getting less expensive it seems every month.

 

Toyota needs to talk to the good folks at Garmin. If Garmin were good enough to put in Commercial aircraft, I would think they would be good enough for an in-dash system. Following a circle on a map is just not state of the art. Functionality is there but the Map is old school. It could be made much better. Lets hope they update our system for us.

Dan

 

Some factory navs are really nice like the latest Ford navs.

 

The latest iPhone has voice control for songs. You can go directly to any playlist, or song by voice. Cheaper to buy a new iPhone than the nav.
You shouldn't be browsing through 3200 songs on the nav screen while driving and it would probably be locked out anyway
It's fine that you wanted the factory nav though. Some people want it, obviously.
Too bad for the people who had to take it just to get the moonroof.

 

It is important to stay one step ahead of the competition. It looks like Ford had a real nice 3D display. Garmin displays lanes in the roads. The Prius Nav does not. You can change the color of the car that travels on the map. With the Prius, you get a circle with a hash mark in it. With Garmin, you get a look at the terrain as you pass over bridges and rivers. Garmin has many streets that the Toyota Nav doesn't show. I'm going to have my dealer check to see if my map is the most current.

Dan

 

sorry for resposting, but I really need to know, what are the limitations of the voice commands? Can you look up a POI, gas price, or change a destination on the go with voice commands alone? Also, can you make phone calls, and use the bluetooth phone capabilities without it being locked while in motion?

 

what do you mean freeway lane assist? Im not sure what you mean? and which gen nav does the prius 2010 have?

 

The best factory navigator to date is the all-new navigation system in the 09 Audi Q5. It will be available in the other Audi 2010 models. I actually saw this in action in a GPS exposition recently, and I think this one really beats my Garmin… maybe! . It is really state-of-art navigation but Audi strategy has been focusing heavily on technologic gadgets for the past several years. Audi is a luxury car, so anyone should expect everything to be cutting edge, but I have rented luxury cars with really disappointing navigators.

 

The problem for me is that I really want the backup camera, so I have no choice about the NAV. I'm not criticizing Toyota for making that the upgrade, since it allowed them to have a whole line of 2010 PRIUS's without the big display. Seems like a wise packaging decision.

As for the NAV system itself I know that I won't get my money's worth from it, since I can use mapquest and read a map etc. so only valuable when actually lost. But I'm not going to worry about it. I'm just going to enjoy the new car, whenever my dealer ever gets it. Of course, I did decide to drop the sunroof to save money so to all their own.

 

Not if AT&T sucks in your area ... really this is the dumbest argument in the world. If people wanna argue about money ... none of us really should be buying a Prius in the first place b/c you won't recoup your money with gas over time most likely.

And you tell me I shouldn't be browsing 3200 songs? Well then why are people complaining about the Nav being locked out as far as inputting a destination.

This is a stupid argument and for all I can tell it's the people against the Nav system basically telling people they're stupid for getting Nav.

Works adequately for me and i'm willing to pay for integration and perceived ease of use, rear camera, and iPod integration. Nuff said.

 

Yeah, it's time to split this thread to ensure harmony.

The people that hate the NAV system need to just get together in a thread and tak about how stupid we are for throwing away our money for buying the NAV. The NAV endorcement folk need a thread so we don't insult people buying the stripped cars for what ever reason. Then a third thread for those who think another brand has a better system since we're buying a Prius and don't really want to know if we're getting screwed or not by Toyota.
Then we need to agree to stay off each others threads.

If someone is unsure then they can read the threads and not simply listen to the bickering back and forth

 

Can't we all just get along????

I got a V without Nav. Was my choice and desire after a lot of constirnation. A rare find but got lucky. I know if a V with my colors and Nav came in first, I would have popped for that as well.

I do have a TomTom GPS but will upgrade soon. And I absolutely need/want a backup camera. Will install an aftermarket (VR3) soon. Do I wish to have saved the trouble an got it all packaged with the Prius nav? Sure. Did I really want to shell out $1800 + tax for overkill in my personal case? Nope. Am I a fence-sitter? Oh yeah.

I can see both sides as I've been there and still am. Do I have any answers??? nope.

I would LOVE an answer to this - before I purchase a separate portable GPS and backup camera system. Is there a very good one out there that does both? I googled and saw a couple but they have their downsides. And I really prefer not to have a wireless backup again as it does take a second+ to bring the image up and has interference at times.

 

Can you tell me which version of the software you have? My version is VER 08.1 on my Info screen.

All this GPS maping is a work in progress. You can expect all Nav systems to be updated with new and improved maps over time.

Dan

 

Or maybe we can keep everyone's opinion in one place so those who may be asking themselves "Navigation package or not?" can hear all sides of the story before making their choice.

I didn't get one because it is far too costly for what you get, and offers no benefit to me on selling my car as I keep mine more than a couple years. I only use mine on long trips, so puling the Garmin out of the closet every once in a while is no big deal to me.