I like the idea of having a navigation system in a car. But I tend to recoil for two reasons: (1) the price tag, and; (2) look what it does to the stereo.
When you hear us gripe about an audio system or HVAC control panel having too many buttons, the photo above is what we mean. What an ergonomic nightmare! It is impossible to tune the radio without massively taking your eyes off the road, and you can't learn the buttons by feel because; (a) there are too damn many of them, and; (b) they all start to look the same. Having to repeatedly nudge a joystick to ratchet up through the stations is no picnic either - give me a dial to twist. Oh wait, they need the joystick for the Nav system.
So I set my presets, thinking I'll just use the steering wheel arrow keys to toggle through them. Wrong. On this Merc, the steering control steps through every clear station, of which there are something like 57 here in LA. Instead, I need to reach over and punch in my selection on that telephone keypad. If the steering wheel controls are reconfigurable to step through presets only, and I don't believe they are, I couldn't find that mode.
The owner's manual is presently missing from this car, but my feeling is that if a driver needs to consult the manual to figure out basic radio operation, the ergonomic design team dropped the ball.
Until navigation systems--an admittedly neat feature that I really need maybe once per month--can be operated without having to complicate the day-to-day operation of other systems, such as audio, I'll pass.
Dan Edmunds, Director of Vehicle Testing @ 12,090 miles
desmolicious says:
11:59 AM, 10/11/06
I guess this is where BMW scores with the I-Drive. In the preset screen (which it goes to if that's where you last left it when you turned off the car) you just toggle between presets either with the dial or with the customisable function buttons on the steering wheel. Both of which allow you to keep your eyes on the road.
If you want to pick between all available solid signals, then just up one level and the use the steering wheel buttons or i drive dial for the same thing. Love it.
To be honest, I gotta believe that when you find the R500's owner's manual it should have similar functionality.
deric4eyes says:
08:29 PM, 10/11/06
If integrating with the audio system is the key to a good navigation system, then I think Volvo has hit the target. Controls and screen are completely separate. When you don't need nav, you don't need to deal with the screen taking up the audio system's real-estate (plus it hides away for a clean look). I didn't have to look at the manual at all in order to figure out how to use the nav and audio in my V50. Of course, it is missing some techno features like touch-screen, but I rather have something that works and is easy to use. Sometimes, technology doesn't solve a thing.
thebigal says:
09:18 PM, 10/11/06
I've never used an Nav system, but then again, never have I had to opportunity to. But I would listen to the audio system quite a bit more frenquently than I would ever use the nav system and so I would much prefer a simple to use easy to get to audio system, with controls separate from the nav system, where I don't have to scroll through, switch screens, press buttons or any thing else to get to the "on button" and the dial tuning or CD track changing or volume controls. And dials work much better than toggles and step buttons.
kurtamaxxxguy says:
04:05 PM, 10/12/06
Sounds in part like bad programming of controls per user function.
They could also put a twist/rotater function into the joystick itself (some game consoles use these) so when you rotate it CW or CCW, it acts as a radio station tuning knob. Yes, it might cost a few more cents per control, but given the prices Mercedes and others are now charging for these systems, that should be doable without breaking the bank.
playdrv4me says:
07:45 AM, 10/15/06
Unfortunately for myself, the Nav system serves for more than just its functionally designed aspect. Car makers these days are offering bigger and bigger screens in Nav systems that they are expecting a higher and higher take rate on. This seems to result in center control stacks that are getting increasingly more utilitarian, bland and even "cheap" looking in their non-Nav versions. Some automakers also seem to "bundle" their higher end audio systems with Nav packages also.
I could do without the Navigation aspect itself, but I do like central integration of *some* of the cars primary center stack functions into a stylish and colorful LCD information display. But then, im sort of a techie at heart.
mercedesfan says:
04:47 PM, 10/24/06
Every Mercedes-Benz vehicle can be set for that. Simply use the steering wheel mounted buttons to access the COMAND and go into the settings menu that appears between the gauges, in settings there is a menu for instrumentation where you can make it such that the steering wheel controls adjust only preset stations. I do agree this is not terribly intuitive for people who have not experienced it before, but every Mercedes works this way so at least there is consistency.