Our Infiniti FX50's hard-drive-based navigation system came in handy a few days ago when I drove to San Francisco. My destination was actually Fort Baker, which is just north of the city in Marin County. Since I was coming from the east, that meant using the Bay bridge, driving through the often-confusing layout of San Francisco and then going over the Golden Gate bridge to Fort Baker.
As it was dark, during rush hour and raining for my drive in, the navigation system's prompts allowed me to focus on driving rather than navigating. I particularly liked being able to turn off the voice prompts for turns and just using the system's simple and unobtrusive "dings."
I also like the FX's combination of buttons and the touchscreen display. I don't think the button layout is all that stylistically pleasing -- it looks too busy -- but once you learn the interface it's great for quickly getting what you want.
Brent Romans, Senior Automotive Editor
chavis10 says:
09:55 AM, 01/28/09
Sounds good. I think the combination of the control wheel/button/toggle thingy and touchscreen is the best of both worlds. Let the driver choose and everyone's happy.
m_thrizzle says:
09:57 AM, 01/28/09
Does the nav system do text-to-speech? (Does it speak the street names?) This feature is common in portable GPS devices now but I'm wondering if any OEM ones have this handy feature.
BTW, next time you're trying to traverse SF and the nav wants you to take Van Ness to get to the Golden Gate Bridge, take Franklin (1 block west of VN) instead. It is a 1-way street, the lights are timed and will save you some time and frustration. Then on your way back, use Gough.
bankerdanny says:
01:22 PM, 01/28/09
Speach synthesis can be fun, try a GPS sometime on Houston St in NYC. The name is pronounced howston, but my Blackberry based gps pronounced it texas style.
billt9 says:
09:14 PM, 01/28/09
Busy buttons are always faster once you learn it. All commands are one-touch.
It just has a higher learning curve that makes reviewers complain, since reviewers only get a day to learn. And you don't want to spend your whole day just learning the nav.
adantium says:
05:03 AM, 01/29/09
I have this exact same system in my Infinti EX35 and I can attest, yes, it does speak the street names as well as other things. There are a lot of buttons but they do allow quick access to functions. I haven't tried many others but I find this one very suitable. I also enjoy being able to give addresses by voice command. Its the only way I enter addresses and find it comprehends my requests all the time. You can also do a voice command for things like finding an airport or hotel etc.