Fall is here. That means no more driving home when the sun is still out. After I hopped into our Mazdaspeed 3 last night for the journey home, I decided to give the navigation a run through. My biggest complaint: the monitor itself.
Strike One: It's small. About the same size as my iPhone screen. It's also placed a little too far away for its size.
Strike Two: The night setting is too dark and it lacks contrast. I have decent eyesight and still struggled to decipher details. Essentially, the map on the screen was made up of varying shades of gray. The day setting was too bright for my taste, but it was easy to read.
Strike Three: There's no adjustment. I toggled through the nav menu, but found no sign of a brightness or contrast slider. I tried the instrument panel dimmer, but that just dimmed the (you guessed it!) instrument panel.
If I really needed a navigation last night, I would've used my iPhone. It has the Navigon app installed and its incredibly clear, very accurate and easy to operate. It does kill the battery, but at $59.99, it's reasonably priced.
Mark Takahashi, Associate Editor
blueguydotcom says:
12:08 PM, 10/21/10
1. 75 - egad, that car must be an oven!
2. Try emailing the googles maps instructions to yourself - then just read 3 or 4 instructions ahead. Not ideal but it will save battery.
3. Yeah, that's a pretty small screen.
travelingman79 says:
12:21 PM, 10/21/10
I've never been fond of built-in navigation for a number of reasons, but kudos on what has to be one of the best blog post titles ever.
tmanz says:
12:30 PM, 10/21/10
wish someone would come up with a good hybrid of a built in monitor connected to an inexpensive, good aftermarket gps. I love the price, and function of the portable models, but hate having to take them down out of the window whenever I stop to avoid having it stolen. At least the more recent ones lock the satellites fast enough it is easy to grab it out of the seat pocket (or dash bin, see other post on here) when needed.
But a combination of a good sized screen in dash (some models have those there without nav for cameras and other controls) and cheap, easy to update or use in another car would be great.
The ones that tried having the TomTom or Magellan popup from a spot in the dash were a good attempt but the screen is still a bit small. The big (only) plus to the built in ones is they often have 7" screens and on those you can see much more map detail out farther around where you are. Allowing for a quick "ok, if I turn onto that road and then go left I'll end up back on this road" rather than having to tell it you want to bypass the current route...
banhugh says:
12:32 PM, 10/21/10
$60 for a navigation phone app when you can get MapQuest nav app for free. Good job!
liquoredonlife says:
12:52 PM, 10/21/10
Navigon works even when your phone doesn't have reception since all the maps are stored locally on the phone (it does consume 1.5+ gigs in this case). If you want to talk about free nav apps that rely on our fickle AT&T network, don't forget Waze or Skobbler.
How were the voice prompts though? Some folks note that the vocal cues are more relevant as far as keeping your eyes on the road. I skipped on the tech package and have no regrets about it. My phone provides sufficient navigation, and it actually makes more sense given how I use navigation. Often times an address exists as a contact within my phone or in an email which I can pull up and navigate without more than a few clicks.
naraymond says:
12:58 PM, 10/21/10
Strike 4 - $199 fee to upgrade to the latest maps SD card.
liquoredonlife> the voice prompts are clear, concise, and what makes this nav system at least equal with the other stuff that's out there imho. In fact, there really is no reason to look at the screen once you have your destination set since the voice prompts work so well.
audisport says:
01:13 PM, 10/21/10
Just saying like I've said before....
Google Maps on Android is the best. Day and night views. 3D view. Topographical. Awesome features and gets updated all of the time. And completely free.
cello_one says:
01:24 PM, 10/21/10
Google Maps on Android - regardless of Google being Big Brother personified, I love the nav program on the Incredible. The poor removable Magellan Lady will need to find another job: that and she got REALLY irritable if you missed a turn. Turn right here - Please make the next legal u-turn - MAKE the next legal u-turn - *sigh* recalculating route. I wish I were kidding...
banhugh says:
01:47 PM, 10/21/10
Warum wir Deutsch sprechen?
jstandefer says:
02:40 PM, 10/21/10
I also find the night setting to be lacking in contrast. I use the day setting. However, at night when my lights come on (I have a Grand Touring with the auto headlamps), the navigation screen dims along with the gauges. If your gauges are searing numbers into your retinas and you're getting a sunburn from the brightness of the navigation display, you just need to press the dimmer stalk rather than turning it. Pressing it switches the main displays (gauges + navigation/info screen) between day and night modes.
The big problem really isn't the size of the Mazda's nav screen nor its resolution, which is actually pretty good. The problem is the map graphics. They are poor resolution and hard to read. System generated text is actually very clear, crisp, and easy to read. Every time I see photos of the Mazdaspeed3, the navigation screen is always up. Do you guys ever use the other displays, such as fuel economy, range, satellite info, etc.? Those are quite nice to look at.
I used to believe I could rely just on my iPhone for navigation. But then I found on some business trips to the middle of nowhere (OK, so Florida panhandle isn't the middle of nowhere, but not where I wanted to be) where I had no data signal, phone navigation was useless.
hb22 says:
03:32 PM, 10/21/10
The 2011 MS3 I tested, the screen was allot brighter then the 2010 one I tested along with the clutch being much easier
misterfusion says:
04:28 PM, 10/21/10
@banhugh: Denn wir kann! Aber Ich brauche ubung...
thejoshdude says:
07:36 PM, 10/21/10
I agree that the voice prompts are what make this navigation system good. I actually haven't had a problem with the screen size; maybe that's my young eyes or the fact the I don't drive other cars with bigger screens all the time. In any case, the female voice is clear and gives excellent, specific directions. Far better even than my friend's stand-alone Garmin unit. As far as brightness, night mode is plenty visible to me and I like the calm vibe it gives off.
c1980172 says:
06:36 AM, 10/22/10
use the instrument cluster brightness control
the idea being you DON'T have to go through the nav menu to adjust it on the fly
santiagofdz says:
11:42 AM, 10/22/10
Add another Android fanboi to the crowd clamoring "Google Maps on Android".
A sync like system should be the objective. I honestly believe that ,with smartphones becoming mainstream, a crappy/cheap nav system will be a pointless feature in a car. Just give the car the tools to talk with the smartphone and call it a day.
--
@HN22
" ...then the 2010 one I tested along with the clutch being much easier". I have a 08.5 MS3 and I've always seen how owners from the 07 model always say the clutch is a chore, while in my car it's by no means heavy. I'd like to know what Mazda/suppliers keep doing to make these impressions so...changing..
steng2495 says:
12:19 PM, 10/26/10
My 2010 MS3 works fine. I hit the panel dimmer (like a button) and it toggles between light and dark when I have my headlights on. If you turn it (like a screw) it adjusts the brightness of both the instrument panel and the navigation. But the standard settings are fine for me. Maybe its cause I'm a younger guy which the car is built for. Or maybe your just complaining about nothing...