After switching from my beloved hand-held Garmin 60CSX GPS to the factory installed Toyota (DENSO) Nav system, I've noticed one big difference. When I set a destination on a side street I'm getting the voice prompt telling me to "proceed to the highlighted route" AND "there are parts of this where route guidence can not be provided".....WHAT THE HECK?! I've also noticed that the streets where "route guidence can not be provided" are colored in yelow/brownish color. QUESTION: Why? Why can't this Nav system do what my Garmin does...Navigate from ANYWHERE?
Yes, they do. I've encountered this mainly in rural areas. My guess is that to save space, they don't provide routing metadata on all possible roads.
I encountered a similar problem, at least with the 2007 update (to my 2005). When I did some research, I recall finding posts indicating that the Prius built-in navigation refuses to use streets with any "incomplete information", while most other navigation systems are happy to do so. (Sorry that I don't have references handy, it was a few months ago that I was looking into it.) I've been lucky that it has only failed me where I know enough of the geography to get by. It might be worth spending a few extra minutes double-checking when it gives you goofy route suggestions, though.
The built in Denso unit is frankly not that good. A Garmin Nuvi is far more accurate and easier to use. I've done a lot of side by side comparisons with the Prius nav system on and my Garmin at the same time. The built in unit is nice to look at, but the Garmin is a better unit
Each GPS company does things a little different, some have newer maps, some have better voice instructions, etc... etc.. It really seems to be an individual preference in all honesty. I just installed a Kenwood DNX5120 in my Toyota Tacoma and it uses the latest Garmin GPS. I have driven it for a few weeks now and in all honesty prefer my base GPS in my Prius. Although it doesn't have as new of maps or announce street names like the Garmin there are some things it does better ... like interstates. The split screen on Interstates that list the distance to next exit is excellent for any business user such as myself. Anyway that is just my $0.02 Ohhh, the Kenwood does kick A** in once aspect. It BY FAR and AWAY has THE BEST iPod interface I have ever seen. It completely blows DICE, Vais, Aux cable and anything else you can think of out of the water.
I live in a rural area and drive on "county roads" quite often and the Prius Nav is horrible in this enviroment. Question: Will / Can future versions of the Nav discs have "more information" on them so routing can be done on rural roads?
"data is incomplete" and "route guidance cannot be provided" issues happen quite often on rural backroads with me too. The roads are there, but it wont generate route guidance using them. And it makes no appearant sense. Un-acceptable, considering a wonderful little Garmin is soooooo superior......... but I've gone on about the inferior nature of the Prius navigation system many times already. .
