[Craigster]

As I wait for a Pearl White with NAV to arrive at my dealer (though, at this rate, the Turbo may get here first) I was wondering what people think about the NAV system.

I was looking for objective opinions as to how you find the system - ease of use; accuracy; screen resolution; voice commands; etc. I have heard different things - like the screen is too small, not sharp, not worth it etc....but those opinions are not from anyone using it day to day. I haven't seen or used one up close, and want to be sure what I am getting if it ever arrives.

Thank you for your time and input, I appreciate it.

 

[sbr711]

Likely too soon for the 2011 system, but all earlier Sonata, Veracruz, Santa Fe,Genisis been nothing but customer complaints on & off..

 

[midas69]

The Hyundai NAV screen is 6½". I've had cars with 7" and 8" screens in the past so it's a little small. But it's not TOO small. Compared to the hand held units it's enormous.

Overall I'm pleased with the system. The most important thing to me is the fact that it's not locked down while driving like many of the other manufacturers. Anything you can do when standing still you can do while moving. This was not the case with the Toyota or Nissan units I had. My Acura was close, but there still some things that got disabled while moving. The Hyundai is fully unlocked.

The voice recognition however leaves something to be desired compared to the Acura. But it's far and wide superior to the Toyota. The really nice feature of the Acura was that any button you saw on the screen could be addressed using the voice except for actual letters. You can do most things via voice, but it's not as intuitive as just seeing the screen and pushing a button by saying the button name.

But the NAV offers more than just navigation. It offers a far superior display for the audio and bluetooth systems. I really use the NAV pretty seldom, but I love what it offers, particularly for the audio system. And if you are getting the Limited, the backup camera is shockingly useful. I thought it was going to be more of a WOW gadget, but I've really utilized it a lot. Just the other day I got stuck in a circular driveway and had to back out. It would have been a royal pain without the camera. It's great for backing out of my garage and for those time when I need to parallel park. It's just a wonderful addition.

Your own mileage may vary on how useful the XM traffic is for you. It only does major interstates. Even though XM has traffic data for many surface streets the Hyundai setup doesn't utilize it. Since my daily commute is all off-highway, I let my subscription lapse. Others might find it useful. The few times I did get a chance to use it though it was kind of nice.

Directions themselves seem to be pretty good. This is the 4th in-car NAV unit I've had. On all of them you'll find that if you're really familiar with the area you can route yourself better than the NAV unit. But if you really don't know where you're going, it will get you there. And that's really all that counts. I've had some that have had major errors such as telling you to exit an interstate and getting right back on for no reason at all. My Acura did this in one spot and it actually cost me an extra toll the first time it happened. I haven't run into this yet on the Hyundai.

The POI database is so-so. I've had a few things I tried to lookup that I thought should have been there but weren't. But all units have some holes. But when embarking on a journey, it's always good to be armed with the actual addresses rather than relying on looking it up unless you're sure it's there.

Overall, it's a pretty good unit.

 

[snapper41]

..
I bought it for the rear camera, as on our test drive I never looked at it once. But I must say while on a recent vacation trip, We thought of it as like a cell phone, How did we ever get along without it. It can really be helpful and I highly recommend it, Worth every penny.

 

[piercedogg34]

I have the NAV system as well. My only problem with it is that it seems to give me longer routes than necessary. I check google maps and it gives me a short route, then I type the address into my NAV system on the Sonata and the route is much longer. I don't know why that is? I usually memorize the beginning of the google maps route, start driving it, and then the NAV system usually corrects itself.

 

[sonatahyd]

QUOTE

I have the NAV system as well. My only problem with it is that it seems to give me longer routes than necessary. I check google maps and it gives me a short route, then I type the address into my NAV system on the Sonata and the route is much longer. I don't know why that is? I usually memorize the beginning of the google maps route, start driving it, and then the NAV system usually corrects itself.

There is an option to select an alternate route in the NAV system. You can also manipulate the route to however you want by avoiding certain streets or highways if you don't like the route it gives you. Check your owner's manual.

 

[Quigley21]

I have the nav and am very pleased...

As above all the other items are icing all over the cake. The backup cam I would NEVER be without again. A must have IMHO.

I have had two hand helds and then moved on to my cell phone for nav... Now I have the car nav and I must say it is the best of what I have used...

Is it perfect? No...... but then neither was any of the other units I have used.....

Overall, it does what I want and easily learned.......

I would also say money well spent IMHO...

 

[Craigster]

Thank you all for the excellent replies, especially to Midas69 for all the detail...all your help was exactly what I was looking for.

 

[snapper41]

QUOTE (Dave Priz @ Jun 12 2010, 07:32 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=332281

I have the NAV system as well. My only problem with it is that it seems to give me longer routes than necessary. I check google maps and it gives me a short route, then I type the address into my NAV system on the Sonata and the route is much longer. I don't know why that is? I usually memorize the beginning of the google maps route, start driving it, and then the NAV system usually corrects itself.

I noticed that also, but once out driving I just go the way I wanted to and the system just re-calculates to the destination and in the end, it is the way I wanted to go any way. I do like the way it works when you can not go the way it wants you to, it just adjusts your route, easily and with no problems to the correct end stop. I really like the ( what I call the air plane tone chime) when you should actuality make your turn.

 

[midas69]

Sorry, forgot to mention here, although I talked about it before, the one defect in the NAV system. It doesn't do a great job of calculating travel time. It has a setting where you can specify the speed it should use to calculate different types of streets. You can specify side streets, main roads and interstates. The problem is, it doesn't properly determine which roads are main roads and which are interstates.

As an example, in my neighborhood there is a street called Harlem Ave. It's a main road that's lined with businesses for miles and miles. Traffic is awful on that street. But it's also Illinois Route 43. So the NAV system calculates that as an interstate. Conversely there is a road called the Elgin/O'Hare expressway. It's a 4 lane highway with a speed limit of 55. But since it doesn't have a road number it's only calculated as a main road.

This might account for some of the above complaints about not always picking the best route. But I've only really had an issue with it calculating arrival times wrong. In the grand scheme, not a big deal.

 

[snapper41]

...
The system can be very amusing,( to the point of laughing hysterically out load) listening to the voice pronunciations of streets. I have missed many turns while looking for the street the unit said to turn onto. Finally figured out in it was the pronunciation and now double check the street name as it will come up at the top on the screen as you get close.

 

[midas69]

QUOTE (snapper41 @ Jun 12 2010, 03:22 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=332368

...
The system can be very amusing,( to the point of laughing hysterically out load) listening to the voice pronunciations of streets.

Oh yea, forgot about that. Really amusing at times. But to be fair, all systems that offer street name pronunciation have that problem.

 

[RamKat]

I have been using Tom Tom for just over 5 years now. So I am very used to that interface and the way you can do your own thing on it.

I like the Sonata's nav. It is great for those "how do i get from here to there scenarios when what route you are following is not a concern" However, for proper route planning I believe they should have allowed one to do your pre planning on say Google and then just to port the way points as an itinerary through a USB stick interface. That way one can make the most use of a navigation system by planning the trip the night before with the comfort of a large PC screen with all kinds of easy to use interfaces (mouse etc). I am also disappointed that it only allows the entry of a destination through a street address (other than searching on the graphics interface by means of a tedious working cross hair) I prefer to enter lat long coordinates because that is precise. I have ended to many times on the wrong end of some side street because the map providers have swapped the small an big numbers. Better than standard street address precision is also sometimes needed that to find for example the a very much obscured entrance to a underground parking garage in old Montreal or Quebec city (which I find on google street view) or when going to a camping ground or some cottage out in the areas where a street address is only known by the land surveyors.

I also would have liked to be able to load my own sets of POI's like top tier gas stations, ATMs that does not charge me $5 fee etc

All of the above things are possible with a less than $100 Tom Tom

 

[snapper41]

..
I hear that those little units have come a long way and are very nice. The kids run them, but I never have had the opportunity. Talking to them I do not miss being able to change the voices or customize the little cars, BUT, I may change my opinion when we have to do a long down load to do map and system upgrades at an unknown cost?. I do like the fast boot up speeds and would not change a thing as I know it now.

 

[shelion]

I haven't used my nav that much yet but it is far and away better than our portable Garmin unit. In fairness, our Garmin unit is a marine unit that we use for vehicle navigation (It was purchased primarily for use on a motorcycle and needed to withstand exposure to rain, hence the marine unit.) The Garmin prompts for turns are ill-timed and confusing to me. When I got my iPhone, I was excited to have Google maps at my fingertips but navigating with that while driving does not for safe driving make.

In using the nav in my SE, I find that the display is very clear and the screen size is more than adequate for me. I particularly like the split-screen view it gives when approaching areas where roads converge or split. It shows all the lanes and has a huge arrow pointing in the direction you should go. The controls are fairly easy to figure out and the Point of Interest search worked well to locate a nearby Dairy Queen to satisfy an ice cream urge on a recent drive home. Zooming in and out is also quite easy and accomplished via an on-screen button.

Entering addresses is easy and the fact that it displays an alpha keyboard, rather than using an annoying scroll function that many of the portables do, is great.

I turned off the voice function so I can't speak (har har) to that. Audible nav prompts are on my list of things I don't need or want in my life so I could care less whether that works since I don't use it.

I think it's a good nav system but it's all in what you're used to. Our Garmin unit annoys me so anything is better than that for me. YMMV

 

[Cruiseman]

Not familiar with the Sonata NAV unit. My only experience with factory installed NAV is on my Honda Goldwing motorcycle (Garmin), a $1,500 option! It is JUNK. I have a $600 portable Garmin that is 10 times better and "portable".

 

[gregd71]

Im happy with the nav. my first thought was that it looks like the screen is angled slightly away from the driver seat. but it seems to be facing dead center. guess i miss the portable garmin that was always facing where MY head was. this one is more considerate for the passengers viewing/operation. the night time screen color matches the instrument lighting nicely (unlike the green and purple on the garmin)