robuckj

In reply to another post ("Can passenger enter address while driving?"), I noted that I could not re-program the destination from my address book while in motion -- I could get into the address book, but it would only show the first three entries, and not let me go further down the list (by turning the knob) until I pulled over and stopped (on an interstate, which is basically illegal to do).

I just finished a 1200 mile trip, and in 3 days of driving on interstates and state highways, I found that this limitation applies to nearly everything I tried to do with the Nav system--including weather warnings.

Want to find a nearby restaurant before exiting? You'd better like something among those listed on the first screen, because that is all you get to see--3 or 4 of the presumably nearest places. That really didn't cut it, because most of the time they would be behind me, or NEAR my location on the interstate, but NOT NEAR the next exit.

Another thing was when the system beeped and displayed a message like, "Weather Warning 10 miles ahead -- do you want to see it?" So I turn the knob to do that, press "enter" and it displays the first few lines of a long warning that basically starts out listing the counties involved. There's a scroll bar showing and you have to turn the knob to read the rest of the warning. No joy, turning the knob would not scroll the warning down so I could see it. I now know there is a big warning area ahead, but no idea what the problem is. I am required to pull over before finding out if the situation's serious or not. So, in this case the system INVITED me to see the warning, but still won't let me see it.

Why do they allow me to get into some functions while moving (like a Weather Warning, or the address book, or to find a restaurant), but THEN limit the number of results that I can access? If it's dangerous to do, wouldn't it make more sense to prevent me from accessing that function in the first place? Once I've accessed it (presumably the most dangerous part of the process) and am already into the function, why THEN do they limit it to showing me only the first screen's results, when all it would take is a slight twist of the knob to see the others?

I'm still hoping to find out that there is a way to use Voice Control to do some of these actions, but--so far--I haven't been able to make that work for these actions.

I am left with the very bad feeling that I have been sold an expensive nav system that has been deliberately crippled, but not even in a way that makes sense. I know it's not a good idea to operate the thing extensively while moving, but the system has been so de-tuned that it is now useless for its intended purpose, in my opinion.

RDXAWD

You should be able to do most of it by voice.. like speaking a new address or something..

I agree the weather is cheesy these are not storm chaser vehicles, maybe for long road trips.

I don't plan to pay monthly fee for traffic and weather, the fee that rides on top of the XM radio fee.

weather

I wouldn't pay for a weather forecast either *LMAO* I'll do it myself

ninjamyst

it's a safety feature being imposed on all car makers. Personally, I hate it and I think it's absolutely retarded. When I am driving with my wife, she should have the ability to input new addresses. We love the nav on our 2006 TSX because it's touch screen and it does not have this crippling "feature". We are shopping for a new SUV right now, and this is top on our list. We love the Cadillac SRX but its nav system is the same; can't input while driving. So there's no hack for it. We were hoping someone will find a way to hack the RDX nav soon.

NBP04TL4ME

We had an 04 Lexus ES330 and it was the exact same situation. However there was a secret sequence of buttons you could push and it would disable this "feature" and would allow entry while the car was moving. The down side was that the disable was only good while the ignition was on. It reset when you turned the car off and restarted. As I understand it, Lexus defeated this work around and there was no way to disable the "feature." Not sure if there is a way to defeat this on the Acura or other manufacturers.

RDXAWD

I tested the Honda CR-V Nav was able to mess around while I tested drove it. I know of others cars also.
only the cars that has a bit of luxary will not let you do this.

robuckj

Well, in the days since I blew off so much steam, I have confirmed that the Voice Control will work the system, if you have it turned on--somehow, in all my playing around with the "customization" features of the RDX the day after I got it, I had managed to turn the main system's voice volume "off," which is why it was silent. With it "on" I can get into the Address Book and make selections while moving, and the system will read the Weather Warnings to me.

I find that using the Voice Control system is more distracting than turning the knob; that might change over time as I memorize the sequence of commands.

I still do not understand the thinking behind the way Acura has crippled this system: it lets you do the hard thing (getting INTO the address book, or selecting a destination category) but stops you from doing the easy thing (turning the knob just one more notch in order to see more than the first 3 or 4 search results).

RDXAWD

One of the things I like having a factory navigation system is that it is always there. (unless you put a Garmin or something out all the time, most people don't). I am able to zoom in and out of the map to look for shortcuts and get a general sense of direction. Even when it is not about entering an address, I really want the ability to zoom in and out.

Unfortunately overall how the nav works on the Acura this ended up being a deal breaker (for me)

Also I did not like having to pay for traffic info, it's FM and it should be free. I think FM is better than Acura link which seem to be XM satellite based. Weather is useless, I can see the grey clouds in the direction I am heading. The acura link price is steep, the traffic and weather is actually more than what I am paying for XM alone right now. Rant over.