JonDeutsch

One of the big things stopping me from moving to the 2nd gen is the lack of touchscreen NAVI. Seriously, touchscreen is the best user-interface for a car, and I am quite disappointed that Acura moved away from this technology.

They must have egg on their face because ever since the iPhone came out, everything is "touch touch touch!" Yet, Acura in their wisdom did the market research and found that people didn't like the fingerprints... so now we have controller-knob hell instead of simple touching.

It bothers me so much that I am less interested in the 2nd gen despite everything else it provides me over the 1st gen.

Looking for honest opinions from people who have made the switch...

Jon

ESHBG

Hey Jon, I see that you are in KOP...I'm in the Philly area myself also. Have you been kicking around any numbers w/ any of the local dealers for an '09 TSX yet?

Anyway, great question and I'm looking forward to the responses. I'm currently car shopping, the '09 TSX is at the top of the list, and I think that is what I am going to end up going with. But I am on the fence about Tech vs. Base, the newer Navi's controls, etc.

wackura

I went from 1G to 2G. The new knob system has more pros than cons. The major con is that it's a bit more of as hassle to enter addresses and names, but the pros are that it's in a much better position to be seen while driving, it has it's own carved out spot high on the dash board, no more sharing real estate with the radio and AC controls. The overall look is a lot more sophisticated, like a minimalistic RL.

The turn knob makes a lot of things easier. You can turn the dial through menus, options, songs and stations where as with the old touch nav you had to mash that scroll bar. I really hated that. It's tactile, you know that when you turn the knob something is happening whereas with touch technology in general you have to look at the device to make sure your input is being registered properly. For as little as touching the screen is beneficial the knob is a huge plus. I wouldn't trade back.

You should go to a dealer and just play with it a little. I think you'll realize it's an all around practical improvement.

TheGoodGuy

i didnt have the first gen tsx but i was considering an honda civic with navi which is touch and frankly I hated it when i test drove it.

Give me the knob, its faster and more accurate. Problem with the touch screen it is NOT like my iphone touch screen. So i'll take a joystick.

Also when you are driving with teh voice prompts, the navi will prompt you as you drive and use the joystick. I can input an address without ever looking at the screen by just using the voice feedback.

Arcticcl9

I had the first gen with Navi and I can attest that after the initial learning curve of the new knob, it's a lot better. Let me detail out all the pros and cons:

Pros:

1) No more fingerprints on the navi screen!
2) Better position on the dash. It's a lot safer to have your head up when inputing data while driving
3) Better access of the climate control.
4) Better graphics, sharper text and image
5) Intuitive menus and GUI. It doesn't take too long to learn everything.
6) Unit conversions. Nav traffic, weather, are icing on the cake


Cons:

1) Glare, but only when the moonroof is open, and it's high noon. Other times, the glare and contrast is much better than the old navi
2) Address input is not as quick with a knob, but if I take time to learn the voice commands, this could be moot.
3) The screen feels farther away initially. But after driving for a week or two, I got used to it.
4) Boot up could be faster, granted it's still DVD based and not HDD based.
5) Current position..i haven't found out how to do that yet in the new navi. Before I just press the center circle in the navi. It was useful to find out the current position, elevation, GPS coordinates, etc..with just one press of the screen.

SSFTSX

here is display current location

Arcticcl9

I tried that a few times yesterday, but it works one out of 5 times. Hence I seldom use voice commands at all. It's nowhere as quick as before with a single button press. It should be one of the options when pressing the knob, but it's not.

SSFTSX

There is Global commands from Page 153 untill Page 170. It is usefull to print and learn them. There wont be any need for touch screen. Even Audio/Climate/Aux are fully functional on Voice.

quint001

Being an IPhone owner I have to say that one of the thigs that is almost impossible to do is operate the IPhone while driving (you gotta look at the screen to know what the hell you are doing) . . . The knob is a much safer device and having played with it daily now for three weeks it is a piece of cake to operate . . .My old mad has a Jag XF with touch screen navi . . .1st time he drove in my 09 TSX he couldn't believe what a better and more intuitve system the Acura had (BTW when he was looking at the XF, I told him to take a drive over to acura, but he didn't listen) . . . .

09TSXMN

Well said, the other element, and perhaps most important is durability. The therm cycles on a touch screen is a killer, more and more OEM's are going away from the touch screen for this reason as it is the number one failure in warrantee for nav systems. I will take the interface dial so I do not have to pony up $1.5K to fix a broken touch nav screen after warranty is out any day.

JonDeutsch

This is very interesting insights, guys. I hadn't expected so much positive/pros around the new Navi setup. Voice commands are great, but they need to be faster for usability purposes. It's just unnatural to have to wait so long for a response, and it discourages the use of voice commands.

Now I have to decide whether I want to wait for the '10 V6 TSX! I'm quite happy with my 05 TSX, but I would like to upgrade and get NaviTaffic!

TSXDriver23

I never had the 1st gen TSX, I was thinking about buying it, but decided to keep my Accord until now. I think I do miss touch screen sometimes.

march30th1988

I personally do not like the position of the knob. The knob could've been better placed (say like the position of the BMW's right by the arm rest). It seems illogical to reach foward when driving to scroll through different things; even though there is the voice command and such. But overall, the knob should've been placed by the armrest like the BMW's and Benz so that when you are driving, you can maintain vision on the road and just place your right hand on the scroll and occasionally glance at the navi screen while comfortably scrolling without leaning foward. AND! The glare! KILLS ME =(

ESHBG

It's funny you mention that, as I have heard some bad things about the glare. Anyone else experience this? And if so, did anyone notice a huge difference between the Tech and Base screens? It seems to me that the Base would not have much glare but would instead really wash out, as the color scheme is not the best for brighter conditions.

Trip

I went from an 06 Accord with touch screen to an 08 with the interface dial. I like the interface dial much better.

The touch screen may be "sleeker" but in a car, its not very intuitive, especially while the car is moving.

The dial is much more tactile and easier to use. I can keep my eyes straight ahead while driving and twist and tap the dial to get what I need - the system will read your selections. I've found that like typing, my twist and tap skills have grown. When I spell out names, I can twist the dial and land within a click or two of the letter I need if not right on it. And if you use it enough, you'll remember a series of twists and taps and can get around quickly.

The voice commands help and work well. You can say street names and cities instead of typing them in.

And its just cooler to be able to scroll and twist through the audio screen selections, particularly lists of songs.

I don't have issues with glare but under certain conditions, my polarized sunglasses will cause a funky distortion on the screen. Otherwise, IMO there aren't many drawbacks if any to the dial.

And yes, its a bonus to not have to worry about finger prints.