tiresmoke
Active Member
- Joined
- July 27, 2012
- Messages
- 56
- Reaction score
- 0
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 2012 Explorer XLT
So I started typing up a post in another section airing my beefs with the MFT when I realized that it was probably in the wrong place. So I figured I would post here.
Before I get started... don't get me wrong, I like functionality. The more I can do with something like this, the happier I am. One of the main things that left me unhappy when I test drove a couple of Toyotas / Mazdas was the seriously overpriced, yet completely subpar looking DENSO navigation units. The resolution was abysmal and using a DVD-based nav system seems so yesteryear to me.
I loved the idea of having a single touchscreen with voice activation and touch-sensitive controls. I saw the complaints stacking up, and I chalked it up to folks who didn't need / desire all that functionality and were looking for a dumbed-down system that would be easier to use. I thought that wouldn't be me since I am a bit of a tech junkie looking for something more.
So now that I've had it for a week, I have to admit that I should have been careful what I wished for. My first problem is that it's SLOW. Plug in my iPhone and it takes forever to connect and start playing. Change the station on the radio or satellite and sit and wait until it catches up. Often it would sit on the loading screen for 4 or 5 seconds before doing something... I'd begin to think that it was stuck.
Then there is the voice controls. It's bad enough that when you are pressing buttons, you often have to go several layers deep into the menus... but when you have to do the same thing with voice commands, it's quite annoying. For example, I plug in my iPhone. I takes a while to connect. When it finally does, I want to play one of my playlists so I say "browse playlists". Apparently I have to say "USB" first. Then I say "browse playlists". Again... not good enough. I have to say "browse ALL playlists". Whatever. Then I have to wait again until they load up. I tried using voice commands to pick one, but that doesn't work. So have to click down to get to the next page and then manually pick the playlist I want (which kind of defeats the purpose of voice commands, IMO). Then I pick a song. I tried to say "shuffle" to shuffle the songs, but that doesn't seem to be a valid command either. I'm beginning to wonder exactly what these "10k voice commands" actually are because I've tried using tons of commands that don't work.
The touch-sensitive controls provide no tactile feedback. The corner "buttons" on the touchscreen are too close to the edges of the screen for my fat fingers. There are WAY too many levels to each of these menus... using the steering wheel controls to do something like change the radio station (if it's not one of the neighboring presets) requires digging a few levels deep into these menus. Changing the station when it IS one of the presets requires you to wait while ticking up one preset at a time while waiting for the radio to catch up. Even when the system works like it's supposed to, the speed it works at is annoying. And while I'm at it, why can't we string together a few voice commands at the same time without waiting for the system to acknowledge each one? Maybe I'm wrong, but I've tried to do it with no success.
Before I get started... don't get me wrong, I like functionality. The more I can do with something like this, the happier I am. One of the main things that left me unhappy when I test drove a couple of Toyotas / Mazdas was the seriously overpriced, yet completely subpar looking DENSO navigation units. The resolution was abysmal and using a DVD-based nav system seems so yesteryear to me.
I loved the idea of having a single touchscreen with voice activation and touch-sensitive controls. I saw the complaints stacking up, and I chalked it up to folks who didn't need / desire all that functionality and were looking for a dumbed-down system that would be easier to use. I thought that wouldn't be me since I am a bit of a tech junkie looking for something more.
So now that I've had it for a week, I have to admit that I should have been careful what I wished for. My first problem is that it's SLOW. Plug in my iPhone and it takes forever to connect and start playing. Change the station on the radio or satellite and sit and wait until it catches up. Often it would sit on the loading screen for 4 or 5 seconds before doing something... I'd begin to think that it was stuck.
Then there is the voice controls. It's bad enough that when you are pressing buttons, you often have to go several layers deep into the menus... but when you have to do the same thing with voice commands, it's quite annoying. For example, I plug in my iPhone. I takes a while to connect. When it finally does, I want to play one of my playlists so I say "browse playlists". Apparently I have to say "USB" first. Then I say "browse playlists". Again... not good enough. I have to say "browse ALL playlists". Whatever. Then I have to wait again until they load up. I tried using voice commands to pick one, but that doesn't work. So have to click down to get to the next page and then manually pick the playlist I want (which kind of defeats the purpose of voice commands, IMO). Then I pick a song. I tried to say "shuffle" to shuffle the songs, but that doesn't seem to be a valid command either. I'm beginning to wonder exactly what these "10k voice commands" actually are because I've tried using tons of commands that don't work.
The touch-sensitive controls provide no tactile feedback. The corner "buttons" on the touchscreen are too close to the edges of the screen for my fat fingers. There are WAY too many levels to each of these menus... using the steering wheel controls to do something like change the radio station (if it's not one of the neighboring presets) requires digging a few levels deep into these menus. Changing the station when it IS one of the presets requires you to wait while ticking up one preset at a time while waiting for the radio to catch up. Even when the system works like it's supposed to, the speed it works at is annoying. And while I'm at it, why can't we string together a few voice commands at the same time without waiting for the system to acknowledge each one? Maybe I'm wrong, but I've tried to do it with no success.
