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Average user rating:
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Full user review
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1 out of 1 people found this review helpful
3.5 stars
"Great Hybrid Vehicle"
Pros: SKS, great mpg, jbl sound, comfy ride, Limited edition is loaded
Cons: Nav system, Bluetooth, voice recognition all have a way to go
Summary: I have the Limited edition and not the standard Highlander Hybrid.
I love the vehicle and would give it a higher rating IF the following were not so annoying:
Voice Command
?It is very difficult to find a listing of commands you can give this unit! I eventually found some lists on the internet. This really belongs in the documentation.
?It is incredibly annoying to have the voice prompt shouting at you every time you press the ?talk? button. There should be a configuration item that allows you to turn voice prompting off and only ring the bell when you press the ?talk? button. After you have done this a few times, you really do want to say commands quicker and the voice prompt simply slows you down.
?Power Users want the quickest and dirtiest way to accomplish a task as is possible.
Navigation
?The detail in Toyota maps is sorely lacking. Using the Toyota GPS unit, my house sits in the white area of the display with no detail of neighborhood streets. I have had the Magellan Roadmate for 4 years and it displays my neighborhood correctly. When in Map mode, I frequently cannot see side streets and major roads that my Roadmate shows ? useful for detours when a road is unexpectedly closed.
?Another annoyance is that you have to manually change the region you are routing to! Garmin and Magellan do not require this. Somehow this is invisible to the user!
?For a unit costing more than $2K to add to your vehicle, there is no information available to find out what the current map release is ? so you can determine if you need a newer version, or how you are going to get future upgrades. Do you get an email? Letter? Does the first upgrade come free? What is the cost of an upgrade? Do the upgrades have firmware upgrades too?
?Power Users want the quickest and dirtiest way to accomplish a task as is possible.
Bluetooth
?I do not know what to call this so I will call it ?Headset Mode?. When using my Plantronics Bluetooth headset with my Motorola Q, I can simply say ?call john doe home? ? and the call goes through because my phone is doing all the work. It would be fantastic to have this mode available as an option. All Bluetooth phones have this capability ? why not use it! For those who do not want to, they can use Toyota's implementation.
? I have to
o Press talk
o Listen to annoying voice prompt
o Say ?Dial by Name?
o Listen to annoying voice prompt
o Press talk
o Say ?john doe?
o Listen to annoying voice prompt
o Press the call button
?When I ?dial by name?, I can only get the first phone number! There appears to be no way to voice dial the 2nd phone number.
?Most phonebook/address books allow for a mobile, home, and work number. Your unit only allows two telephone numbers. And as I said above, you can only voice dial the first number.
?The whole point of this Bluetooth capability is not ?gee, whiz bang?, rather it is for safety. The less I have to take my hands off of the steering wheel, the safer I am to myself and others. It is the law in Washington State that cell phones cannot be operated in moving vehicles unless the driver is using a Bluetooth device.
