Does the new nav system audio prompting include street names, i.e. "right turn on Main Street"? I've read references as to a right or left turn "spoken" by the system, but not the specific street name that the next turn should be on.

While I certainly understand that no system can correctly pronounce all street names, this feature makes these systems much more valuable than "right turn in .4 miles"... which causes me to look at my trip odometer!

And if the M-B system does not support this, does anyone know of other systems that do?

 

The voice prompts do not include street names, just when to turn and if it is right or left.

 

Like Rays said it will tell you when to make the turn. It will also display the name of the street on the top of the street, and the name of the current street at the bottom of the screen. You won't have to look at your odometer. don't worry, she won't let you pass it by!! It will first say make right turn in 1 mile, then for example 200 feet, and finally "make turn now".

 

Thanks, guys. Have either of you ever used the Hertz "Never Lost" nav system and if so, how does it compare to that in terms of speed and accuracy?

It certainly sounds better just in terms of the street name(s) being displayed on the screen.

 

I've used neverlost....you can buy the unit from Magellan, the NAV750M. Address entry is more cumbersome than MB nav. The voice prompts are about the same. Both systems will use voice to prompt numbered highways. I think the MB prompts are more detailed and conversational than Neverlost. One thing about Neverlost is a tendency to default to U-turns if you vary from its route list...such as when you might know a short cut. MB will simply reroute to accomodate. Once on a stretch of road in San Antonio the Neverlost defaulted to a U-turn do loop. I U-turned 3 times on a 2 mile stretch before giving up. Moreover, every time I passed that road section the U-turn prompt repeated itself. In Hyannis, the Neverlost refused to recognize a key road essential to my trip. It routed me every which way around that road, but never the road itself. On that road was the church where I was to attend a wedding. I received directions from a local service station...

 

I've only used the Hertz system once and it was a while ago. Don't really remember. I think I actually gave up trying to figure out how to enter a destination on the Hertz (while driving of course ). With the MB system I didn't even read the book. Pretty easy to use.

 

Neverlost is a little confusing to use. I have always had problems finding destinations that I was looking for, since in many cases I did not know the address, but say, only the name of the hotel. For example, it did not know about a lot of the hotels in Disney that have been there for 10+ years. I've used the COMAND in the S-Class, and have found it to be a good system (CD based coverage problems notwithstanding), but the input of names of destinations and stuff was a little tricky. Not as easy as Japanese Nav's. With any nav, you will find weird things that will happen, like it showing you driving on water, and unkown roads, etc. It is still an improving technology.

 

I've had Navigation in my Honda minivan since 1999. Works very well, but it has a few user interface quirks I would change. It is a touch screen based system and shows an on-screen keyboard for input.

It definitely talks to you, mutes the front speakers. Sometimes it gives the street name, sometimes not, all depends on what is going on. For example, in most cases it will say "in half mile, make a right turn" and as you get closer it will prompt again. Also they have a little "progress bar" that shows you that you are getting closer to the turn, etc. In some cases though it will say something like "merge onto 183N", in otherwords it tells the street name.

With the Honda system there are a few GPS type quirks that occur, I would expect them to occur with MB also. For example, in TX we have a lot of service roads (roads that run parallel to the hwy). In some areas, the GPS thinks you are on the hwy instead of the service road, so it does not tell you to merge, etc. Mostly the times when the Navi gives me problems is where the actual navigation is very complex (things like exiting and immediately turning, etc).

The main user interface gripe I have is that if you select a specific named destination (such as "Taco Bell"), then it does not sort them from closest to farthest, so I get a list of Taco Bell's in the whole country and have to hunt for the one closest to my location. But I love the fact that it basically has a phone book of all business in the country, so for example, we were in Houston, looking for a specific furniture store and wanted to know what time they closed. I looked up the store in the Navi system, and it shows the phone number so we could call them. Does the MB Navi have this????

Apurva

 

The operating methods are similar. MB has no touch screen or voice recognition. I will show the closest POI to your location. It also tends to negotiate and distinguish the side streets well.