I have an older style Toyota system you refer to Metropolis on my 120 series Landcruiser, it has touch screen, but the most important controls are a row of push buttons below and for the audio the most used controls are push buttons on the next level down, sub menus are on the touch screen as are some of the heating ventilation controls, however again those most likely to be used are a row of large touch screen points along the bottom edge of the screen, so once used to the layout, again they can easily be touched without taking your eyes off the road, i give it 9/10.

However as a satnav it's awful, ridiculously complicated and hampered by not having a full postcode facility, once you finally get it programmed a frustrating 20 minutes later it does work well but the mapping is nothing to write home about.

What model of head unit, which firmware & how upto date is the actual mapping? Certainly the TNS700/B9010 in my 2007 Avensis had full post code facility (a lot of people don't realise that on Toyotas you actually have to input the space - obviously on some other manufacturers you don't).

As for why car infotainment in general sucks car manufacturers work on roughly 7 year replacement cycles with a mid-life update, consumer electronics work on a much faster lifecycle. Car manufacturers start designing a new model several years in advance of production & because all the infotainment is linked these days into the car systems that control engine, braking etc. has to be designed & tested extensively to a level that consumer electronics don't - that costs money which ultimately will be passed on to the consumer. Infotainment is usually supplied by a 3rd party so there is also an extra tier of cost & profit compared to consumer electronics & production nos. are lower so less opportunity for volume of scale efficiencies. So, essentially they are always going to use older hardware & cost more than equivalent consumer electronics.

p.s. I have no idea why the blue line to the left appears when I use the quote facility on the forum.

Edited by Heidfirst on 15/02/2019 at 16:34

You what?