Is the nav system in the es 350 "Text-to-speech"? In other words, does it speak the street names or just say take the next left or right turn?

 

It's not text to speech......it just announces turns...not street names. My little Garmin Nuvi does it, and it was alot cheaper.

 

The nav system doesn't announce street names but the voice does announce interstate and route names, freeway exit numbers, etc. The street names do appear in a large box on the nav screen, so they're hard to miss.

The big advantage over cheaper add-on units is that the Lexus nav is tied in to the car electronics so it knows your direction of travel, speed, and when you start or stop. The route guidance continues, accurately, even if you lose the GPS signal. This may only be important if you live in a big city like I do (Boston) where you can lose GPS in skyscraper caverns or in long Interstate tunnels that run under cities.

Another subtle feature is the voice is pleasant full fidelity and lowers the volume on the speaker when giving directions, so it's not so annoying on long trips.

 

I compared my Garmin Nuvi to the directions given by my Lexus Nav system, and they were virtually the same! The Garmin not only announced the street, freeway, route names, but it also had every bit of information, starting and stopping, travelling speed, and on the few occasions I lost satellite communication, it also estimated my location!
One thing you failed to mention is that if you're using the Lexus bluetooth connection, and you're on a call, you don't get vocal nav directions while driving until you terminate the phone call. Due to this problem, I've missed some turns since I had NO guidance!

 

You obviously prefer the Garmin, that's great. Why did you spent so much extra money on the built-in nav?

 

Actually, my last two Lexus's were equipped with the factory nav systems, and I like them very much, but since I travel by plane alot now, I bought the Garmin for the rental cars I use. Yes, I was pleasantly surprised that this little portable GPS was so feature laden with points of interest, and much easier to program than the Lexus nav system.
On a positive note though, I think the Lexus nav system is more sophisticated than the Garmin. I also have the backup camera, the bluetooth information, DVD video playback, etc., displayed on the nav screen, and I will continue to buy my cars with built in systems.
The one thing I don't like about portable Gps units is the fact that everytime I park my rental car I have to remove it so it's not stolen.

 

I bought a Nuvi for use in our other car as well as in rentals, and have been impressed with the features and functions that are packed into it for the price. It works great.

The prices on portable nav units continue to come down. The model I bought dropped by $10 when I was online at Amazon.com ordering it.

 

Oh yeah.....I forgot to mention that I also use the Garmin Nuvi in my wifey's car, and also lend it to my cheap friends who don't want to buy one of their own. LOL

P.S. I just downloaded from Garmin the latest 2009 Navteq maps, only because when travelling around Phoenix, AZ they are constantly building new roads. Cost about $69.95. I'll let you know if it was worth it, since I had the 2008 Navteq maps installed when I bought this unit.

P.S.S I just flew back from Minneapolis, MN and tracked the planes flight speed. It registered 567mph. Yoweeee!!!!

 

Have you ever used your Nuvi with the Usage Mode set to either Bicycle or Pedestrian? I keep meaning to try it, but forget to take it with me. I think it might just route you past busy streets or intersections, but not sure.

 

Nope....never tried those modes.......but if you do, let me know how it works.

 

The ES350 Nav will speak the street names back to you when you enter an address by speaking it (it will speak the city, street, number, etc. to confirm it understood you). When it does this it is in a different "voice" that is choppy and not fluid like the standard voice. My question is if it is capable of speaking the street name during the input function, why can't it do the same during guidance mode? This was a disappointment, especially since the Honda navigation in my other car speaks every street name during guidance. Come on Lexus/Toyota - get with it!