I'm a nerd and I love the Nav system. I have a good sense of direction and rarely get lost, but it is still handy. I've exited the highway to avoid a backup and it led me to the next exit. Also, it is nice to have the screen mounted in the dash. I like the audio system controls better than those in Civics without Nav. Also, hacking the startup screen was fun. No one else can say wether it is worth the $2K pricetag to you. I've named the voice "Oprah" because she tells me what to do.
I find the voice recognition to be more of a show-off feature than actually useful.
Although, for fun, I said "Find nearest hookers". It listed four colleges.

 

wow..definately want to change the startupscreen - does the 'Nag' feature go away (do you have to keep pressing the ok button to activate the Nav?).

also the NAV option is 1500 more MSRP, 22,4 for non-nav, 23,9 for nav so its priced a little more competitively than systems from other manufacturers.

 

i just bought my hchii with navigation system and i have to say that it was worth it. we use the navigation system quite a bit. it is very simple to use and very accurate. the system includes voice recognition which is amazingly accurate. the voice recognition can be used to control the audio system as well as the climate control. you can say for instance: "set temperature to 72" or "temperature up". i've gotten so used to the navigation sytem that i find myself blindly listening to it and not even thinking. the navigation system is particularly useful when you need to find a gas station or an atm or a parking garage. you can say "find nearest gas station" and it will display all the gas stations in a list and show the distance and the general direction in relation to you. then you can select one of them and it will calculate a route to it. it will do this even if you already have another destination set, say for example if you're going home. it will set the gas station as a way point on your way home. the other nice thing the navi system does is it will display freeway exit information. say you're driving down highway 5 and you want to know what services are available at the next exit. you can say "display freeway exist information" and then it will tell you what restaurants, gas stations, atms, etc. are available for that exit. pretty nifty. the navigation system is also pretty smart. i was in heavy traffic the other day and wanted to get out it. i said to the system: "detour" and it calculated a new route for me. it directed me to take the next freeway exit and then calculated surface streets to bypass the congestion. alternatively, you can say "avoid piedmont ave." and it will recalculate a route around piedmont ave. the system does some obvious things too but they are useful. for example, you can say "time to destination" or "how far to destination" and it will tell you: "you will reach your destination in 23 minutes." great if you're meeting someone and are running late. finally, i was driving the other day and needed to find a home depot. i simply said to the system: "menu. places. home improvement. home depot." and the system found all the nearby home depots and their distances. that's really where the system comes in handy. i think the $1500 is a steal for all this functionality. all cars will probably come with navi systems in the future. they are that useful.

 

Thanks a lot for the replies and the pictures! Any have any pictures of the Navi in action (not just the music)? I am kinda disappointed that all the dealers in the area only have HCHs w/o navi so I can't play with one. Thanks again, everyone!

 

If the NAV makes you convert to "digital" climate and radio control system then there's no way I would get it. I like *****. I like seeing the **** right there and being able to control things directly without having to touch through menus and other computerized crap. That's one really big reason I didn't get the prius. All that touch screen baloney was WAY harder to use than regular controls. Why pay extra to get a car that's harder to use? If you like the whizbangy stuff like the prius has then you might like the navi for the civic, otherwise it's just a waste that degrades the driving experience.

 

Don't worry about finding a HCH w/ nav to play with it. Take a look at one of the other civics w/ nav. We looked at an EX that had the nav option and I believe it is the same exact setup.

The more I hear you guys talk about it, the more I wish the had the one w/ nav in stock...but my wife's old civic was just totaled so we were kinda in a hurry to get something quick. If they had it there we would have just got it, the only reason we really started thinking about not getting nav was because they couldn't find one.

 

Zim, you can relax...the climate control is still controlled by buttons and *****. You have the option of using voice commands if you want. There is no integration of the climate control system with the NAV Screen. Audio controls however are all controlled through the NAV screen which I like since there are so many possible options - Radio, Card Player, CD, AUX. However for the computer challenged the steering wheel controls control all the major functions so you don't have to fuss with the screen if you don't want to or you can use voice commands.

 

So I don't need the touch screen to steer the car? That's reassuring. Oh but voice control for the steering... bad idea. :-)

BTW, you don't have to be computer challenged to feel that a computer interface is not the answer for everything. I'm fine with a computer when I'm using... a computer. But when I'm driving a car, I like it to be a car. Call me old school, but if everything worked like an ipod I'd have to go on medication.

Seriously though, I'm glad they've left something normal for those of us who need it. The more sofisticated the capabilities get, the more they'll have to go to electronic interfaces, I suppose comes with the teritory. I just hope they don't make too many advances in heater controls before I buy my last car. :-)