Why Mazda is purging touchscreens from its vehicles

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FlyingPenguin
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Why Mazda is purging touchscreens from its vehicles

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Err
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Re: Why Mazda is purging touchscreens from its vehicles

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I'd like to see this trend go away. I especially hate when the HVAC controls are buried in the touchscreen. I know you can operate them with the steering wheel controls but you still have to look over at the screen.

I also hate the screens that stick out from the dash. I think it looks awful.
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Re: Why Mazda is purging touchscreens from its vehicles

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I like the screens but I do prefer physical AC controls. I don't particularly like everything to be on a touch screen. When these things fail or flip out (they have on me), you can't adjust anything.

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Re: Why Mazda is purging touchscreens from its vehicles

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Ditto. Thankfully Lincoln is still including physical AC controls (with repeaters on the touch display). Otherwise the wife's new Navigator looks like the cockpit of a shuttle from Star Trek TNG.

What I can't stand is the size and weight of the Lincoln key fob. It's like having a brick in your pocket. It's ridiculous. Other car fobs are smaller. Heck even the 2015 Lincoln had a fob that was half the size and functionally the same.

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Re: Why Mazda is purging touchscreens from its vehicles

Post by reno »

]the touch screen in are 2018 GMC Terrain is not as bad as some. we turned off the sounds for the accident avoidance and lane asst.though it.now the driver seat just vibrates. the phone controls are tie into the touchscreen and with the wife being apple and my android .it can be stupid when were both in the car together. .some of the functions we have turned off they were more gimmick then useful. are heating and cooling are still built into the dash . don't ask why -I gave up long ago but the wife don't like using the back up camera this is tied into the touch screen so only see the camera vue when cars in reverse . but we do get warnings when we hook up a carrier basket on my hitch or a trailer. the hitch was factory installed when we bought it.Image
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Re: Why Mazda is purging touchscreens from its vehicles

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I like that the 2019 Navigator allows you to show the backup camera view anytime with the press of a real button. That should be standard. On my older 2012, the only way to turn it on is to put the car in reverse.

Another thing I like is the 360 overhead view it can give you by stitching together four cameras around the car. Makes it dead simple to back into a tight parking space.

The 2019 also has a heads up display in the window, and I would really like to see more cars have that, not just luxury cars. I like that it also shows me the speed limit for the road I'm on (it pulls the data from the Sirius satellite package). When it's parked in the garage and connected to the house WiFi it also does automatic firmware updates, like the Tesla does.

I'm really not a fan of the display screen as the instrument cluster. My old 2012 has a more traditional cluster with analog-style instruments, and a small text display for status & odo. Everything else is on the center entertainment display. Looks much classier.

I do like the text to speech conversion on the newer one though. If I get a text message, the car just reads it to me, although I get the same functionality on the older car by using Google's Android Auto app.

My Dad's 2015 Civic has a display for the cluster, and it's just garishly neon colored - looks like a friggin' disco. A lot of the cars from the 2015 era were like that. I guess everyone wanted to show off the new tech. I got a 2015 lincoln loaner that was all disco neon displays with even neon backlights in the cup holders. Aweful looking.
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Re: Why Mazda is purging touchscreens from its vehicles

Post by reno »

I do like the text to speech conversion on the newer one though. If I get a text message, the car just reads it to me, although I get the same functionality on the older car by using Google's Android Auto app.
it works with my wife apple -not tried it on my android. ( I don't text much )
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Re: Why Mazda is purging touchscreens from its vehicles

Post by Err »

This is a stock picture of the view in my 2010 Challenger. However, mine doesn't have the steering wheel controls or the U-connect.

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Re: Why Mazda is purging touchscreens from its vehicles

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Yeah. Classic. Looks like my old 2013 Yukon. I did have a backup camera, but the screen was integrated into the rear view mirror.
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Re: Why Mazda is purging touchscreens from its vehicles

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I actually like the LCD dash on mine. I can customize the crap out of it.
I also have the HUD which I'll look for on all future cars. It's too handy.
I also do enjoy having Android Auto, so I can have Waze on my large screen.
I also love having the backup cameras and the 360° view as well.
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Re: Why Mazda is purging touchscreens from its vehicles

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Yeah. Whenever I shop for my next car I think I will be looking long and hard at one with Android Auto. Right now I'm just using the Android Auto app on the phone without a connection to the car. None of my cars support it.

However, I really do like the way Ford/Lincoln's SYNC works. I've also appreciated that they've kept the screen controls consistent over the past decade. It's like Adobe Photoshop - they keep adding features but don't change the GUI or the way anything already existing works. If you're already familiar with it, and get into a Ford or Lincoln made anytime in the last 10 years, you'll immediately feel at home.
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