Potentially contentious view?(on the Lexus trackpad)

[barryb]

Hi All,

I read a lot of negativity for the Lexus mouse pad thingy for controlling the infotainment etc. in car reviews etc

This is my first experience of it in my RC and have to say, I for one think it is ace! I do not like the rotary dial type ones.

Am I alone in my preference of it? I can't understand the dislike!

Barry

[Fatts]

You are not alone Barry , I had the track pad in my previous NX. It is not bad as the press will want the world to believe. Yes it does take getting used to initially but once you adjust the sensitivity settings and you’ve used it a couple of times it becomes as easy as the pad on a laptop.

[First_Lexus]

1 hour ago, barryb said:

Hi All,

I read a lot of negativity for the Lexus mouse pad thingy for controlling the infotainment etc. in car reviews etc

This is my first experience of it in my RC and have to say, I for one think it is ace! I do not like the rotary dial type ones.

Am I alone in my preference of it? I can't understand the dislike!

Barry

^^ Totally agree - you are not alone! The various rotary controllers so loved by the motoring press aren’t loved by me, nor are they loved by various of my BMW and Audi driving colleagues. 
 

The issue here is as old as journalism itself - presenting opinions as facts. A journalist says a controller is ‘intuitive’ and presents that as a fact. It is actually, and very clearly, an opinion. 
 

Personally, I hate the BMW I-Drive and I’ve used plenty of them. I don’t find it ‘intuitive’ and that’s my opinion. Unfortunately I don’t work as a journalist (or perhaps fortunately) so I’m unable to represent my opinion incorrectly as a fact...

 

[Moleman]

Certainly better than a touch screen. 😄

[Rabbers]

20 hours ago, barryb said:

I read a lot of negativity for the Lexus mouse pad thingy... This is my first experience of it in my RC and have to say, I for one think it is ace!....Am I alone in my preference of it?

19 hours ago, Fatts said:

... It is not bad as the press will want the world to believe....

 

Back in 2016 when I changed my IS300h for an RC300h and the touchpad was, of course, much more of a novelty, I posted the following comments  (see RC300h

v. IS300h New Car Choice-Part Two, RC Forum, 6 November 2016):   "Although I am told most people disagree, I liked the touchpad and found it as easy and as

instinctive to operate as the "mouse".  Because my hand fell naturally on it, I did not need to consciously learn its position and keep glancing downwards as I feared.

 It did occur to me, however, that right-handed drivers in l-hd cars will always be favoured for longer tasks such as, for, example, the entering of satnav data with it."  

My opinion has not changed since that time, and I have noticed that the majority of negative comments over the years have continued to come from U.K. journalists

whereas most continental European reviewers (in Italy and France, at least) tend to be neutral and rarely negative.  This suggests that I may have been right about

the touchpad being likely to find more immediate favour among owners of LHD cars.

 

[ALAW]

On 11/18/2020 at 5:39 PM, barryb said:

Hi All,

I read a lot of negativity for the Lexus mouse pad thingy for controlling the infotainment etc. in car reviews etc

This is my first experience of it in my RC and have to say, I for one think it is ace! I do not like the rotary dial type ones.

Am I alone in my preference of it? I can't understand the dislike!

Barry

Well to be honest i also think its been overly criticized. This is my first Lexus and I'm used to it you can set the sound feedback sensitivity etc. I don't find it an issue at all. Happy motoring.

[malcolmw]

We have the touch pad on both our cars and I would agree that it's not too bad to use. It's certainly not as difficult as you might think from the press reviews. 

[paulrnx]

Agree that once you get the sensitivity right it’s a good system and faster than the rotary controller

[barryb]

I concur with you guys too, I love the haptic feed back and the fact your not scrolling though gazillions of options lol!

Sometimes I think the press are overtly picky / hard on Lexus at times for some reason, perhaps it is the companies slogan!

Barry

[Linas.P]

This is always going to be subjective topic. Some will love it some will hate it.

Over the time using it, I don't think it is as bad as press makes it to be. It is certainly better than Lexus own rotary dial and better than most touchscreens.

However, if we take Lexus infotainment system in it's entirety (menu layouts, responsiveness, functionality) then I would still be of the opinion that it is one of the worst systems currently available. This is not because of track-pad on it's own, but I don't find it intuitive to use, it don't find as responsive as it should be and functionally it is fairly poor and limited.

Points of reference - new MB and BMW systems (circa 2019), I just find them more functional, more clearly laid-out, more modern menu design, higher definition screens, better rear view cameras, maps much more responsive, up-to date (up-to time even when we talking traffic alerts) and obviously android auto/apple car play is a big thing for me (Lexus just starting to implement it with limited models now).

 

[Alpha]

I got my RC a couple of weeks ago and having read all the reviews, approached the trackpad with some trepidation.  I don't get what all the fuss is about, it works perfectly fine for me and it's better than getting greasy fingerprints all over the screen.