[hinalea]

I would sign right up to buy a SmartEntry dongle from Toyota that was 1/4 the size of the standard one, so it would fit comfortably on my keychain. It would be worth $100 easy to me.

I'm willing to do without the emergency key, the 'lock' , 'unlock' and 'panic' buttons. So what? This is a reliable vehicle, and I call road service or my wife in the 1/1,000,000 chance I need that.

I've considered opening the dongle and extracting the guts that matter--the chip and battery and antenna, and making my own compact dongle. I love the Prius, but dislike the unnecessarily bulky dongle in my pocket.

Does anyone know if someone has hacked this, or has such an item available? I'm surprised efusco the premier 'hack my own 2004 to suit' guy hasn't done this yet.

 

[BIF]

Oh my God, you should see my key chain! It must weigh 5 pounds from all the crap I have hung on it! It still fits in my pockets just fine.

The Prius "dongle" will probably be smaller than most of my keys....well, maybe I shouldn't assume, until I at least get my car!

 

[lasrx]

That sounds way cool, I'd like to see how well it works. 1/4 the size would be something like this flashlight? http://www.maglite.com/mag/images/solitaire_keys.jpg

 

[Daniel]

I, too, would love to have a mineature dongle. I'd still keep the mechanical key on my keychain. But the big fob is too bulky on my keychain, and, like you, I never use the lock/unlock/panic buttons.

I wouldn't let anyone mess with my fob, for fear of damaging it, but I'd happily buy a mini-dongle from Toyota.

 

[BIF]

I just got my car today (will put in an update later this evening), and I've got to say, I don't think the dongle is all that big or onerus to carry around in the pockets of my Dockers. In fact, until I get home to file the spare away, I've been carrying both dongles on my keychain and in my pocket. No problems.

Really, it's quite compact, and it seems to be reasonably sturdy, too.

Just how small are your pockets, anyway? Or what else are you putting in them that there's no room for the remote? :twisted: :shock:

Well, I would not be interested in a smaller dongle, because I think the factory one is fine. Regardless of my opinion, I wish you all luck on this.

Don't forget, if you're taking it upon yourself to design and manufacture/retrofit a smaller dongle, you will need to be able to use it to physically "key in" to start the car in the event of a smart entry/start problem (dead dongle battery, etcetera). And when you slide it into the dongle-slot in the dashboard, just about two thirds of the dongle goes inside the slot.

So it seems to me that you'll need to make the dongle one-third smaller in length and no smaller than that. The dongle's height and width will have to remain the same. Really, is it worth it? It just seems like a lot of work for very little payoff.

 

[assagor]

Mercedes who also has a version of keyless entry and go, has a fob that doesn't have all the buttons and is about the size of a credit card, albeit about 3/16" thick. It fits very nicely in my wallet, so the only keys I carry are my house keys when I drive my merc.

 

[hinalea]

Why someone might want a smaller 'key' for the Prius

BIF can't see why anyone would want smaller. He must have deeper pockets than I do. To clarify:

I like to dress light in our mild weather, and wear thin cotton pants or shorts. I carry a cellphone in one pocket, a wallet in another, and my keys must go in a third pocket so they won't tear up the cellphone. So if any of these things are fat, I start looking and feeling like a packmule. I like thin wallets, cellphones, watches and keychains, so I can live light.

I must carry a key to my house, one for my business, one for my Acura, one for my business vehicle, and my Prius dongle. The dongle is as big as all the others combined, so it doubles the bulk of my keyring.

Now, if Toyota would market electronic locks and other devices, like a computer login board, that tie in with the Prius dongle, that would help cut the number of keys. But they haven't--more's the pity. I'd rather have just one credit card size activator that opened my house, my car(s) (undoubtedly all Toyota, good for them), and logged me onto my computers. There is a business opportunity here, if Toyota would do it or license it. There are obvious security issues, but where I live, and how I live, I could probably leave these things unlocked anyway without a problem most of the time.

The essential guts of the dongle are undoubtedly very small--why not let someone like me have a compact version (at our own risk) for around home. Most of my Prius driving is within 30 miles of home, and I'm willing to take the tiny risk that something would go wrong and I'd have to have my wife bring me her key/dongle. Maybe on a long trip I'd take the big guy.

For my around home driving, I've even taken the spare tire and jack out to save weight and improve my gas mileage. I've had one flat in the last 15 years, and around home, I can just use road service in the chance in 4,000 that I do get a flat. For a long road trip, I'll just throw it back in.

It's nice of Mercedes to be considerate of their customers and make a credit card size activator. That would do the job nicely, and I'd be happy to pay extra to have it. I just wish Toyota would make this available for their growing customer base.

Sometimes, less is more.