Add on sat nav units are naff

[calum]

I suppose COMAND is convienant, looks nice and has the clearly visible arrows that appear within the drivers vision?? Having nice, 3D birds eye view graphics are all very nice if you have a passenger, or you are stationary, but are they a distraction for a driver that might be unsure of their location and might look down to get a better idea of their location? I' m not sure on that issue?

Yup, I agree that instrument cluster integration is perhaps the best feature of COMAND APS that isn't available on the add-on units.

I tried the 3-d view on the Garmin, but turned it off. It's good in that it allows you to see further "ahead" than with the plan view, but the scale is all buggered up, and misleading, so I switched back to good old plan view, North Up

I'm enjoying the portability of the Garmin, too: nice to be able to put it in your pocket and walk around an unfamiliar town, using it as a pocket street-map (well, I could just buy a map, I suppose . Also nice to be able to use it in the van we're hiring in a few weekends, and when we rent cars on holiday.

Of course, there are many downsides to the add-ons, as have been pointed out by others in this thread but, for me, the price difference made all the difference.

 

[prprandall51]

Hi Calum,
Your unit certainly sounds the business, and hopefully one day!!!, one day Mercedes-Benz might come into the 21st century?

John

I read (earlier on this thread?) that the S-Class has a hard disk-based system. This puts it right at the front of automotive development. It was only a year or so ago that Hitachi (pretty much at the front of hard disk development) announced their first hard disk that is rugged enough for production fit in an automobile. Up to now, all hard disks in cars have been after market items working in an alien environment, and a car maunfacturer would not fit one (since it would be likely to fail after a reduced life span and certainly last nothing like as long as the car).

And I know someone is now going to say that the Japanese have had hard disks in their cars for years - but they are not disks that are designed and approved for automotive fitment. And we all bang on about components failing, so MB were right to wait for the hard disk manufacturers to produce disks robust enough for the job. I am assuming here that MB fitted such disks, rahter than standard PC disks

 

[Shude]

Tomtom does the door for both businesses (postcode) and houses (house number).

The house numbers on the old CD comand aren't bad, but they tend to use a range of numbers rather than a specific number and comand nearly always says "you have reached your destination" about 5-10 seconds early, not sure why this is because the countdown still shows a few feet before arrival right before a picture of a flag!

 

[jeremytaylor]

For those that might be considering this as an option there is a member on this forum that is capable of offering this service. Excellent bloke, with an excellent reputation.
John

I'll second that. He fitted a Comand to my wife's CLK the week before last. First rate service.

 

[imadoofus]

Nav with TMC is very valuable and it would be great to see manufacturers support a built in version of Tomtom or the other leaders rather than taking £2k for systems whose functionality is 3 years behind the state of the art. I'm sure it would help them sell more cars!

I don't think it would.

Why pay for a fixed install of a Tomtom if you can buy a protable version cheaper (and it would still be cheaper)?

In-built satnav has to provide something extra in order to sway a buyer. I think there's a danger Satnav is going to become the new cupholder. A few years ago, cupholders were all that buyers were interested in, and then, as now, the majority go unused.

Everyone wants Satnav, and the majority of people who have it never need it. Those that do, inevitably drive their cars more, and change them more often. Therefore, they would be forever changing their in-built satnav system, and having to re-enter all their POIs, addresses and so on.

IMO, portable is the way to go. for all the reasons listed inthis thread.

PJ

PS: If you have a Mercedes, then you need to get COMAND. Talk to Alfie (phew! that was close...)

 

[uumode]

I don't think it would.

Why pay for a fixed install of a Tomtom if you can buy a protable version cheaper (and it would still be cheaper)?

In-built satnav has to provide something extra in order to sway a buyer. I think there's a danger Satnav is going to become the new cupholder. A few years ago, cupholders were all that buyers were interested in, and then, as now, the majority go unused.

Everyone wants Satnav, and the majority of people who have it never need it. Those that do, inevitably drive their cars more, and change them more often. Therefore, they would be forever changing their in-built satnav system, and having to re-enter all their POIs, addresses and so on.

IMO, portable is the way to go. for all the reasons listed inthis thread.

PJ

I agree, that all seems logical.

What is interesting is the in car entertainment situation, which has become a 'commodity', people buy it with the car; 8 speakers, CD changer, head unit and separate amp and sub woofer as an option, then leave it in the car when they sell it and buy it all over again with a new car. Sat Nav once cheap enough will probably get to that stage, depending on how valuable people view the portability.

 

[w124coupe]

The reasons I would like a built-in Tomtom (or similar):

Hard to nick (even the dirty circle on the window causes a broken window in certain parts of Sheffield!)
No cable festoonery for the 12v supply (if you leave it visible then expect the car to be ransacked for the Nav or camera detector that is "probably" in there)
No issue with placement and the GPS signal through the athermic windscreen
Bigger screen possible without covering half the windscreen
Prompts through the stereo
All the Tomtom function and data transfer advantages

Not going to happen anytime soon though...the proprietary app in the S211 even has the Navteq data files encoded and compressed on the DVD so you can't look at (or alter) the subset of the Navteq POIs they deign to let you have access to.

The other reason I like the Tomtom is the responsiveness of the organisation to new ideas - lots of the new stuff in Version 6 (free download) has come from forum input in the LAST 6 months - that's how you keep customers.

Merc doesn't even tell us what's different on the latest £270 disk.

 

[Doodle]

My friend was recently a victim of some hoodie-wearing chav's bright idea of "probably in there", and had the window of his 520i smashed...of course they found nothing.

However, afterwards we did contemplate the possibilities of modifying a dead satnav unit into a proximity charge...let the little oik pinch it, and when they get 50 yards away, it takes his hand off

You can bet they'd think twice about doing it again...

 

[Satch]

Well if you think they are naff already then doubtless will have a good laugh at this:

http://www.globalpositioningsystems...r-tomtom-go-classic300500700-description.html

And yes, have just ordered one because even if it does look vile fed up with not being able to see TomTom screen, which of course usually happens at vital moments.

Will post some pics when it arrives so you can all guffaw (or silently order one)

 

[calum]

Will post some pics when it arrives so you can all guffaw (or silently order one)

or both...

 

[Ian B Walker]

Well having just driven the best part of 3000 miles in an unknown country and the wife cannot read a map I have found that my Navmanm priceless. Dont forget that some cars were built before satnav was invented. Ugly etc, maybe. Usefull deffo. Plus factor, I can put it in my other car as has already been posted.

 

[Satch]

Well if you think they are naff already then doubtless will have a good laugh at this:

http://www.globalpositioningsystems...r-tomtom-go-classic300500700-description.html

And yes, have just ordered one because even if it does look vile fed up with not being able to see TomTom screen, which of course usually happens at vital moments.

Will post some pics when it arrives so you can all guffaw (or silently order one)

Forgot about that. Here it be. Pretty, eh?

But forget the looks, function defines form so it works well enough although I will spray inside the cowl matt black at some point and put some PIB tape in the fitting to eliminate the odd rattle over bumps.

Use it at night as well, where it wholly eliminates the annoying windscreen reflections you can sometimes get.

 

[Flasheart]

Just to add my 2 pennies here.

I have an Alpine unit fitted to my W140 Coupe.

Why did i go for the fixed unit? Well i wanted to upgrade the radio/cd player. Now i have the ability to play DVD's, listen to my iPod, listen to one of 6 CD's, the radio and still navigate to my destination.

Living in London i find it most useful in townt o be honest, espeicially when stuck in traffic and wondering if i duck down here, turn right there etc will i be able to work my way around the hold up. It saves diving for the AtoZ and trying to drive holding it and constantly losing my place. I can also find my way to most places in London but its the last 1/2 mile usually to the precise address i want help with, plus being able to see the TMC feed for the major arteries is a big help.

Like any piece of technology it is how you use it and how you think of using it. For example Baker Street always gets mega slow moving traffic indicated on the TMC feed, its always like that and to be honest it always moves slowly so with local knowledge one just puts up with it as its not worth hunting the side streets. Some of the routing i get given i know not to be the best, but that is local knowledge of side streets i wouldn't imagine any Satnav system to have. Although that would be a nice feature that it learns routes you take.