Is SAT NAV worthwhile?

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jimmy

MB Enthusiast
Joined
Aug 8, 2002
Messages
2,316
Location
Northamptonshire
Car
Discovery 3 TDV6, Discovery 300TDi - Plaything!
I have been thinking of upgrading to a SAT NAV unit and was wondering how useful are they in real life?

I would imagine they save time and money and stress but do they really?

I dont need or really want multimedia so a single DIN unit would be fine.

Can anybody recommend a unit?

What are peoples experiences and is it a worthwhile upgrade?
 
It looks well cool and will assist in impressing passengers when the voice says " turn left , turn left , I SAID TURN LEFT!!!!!"

Nahh , it is well good , i had a volvo S80 with the screen coming out the dash for a while. Was pretty good.

Alpine do a nice single din DVD navigation package. Its only about £1200 for it . www.caraudiodiscount.com
 
J,


having SAT-NAV is the best thing i ever got, EVER!

I am hopeless and do not have a sense of direction at all, infact I get lost in my own area and I am not lying.

I always end up wating LOTS of fuel and time in getting lost everyhere, when planning a journey I used to sometimes even go there the day before for a trial run, lots of printouts on Mapquest and streetmap as well as loads of atlas and ringing friends asking them if they were free and would come or if not ringing them for directions...... I am not a bad navigator but when I am driving I just think about driving and not directions - I can go somewhere 10 times and still not know the way.

Now, I just feed the road in mt GPS and no problem I'm there - 1 way streets etc, no need in stopping at shady unknown areas asking for directions no more wasting fuel - at night I struggle but with the GPS just 'on' I can see the roads aheahd, coming up etc - it's just the best thing.

Now when I am low on fuel and I know I need a shell because of optimax, I just go to the GPS, nearest shell pls, and im on my way..

the benifits of having a TFT screen one is you can always use it for other stuff, reverse cameras, DVD, etc etc..

for GPS is a must have safety feature... you know where you are what road at all times, day or night.

I think I have made my money back on my unit and it will be interesting to drive in europe with the sat nav later on this year.
 
I was really impressed the other day in a cab. The driver had an Ipaq on his dash resting in a nifty holder with sat nav running on it. It did everything you would expect from an 'in car' solution, only it would fit in his pocket and could be used anywhere he pleased including other peoples cars.

I must say that for the cost (sub £500) all in, it certainly made me think whether the dedicated in car systems are worthwhile.
 
I have just ordered one from Steve (MbenzNL) for delivery at the GTG in March

OEM MB single din (brand new) with all the gubbins to fit to my SL including a used cd changer (of unknown origin and functionality) for about £400 - bargain!!

As all you rich folk insist on having the full screen versions like command - then the single din becomes cheaper for us.

Mine is the older of the 2 MB units - but I dont care - its just there to tell the wife which way to go !!


Mark
 
Originally posted by Sp!ke
I was really impressed the other day in a cab. The driver had an Ipaq on his dash resting in a nifty holder with sat nav running on it. It did everything you would expect from an 'in car' solution, only it would fit in his pocket and could be used anywhere he pleased including other peoples cars.

I must say that for the cost (sub £500) all in, it certainly made me think whether the dedicated in car systems are worthwhile.

I have already looked at the iPAQ option but it is £999 for the iPAQ, GPS receiver jacket and car kit.

Is it easy to install a SAT Nav? Where does the GPS antennae have to be mounted.
 
Originally posted by jimmy
Where does the GPS antennae have to be mounted.

My GPS ant. is mounted under the rear deck, even behind my screen and with the blind up I can pick up all the Sats in most areas!

Shude has his mounted under his speaker grill. let me see if I can find a pic of mine, I think I have a pic of mine when I had the ant. in my first aid box....

Originally posted by jimmy
Is it easy to install a SAT Nav?

It's easy to install it!
 
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Jimmy,

I've got about 12 months experience of SatNav (Comand), and wouldn't be without it now.

If you need to find an address you haven't been to before - it's marvellous not to have bits of paper, maps, etc. Just before I got this car I had to visit someone in central Sheffield. Great drive to Sheffield, then a wasted hour trying to find their office and the car park next door! Next journey with Satnav - so different, so relaxed!

Second advantage - and this is where the TMC systems are better than Comand - is in bad traffic. You can either ask it to re-route you (I never do!) or just peel off onto another road and it will keep you heading in the right direction. Sadly MB will not licence a TMC disc for Comand yet.

If you're getting one, I'd try for one with TMC, which (at least in theory) gives you advance warning of tailbacks so you can avoid them.
 
I must say sat nav is great if you are looking for a single din unit then have a look Here

Then have a look at the Clarion NVS-613 Sat / Nav

DIN-sized Satellite Navigation
5.8" TFT Full-Colour Monitor
Semi-Automatic Motorised Opening/Closing of Screen
 
satnav is a necessity in life for those who drive a fair amount of miles...I drove approx 100.000km per year for my work and only installed satnav about 1 year ago...
I should have done it way earlier...it is a relief not having to look at maps whilst driving!

Mark...the navigation unit is APS4 (new) and the CD changer is OEM MB (yet the functionality of this changer is unknown).

As far as GPS antennas go...I installed several OEM MB roofmounted GPS/cellphone antennas (simply because I like the design and want to show off navigation), some under the dash and some under the reardeck.

greetingz,
 
GOT SAT NAV :bannana: :bannana: :bannana: :bannana:

Thanks guys for all your help. I got a fantastic deal on the Blaupunkt Travel Pilot and installed it today.;)

It is very very cool.:cool: :cool: Only had it a day and wouldn't be without it.:p The TMC feature probably saved me half and hour already today!

Just a shame full postcode and house numbers arent yet operational, same CD as Command so I guess you OE guys find the same.

Looking forward to many stress free journeys.:bannana:
 
Jimmy,
Hi, I have been trying to get some up-to-date info on TMC Codes in the UK for MB COMAND systems.

I was intrigued to hear that you had installed a Blaupunkt travelpilot, using the same CD as an MB OEM (which is also a Travelpilot underneath) and were able to get TMC working.

Can you tell me which CD you were using, and where you got it from?

I had thought that there weren't any TMC Coded CD's fo rthe UK available yet.


-thanks
 
Originally posted by clegsr
Jimmy,
Hi, I have been trying to get some up-to-date info on TMC Codes in the UK for MB COMAND systems.

I was intrigued to hear that you had installed a Blaupunkt travelpilot, using the same CD as an MB OEM (which is also a Travelpilot underneath) and were able to get TMC working.

Can you tell me which CD you were using, and where you got it from?

I had thought that there weren't any TMC Coded CD's fo rthe UK available yet.


-thanks

As far as I know the TMC is working, but I have not had it long enough to be sure.:confused:

When I set a route I have the option of choosing fastest, shortest or dynamic routing. When the dynamic option is selected the radio scans for a TMC station and appears to find one. On a trip to Birmingham on Saturday afternoon the Travel Pilot diverted me off the M6 onto the A46, I presume because of TMC.:cool:

The disc is a Blaupunkt/Teleatlas DX2002, I gather there is a 2003 version now available.

I must admit the Blaupunkt instruction manual does not fully explain all the features in depth, so I shall have a steep learning curve over the next few days/weeks.

So far I am very pleased with the unit, I have been using local 'shortcuts' for years in the belief that they were quicker, today the Travel Pilot proved me wrong on several occasions:rolleyes:

One of the reasons I went for a Travel Pilot rather than Command was for the TMC and Dynamic routing as this seems to be the biggest advantage of Sat Nat, i.e re-routing you around traffic congestion along roads that you are not familiar with.

I guess I will learn more over the next few weeks.
 
I believe that TMC has not been licenced by MB or something yet, this makes no sense if the blaupunkt units can use it but the comand boxes (same processor, different name) can't. I wonder if there is a way to enable TMC on comand with software, it can definitely do it, just not in the UK (works in other countries) .

I have used the 2003dx disc with comand and I don't know if TMC is available yet, I will find out when I am next in my car. Even if it's not available, you can still use the tailback function (which uses the same algorithms as TMC) just tell it how much of a diversion you want and it takes you off the motorway and brings you back on later. I used it a while ago, I saw a sea of brakelights and hazards in the distance and hit the button, it brought me back onto a clear motorway :D

The 2003 disc has postcodes on it too, and housenumbers.

Comand is more than just satnav though, it's your "cockpit management device" , a nice headunit, a tv, a full interface for your phone and it's compatible with the newer steering wheels and instrument clusters, you can't compare it with other satnav units because it's so much more :D .
 
I have just spoken to Blaupunkt about TMC and the DX2003 update.

Evidently the TMC codes are being transmitted but service is not 100% reliable at this point in time. This is why MB and Blaupunkt will not and have not enabled their units to use TMC codes.

Blaupunkt hope to enable TMC in the next few months:mad: , so why are they marketing their units as TMC compatible.....very misleading!!

As far as Blaupunkt are concerned there is not a DX2003 disc available and postcodes and housenumbers are not available at this point in time!!
 
Originally posted by jimmy
As far as Blaupunkt are concerned there is not a DX2003 disc available and postcodes and housenumbers are not available at this point in time!!

Well the disc they sold to Steve_bcs and myself has both, I have seen them in use too!

Nice to hear they intend to activate TMC soon, I wonder how our satnav units are supposed to know when they've decided...
 

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