Diesel Benz
MB Enthusiast
PCMCIA is a standard and you can buy any brand, just that some brands are better than others. You would have to decide if you want a Compact Flash adapter or one that accepts multiple (other) memory card types. For the latter, take care that the adapter supports SD HC cards, you would likely want to use those. No such issues with CF if you are already using CF cards.
oldcro
MB Enthusiast
What do you think of the W212 Mark? Any points you particularly like or dislike. I'm waiting for confirmation of my order and expected delivery date, so any information from an owner welcome.
I have now had it for about a month and overall i am delighted. I have the 350cdi (avantgarde) engine which is great but a bit heavier on diesel than i would have hoped. I could have waited until October for the 250CDI (auto) but was worried that this was only available with a five speed auto. The comand navigation is very good but does not seem to support full post code entries that some have talked about. As mentioned earlier, you will love the car for its comfort looks and build quality. What model have you gone for ?
oldcro
MB Enthusiast
Exactly the same as yours Mark. I would expect your fuel consumption to improve as your mileage increases. I am surprised that the COMAND does not support full postcodes, as it was mentioned somewhere that it did. I did chose Cuprite brown with black interior, but could change if there is a better combination of colours.
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I have gone for black with black! I think the Cuprite looks very nice (my wife wanted me to go for that colour). I had heard about full post code entry on here too. Did you manage to get a discount on the car? I only managed 5% which was a struggle.
oldcro
MB Enthusiast
Just typed a reply when the forum went down, so I'll try again.
As I am PXing my W204 I got a price to change which could have included a discount or increase for my car. Either way we arrived at a figure I had hoped for, considering it was all done via phone calls and mail.
My problem is a visit to the dealer to show them my car costs nearly £500 plus a minimum of 36 hours away from home, with no guarantee I would gain anything.
A quick check on Mercedes web site and there is no mention of postcode entry numbers for the new E class, so you must be right regarding no 7 digit entries (if 7 digit entries were available it would have been mentioned I'm sure).
As I am PXing my W204 I got a price to change which could have included a discount or increase for my car. Either way we arrived at a figure I had hoped for, considering it was all done via phone calls and mail.
My problem is a visit to the dealer to show them my car costs nearly £500 plus a minimum of 36 hours away from home, with no guarantee I would gain anything.
A quick check on Mercedes web site and there is no mention of postcode entry numbers for the new E class, so you must be right regarding no 7 digit entries (if 7 digit entries were available it would have been mentioned I'm sure).
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Diesel Benz
MB Enthusiast
I would buy a Sandisk adapter but there must be several other brands that are good. Note that you have check from the adapter that it has SD HC printed on it, otherwise the same part number may be an old one that does not support SD HC cards.
If I were you I would buy the MB branded one. Although its £40 ish, it will definately work. I tried 2 or 3 cheaper ones, all of which I had problems with. The MB one comes with the PCMCIA adapter which you can slot the SD card into. The SD card also folds in half and can be put into a USB port. You also get a little holder for it that you can put on your keyring.
When I got this, I was a little disappointed with it. The comand only recognises the songs and does not put them in any order. you have to create folders for artists and albums, or its just a jumbled up mess. Far better to have the Media Interface and just plug the iPod into it, all controllable from the comand. Thats what i'll be doing.
As far as I know, the new E class has the same comand system as the W204 and there is no 7 digit postcode entry.
When I got this, I was a little disappointed with it. The comand only recognises the songs and does not put them in any order. you have to create folders for artists and albums, or its just a jumbled up mess. Far better to have the Media Interface and just plug the iPod into it, all controllable from the comand. Thats what i'll be doing.
As far as I know, the new E class has the same comand system as the W204 and there is no 7 digit postcode entry.
Diesel Benz
MB Enthusiast
How is the 7-digit postcode entry related?
MB does not produce their PCMCIA adapters. If you buy one of a known brand, you might buy the one MB is selling. I understood early MB adapters did neither support SD HC cards, the adapters were unavailable some time and probably were then continued with SD HC capable (the current ones do support SD HC cards).
I've tried three different PCMCIA adapters and all have been fine. But I have seen posts about poor adapters and the advice to avoid odd brands should be good.
I hate the idea that I would be dependent on carrying an iPod when I wanted to listen to music in the car (iPhone or any other phone is different since I'm anyway carrying my phone). All I do is I copy the iTunes folder folders as they are from my PC to my memory card(s) or DVDs and I get titles ordered properly (the odd thing is that Comand does not do it alphabetically but based on the date the files were created, at lest still in my car).
My Lenovo laptop has a PCMCIA slot, I don't need any USB adapter independently of the memory card type I'm using in the car (CF or SD HC cards), both have the same interface.
How is the 7-digit postcode entry related?
I was merely confirming the query about postcode entry.
The media interface should be included with the COMAND system in the W204 as it is in the new E class. Its far better to be able to control media using the COMAND controls and it allows playback of video too.
The MB card i think is actually made by SanDisk. The other 2 I tried didnt work properly. While transferring the folders from iTunes is the easiest way, sometimes I dont want the whole folder and it becomes tedious deleting the files I dont want.
Diesel Benz
MB Enthusiast
I see the postcode comment now.
The PCMCIA interface is also controlled via the comand controller and comand display, I don't see the MI any better, it must still be slower than the memory card? But I agree MI is a lot better than the old iPod interface.
tylerdurden
Active Member
- Joined
- Apr 4, 2010
- Messages
- 526
can you connect an external HD direcly to the comand system via the glovebox connectors? How is the HD powered?
TIA
TIA
mbenz76
MB Enthusiast
- Joined
- Dec 11, 2009
- Messages
- 1,055
- Car
- E350 AMG Night Edition Premium Plus Saloon
Although I haven't tried it yet in my W212, you can connect a USB drive providing it is powered by USB.
Many seem to recommend the Western Digital Passport drives, which is good because that's the driv I have spare (500GB).
Many seem to recommend the Western Digital Passport drives, which is good because that's the driv I have spare (500GB).
Diesel Benz
MB Enthusiast
Can you make use of the full 250 gigabytes? I thought the interface had similar limitations as the PCMCIA interface except that it can support a few partitions?
If it can handle 250, can it make full use of 500 GB?
Diesel Benz
MB Enthusiast
I just bought a 1.5 TB drive that was FAT32 formatted and at least my Comand supports both FAT(16) and FAT32, I assume the same for the media interface.
But I thought the media interface too has a limitation of max 4000 files, at least according to the W212 user manual. This would mean any partition larger than about 16 gigabytes does not add value.
Do you mean you can access more than 4000 files/songs with your MI (on a single partition)?
