Columbus satnav - what a load of rubbish!

[900000]

The Columbus,is also a lot more than a satnav. You can load MP3 tunes directly onto its internal HDD, add an MDI and you can plug in iPODs, USB HDDs, and more. You can play DVD's, albeit when stationary, it also integrates fully with car giving you climate, parking and other info and gives you full control of the bluetooth phone if fitted. Think of the columbus as a multimedia control centre rather than just a satnav.

Erm yes, BUT the standard Bolero also gives you the climate, parking and bluetooth control (and can also be equipped with MDI). So really the Columbus is just a sat nav with a HDD (over and above the Bolero)! That is a LOT of money to pay just to get that IMHO. I hate my TomTom wires as much as the next guy but I could not really warrant the £1400 cost of the Columbus when I got my car (pre VAT rise - now £1500 after the VAT rise).

[Somewhat Confused]

I'm pleased and satisfied with Columbus. Takes me from point A to B reliably and comfortably, while i listen to some music. It's my swiss army knife infotainment system.

I will NEVER NEVER AGAIN go back to portable navigators.

I'm with you on that one! Nothing wrong with the system. I like the way she says 'Birmingham' with a brummy ascent!

[tomcatdk]

Columbus adhere to the KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) concept pretty well. It just does it's job, nothing more nothing less. While newer portable navigators and chineese car entertainment systems is bloated with stuff THAT I DON'T NEED and is just plain annoying while i drive.

[philpix]

I have v.7 maps on my Columbus and find it to be fantastic.

I have added a brill app CamerAlert on my iPhone and used together it is far better than my old TomTom.

Phil

[GordonH]

I think many of the comments miss my original point - the Columbus might be very well integrated and the display is good and it re-calculates quickly etc but as a satnav it fails the basics - eg display says turn right, voice command says turn left (A6 southbound A46 junction westbound amongst others), shouts "attendion! traffic problems - you have been re-routed" when there clearly isn't and you haven't .

The best integration in the world is of little use if you can't trust the directions (or programme your destination with the confidence that the correct one has been selected).

[i-s]

I agree the Mondeo system was real good, one button to set and then the resume button that would turn the CC on and off with a press of the thumb.

Also agree the VW stalk is better than the Merc stalk, so I can live with it.

I disagree on the Mondeo. Had an MY 2010 for a few weeks (rental car) and very often I needed to move my eyes to the wheel to find the buttons. On the Superb I can do it all without looking at the stalk ... and that was from day 1.

[skippy41]

I think many of the comments miss my original point - the Columbus might be very well integrated and the display is good and it re-calculates quickly etc but as a satnav it fails the basics - eg display says turn right, voice command says turn left (A6 southbound A46 junction westbound amongst others), shouts "attendion! traffic problems - you have been re-routed" when there clearly isn't and you haven't .

The best integration in the world is of little use if you can't trust the directions (or programme your destination with the confidence that the correct one has been selected).

If you get it updated you will get the 7 digit post codes and newer maps and a firmware update all in one

Your dealer should do it for free, if not just ask on here and a disc might come your way

[GordonH]

If you get it updated you will get the 7 digit post codes and newer maps and a firmware update all in one

Your dealer should do it for free, if not just ask on here and a disc might come your way

Good suggestion - thanks.

Car is in having EGR valve replaced - will ask dealer for the 7 digit postcode udpate.

[Departed]

Car is in having EGR valve replaced - will ask dealer for the 7 digit postcode udpate.

Please let me know the outcome of this request.

Ray

[Picturesports]

The Columbus unit has worked well for me. The first real challenge comes tomorrow when I ask it to go from Grantham to Ingleton - so many routes and I know the one that I like. With the preferences set it will be interesting to see which one "she" thinks I like.

Perhaps more importantly my unit has lisp - "Take the thecond exthit".

Edited 10 June, 2011 by Picturesports

[St]

The Columbus unit has worked well for me. The first real challenge comes tomorrow when I ask it to go from Grantham to Ingleton - so many routes and I know the one that I like. With the preferences set it will be interesting to see which one "she" thinks I like.

I'd be hoping to go up the A1 to Wetherby, then Spofforth, Harrogate and across the A59 to join the A65 near Skipton, rather than sending round Bradford, Bingley etc.

Of course if you have another demon route in mind please tell. Plenty of loops through the Dales much appreciated even though they add an hour or so.

[Picturesports]

Exactly the route I hope "she" will take me. Does the Columbus do routes (waypoint to waypoint) or only "take me here"

[jrw]

+1 for the Columbus. Excellent piece of kit. Never taken me the wrong way and always goes the routes i 'would have taken' on the routes i am vaguely familiar with.

limited post code entry doesn't bother me (can't see why people make such a fuss about this feature!) - I just put the begging 4-5 digits in and then pick the street and the number. It has never let me down and for £400 off a member off here, a bargain!

[St]

Exactly the route I hope "she" will take me. Does the Columbus do routes (waypoint to waypoint) or only "take me here"

I don't have a Columbus but aiui one can enter Tour mode, and then you can have up to ten stopover destinations "behind" the final destination, and save it all into a Tour. You can have a max of ten "Tours" for complicated trips one does regularly.

This will be a big bonus for me as the only way I can get a "tour" into the Volvo RTI is have a number of regular destinations programmed in all called "Via-xxxxxxxx" where xxxx is some identifier.

Thus I can put in the final destination and one or more of the vias to make it go the correct way.

Another method I have used is to make certain roads or areas automatically be avoided during the route calculation. Only fell foul of it once when forgot to cancel the avoid, fortunately wondered why it was sending me an odd way before it was too late and realised the problem. I think you can do this avoid a road or area on the Columbus too.

On the issue of 7 digit postcodes have mentioned this on another thread. To me the 7 digit postcode capability is rather over rated and can lead to problems.

If you are using it to navigate to business premises then some companies have postcodes which are quite different from their real street address, even in one case where we'd had a call out to a place our man just banged the postcode in and ended up sitting outside the local mail delivery office.

Also some firms deliberately arrange with Royal Mail to have special postcodes presumably for promotional purposes, and again it's nowhere near their street address.

Likewise out in the sticks, the postcode may geographically be mapped in the middle of a field covering a series of places, and you have to drive around the local roads, or shock horror, look at a map.

[Picturesports]

Found the Tour option (thank you) - Not quite the words I would have chosen if I was writing the manual, but then again their English is way way better than my Czech !!

It all made sense once I got my head around the language - Pick a final destination - Add a Stop Over - pick the point after which you wish to visit the stop over (in my case in between the start and the end) - job done.

Wonder where I'll end up tomorrow -

[philpix]

I think Columbus does the job. The traffic warnings are down to the Highways Agency. They don't knock them off the system quickly enough.

But Columbus has this. I think it's great.

Phil

[Slinksuperb]

Having now used the Columbus for a month, I've found it to be an excellent piece of kit. Navigation is good, as we live on a new development that isn't yet shown on maps, the facility to set the home address using co-ordinates has proved very useful. I'm happy with radio and MDI sound too. Only issue is that the Columbus and my phone have fallen out, but as the phone is an HTC desire I'm not surprised given the problems others have experienced. That said, the phone needs to go for repair according to my phone company, software needs completely reloading, so I'm hoping this may solve the issue.

[veloplus]

Hmm... interesting point on the cruise control... I take it it's still combined in the indicator stalk? I drove a Passat recently and it had a dedicated 3rd stalk for the cruise control and it was pants, I just couldn't get on with it at all. The cruise on the Octavia loan car I have is built into the indicator stalk and I find it easy to use (although it's a similar set up to my old Saab 93).

The same thought occurred to me when I recently sat in a Passsat. Why have a third stalk when cruise can be conveniently operated by the left hand indicator stalk.I can operate the cuise on my Superb without having to alter the position of my left hand; not the case with the Passat's cruise control on a separate lower stalk.

[Picturesports]

A minor annoyance for me with the cruise control are the set and + (speed up) buttons. To my warped mind the Set and + should be on the top and - (slow down) the bottom.

Not press - to set the speed and the + is you want to go faster.

It isn't a fault I guess it is just getting use to the system. Same with locking the door. My Ford was twice to lock and once to unlock, the Superb is the other way around.

[philpix]

A minor annoyance for me with the cruise control are the set and + (speed up) buttons. To my warped mind the Set and + should be on the top and - (slow down) the bottom.

Not press - to set the speed and the + is you want to go faster.

It isn't a fault I guess it is just getting use to the system. Same with locking the door. My Ford was twice to lock and once to unlock, the Superb is the other way around.

Locking can be changed through Maxidot settings. Jason Barlow testing in Top Gear magazine just didn't get this the whole time he had the Superb in Lifers.

Phil

[jesters]

I think Columbus does the job. The traffic warnings are down to the Highways Agency. They don't knock them off the system quickly enough.

But Columbus has this. I think it's great.

Phil

Hi Phil, how do you get pictures / photos to display on your Columbus? This would be a really handy feature for me

Thanks, Paul

[philpix]

Hi Phil, how do you get pictures / photos to display on your Columbus? This would be a really handy feature for me

Thanks, Paul

Hi Paul. I have sent you instructions via PM.

Phil

[robdan]

Hi Paul. I have sent you instructions via PM.

Phil

Hi Phil,

Any chance you could post those instructions here on the open forum mate? I for one would also be interested to find out how it's done and I'm sure I'm not alone

[philpix]

I did this from a post way back.

First you need an SD card (no bigger than 2GB)

Connect the card to your pc and copy an mp3 track to it(this is needed to allow the Columbus unit to recognise there is an SD card inserted)

Use your PC to create a folder called destinations

Go to http://vwlabs.com/ and create an account (they dont list Skoda cars so I said I had a 2010 Tiguan)

You will get an email to activate your account.

Once you are logged on chose NavCompanion and follow the instructions on the site.

Before you can sync the destinations you have found using NavCompanion you have to install the sync software.

Once the software has installed you can sync the destinations to your PC. (The first time I tried this I thought that nothing had happened but the destinations had been saved to the SD card.)

The second time I tried it (after a software update) the destinations were synced to a folder called destinations in My Documents and all subsequent syncs have ended up there. (You just need to copy them to the destinations folder you created on your SD card.)

Now remove the SD card from your PC and put it in the Columbus unit. The mp3 you copied to the SD card should start playing.

Press the Nav button

Press memory on the screen

Then press edit memory

Press Import Destinations

Tick the destinations you want to import and press OK

The imported destinations are now stored in the destinations memory of the Columbus system

Phil

[robdan]

I did this from a post way back.

First you need an SD card (no bigger than 2GB)

Connect the card to your pc and copy an mp3 track to it(this is needed to allow the Columbus unit to recognise there is an SD card inserted)

Use your PC to create a folder called destinations

Go to http://vwlabs.com/ and create an account (they dont list Skoda cars so I said I had a 2010 Tiguan)

You will get an email to activate your account.

Once you are logged on chose NavCompanion and follow the instructions on the site.

Before you can sync the destinations you have found using NavCompanion you have to install the sync software.

Once the software has installed you can sync the destinations to your PC. (The first time I tried this I thought that nothing had happened but the destinations had been saved to the SD card.)

The second time I tried it (after a software update) the destinations were synced to a folder called destinations in My Documents and all subsequent syncs have ended up there. (You just need to copy them to the destinations folder you created on your SD card.)

Now remove the SD card from your PC and put it in the Columbus unit. The mp3 you copied to the SD card should start playing.

Press the Nav button

Press memory on the screen

Then press edit memory

Press Import Destinations

Tick the destinations you want to import and press OK

The imported destinations are now stored in the destinations memory of the Columbus system

Phil

Cheers Phil, I'll give it a go