How do people find they Columbus sat nav ? Does it recognise post codes and how does it compare with a TomTom ?

Blows a tom tom clean out of the water EXCEPT postcodes. It doesn't do 7 digit codes, it will only do up to AB11 2?? instead of AB11 2AB which is its only major limitation but hopefully that will be addressed sometime in the future.

Other than that, you can't beat it in my humble opinion

I had an RNS510 in my previous VW and I agree with dstev2000 it's a great bit of kit and much more than just a Sat Nav unit.

In the country side you might to travel maybe a few miles before the 5th number changes!

What's the voice like too, male or female?

Do they have "Advanced lane guidance" like the new TomTom's do?

Fixed Speed Camera POI showing the speed limit of road that cameras on just before you hit it?

And lastly do they go wrong much?

James.

With the firmware I have, you can have both male and female english voices. Out of the box however you are stuck with an english woman. I am running a modified V904 firmware on mine which is an early A unit.

overall i do like it. There are a few annoyances for me though. The touchscreen seems unresponsive sometimes. also when going to the selection list of mp3 tracks it always displays the list from 'A' The amount of times i have scrolled to artists 'S' for example. chose the wrong one then backed out of the menu to find the list displaying from 'A' again. argghh!

Enjoy mine very much. Good sound, and since they just started with traffic-messages in Norway I get more from it :-)

Do you still get the 6 disc changer if specced with the sat nav ?

It is very good. Turns the sound down when a direction is anounced. Tells you in plenty of time, will guide you to a lane (keep right etc), and if you want you can watch a DVD on it. Nothing will ever be perfect though. 6 CD's and 20+ Gig of MP3 music organised is great. Track name, artist.

I am off to France soon so will tell you later if it performs.

I have to laugh at new BMW drivers with Sat-Nav because it seems they all have a Tom-Tom stuck in the window so I can only assume that the BMW unit is rubbish. You will not see a skoda with a Columbus and a Tom-Tom.