Weird

My Lithuanian Columbus arrived today and was fitted in ten minutes. The weird thing is the Maxidot shows all the nav setings etc without coding!

Now all I need is for Trade Parts Supplies to find me the fasica surround - apparently its on back order at the factory....:(

My trim was also a 'factory back order' but it still only took 5 days to turn up, £11 from my local dealer.

Many RNS510 units will work fine without VAG-COM, you'll just find lots of error codes in the CAN gateway when it is scanned in the future.

I can help thinking is it really worth all of the hassle that you seemingly get buying these units from Ebay?

I keep reading (and it seems) that a hell of a lot of them are stolen or defective in some way, it really puts me off from buying one from Ebay, I think I'd rather pay the money & know that it's a genuine "fresh" item without any hassles.

I think anyone who doesn't keep a Tom Tom as a Speed Camera Warning Device is nuts, you can't add them Speed Camera Warnings to a Columbus system.

Well saying that and if you're going to be pedantic, you can, but you need to know how to re-author the map DVD and that means copying it to your PC, inserting the Speed Camera POIs, burning the DVD again, however this won't give you audio alerts to them.

It's far easier to have a TT pay £20 pa and download them from Pocket GPS World - SatNavs | GPS | Speed Cameras

My trim was also a 'factory back order' but it still only took 5 days to turn up, £11 from my local dealer.

Is your trim for a Columbus unit fitted to a facelifted interior?

If so can you tell me the part number as my dealer is charging me £26.50 for a Silver fascia :confused:

Can anyone answer or only Keith Lard?

His is a pre FL & the part number of the dash trim for a FL (new style climatronic) + Columbus is: 1Z0 858 069 BK 2AU

Thanks for that Simeon that's the part number I have ordered, can you confirm it's the Silver one?

Don't take the speed limits shown on the Columbus as gospel. They are miles out of date.

Around here (Derbyshire) nearly all the main roads are now 50 and show as 60 on the Columbus.

Don't take the speed limits shown on the Columbus as gospel. They are miles out of date.

Around here (Derbyshire) nearly all the main roads are now 50 and show as 60 on the Columbus.

Surely that goes without saying. There are road signs that tell you the speed limits.

I think anyone who doesn't keep a Tom Tom as a Speed Camera Warning Device is nuts,

for what it's worth, I think anyone who doesn't appreciate the joys of being lost and arguing with your partner over directions is missing out on one of life's great pleasures.

Wahey... you got one then!!

What about the RH stalk control - changing radio stations & forward/back through tracks, swapping between Nav & Audio - is all that working ok too? Mine plugged in & worked in a fashion but Maxidot locked up until the Columbus was switched off then back on again & had no stalk control at all - as soon as it had been coded correctly, all worked as normal

So are you converted? ...is your TomTom going into retirement now?

Ah,,,,,ok so it doesn't fully work then!! I didn't realise you got that level of control. I've got Navigation on the Maxidot with the compass when I select but thats it. Bugger - have to wait until Stu is back from hols then so he can tweak it for me!

Not 100% convinced over the TomTom though.........

for what it's worth, I think anyone who doesn't appreciate the joys of being lost and arguing with your partner over directions is missing out on one of life's great pleasures.

That depends on who is driving...

"Just ask that local for directions Dearest, you've left me behind."

Get it put on eBay!

It takes like ten times the amount of time to enter a destination into the Columbus than the TomTom - no postcode entry (or am I missing something?). No Google search, the traffic warnings are crap, no speed cameras and no advanced lane guidance;

Basicallt the nav isn't a patch on the TomTom and I'm sticking with that assesment. I think I'm going to keep the TomTom as well and will probably use it as the primary nav. Thats said I'm going to give the Columbus a month before I decide!

Sounds good though but could do with more output power and can somebody please tell me if there are any line outputs so I can feed my Bazooka Tube?!

Well on my Columbus I've got 5 digit postcode entry.

I've also got lane guidance - it always tells me which lane I should be in for junctions etc.

The traffic warnings have also been good - more than once I've been driving on open road and it's warned me about "congestion ahead".

Don't need speed cameras.

For one I hardly ever speed.

Secondly - If you cannot spot a warning sign, markings on the road and a big yellow camera then you deserve to be fined.

Wardeth:

There may be a man in the Goldstone valley with VAG-COM if you ask....

Send me a PM!

Weird

My Lithuanian Columbus arrived today and was fitted in ten minutes. The weird thing is the Maxidot shows all the nav setings etc without coding!

I am sorry to inform you that your Columbus is most likely stolen, it is the only logical explanation why it works without a code. At the moment Columbusses are stolen from VAG cars at mass in the Netherlands, it is really a plague, some cars even twice or more. The gangs are known to be from Eastern Europe.

I am sorry to inform you that your Columbus is most likely stolen, it is the only logical explanation why it works without a code. At the moment Columbusses are stolen from VAG cars at mass in the Netherlands, it is really a plague, some cars even twice or more. The gangs are known to be from Eastern Europe.

I think you got the wrong end of the stick - mine came with a code but it worked without VAG-COM coding!!

The trader this unit was bought from is reputable and also none of the security seals are tampered with on my unit..........unlike some!

Well on my Columbus I've got 5 digit postcode entry.

I've also got lane guidance - it always tells me which lane I should be in for junctions etc.

The traffic warnings have also been good - more than once I've been driving on open road and it's warned me about "congestion ahead".

Don't need speed cameras.

For one I hardly ever speed.

Secondly - If you cannot spot a warning sign, markings on the road and a big yellow camera then you deserve to be fined.

My father is 80 and a very experienced, careful and courteous driver (IAM, ex-instructor) yet he's the proud user of an Origin B2 camera detector for the simple reason he would rather watch the road and other road users than worry about having to constantly watch the speedo.

I am amazed at the attitude of some people "oh I don't speed so therefore I have no need of speed camera warnings"............wait till you get clobbered one day and see how the attitude changes!

Well on my Columbus I've got 5 digit postcode entry.

I've also got lane guidance - it always tells me which lane I should be in for junctions etc.

The traffic warnings have also been good - more than once I've been driving on open road and it's warned me about "congestion ahead".

Don't need speed cameras.

For one I hardly ever speed.

Secondly - If you cannot spot a warning sign, markings on the road and a big yellow camera then you deserve to be fined.

That's an arrogant attitude & obviously you know where every speed camera is located & you know all of the dirty tricks that they pull too, so of course you'll never get caught for accidentally going a few mph over.

The dirtiest SCPs I've come across so far are Dorset, Wiltshire, Derbyshire & North Wales, a bunch that make the Gestapo seem really nice.

If you rely on the mapping of the Columbus then you may get a nasty surprise.

My TomTom gets 30 camera & map updates a year. It costs £20 pa for the camera updates & around about £9 pq for the map updates. A small price to pay for having an up to date map & up to date camera locations.

That £20 is the best £20 ever spent on my car & has saved me loads of money & points, by alerting me to the sneakiest of locations and allowing me to keep my eyes on the road not the speedo.

If you dont speed you wont get caught! This isnt me being whiter than white - I have nine points on my licence but have no complaints - Each time I was caught I was breaking the law!

I cant see how the Police catching you when your over the limit is dirty tricks though?

I bought a pogo alert camera warning device and its brilliant! As it the Columbus for nav, full postcodes would be ideal but other than that its pretty good I reckon.

So I take it then you haven't seen the "Shoebox" camera then!

It comes in different colours, Black, Stone & Concrete Grey, depending where they want to put it, they then put it on the side of the road where it blends in nicely & reel the money in.

The only give away is the cable that's if they use it at the time & a van parked nearby.

Then there's the quad. Only seen one of those so far at Winterbourne Stoke on the A303.

You really should have a read of Pocket GPS World - SatNavs | GPS | Speed Cameras

Then you might realise how sly & devious they are and why a TomTom is really an excellent little device, which is not only between 8-10x cheaper, but also easier to upgrade & if you install the warnings a licence saver too!

Then you might realise how sly & devious they are

If you cant do the time, don't do the crime! I speed, and get caught, no complaints really - at the end of the day I am breaking the law and expect to get punished if/when I am caught (no matter how 'sneaky' the Police are perceievd to be)

Apologies to the OP for drifting OT......

Lets be realistic about all this - what everyone wants is the looks and integrated features of the Columbus with the ability to add and upgrade POI's, maps, cameras (with audible warnings) etc (just like the TomTom can easily do) but all without having to worry about turning it into a brick when the firmware disk is inserted :rotz:

Going OT for a second,can the Bolero be modded to play films?

Still slightly off topic but if you've a smart phone (like a Nokia N95, HTC etc) or even better an iPhone, CoPilot 8 is available.

For Smart phones it's around £60 (don't quote me as I bought mine from ebay when I had the N95). For the iPhone it's LESS THAN £30 and you get FREE, yes free, safety cameras and map updates.

It also gives you full 7 digit post codes, lane guidance, petrol prices and all sorts of other goodies and I would thoroughly recommend it.:thumbup:

I had to drive to Dorchester today on business and last night I did a "quick n dirty install of my Origin B2 that has been sitting in the office since I removed it from the Punto. I can honestly say I felt one hell of a lot happier having (a) an accurate speedo, ( having timrely warnings of Gatsos and lasers and ©, getting the warning about the average speed cameras on the M27 near Havant. It also warned me of a couple of Blacksopts on the A35. Anybody that says this type of device isn't necessary doesn't know what they're talking about.

Back on topic; I have to say that the nav has won me over. Its NOT as good as the TomTom however it comes pretty close. The lasck of advanced lane guidance is a shame however the repeat display into the Maxidot means that the Columbus wins out...........just! I also think it would be as good without the touch screen - it's simply not needed when navigating!

I still wish it had proper postcode entry and the POI's on the TomTom knock it into a copped hat. Oh and the Google Search is a loss but its pretty darn good. OK SWIMBO I give in - the Tom Tom is for sale both on here and on ebay.

Incidentally compared to the speedo on the Origin, the Octy's overreads by 4mph