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Columbus satnav - what a load of rubbish!


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I have to say that I actually quite like the "Stay on this road for a long time" comment.

I *really hate* Sat Navs that tell me to stay on the M25 for 7 miles, then to stay on it "again" and "again".

OK, I know the road forks off in a lot of places but I'm staying on the M25, so tell me how long I'm going to be on it for, and stop telling me "not to turn off it!!"

A bit of a rant, sorry. Perhaps its just the M25 that does this to me... ;-)

Puss

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I recently bought a Tom Tom after years of Garmins (Big mistake Garmins are much better) but on a recent trip I set both the Columbus and Tom tom to "home"

The routes calculated were different ie the Tom Tom was shorter and probably quicker but we followed the Columbus route and the ETA was accurate on the Tom tom but not on the Columbus

That said i wouldnt change

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  • 11 months later...

Apologies for resurecting a 2011 thread, got it up via a search.

I am soon taking delivery of a new Octavia Se plus, I am fairly sure it has the bolero unit with Nav, can anyone tell me what to expect, I currently have a portable TomTom One unit.

It also has the cruise on a stalk, & maxidot.

Apologies again, didn't realise I was in the Superb forum, looked at one in showroom, was very tempted. It was a 170bhp 2.0Tdi 4x4 Elegance in rosso with ivory leather!!

Edited by DJD66
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Now covered 8k in my Superb 170 Combi Elegance - car is fantastic - quite, smooth, quick, economical, refined - one big fly in the ointment though - Columbus satnavemoticon-0149-no.gifemoticon-0149-no.gifemoticon-0149-no.gifemoticon-0149-no.gif

This bit of kit is worse than useless (I have the partial postcode version) - it is the most un-intuitive/user un-friendly satnav I have ever used, some of the instructions are a complete waste of time/confusing - "carry on along this road for a long time, traffic problems, you have been re-routed (no I haven't)" etc. On several occasions it has taken me to the wrong destination or via a route that makes no sense (particularly when using the Lat/Long input. I now check google maps to ensure that the thing has selected the correct destination. Previous Honda/Volvo units have been paragons of efficiency compared to the Columbus.

I can't believe that VAG fit this in to many of their vehicles (Golfs, Passat;s Audi's Bentley Continental?) - any one else had similar problems?

If you are thinking of speccing this as an optional extra - don't - get a TomTom or Garmin instead.

Yes, I found the partial post code set-up somewhat frustrating! I updated the system with software to allow full post code searching and the thing was transformed - easy!

Regards

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Information about VW Labs Navsync:

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We would like to thank all the users of vwlabs.com for being a part of our research community. Your participation and feedback have been critical to the continued improvement of existing and new ideas. Unfortunately, the applications presented in vwlabs.com will soon be shut down. Vwlabs.com will continue to be available in its current form until June 14, 2012.

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Ah Skoda owners in Europe UK are so lucky.   I suspect the Columbus maps for Australia were approved by Capt. James Cook in 1770!

I agree totally with comments about the the cruise control.  The fiddley little buttons frustrates me no end. If one is driving in "manual mode" they are impossible.   Why CC isn't a dedicated function integrate into MF steering wheel is beyond me.

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  • 9 months later...

Having recently moved over to the Superb Elegance after years of driving COMMAND equipped Mercedes, I whole heartedly agree - the Columbus SatNav is worse than useless. Regardless of the settings selected, it insists in trying to take me off perfectly good dual carriageways and through obscure villages to reach my home address. The worst aspect however is the REALLY ANNOYING messages, "Warning, Traffic Problems". I drive in the UK, where the government collect £Billions in taxes from the motorist and spends Pennies on the roads, OF COURSE there's traffic problems, there's ALWAYS traffic problems - I don't need to be told every three minutes that there's a traffic problem!!!! Another annoying aspect is the fact that the Media audio fires up every time you start the car. What's wrong with remembering the last selection? i.e. if I didn't have it on when I stopped the car what makes Skoda think I want it blasting out when I start the car in the early hours of the morning?

It's a real shame that the SatNav, and hence the whole driving experience, is so so bad; all for the want of some realistic audio control and a Mute button. Mechanically I like the car, but the Columbus System is so bad that I'd never consider driving another Skoda.

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Its COMAND;)

Not sure there is a need for a bumped thread from the distant past here but i find Columbus much better than COMAND* which was a £2.5 k option on my E Class rather than standard equipment,

With regards to the alerts and mute button , i think you should read the manual

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Its COMAND;)

Not sure there is a need for a bumped thread from the distant past here but i find Columbus much better than COMAND* which was a £2.5 k option on my E Class rather than standard equipment,

With regards to the alerts and mute button , i think you should read the manual

What he said.

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I'm complained about it before but the Columbus is awful and certainly the worse Nav I've never used. The voice recognition is laughably bad, the unit is generally very slow and mine still gets lost by itself, tells me to go the wrong way and at one point, even tried to send me the wrong way down a one way street. I had old BMW's for ages (E39's) and the Nav in those was faster to input, faster to calculate, didn't ever get me lost and the voice control actually worked.

I've looked at other options, including the Kenwood £1k unit but I resent having to spend £1,000 on a Nav unit that should just work in the car I bought. VAG should be ashamed.

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I've had various sat navs (built in) and they have ALL taken me on different routes at some time. The biggest difference tends to be how it is se up i.e avoid all motorways and main roads will take you though country lanes (it did happen to me once when someone had "played"with the sat nav's settings. It might not be that but that is where I would start to look at why.

Edited by Danny 57
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Now on fourth Skoda Superb with Columbus Sat Nav. Never had a single problem with routing, if set up correctly it is one of the best navigation units today. I have used many types of navigation systems and used to teach Marine Navigation.

The Columbus is not just a Sat Nav but a very complicated computer unit.

I wish members would stop crying down this unit, most of the trouble is incorrect settings.

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I've just moved onto a Merc E Class with a "BeckerNav" system.

So, it's not as intuitive to to program with the clicky wheel thingy me jig, but it's definitely quicker (at entering, routing and rerouting) than the Columbus and it doesn't keep telling me that it's recalculating route - it just does it!

So, Columbus, Simple, easy to use, BeckerNav, quicker and more efficient once you learn how to use it.

Al.

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My experience of the Columbus system seems to differ from the complainers.It takes me where I want to go,without fuss,offers me 3 routes to get there,has full 7 digit postcode,dynamic routing works well and I have absolutely no problems with voice recognition.the lady behind the dashboard sometimes stumbles over her instructions,but she is not as bossy as the lady in previous sat navs(Garmin,Tom Tom etc.)

Drove to the Costa Blanca last summer,with absolutely no problem from the Columbus.Even when the main motorway south of Perpignan was closed due to forest fires,the unit took us via a cross country route,and back onto our original route further south in much less time than a colleague who was using a top of the range Tom Tom.

I am a convert to Skoda from BMW,and I am more than pleased with the change(if that does not get me a decent discount on my next Skoda purchase,nothing will)

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I have to agree in with Tony in his comments above. I am vey happy with my Colmbus and the latest maps. It has never let me down and I personally find it far superior to my previous built in unit in my last car which was the COMAND system in a Mercedes CLK (I also think the Octy vRS is a better car than the CLK).

I suppose it is a a bit of an individual/personal thing and earth their own though

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I haven't had any problems with Columbus either, which is on latest f/w and maps. Always makes me smile when the lady asks me to take the thecond exit.

I previously used a very expensive and very new Garmin stand-alone unit. No sat-nav is without its foibles. For some reason the Garmin has always tried to take me through the centre of Northampton and Kettering, yet on the way back would bring me back around the faster ring roads. It was both brilliant and rubbish when I took it to Italy: after picking hire car up late at night with a sleeping toddler, the Garmin wanted to take me over a railway line where the road had obviously been sealed off for a long while; but it's saving grace was when its traffic jam intelligence told me about a 10km tailback ahead, which I obviously ignored until I actually saw the sea of brake lights. That saved me about 3 hours parking on the autopista, which meant I wasn't late for the flight, and I have believed my Garmin ever since!

The Columbus is just as quick to re-route as the Garmin, and just as rubbish at voice recognition. If I viewed the Columbus as a £1,000 option I would be gutted - but it was standard spec in my car, and I really appreciate not having to set-up a stand-alone unit with trailing wires 5 mins before I head off on my travels.

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I believe you get out of a device what effort you put into it. Bit like configuring your home PC with favourite web sites etc.,

I have used the Columbus on the 2009 Twindoor with 4/5 digit postcode and a 2012 with full post code and voice recogntion.

2012 version was quite a step up for me anyway.

I have persevered with voice recongition and now use it for all destintation entry/radio/audio/phone commands. it sometimes frustrates but I can set it on the move which I find useful.. I have created a library of often used journeys - i use it every journey for traffic and re-routing guidance. I find the stop-over and route guidance stuff great and I have absolutely no issue with someone telling me "to stay on this road for a long time", rather than being told at every junction to keep right.

It's not perfect - there are many things I would like done differently, but I like the convenience of it being integrated into the car

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My satnav is awful. ETA is way later than reality. The voice often incorrectly tells me to turn off the road the map is correctly showing me going along.

Have you tweaked the average journey time setting? you can alter it for faster or slower driving which will offset the ETA. Mine is set to faster and is pretty much spot on.

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Once you have decided which of the three routes you want, the ETA is worked out by the actual speed you are driving from the electronic speedo, and the GPS position, the Columbus will update ETA continuously therefore if your speedo is reasonably accurate and you are receiving a GPS signal your ETA will be quite accurate. Your ETA will be continuously changing this is correct the Columbus is very good at this.

On my 4th Superb with Columbus and all have been extremely accurate, at one time I never relied on it but over the years I have found them all very accurate. I always carry an up to date road atlas. Map and chart work were one of my subjects and after use of many navigation types and at one time a teacher of Marine Navigation I have never been able to fault a Columbus.

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considered Amundsen+? I got it free in a action packet in my elegance and even it is much simplier device, does the things I want it from the device. It is quick, well-arranged, has SD card slot, capable up to 32GB card, satnav without all the features but good and quick nav. I like it.

- didn´t want Columbus, its being stolen really badly in CZE

- I don´t like wiring and window mounting of hand satnavs in car

- just updating maps is much more difficult - we´ll see in few years

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  • 4 years later...

I have a superb 2 Elegance One of the first mark 2's in the country. my problem is the Columbus failed. It was replaced at huge cost.and was set up firstly, using my old startup disc. I took the car back & asked for a modern setup with 7 figure post codes.The outcome is that everything works fine apart from it not showing on the maxi dot screen. The dealer & Skoda uk say that this Columbus isn't compatible with the car.  I can't honestly believe this.

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