I posted this in the Yeti forum but been advised to

re-post it here instead so here goes.

From reading the DAB thread in the Yeti section, I've only just noticed that the MDI is now an option on the Yeti although it is rather pricey for what it does at £175.00. It must have been added very recently as it wasn't an option when we ordered the car on the 27th January.

I have this option as standard on my Fabia vRS and I use it every day with my classic 120Gb iPod but just how useful is it considering the Columbus (standard on the L&K we've ordered) has a wealth of connectivity already - SD card, HDD and bluetooth?

Unless anything has changed in software / hardware, I was under the impression that the bluetooth only allows you to control the track and volume i.e. you can't search the contents of your phone or iPod such as albums, playlists etc? If so then the MDI could be a worthwhile option to have.

I'm told that the Columbus will also only support SDHC cards up to 32Gb (my music library on the iPod is nearly 80Gb.) Has anyone tried anything larger than this e.g a 64Gb or even 128Gb card and does it work? I presume that control over contents on an SD card or the internal HDD are the same as what you'd get on the MDI?

Had the MDI option been more like between £50.00 and £100.00 then I'd probably have it added to the order but £175.00 sounds like a lot for something that simply allows you to put a bigger music library in the car?

As the MDI option seems to have been a much sought-after option on the Yeti, I wonder just how many new buyers will be adding it now that it's available?

I just retro fitted a Columbus and an MDI kit to my Octavia VRS.

Very pleased with it as it allows full access of my iPhone 4 from my Columbus and also can still use the phone fully even when connected to the MDI interface.

P.S Eddie-NL sells MDI kits for under £100 and the kit is complete and ready to be plugged in. Cant recommend him enough.

Very pleased with it as it allows full access of my iPhone 4 from my Columbus and also can still use the phone fully even when connected to the MDI interface.

I tried doing this in my Fabia that has the Swing radio and MDI. I found that whilst the MDI would work fine, as soon as I made or received a call through the Bluetooth, the MDI didn't work again afterwards. I had to physically disconnect and reconnect the phone to make it work again. That was with an iPhone 3GS though, now have an iPhone 5 (not seen an MDI adapter for this?!)

It may well be different on the Columbus with MDI and Bluetooth. If it is and it works as you describe then it'd be worth the outlay to me. If not and it still has the bug then I can see only limited use for the MDI?

Can the Columbus provide full control of the iPhone over Bluetooth in the same way as MDI can or is it limited to track and volume control?

I tested the bluetooth functionality on a loaner Yeti that had the Bolero radio and this is all it seemed to offer. There was no artwork, couldn't search by album or artist etc. All I could do was skip a track forward or back and the volume. Very limited in its usefulness as the rest had to be controlled from the phone itself.

Edited 1 March, 201313 yr by scottpcs