Not that I have any choice..I ordered a dealer Ghost car, instead of waiting ...though tbh only thing I would have ordered is the other Sat Nav.

 

Just wondered what people think about the unit etc?

Got one, think it's ace - and while I'm sure there are more wonderful ones for various reasons for me I like the screen, I like the optional touch screen or control inputs.

Only thing I've notced that I've wondered if could be even better is address input seems to take a while though if you use the 'drop down' feature that helps.

I've no real issues with it. Just like every other touch screen head unit I've come across, it's a pain to navigate easily and safely when moving compared to older style button based units. However the sounds is fine, navigation for the occassions that I have made use of it has been spot on with a few minor niggles like how long it takes to get started to allow an address to be input etc.

It was part of the spec in my Elegance & it works OK, however the TomTom that I used before it was far easier to use. I know there are European issues with safety cameras being installed & on a couple of journeys the dynamic update took me on some very peculiar routes. I have yet to update it having read some of the comments in the forums about problems doing so.

My major gripe is that when the car goes so does the sat nav, so the TomTom with free updates is still in the boot ready just in case.

Also take a look at another post further down the list entitled - S L O W Amundsen.

Edited 5 November, 201411 yr by kalpat

Its OK but, not worth the cost of specing one if thats what you're asking and certainly not worth the retro fit costs.

Edited 5 November, 201411 yr by themanwithnoaim

Miss Amundsen is very good as far as touchscreen units go, and does make some things extremely handy. Once radio stations are preset, that is nice and simple, and does make flicking from screen to screen simple.

However it does have down sides. Searching through an SD card full of music isnt straight forward and can be clumsy when on the move. The Satnav is also a little slow to start with, but overall fairly simple to use.

 

Whether the Columbus improves on the downsides i dont know.

Is there any kind of traffic update and re-routing available if it senses a serious delay as debating (when I get Scout next year) whether to get TomTom on my smartphone mainly for pocketgpsworld.com speed camera database as I do 1k+ mileage per week usually and the HD traffic from TomTom is pretty good when it works.

Is there any kind of traffic update and re-routing available if it senses a serious delay as debating (when I get Scout next year) whether to get TomTom on my smartphone mainly for pocketgpsworld.com speed camera database as I do 1k+ mileage per week usually and the HD traffic from TomTom is pretty good when it works.

Yes. There is a button called 'traffic' which lists all traffic reports nearby or on your route, and this updates all the time. These are also highlighted on the Nav by a red line. SatNav also changes your route automatically if it thinks it is necessary. It will tell you if it has done this.

Beware though, and make sure you are happy with what it has done (not easy to see in advance) as it once took me off the M6 because of traffic, only to take me thropugh Preston, in even worse traffic.

Whether the Columbus improves on the downsides i dont know.

 

Bigger screen, internal drive for map data / music (therefore faster to read data / respond etc.)... yes, it's much better to use than the Amundsen, but it also costs a lot more.

Beware though, and make sure you are happy with what it has done (not easy to see in advance) as it once took me off the M6 because of traffic, only to take me thropugh Preston, in even worse traffic.

 

Never ever follow a SatNav's recommended detour... because everyone else with SatNav (and that's most people these days) are going to end up going that way too, which somewhat defeats the purpose as it just moves the traffic jam for everyone! 

Never ever follow a SatNav's recommended detour... because everyone else with SatNav (and that's most people these days) are going to end up going that way too, which somewhat defeats the purpose as it just moves the traffic jam for everyone! 

my main problem was that it took me through the outskirts of Preston during rush hour. Loads of traffic lights, and horrible traffic. Dont think anyone else did what i did.

Bigger screen, internal drive for map data / music (therefore faster to read data / respond etc.)... yes, it's much better to use than the Amundsen, but it also costs a lot more.

Ah yes, the internal drive should make it faster. Didnt think of that.

my main problem was that it took me through the outskirts of Preston during rush hour. Loads of traffic lights, and horrible traffic. Dont think anyone else did what i did.

I doubt any one else would do what you did unless they also had an Amundsen, the routing often seems bizarre IMHO. It will tell me when I might get there, but I no longer trust it to choose a good way of getting there, which is annoying. We often end up using my wife's iPhone or an iPad with Google maps to check the route, and most of the time we go with Google maps not Amundsen.

Ive never had a problem with the initial route. Only the time it decided to take me round Preston. If i could look ahead easily to see what it intended, i wouldnt have bothered. But once i was far enough off the motorway, i had little choice but to join the rush hour traffic as i never knew where i was.

Ive got a passat with the forerunner to the amundsen. The route guidance is mediocre at best. It assumes that all small country roads are 60 limits so will often try to take you off a main a or b road down some rough track because it assumes you can go more quickly than is actually feasible. Ive even had it tell me to turn off an a road only to rejoin the same road a few hundred yards ahead. ... Oh, and dont get me started on postcodes... This is from the era when you could only put in the first 5 digits...

I just hope the columbus is better

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Amundsen is basically a Bolero with a nav module. Its perfectly adequate, people say the screen isnt particularly great from a res and size perspective but for me 5.8" is more than adequate and the res is good enough.....also the integration into the maxidot for nav instructions means you rarely need to look at it anyway.

My only real complaints so far.....it will take you to a post code or road but not to a house number etc which the older VAG units used to do. It basically has no street data but thats a lack of info in the mapping which I would hope will be fixed in time.

Sometimes can be a bit dim whitted to get its head around dynamic routing, having made a couple of detours in the past it then continues for some good while to tell you to turn back on yourself/u turn to head back on the original path....still my old TomTom One wasnt alot better.

Would I have paid £550 for it?.....probably not but then not a chance id now pay £800 to upgrade to Columbus....for sure its a better unit (at the additional cost it damn well ought to be) but not £800 better than the Amundsen, but its all a matter of opinion. Came on the Elegance I bought and its been useful for sure.

TBH if I were buying a vRS now id probably spec Bluetooth + to get the sharkfin and better in car mobile reception and spend the other £400ish on some other useful option like winter pack or put towards elec memory seats (with their infinitely better two way pneumatic lumbar supports) and just use Google Maps or someother smartphone based nav software.

I have the Amundsen, and here in Norway it takes you to house numbers. So it must be a map thing.

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My best satnav is made of paper, and cost £5.99 in W H Smith.

Edited 10 November, 201411 yr by woosmull

My best satnav is made of paper, and cost £5.99 in W H Smith.

Which is great. Until you pile into the back of the car in front whilst looking at the prompts you made scribbled on a piece of paper after planning the route. I suppose you could stop every time you need to check where to turn off. Not always possible.

 

Maps are great. IF you have a navigator and IF that navigator can read a map and distinguish left from right. Up from down. North from South. East from West. I could go on...

Ive got a passat with the forerunner to the amundsen. The route guidance is mediocre at best. It assumes that all small country roads are 60 limits so will often try to take you off a main a or b road down some rough track because it assumes you can go more quickly than is actually feasible. Ive even had it tell me to turn off an a road only to rejoin the same road a few hundred yards ahead. ... Oh, and dont get me started on postcodes... This is from the era when you could only put in the first 5 digits...

I just hope the columbus is better

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Columbus has similar quirks.  Everytime the route goes across the Severn Bridge (M4) it wants to take me off the motorway at J22 (M49), over the roundabout and then re-join the motorway

The house encumber thing works if you do it by entering, Town, then Street and it will finally offer you the number screen to enter a number, but, if you enter your destination by post code it doesn't offer the house number function, so a bit of a daft one really if you ask me.

 

My only gripe is with the maxi dot screen, when you are approaching a junction or something that it wants you to turn into I find the way the colour changes to represents getting closer to be not very good to see and isn't always 'up to date' so it has meant a few times me despite slowing down knowing the turning was coming up going past the junction, on my Mk2 with sat nav it was much clearer it has very clear defined lines that were very clear when you were getting to the junction and it made sailing past more difficult.

 

Couple of things that are minor but frustrating all the same.

 

I am sure there are inbuilt phone apps, Tom Toms etc that are far far better etc than the Amundsen, but for me its all about not having wires trailing everywhere around the car, so paying for it was worth it for that for me, so its downsides are worth putting up with, however, I accept that some people aren't as OCD as me about wires etc, so for those people the Tom Toms etc are probably far better, more accurate etc