Amundsen or Columbus?

[GaryBirch]

I have tunein on my iPhone. Needs good data signal. Maybe try it

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[Phil-E]

I personally can't be bothered with the radio most of the time. If you have an SD card slot just fill it with all your favourite music and you're sorted!

 

I have tunein on my iPhone. Needs good data signal. Maybe try it


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And preferably unlimited data.

[chrisgreen]

I also use TuneIn Radio on my iPhone - does the job well, audio quality is on a par with DAB. I have a massive data plan so don't need to worry about how much data it uses (which isn't a lot anyway as it's just audio).

[Phil-E]

Yeah it doesn't use too much.

 

If you were using for hours at a time every day then it would soon mount up.

 

I have an unlimited plan and use it a lot. I also plug it into the aux socket and use it in the car from time to time.

 

You also get more choice of stations from all over the world. We listen to German radio a lot.

 

Phil

Edited 4 March, 2015 by Phil-E

[GaryBirch]

Thanks all.

As an aside, driving a hire car today - Fabia DSG with basic radio. It's ok until I plug the phone charger in the cigarette lighter, then it loses all signal! Crazy!!

2014 Black Magic Rapid 1.6Tdi Elegance

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[chrisgreen]

Is your phone charger a decent quality one or a cheapo one? I am suspecting the latter if it's interfering with the radio.

[GaryBirch]

Cost flippin £8 from Tesco...!

2014 Black Magic Rapid 1.6Tdi Elegance

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[chrisgreen]

So cheap crap them.

A good quality 12v phone charger from someone like Griffin (or even the AmazonBasics ones) are nicely insulated and shielded, so won't interfere with the radio.

[inspector]

I have the amundsen and it is terrific. the sat nav is instant and adding way points so easy. traffic alerts are a boon as well as the traffic list regularly updated. my samsung s5 bluetooths instantly to it with my phonebook on there and multi choices available. I have a 32gb sd card plugged into it full of music and it displays every album and track name and scrolls easily and freely. the dab radio is superb to operate and has a plethora of preset spaces. it has the parking sensors, a slot to charge my phone and I absolutely find it reliable and so damned good.

i have changed the standard speakers in the car which were rubbish.(when I say I, I mean I paid a pro to do it for me!)

[camelspyyder]

I have the amundsen and it is terrific. the sat nav is instant and adding way points so easy. traffic alerts are a boon as well as the traffic list regularly updated. my samsung s5 bluetooths instantly to it with my phonebook on there and multi choices available. I have a 32gb sd card plugged into it full of music and it displays every album and track name and scrolls easily and freely. the dab radio is superb to operate and has a plethora of preset spaces. it has the parking sensors, a slot to charge my phone and I absolutely find it reliable and so damned good.

i have changed the standard speakers in the car which were rubbish.(when I say I, I mean I paid a pro to do it for me!)

 

Agree about Amundsen, mine is factory fitted - its a nice bit of kit included in the price - but why no Speed camera facility? This kills it as an aftermarket choice for me.

[Phil-E]

Agree about Amundsen, mine is factory fitted - its a nice bit of kit included in the price - but why no Speed camera facility? This kills it as an aftermarket choice for me.

 

The Columbus doesn't even technically have speed cameras on. You can get around this by creating a custom POI file and loading from the SD card. The Amundsen can't do this.

 

Must have been a decision taken to not include it. Probably because you're not allowed to have any speed camera alerts in most of Europe... simple answer is don't speed I guess!

 

Phil

[MickA]

As above, don't speed.

 

With my "stick on the screen" Garmin, which I still have, it was annoying having those speed camera alerts pinging away, especially on roads such as M42 on every gantry near Birmingham.

 

What I do now is set my maximum speed alert (in the MFD) so it warns me if above 70, or if speed limit is below this I set the CC to whatever the speed is. Works ok for motorway/dual roads. The rest just observe the signs.

[camelspyyder]

Well thats me told!

 

Why do I pay £20 annual fee to have Camera alerts on SWMBO's NAVMAN satnav?

 

Because it's safer.

 

 

In which case why are 95% of factory fit Nav systems able to accept Camera POI's and Amundsen isnt?

 

Its just rubbish having to put a second device in the car to do something the satnav should.

 

I don't tear about at high speed - it ruin's your mpg which is more important to me - however I do want warning if my attention has wandered.

Edited 5 March, 2015 by camelspyyder

[chrisgreen]

Well thats me told!

 

Why do I pay £20 annual fee to have Camera alerts on SWMBO's NAVMAN satnav?

 

Because it's safer.

With the greatest of respect - your argument is invalid!

There's absolutely nothing 'safer' about speed camera POIs - they serve purely to help those who speed avoid being photographed doing it.

If anything, people who use them are more dangerous drivers by virtue of the fact that many of them frequently and unnecessarily speed and brake along motorway stretches and other major roads in order to pass the cameras under or at the legal limit. It encourages erratic driving as well as avoidable braking that impacts free-flowing traffic.

A nav without speed camera positions is perfectly useable. The Amundsen maps include speed limit data - that's the only road data that matters and is far more important for safe driving than speed camera locations.

If you stick to the legal limits or below as you should, the location of speed cameras becomes completely irrelevant. If your attention wanders while you are behind the wheel of a one-tonne+ device capable of killing you and others - that's a different matter that speed camera locations won't fix.

Anyway, on to other things. A generic removable sat nav can be fitted to the Rapid in a way that's neat and tidy. It also means you can access cheaper and more frequent map updates (with speed limit data). After strongly considering an Amundsen, Columbus or Kenwood, I opted for a new Garmin Nuvi 2569 LMT-D, which includes full Western Europe maps, lifetime free map updates (issued quarterly), lifetime DAB-based traffic information reception and - due to a special offer before Christmas - two years of free speed camera POI updates. I have the speed camera audio alerts turned off.

I paired it with the genuine Garmin stick-on dash mount, and fed the cable down the side of the A pillar to a 12v power socket connected to the fuse box.

Untitled by Chris Green, on Flickr

Untitled by Chris Green, on Flickr

[camelspyyder]

With the greatest of respect - your argument is invalid!

 

With equal respect chris - selective quoting can change the whole meaning of a post - as you just showed by leaving out my closing statement describing my OAP driving style.

 

I too have done the same here by removing all of your personal criticism and therefore hiding the irony of your "respect" comment.

 

I am not a speed freak - and indeed I get better mpg than you do from the same engined car so it's possible I'm the slower driver.

 

I have valued your input into many of the vehicle discussions on here, but this time you just came over as sanctimonious.

 

I think thats enough thread drift.

 

OP, I'd recommend Columbus based on the bigger screen and its flexibility.

[NatalieSearson]

I disagree Chris somewhat... Sat Navs that offer some warning allows the driver to slow down safely if they are deviating from the speed limit as it draws their attention with sound, and as we all know how easy it can be to deviate. Personally I'd rather be keeping my eyes on the road and doing 35 than constantly diverting my eyes to the speedo.

Whereas if there is no warning, and someone catches the yellow fiends too late... What is the reaction? They will slam on. Sometimes regardless of whether or not they are speeding as they don't have time to check and slow down so they slow down regardless. I see it all the time people doing 30 will slow down to mid 20s.

My Columbus doesn't warn me, not a big deal. But I have found it useful before when I had a stick on one.

[GaryBirch]

20 yrs driving and never been caught by a camera. That's not to say I haven't sped... Not deliberately of course!!!

Anyway, good news... DAB via iphone app via BT-Audio is working! Absolute 80's in the car! Fantastic!

And with sat Nav on Google maps, I might just save myself £500-700!

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[camelspyyder]

GaryBirch, on 07 Mar 2015 - 16:11, said:

20 yrs driving and never been caught by a camera. That's not to say I haven't sped... Not deliberately of course!!!

Anyway, good news... DAB via iphone app via BT-Audio is working! Absolute 80's in the car! Fantastic!

And with sat Nav on Google maps, I might just save myself £500-700!

2014 Black Magic Rapid 1.6Tdi Elegance

Sent from my thumbs on a rediculously small screen using Tapatalk

 

If you feel the need - another excellent free app is CamerAlert.

 

It does pan-UK camera speed warnings, but only if you happen to be above the limit, so for us law-abiding types it never pings at all