RNS510 cost-justified?

[ParaBul]

I'm just gonna throw this out there but my parents have a tomtom (which I borrow occasionally) and despite trying to update it it still does not have a lot of the roads (including the Lane Cove Tunnel!!!) but that's just my experience

Do you have map updates, or map corrections? As I understand it, "map corrections" only affect roads already on your maps (this is what I have). I believe you need to buy "map updates" to get new roads.

[Cookie28]

Yeah we got it a few years ago now, will have to try and buy the map updates for them

[Ideo]

I shake my head at well to do drivers in their Mercs, BMTroubleUs etc who, after having spent a tidy sum on the purchase of the car...only to have a $100 TomTom or Garmin stuck to the windscreen.

Why? I'd prefer to spend that money on performance and handling mods rather than for something I use infrequently.

[starionx]

I shake my head at well to do drivers in their Mercs, BMTroubleUs etc who, after having spent a tidy sum on the purchase of the car...only to have a $100 TomTom or Garmin stuck to the windscreen.

Maybe because the little portable gps is miles ahead in function than almost all inbuilt units. My 370Z had a pretty decent satnav unit, except it couldn't tell you how fast you were going. Considering that the speedometer was out by a whopping 9%, that was one thing the unit sorely needed. A $150 Garmin unit fixed that problem instantly (it has a screen with a large digital gps speedo). I never looked at the car's speedo ever again.

Why? I'd prefer to spend that money on performance and handling mods rather than for something I use infrequently.

Exactly. I'd be lucky to need a satnav once or twice a year.

[Andych]

Why? I'd prefer to spend that money on performance and handling mods rather than for something I use infrequently.

It is interesting reading on the differing views... here is the thing though... if the RNS510 was standard equipment and the RRP of the car was $2500 dearer would it have killed many sales?? Possibly on the lower priced vehicles but on the Premium / Performance cars... I doubt it.

You only need to look through treads on pricing to see how many people take quick delivery with more options and higher price than wait 6 or 9 months to save themselves a couple of grand...

[Ryan_R]

I had to enter a code when I first installed my one.

[raygti]

I had to enter a code when I first installed my one.

thats a good sign then ! so they are "legitimate" rns510s . have you had any issues with yours ryan? yeh i frowned upon that comment, usually the *fakes have similar looking buttons and screen, but 2 sd card ports. perhaps the person who made that comment before hand saying they are fake may have indeed purchased a look alike unit and is confused.

[Ryan_R]

Mine behaves as genuinely as you'd expect. The cheap China ones are fakes (although I'm sure the pictures show a different UI on screen anyway), the ones around $950-$1250 from UK/Europe are what you're looking for.

[bluey]

RNS-510/Columbus came with our new Yeti. Compared to our 2yr old TomTom XL 340, I'm not impressed. Cost wise, the RNS-510 map upgrades at retail of $199 cost more than the TomTom. Still have to clarify how "up-to-date" our maps are and if there are any free upgrades, but so far I think Skoda Whereis 5.1 is current. (VW Whereis is up to V18.)

RNS-510 Cons:
* the maps appear badly out of date - worse than the 2yr old TomTom (has free mapshare updates)
* missing private roads - eg shopping centre carparks
* no GPS speed
* no spoken distances
* no spoken streetnames
* only one voice
* few POIs
* hard work to add custom POIs How to: RNS-510 Speed Camera locations on the Map Display
* progress POI search results needs manual intervention to view
* harder to see than TomTom mounted on windscreen


RNS-510 Pros:
* integration with MFD
* voice control
* compass
* big screen
* optional multiple routes to choose


Will have to do more side-by-side comparisons of maps and directions.

Official Conti RNS-510 page here RNS 510

[Ryan_R]

There's a stickied thread in the Audio forums here that has links to new maps (for free).