W209 sat nav

[ozzies]

I have a june03 270 clk fitted with factory sat nav.It came with dec02 tele west uk cd. Is there anything better out there in cds , does the latest issue have postal code search? which is better nav tech or tele west for graphics etc?
Where's the cheapest source for these ? MBUK seems expensive as usual to me,any links (Arnie I look forward to your usual excellent reply!)
Many thanks guys,Ian

 

[maybach]

Hello

The 04 disc does support post code entry, but only the first 4 digits then you have to select the street
I think that M.B charge just about the same as the nav shop for there discs. You can get a T.M.C enabled disc from the Nav shop which will run on your system however it does not have some of the M.B software on it. One of the downsides is that it tunes into Clasic FM and also does not give A road advice.
Hope this helps
Maybach

 

[Arnie]

It seems hard to find out exact details of who is offering what map CDs.

Originally, MB fitted Blaupunt (BOSCH) Units with Tele-Atlas map CDs.

Then, Mercedes started to offer the Audio-30 APS system, that it developed with Becker (in congunction with a consultancy company, NavSys) and which was provided with the better NavTech maps.

At the same time Mercedes were offering the COMAND system on the top-end vehicles, which was a BOSCH unit, again with Tele-atlas maps.

However, recently, MB signed a deal with old friend Becker to supply all future COMAND systems. And, at about the same time, Becker appears to have signed a deal with Tele-Atlas as their new main map provider.


The map display graphics depend on the nav-unit and not on the map data or its provider. although some maps may have more P.O.I. data to display than others. The postal code feature depends on the function being added to the navigation unit as well as the map data containing the post-codes (OS update with new maps). The 04 Becker Post-Code feature does not work very well, as you still need to enter the street and sometimes the Town. The current MB APS disc does not have post-codes, but is no great loss.



Tele-atlas maps were said to cover 90% of the population, while Navtech maps are said to be more accurate and cover 90% of the land area, which is what you want (remember the mobile-phone coverage figures in the early days as quoted by different providers?). The other difference was that NavTech was proven to be much more accurate and up-to date with new and existing roads (various test reviews on the internet, although bear in mind that these are mostly USA related). However, I guess Tele-atlas must be cheaper and in the last year or two, I suspect that Tele-atlas must have caught-up a bit. (Perhaps MB has forced the change by not wanting to provide updates for both Navtech and teleatlas systems, but I think that any map data (Teleatlas or Navtech) can be provided for any system as long as the systems OS is updated accordingly (New map discs seem to provide OS updates on the disc too).

Tele-atlas and NavTech are currently the only two main map-data providers. However, Michelin sells map discs suitable for most Nav Systems (Model, year and type) and these are stuffed with more P.O.I information and other goodies.

The other thing to watch is how the names and towns are listed and categorised in the map data. Also, which roads are associated with which towns and areas. Teleatlas UK maps are not particularly good at this association.

Did you know that Wimbledon does not exist on the Tele-atlas destination-input town directory (you have to enter Merton, which is the bourough)??

I would wait a while longer before looking for upgrades, at least until the TMC situation is properly supported on the new updates. TMC should be a very useful feature for navigation.