Group Buy for WD6050 New Version

[aristocrat]

Hi guys, there is a group buy happening with Joe (Oskar) from MkV forum on the new and improved WD6050. If people are interested, should check it out. I have just ordered mine.

Don't know if its OK to link, but if the mods think there is a conflict of interest, please remove.

Here's the link on MkV forum for everybody's interest:

http://www.golfmkv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=93281&highlight=wd6050

[Maverick]

I can't believe that there are so many people willing to buy a new model* that will be full of new bugs and that can't be be updated generally without replacing the unit with the latest revision

*really a bug fix and new bugs.. I mean features.

[aristocrat]

I can't believe that there are so many people willing to buy a new model* that will be full of new bugs and that can't be be updated generally without replacing the unit with the latest revision.

Horses for Courses Maverick. Not everyone can afford or are willing to shell out $3000 plus for an RNS510 unit. For those who don't want to go down that path, at least there is an alternative for close on a sixth of the price. People are aware of potential bugs and the limitations of the unit before they purchase if they do their research and read the forum threads.

As for bug fixes and support, even though I have not dealt with Oskar before, from reading the forums, everybody who has purchased (or even not purchased) from Oskar got his support.

I have to disagree that with updating the unit, it would be more do-able and simpler than the RNS510, as there are firmwares available which you can flash yourself. The cost of upgrading maps would be a fraction of what it would cost you to get a new Sensis map from the dealer.

In all, people are not fools, they will do their own research and make up their own minds as to the cost/benefit of owning either the RNS510 or WD6050.

[Maverick]

Horses for Courses Maverick. Not everyone can afford or are willing to shell out $3000 plus for an RNS510 unit. For those who don't want to go down that path, at least there is an alternative for close on a sixth of the price. People are aware of potential bugs and the limitations of the unit before they purchase if they do their research and read the forum threads.

Fair enough but you can buy a RNS 510 brand new for under $1900 delivered from Europe and from ebay for around $1200 (seems to be going rate).

As for bug fixes and support, even though I have not dealt with Oskar before, from reading the forums, everybody who has purchased (or even not purchased) from Oskar got his support.

A lot of problems still haven't been fixed, a lot of people have had to send their units back and the performance of them units is very haphazard. Support from the manufacturers is very limited.

I have to disagree that with updating the unit, it would be more do-able and simpler than the RNS510, as there are firmwares available which you can flash yourself. The cost of upgrading maps would be a fraction of what it would cost you to get a new Sensis map from the dealer.

The firmware updates are not easy to do for most people and the amount of stuffing around to get basic features to work would drive most people up the wall and quite a few people have ended up going back to their VW headunit or purchasing a RNS 510.

The RNS 510 firmware upgrade is a simple process which is putting a CD in and walking away, the 6050 has multiple firmwares and different features break with different versions. And the RNS 510 fully integrates into the car.

Seeing as all the software and maps on the 6050's is pirated let's compare apples with apples and download the maps for the RNS 510. Puts them both on par with each other for the cost of updates!

In all, people are not fools, they will do their own research and make up their own minds as to the cost/benefit of owning either the RNS510 or WD6050.

Unfortunately many don't do their own research which is their own fault but the problems you see in the 6050 thread really shows that there is no quality control and that people don't read! And a lot of the info can be hard to come by in that thread, especially things like screen quality because this is a letdown and not something you think of until you experience it in your car.

Each to their own at the end of the day but prospective purchasers should at least have all the facts at hand before buying one (which is their responsibility but reading through hundreds of pages of thread can be daunting). The units like the 6050 are getting better but the lack of any quality control and testing before release is really killing them, releasing them with problems like CAN bus interface issues so they don't power off is IMO inexcusable.

[G-rig]

I'd buy a good quality after market audio brand unit like Eclipse/Alpine/Pioneer before getting a knock off unit.

At least you could keep that for the next car, or sell it easily to other people interested in car audio.

There do seem like an endless list of bugs so just trying to save yourself a few headaches and frustrations.

[Arctra]

Prices?

Seems to be a bit of interest in this new unit, but nothing on it's price from what I saw. Have you got an Aus delivered price yet aristocrat (or anyone)?

G-rig: Fair comment and good justification for it. However they still seem to be quite a bit more than the WD6050, and at the end of the day money talks. If you can't cost justify it, the WD6050 is a decent looking compromise.

Maverick: I'm trying to figure out if you're a passionate hater of the "chinese knock-off's" or a passionate advocate of the RNS510 OEM unit. I guess the message you're trying to get through is BUYER BEWARE.

At the end of the day, even an eBay $1200 unit is about twice the price of one of these WD6050 units, and so I refer you to the money talks comment I made above. I agree that the RNS510 would be preferable, but it's easier to justify spending $600 (I am guessing the price here based on similar units on eBay) on a knock-off than an RNS510. On top of that at least I know I'll be able to upgrade the GPS software myself in the future (as it's basically a Win CE PDA) and I get relatively good bang for buck feature wise. Is it top quality? - probably not, but it's a calculated compromise I'm willing to make. When VW move on to their next shiny satnav product, I'll be left up the perverbial creek without a paddle and have to choose to either upgrade headunit, or deal with the outdated maps and features.

[Swallowtail]

OK guys, this thread is getting really boring.

Aristocrat, thank you for posting about the group buy. To everyone else, as Arctra has said, it's buyer beware - there are known issues with these units. THat's really all that needs to be said.

Any more pointless comments regurgitating what has been said a million times elsewhere will be deleted.

Please see http://www.vwwatercooled.org.au/newf...ad.php?t=33103

[G-rig]

G-rig: Fair comment and good justification for it. However they still seem to be quite a bit more than the WD6050, and at the end of the day money talks. If you can't cost justify it, the WD6050 is a decent looking compromise.

That's fair mate, was just putting it out there for those who may be more audio based than features, however that Eclipse all in one unit looks quite good, but is still $2k.

As you said they are a decent alternative if you don't want to spend ~2k.