RNS510 vs portable sat nav + ebay listing

[wdong]

I am surmising here that, judging only from my experience and from what i can read between the lines, these eBay sellers probably have some deal with the dealers in that, they would order cars with Sat Nav as standard equipment to obtain a better buy price, then pull the units out and onselling them. I only say that because how can an eBayer get so many RNS510 to sell from wrecks? And they all look brand new (minus marking from screw holes that tells that the unit had been in a car). The unit themselves look brand new, with even the protective plastic cover on the screen. There are also genuine VW stickers on the unit depicting its a version C which is not old at all. I doubted that there are so many wrecks or stolen VWs with RNS built in that one guy could get his hands on. Without the screw hole marks, I would think that the guy probably has contacts in the factory whereby some of these units fall off the backs of trucks. The above is purely my guess and summation.

i asked seller before i click "buy it now", those units are refurbished OEM unit, not entirely brand new.

[aristocrat]

i asked seller before i click "buy it now", those units are refurbished OEM unit, not entirely brand new.

That's interesting wdong. The question in my mind really is - how come there are so many refurbrished units in Version C (and that's the newest version supposedly out only since early this year)? and they all came out of Lithuania. Why don't you see so many recalls and swap over units in Oz or elsewhere in the world. Don't worry about me, its just my cynacism coming out....

[Maverick]

Neither Geoscience Australia nor MapData Sciences supplies routable map databases. There are only 3 companies in Aust that supply turn by turn data that appears in navigation devices.

Sensis - (a wholly owned subsiduary of that other PRIVATE entity Telstra, yes that’s right the govt don't own it)
Navteq - (Originally an US company now owned by Nokia) Value add data from PSMA to make a routable database
MetroView Systems - local company who also value add the PSMA data

Yes PSMA is owned by the states and territories, but it was not setup to provide routing databases.

Explain the problems that Google is having with their desire to introduce free turn by turn navigation on their android phones, they can't do it as the company they license mapping data from MapData Sciences (who obtain it from psma) want's to charge them for each device that has turn by turn enabled. This is a substantial amount despite that fact that Google has spent a heap of money and time refining the data so turn by turn could be used (the same as Navteq do). This all comes back to licensing from the government and protecting companies like Sensis who produce overpriced rubbish.

Garbage, really, what... is your street missing . Do you know what goes into a map database? I doubt you know a Form of Way from a Bifurcation...

There are plenty of errors in the Sensis data that have been there since day one, reporting them doesn't get them fixed and it takes them years to add new roads even major ones. It's not rocket science but Telstra sure make it seem that way.

VW do not manufactuer the device, this is the norm for the industry. In the case of VW it is supplied by Continental. They develop the device to VW specs, convert the data to work with their hardware and software. They will test a completed product that is to ensure that their conversion has been performed correctly, but thats it. To expect anything else is ludicrous.

Why? TomTom do refinements to the raw sensis data to correct errors and add in useful POI's. Many offer add ons like speed and red light cameras as POI as well.

The Sensis map data is well known to be buggy, out of date and inaccurate. When a paper based UBD is available for $20 (which is a third of the price of the raw data from Sensis in quantity) and it's more accurate than the latest Sensis data you have to question what exactly Sensis/Telstra do.

The TomTom GO series uses the same map data and yet can perform voice recognition functions (TomTom call it voice control). I would suggest the problem lies in the time and cost to implement.

The implementation of voice recognition is complex, and normally requires an accurate phoneme database for each country, otherwise the spoken words are not fully understood leading to errors.

/lesson

Volkswagen voice control systems work fine with hundreds of languages and dialects. Their voice control systems are the first ones I've been able to consistently have work nearly 100% of the time and other English speaking countries all have working voice control for destination entry.

[Highlander]

From a Sensis hosted forum

Danielle @ Sensis | 13 April 2010

Paul, thanks for you feedback. Whereis makes every effort to provide maps that are up to date and accurate – I am sure you’ll agree that Australia’s a big country and it’s a very big job. I have passed your feedback to our navigation product team and they will certainly look into your comments.

For a bit of background- Sensis releases its updated map database at the start of each year to their in-car navigation suppliers and every four months to their PND partners. The relevant navigation supplier then takes Sensis’ map database through their respective processes before the maps are released to the public.

Thanks for passing on the feedback.

Danielle

[Jetta5]

Hey guys,

If I was to buy a used (but recent) RNS510 unit extracted from a Passat CC, would there be any compatibility issues or part differences (e.g. antenna) that would prevent easy installation into a 2010 Polo?

Thanks.

[vwllama]

I picked up my new Passat last Wed. I ordered the RNS 510 from ebay (UK guy). It arrived very quickly (5 days) and looked to be brand new, with screen protector still on it. I was very worried something would be wrong with it, or not being able to e programmed etc. I took it to Autofidelity in Moorabbin this morning to have the Fiscon installed and the RNS 510 installed.

Let me say I could not be happier. The unit works great, integrates perfectly with MDI and looks fantastic. I am very impressed. Cost was $1150, but seeing as I will sell the old unit on Ebay for possibly $700+ all up cost only $450, as opposed to the $3600 Barloworld wanted to charge me. I am very stoked and happy with the choice I made. Maps seem great. My home is located on a new road (2 years old) that does not show up on google maps or on my TomTom, but does show up on RNS 510.

I highly recommend the unit and the Fiscon as it works great. I am not a fan of voice activation as it has never worked for me on any phone, and has caused some embarrassing mistakes when calling a wrong client. I do not see it a need for it when you can control the Fiscon from the steering wheel through the MDI.

John from Autofidelity was also fantastic and very accommodating.

[raph]

My 2c.

I got my Octavia with just the standard Bolero CD unit. I gave a lot of consideration to purchasing either a RNS510 or an aftermarket unit to put in, as the idea of integrated GPS sounded quite good to me. After much thought though, with the cost of purchasing a unit and installing it being at minimum a total around $1500 and the main benefit that I would use being just GPS on that screen, i opted instead to buy a garmin unit that fits perfectly in the little compartment on my dashboard. The garmin unit gets SUNA traffic updates (Havent actually figured out how to use it yet) and only cost $254 on sale from JB.

I just couldnt justify the extra expense, especially having read various gripes about the RNS510.