Nick_H

Is it as good ?

Dodgy

TomTom is better functionality, but you can't beat an integrated OEM unit for looks and convenience. I always used to not have my TomTom with me when I needed it for unexpected runs.
Dave.

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VRStu

I agree. Fits in perfectly with the car and is more than adequate to get you from A2B.

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SWMBO's Car - 2008 Seat LEON TDi Stylance, Black Magic, Sports Pack, Rear Parking Sensors.

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sworrall

seconded on both counts. the tomtom looks prettier too but the mfd2 won me over on the functionality and just "being there" without any wires, suckers etc. it also talks road numbers to you which my version of tomtom didnt do and you also get the integration on the maxidot

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patrol man

plus an mfd2 is coverd by your warranty and insurance

Stuart_J

We find Tom Tom far superior to the sat Nav fitted in the Superb & tend to take it with us if we are going anywhere we dont know well, its far far easier to use, tends to choose a better route (we have run both together as a test). It can be updated from the net, with the fitted system you have to buy a new disc. You can add speed cameras, filling stations etc from downloads, with the fitted system you cant. It covers most of Europe, with the fitted system you have to buy more discs. Also if you need to change vehicles unexpectedly you still have your sat nav to transfer, this was a god send when the Superb failed in France last year & the renter we were given was shall we say "basic" The only + I can see for the fitted system will be a selling point when we come to move the car on.
With sat nav becoming more & more portable, its going to be on a lot of the new generation phones I can see fitted systems becoming less & less of a "desireable thing" If anyone remembers the first mobile phones they were fitted to the car as they were huge, suddenly the mobile mobile arrived & they were obsolete, a fully portable sat nav is the future & will be the norm in a few years

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VRStu

Only if it's factory fit.

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Stu's Websites - http://www.fabia-vrs.com & http://www.octavia-vrs.com

Stu's Car - 2008 Audi S3 - Ibis White, Black Optics Pack, Privacy Glass, Auto Bi Xenon Headlights, Rain Sensing Wipers, Bose Sound System, Ipod Prep, GSM Phone Prep, Flat Bottom Multi Function Steering Wheel, Electric Folding Mirrors, Acoustic Parking, Cruise Control, Interior Light Pack, Non Smokers Pack.

SWMBO's Car - 2008 Seat LEON TDi Stylance, Black Magic, Sports Pack, Rear Parking Sensors.

Something for Weekend - A Patio

timjfw

The Tomtom UK fits perfectly (with the bracket still attached) into the pull down compartment to the right of the steering wheel.

gadgetman

NEVER leave in the car. It voids any personal/house insurance, and your car insurance is unlikely to cover it or damage cause by stealing it.

Theives these days use pulse detectors, and are quite good at location TomTom's battery pulse. Ask my neighbour who lost 4 before using his brain and taking it out

Makefish

I was an avid non-believer of Stanav but have been totally won over by the functionality and OEM look of the MFD2. Never owned any other type of Satnav so cant really give you an honest comparison.

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smokeysmoo

Well Done! All car thieves take note!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

salmac

I have had Trafficmaster's Smartnav for three years and have yet to see a better satnav. The biggest advantage for me is that it is a live system that warns of impending traffic problems and then offers an alternative route where possible. As far as I am aware, none of the other systems do this. What's more it costs less than half the Skoda factory fitted system.

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Colin

Octavia II Elegance 2.0 PD TDI DSG
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Makefish

The MFD2 has an impending 'traffic' button, push it and you can reclculate your route to avoid disruptions

Skoda factory fit cost is £1450 iirc but no one in their right mind would pay that when it's available for less than £400 on ebay!

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Fluffmeister

The ITIS is not to bad on the MFD2 if you have the correct nav CD, it's never let me down on "re-routing", works in a similar way to trafficmaster, and as others have said, the mfd2 is "factory", looks great, no extra bits dangling around the dash and you can fit the multimedia adapter and use it for divx or dvd playback on the tft / speakers......

not worth £1400, but darn well worth the £400

richardjh

i was previously using a pda with integrated gps and tomtom installed. Compared with the tomtom 5 software i have, the mfd feels old. Screen updates are slow as it re-reads the cd, tmc i havent found that too useful. On the upside it is a lot more convenient to have it integrated and the big bright display is much better than the pda.

Bagpuss

If all you want is navigation, then go for the TomTom. The software is way superior to the MFD2. Lets face it, the Skoda nav. is based on Blaupunkt TravelPilot DX hardware that's been around for nearly 7 years. SavNav has come a long way in that time.

The new VW touch screen Nav (as seen in the new Touran) is definitely a step in the right direction, and really brings the OEM stuff bang up to date. Hopefully, this will be an option on the Octy before too long. The new Superb is definitely going to get this.

Personally, I'm about to refit a Pioneer AVIC-X1. It might not blend in to the dash as well as the MFD, but it's a lot better in most other ways.

Bagpuss.

swing

They can detect the what using the what....? Surely the battery will only "pulse" (whatever that means, and Google was no great help) when being charged.

In my experience, most people who have had their SatNav units stolen seem to have either left the unit attached to the windscreen, left the mount attached to the windscreen, or have removed all of that, but the windscreen still has the tell-tale round suction mark from the mount on it...

Dodgy

I'd read a story that it was the tell tale bluetooth signal on certain hardware that was the giveaway for our latest high tech thieves. But if it's turned off, I don't see how that would work, unless there is a certain bluetooth heartbeat going?

Edit: http://www.sbd.co.uk/assets/Security_August_2005.pdf
Extract:

"Bluetooth technology used to detect Bluetooth electrical equipment in cars (UK)
According to Manchester Police, thieves are using Bluetooth mobile phones to detect other compatible equipment, such as mobiles, laptops and PDAs, to steal from vehicles. In SBD’s opinion, the amount of theft occurring using this type of equipment has been over estimated. For a thief to locate Bluetooth compatible equipment in a vehicle, the equipment left in the vehicle has to be switched on with Bluetooth activated for detection to occur."

Dave.

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swing

Ah yes, I'd heard the Bluetooth story as well, but as that extract says - the device would have to be left turned on...

I suppose some people, if they are only leaving the car for a minute or two, may leave the device switched on, but hide it under the dash, and this would still be detected.

Personally, I turn off my SatNav and take it with me, even for the shortest journeys - getting back on topic - the advantage of the MFD2 is not having any faff when you leave the car for short periods, eg paying for petrol.

gadgetman

Surrey Police > In Your Neighbourhood > Spelthorne > PC Michelle Charlesworth - Stanwell North + Stanwell Moor

Look under Bogus callers....

Seems even when off, there are sti ll impulses (on PCs its the CMOS battery.

dilly

Until OE satnav employs full 7 digit/letter postcode facility, there is no way it can be as good as TomTom.
In my job I need to visit places in deepest West Country with only a house name such as "Manor Farm" in "Little Snodgrass" Cornwall. How do you enter that in the MFD2?
Enter a full postcode and you'll get very close and sometimes (if the place is very grand with its own postcode!) straight to the gates.

I now don't use the sucker thingy. I put the unit straight onto one of those (admittedely ghastly) sticky mats you get for 3 quid from Woollies on top of the dash cubby. Its perfect, particularly for motorways and A roads, and, if you drive smoothly (as you all do), it stays there on any road. OK it'll go flying if you brake hard. The whole lot stores neatly away in the cubby below the passenger seat.

Why doesn't OE satnav have full postcode facility? Its been available for several years.

Good anecdote. I always use the male voice facility (if I have the sound switched on at all). Dunno why - sounds better. I took my sec home the other day and she wanted to see the TomTom in action. Didnt need it, we know the way home like the backs of hands. I turned it on and then she asked if she could hear Jane (the female voice obviously).

Switched to Jane and she went wrong within about a mile.... Hopelessly lost. Huge laughter. Turned out to be a glitch (of which there are quite a few) in the mapping. I've since checked and sure enough John gets lost too on a completely straight Roman road route.

dill

swing

Oh well, if it's written by one PC on a website, it must be true...

Sorry, I still don't fully believe it, but the advice given (don't leave them in the car) is still very valid.

[later] thinking about it, many of my cars have had backup batteries in them for the radio or other functions - so how can these SatNav backup batteries get magically detected...

gadgetman

Well some high up officer was at a meeting I was at. Pulse detector sales are huge, and most forces work with stores to check CCTV and identify know criminals.

From what I recall from speaking to him at a recent neighbourhood meeting on the subject, I think it's a certain range they're looking for which is quite precise. May or may not pick up your mobile/laptop etc etc, but then again as most home/business/car insurances now exclude stuff left in vehicles, would you really take the risk??

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