A4: MMI vs. RNS-E.

[PetrolDave]

Originally Posted by dpm_dpmartin

Audi won't be eager to go retro-fitting MMI 3G to cars already sold - we can guarantee that I suspect.

I think we can guarantee that when the MMI 3G becomes available on new deliveries of A4/A5 Audi will say that retrofitting it to earlier A4/A5's will be "impossible". That's their normal position.

[mactrack]

Call me cynical but I think Audi might be onto the whole outdated argument becasue I was surprised to see in the facelifted A6 brochure that the DVD Nav is still available (albeit £500 or so cheaper) alongside the new HDD Nav and therefore technically not out of date!

[Dustoir]

I'm sure some of the more experienced will correct me if I'm wrong... but isn't the MMI setup in the A4 very similar to the A5?

by that I mean, my A5 has intersect zoom (it's an option on the map zoom menu) and isn't the split screen aspect, now handled by the DIS? as in I get a 3D image of a roundabout (or whatever the junction loks like from the map) and a concise route information etc....

But, seeing asnever had the old RNS-E or whatever, I maybe completely wrong about my comparisons.

[PetrolDave]

Originally Posted by Dustoir

isn't the split screen aspect, now handled by the DIS? as in I get a 3D image of a roundabout (or whatever the junction loks like from the map) and a concise route information etc....

Nope, with the RNS-E you get the route information on the DIS while the RNS-E screen shows a split screen showing the detailed turn information on the left and the route map on the right. At motorway junctions and roundabouts it's really useful.

[Dustoir]

Originally Posted by PetrolDave

Nope, with the RNS-E you get the route information on the DIS while the RNS-E screen shows a split screen showing the detailed turn information on the left and the route map on the right. At motorway junctions and roundabouts it's really useful.

That's what I mean.... my DIS will show the roundabout with however many exits there are and highlights the one I need to take in a different shade of blue.
It will also show a "countdown" bar of how far the junction is.

I was trying to find a picture as an example, but am failing miserably.

[PetrolDave]

Originally Posted by Dustoir

That's what I mean.... my DIS will show the roundabout with however many exits there are and highlights the one I need to take in a different shade of blue.
It will also show a "countdown" bar of how far the junction is.

I was trying to find a picture as an example, but am failing miserably.

"Split screen" isn't referring to what's shown on the DIS - it's referring to what's shown on the main screen.

[Dustoir]

Originally Posted by PetrolDave

"Split screen" isn't referring to what's shown on the DIS - it's referring to what's shown on the main screen.

I know... but I was wondering if they'd superseded the idea of split screen by having it displayed more comprehensively on the DIS instead.

Couple of pics of my DIS for reference....
You are probably right about it not necessarily replacing the split screen adequately, but like I said in my original post, I never got to play with an RNS-E so I'm just passing on my current experiences as I have no comparison.

[dpm_dpmartin]

My conclusions...

1) MMI system in A5 and A4 will be remarkably similiar, possibly identical.
2) MMI Sat. Nav. in A5 and A4 will be inferior to RNS-E Sat. Nav..

My concerns...

1) Wait for week 22 2009 and keep my fingers-crossed!
2) Will MMI 3G fix all these deficiences or will it just look pretty?

I haven't seen a full feature list of MMI 3G as of yet - I've really just seen some technical spec. thoughts about 40GB HDD and 3D graphics card and faster processors, as well as some very pretty pictures, showing relief views of land and 3D images of notable buildings. I don't know if it will have the features that RNS-E provides that MMI doesn't - or whether MMI 3G will be more MMI than MMI and RNS-E combined.

Oh, and Audi can't tell me either... I asked.

Cheers, DpM

[PetrolDave]

Originally Posted by Dustoir

I know... but I was wondering if they'd superseded the idea of split screen by having it displayed more comprehensively on the DIS instead.

Couple of pics of my DIS for reference....
You are probably right about it not necessarily replacing the split screen adequately, but like I said in my original post, I never got to play with an RNS-E so I'm just passing on my current experiences as I have no comparison.

That's exactly the same detail and information as the RNS-E displays on the DIS.

So in a B6/B7 A4 the RNS-E with DIS plus split-screen displays MORE information than the B8 A4 MMI - which is what dpm_dpmartin has been saying (that the B8 A4 MMI sat nav is a backward step compared to the B7 A4 RNS-E).

P.S. There's another problem for Dutch owners - in Holland the TMC transmits the location of Police speed traps which the RNS-E displays, but the MMI doesn't! So Dutch B8 A4 owners won't be warned about speed traps but B6/B7 A4 owners will.

[dpm_dpmartin]

Just for a giggle, I enquired with Audi as to a checklist of features (pros and cons) for the RNS-E and MMI along with (if possible) the MMI 3G system. I never held out any hope so I wasn't disappointed when I didn't get anything... "I have been searching through the info that I have access to but there does not seem to be any check list of features for the three systems."

At least my expectation level was low to begin with.

Cheers, Dpm