Advice needed with extras ?

[two-saabs]

Personal view but I would never buy a fitted Sat Nav again - just buy the best independent sand alone sat nav you can get.

A must buy do not forget the best value add on is the extra VW warranty only available within a few months of purchase

Just checked and saw the optional price for the media upgrade in the Coast, for £1,356 that's too much!

Whilst we're here, just noticed my favourite option of them all

 

[Meoncoast]

All Oceans come with satnav as standard.

Was extra on ours in 2016

 

[reserves]

Was extra on ours in 2016

The standard spec on the T6.1 is huge compared to what it was on the T6. I’m guessing because VW have to test all options & weights to do with emissions.

As I stated above, a T6.1 with no options is a complete enough van for most people IMHO!

 

[66tim99]

The standard spec on the T6.1 is huge compared to what it was on the T6. I’m guessing because VW have to test all options & weights to do with emissions.

As I stated above, a T6.1 with no options is a complete enough van for most people IMHO!

Yes I agree with that but then ticked most options...

 

[reserves]

Yes I agree with that but then ticked most options...

If you can afford it why not!

 

[andyinluton]

Was extra on ours in 2016

Sorry should have said all new Oceans come with sat nav in the uk.
Same as you can’t have an ocean without a reversing camera or awning.

A basic 2019 T6.1 has a spec equivalent to a fully loaded earlier model.

 

[Sunstoner]

I cannot understand why "keep your eyes on the road" and "button-less massive screen" go together in a car!! Even Volvo made the same mistake. Plus if ever there was a valid use for the power of voice controlled e.g. Google or Alexa, then surely the car is the perfect place but that's a different thread altogether.

I cannot abide by some of these full touch-screen only entertainment systems.

Thankfully many manufacturers have quickly learned and listened to their customers with a now sort of halfway house where key functions are returning in actual button form.

Re Satnav. Google maps via Android Auto has proven a really good option. Works really well with voice recognition and keeps things nice and simple for most uses. I hardly ever have to manually enter addressing information and the traffic monitoring proved pretty accurate too whilst recently out and about in Cornwall. One of the most useful features for the Cali imo.

 

[two-saabs]

I cannot abide by some of these full touch-screen only entertainment systems.

Thankfully many manufacturers have quickly learned and listened to their customers with a now sort of halfway house where key functions are returning in actual button form.

Re Satnav. Google maps via Android Auto has proven a really good option. Works really well with voice recognition and keeps things nice and simple for most uses. I hardly ever have to manually enter addressing information and the traffic monitoring proved pretty accurate too whilst recently out and about in Cornwall. One of the most useful features for the Cali imo.

2025: New and improved "screenless" technology with REAL buttons !

 

[66tim99]

I cannot abide by some of these full touch-screen only entertainment systems.

Thankfully many manufacturers have quickly learned and listened to their customers with a now sort of halfway house where key functions are returning in actual button form.

Re Satnav. Google maps via Android Auto has proven a really good option. Works really well with voice recognition and keeps things nice and simple for most uses. I hardly ever have to manually enter addressing information and the traffic monitoring proved pretty accurate too whilst recently out and about in Cornwall. One of the most useful features for the Cali imo.

So ok to not have buttons in the Cali as voice recognition (and gesture recognition?) with the pro nav? Volume is on the wheel.

 

[andyinluton]

2025: New and improved "screenless" technology with REAL buttons !

I remember the 1996 screen less sat nav we had at work. Used to boot up the pentium PC load autoroute, input the destination & hit print, it gave a turn by turn print out of where to go.
If you strayed off the route, especially if you didn't realise that you were off route it got interesting.

I think map reading & peoples general sense of direction is becoming a lost art due to reliance on sat nav.
Fortunately I can find my way around generally with just a sat nav for the last mile to find a specific building & find it useful for traffic info.

My Mrs is absolutely hopeless at navigating abroad, she gets totally confused between left & right as if they have been reversed over here, and if she shouts out that I need the first exit at the roundabout I know that means the last exit as I'll be going the other way round.

 

[two-saabs]

So ok to not have buttons in the Cali as voice recognition (and gesture recognition?) with the pro nav? Volume is on the wheel.

I think I follow your point @66tim99 , in that there's more to just the size of the screen.

In this case we are doing two very different things, both inputting data, and reading data. So both need looking at.

If there are controls on the steering wheel and ideally voice then that solves part of the problem, you're right.

If you still need to stare at the screen to get vital information then thats the other part of the problem that needs fixing.

In my current car (Volvo XC60) there is a huge screen and some things must be done on that touchscreen, like zooming in and out of a map. Crazy bad design for a company at the forefront of car safety.

The best thing is that the heads-up display shows the most important navigation info which is why I like it.

The worst things are it's too slow for real-time traffic info, map updates are rare, the voice control of maps is awful, and as said you must use the touchscreen to perform certain essential functions.

I can plug in android auto to fix those negatives, but then lose the heads-up (so have to look down to the screen), and still have the issue of needing to use the touchscreen to zoom in and out, re-center, that sort of thing.

Warning: Old man moan alert:

Old stereos allowed the user to learn where the buttons go and reach out to them without needing to look, you could just fumble around and do what you need. I think around year 2000 Audi had a sat nav which didn't really have any screen, just arrows in the main dial console which someone was sufficient. Perfect.

I think that's where we need to get back to, hybrid style, input via voice and buttons, and new (or maybe old) ways to present the information to the user. Heads-up display would be one way.

Instructions are always read-out, that's fine, maybe more information could be read-out and be more interactive. Perhaps the advancement of natural language processing in artificial intelligence will take the lead there.

 

[andyinluton]

I think I follow your point @66tim99 , in that there's more to just the size of the screen.

In this case we are doing two very different things, both inputting data, and reading data. So both need looking at.

If there are controls on the steering wheel and ideally voice then that solves part of the problem, you're right.

If you still need to stare at the screen to get vital information then thats the other part of the problem that needs fixing.

In my current car (Volvo XC60) there is a huge screen and some things must be done on that touchscreen, like zooming in and out of a map. Crazy bad design for a company at the forefront of car safety.

The best thing is that the heads-up display shows the most important navigation info which is why I like it.

The worst things are it's too slow for real-time traffic info, map updates are rare, the voice control of maps is awful, and as said you must use the touchscreen to perform certain essential functions.

I can plug in android auto to fix those negatives, but then lose the heads-up (so have to look down to the screen), and still have the issue of needing to use the touchscreen to zoom in and out, re-center, that sort of thing.

Warning: Old man moan alert:

Old stereos allowed the user to learn where the buttons go and reach out to them without needing to look, you could just fumble around and do what you need. I think around year 2000 Audi had a sat nav which didn't really have any screen, just arrows in the main dial console which someone was sufficient. Perfect.

I think that's where we need to get back to, hybrid style, input via voice and buttons, and new (or maybe old) ways to present the information to the user. Heads-up display would be one way.

Instructions are always read-out, that's fine, maybe more information could be read-out and be more interactive. Perhaps the advancement of natural language processing in artificial intelligence will take the lead there.

Have you seen / tried using the discover media pro system?
The "buttons" on screen are in fixed positions for things like volume, on off, switching between nav, media etc so no different to real buttons.
As for the zooming of the maps, if its needed we leave a large map showing say the next 25 miles on the central screen & use the digital dash to show the zoomed in version, the actual zooming function on this screen is done using the steering wheel buttons.
The dash board display for the map can be shown in a number of ways, you can fill the whole dash board with it, with just small gear & speed indicators to the bottom. You can have a small map filling the central portion of the speedo or rev counter, or thirdly you can fill the space between the speedo & rev counter with map.

Once you've worked out what display works for you & learnt the steering wheel buttons its very rare for me to touch the central screen whilst driving. Changing music tracks, volume, radio station etc are all done from the steering wheel.

 

[two-saabs]

Have you seen / tried using the discover media pro system?
The "buttons" on screen are in fixed positions for things like volume, on off, switching between nav, media etc so no different to real buttons.
As for the zooming of the maps, if its needed we leave a large map showing say the next 25 miles on the central screen & use the digital dash to show the zoomed in version, the actual zooming function on this screen is done using the steering wheel buttons.
The dash board display for the map can be shown in a number of ways, you can fill the whole dash board with it, with just small gear & speed indicators to the bottom. You can have a small map filling the central portion of the speedo or rev counter, or thirdly you can fill the space between the speedo & rev counter with map.

Once you've worked out what display works for you & learnt the steering wheel buttons its very rare for me to touch the central screen whilst driving. Changing music tracks, volume, radio station etc are all done from the steering wheel.

Interesting, sounds promising.

I played a bit whilst ordering, and felt best with the mid level.

Do you have the voice controls? If so, does it work well?

 

[andyinluton]

Interesting, sounds promising.

I played a bit whilst ordering, and felt best with the mid level.

Do you have the voice controls? If so, does it work well?

Yes have voice but very rarely use it.

 

[SusiBus]

Voice control, had it, never used it.

 

[andyinluton]

A few pictures make the multiple displays easier to understand.
First zoomed out central screen with fixed buttons on the left.
Second use google maps on centre with zoomed in Vw sat nav on the dash
3rd Vw sat nav full screen on the dash
4th Vw sat nav between the dash dials - left hand dial would also pop up arrows at junctions in this display.

 

[two-saabs]

A few pictures make the multiple displays easier to understand.
First zoomed out central screen with fixed buttons on the left.
Second use google maps on centre with zoomed in Vw sat nav on the dash
3rd Vw sat nav full screen on the dash
4th Vw sat nav between the dash dials - left hand dial would also pop up arrows at junctions in this display.
View attachment 83520View attachment 83521View attachment 83522View attachment 83523

Good to see, thank you

I remember one negative of the mid-level option is no dual screen sat nav, it's apparently not powerful enough, so either the map is on the media screen or on the dashboard but not both

@Dippa 'pologies for the thread hijack, perhaps too in to the detail on the media choices... is this helpful? How's your main decisions going?

 

[andyinluton]

As I have the sat nav announcements turned off I haven’t found out yet if google & Vw have an argument as to which route to take.

 

[andyinluton]

Good to see, thank you

I remember one negative of the mid-level option is no dual screen sat nav, it's apparently not powerful enough, so either the map is on the media screen or on the dashboard but not both

I think that changed on MY 2020

 

[66tim99]

A few pictures make the multiple displays easier to understand.
First zoomed out central screen with fixed buttons on the left.
Second use google maps on centre with zoomed in Vw sat nav on the dash
3rd Vw sat nav full screen on the dash
4th Vw sat nav between the dash dials - left hand dial would also pop up arrows at junctions in this display.
View attachment 83520View attachment 83521View attachment 83522View attachment 83523

Can you use Google maps in this way?

 

[andyinluton]

Can you use Google maps in this way?

Yes the second photo shows google maps in satellite mode in use, could use Waze, maps, Tom Tom or anything else you can get on airplay. Not tried anything on Android.
Satellite view is good for finding small hidden beaches!

 

[two-saabs]

I think that changed on MY 2020

That would be great if so! But not according to my dealer, even for MY22, but then again, who trusts their dealer, and who knows what MY22 brings over MY21.

I'll report back if I find anything else out

 

[reserves]

Good to see, thank you

I remember one negative of the mid-level option is no dual screen sat nav, it's apparently not powerful enough, so either the map is on the media screen or on the dashboard but not both

That’s no longer true.

 

[reserves]

Yes the second photo shows google maps in satellite mode in use, could use Waze, maps, Tom Tom or anything else you can get on airplay. Not tried anything on Android.
Satellite view is good for finding small hidden beaches!

to confirm, you can’t display Google Maps on the dashboard screen right, only the VW nav on that.

 

[andyinluton]

It was MY 2021 that it changed to nav working on both screens.
Search for Discover Media v Pro thread - it has the California Chris video about it.