///MB

I have seen several pics of the interior console of the new E and it seems to me like the nav/radio screen is really small. I suppose it's hard to tell, unless I see it in person, but it doesn't really look like a map will be able to be displayed on that small screen.

I guess the DVD Nav is not out yet, will that have a different screen? Or, is it the same one?

Thanks.

rayscar

I thought I read it was going to be a 6.5 inch screen which is pretty good.

bmms8

///mb, if you look at the new e......imagine it with out the cassete player, and the screen extends into that, thats how big it is

Dema

I hope this picture from MB in Japan (somebody posted recently) will give you right impression.

abhansali

Basically, the Nav screen "grows" into the tape player. The other thing (someone please confirm this), is that the standard radio display looks like a passive matrix TFT (i.e. it is not brilliant and kind of grainy like very, very, very old laptop color displays), but the DVD Nav screen seems to be a active matrix TFT (which is brilliant from all angles, like a modern laptop screen).

poropat

Does that mean you lose the cassette player?

Dema

Where does cassette player go? Is the screen motorized and can go up and open access to the player? Will be new nav touch screen, or still old fashioned?

abhansali

No tape player....either DVD Navi or regular radio+tape player, but no DVD+tape player.

bmms8

there will be no tape player, and i doubt anyone needs those either, and i believe it isnt touch screen

Callaway

Yes,no touch screen,buttons on the side with commands on the screen.

Touch screens are bad as they always need cleaning due to constant finger prints.

This version is much better.

No cassette in COMAND only DVD's,CD's and radio.

Dema

Does somebody know where DVD is located? in trunk? And will be the system voice controllable?

poropat

The in-dash six cd stacker, does that take dvd's or is there a different place for that?

rayscar

I think the DVD-Nav system hold a single DVD. If ordered there will still be an in-dash CD changer which will not play DVD's.

abhansali

I disagree that touch screens are bad. Have one in my Honda Odyssey, and it has not need any extra cleaning (trust me on this one..). I think it will be a little difficult to navigate the system without touch screen. On the Honda, there is a little joystick type thing, but it is a pain to use it.

Also, I have read it will be voice controlled, but only if you buy the v60 phone w/voice option.

poropat

Dema,

The nav is voiced controlled if you order the Linguatronic (390) option.

abhansali

There is no option in the US called Lingutronic. I think it is bundled with the phone and that is the only way you can get it.

///MB

Thanks for the picture and the replies... that gives me a better idea about the size of the NAV screen.

hpilot

I respectfully disagree - a touch screen is the ONLY way to go. I use one in the Boeing 737 I fly all day long with no fingerprint problem. In any case, you have to clean the screen often anyway because it picks up dust really fast (I have one in my '2000 E). I can't understand why Mercedes is so far behind on the Nav System. To use almost any computer based map program, all you have to do is enter the street address and the zip code and you are done. MB makes it unbelievably cumbersome. This really is child's pay - why can't they get it right?

rayscar

I don't know why it is taking MB so long to make the DVD-Nav available. When I talked to my dealer today about it he said probably the end of the first quarter and then he said don't be surprised if the date slips into the second quarter of 2003. The word is that MB is too optimistic about have it ready in the first quarter! Unbelievable! It's not like they are just inventing this technology.

abhansali

I think their Navi is going to be very sophisticated, unlike anything else available today. For example, I have read that the system will tie into the existing infrastructure for reporting traffic information (kind of like NOAA weather radio) and will find out current traffic conditions and re-route you onto less traffic roads.

Also, if you see the pictures in the other threads, they seem to have a 3D mapping mode (not an aerial view like in the Infiniti system), but an actual diagram of the road and the turns, etc.

This seems to be complicated, but once again I think it definitely needs a touch screen.

rayscar

Well after all this time, it better be the best system out there when they do release it.

Callaway

I think I'm going to feel quilty if I don't use all the functions of this new Sat Nav system with all of the trouble Benz are going to with the amount of new technology being used and the time it is taking to release it.

I hope we are all clever enough to use it fully!!

hpilot

At the risk of repeating myself, I predict people will be very disappointed when it finally comes out. The most important thing they could have done is put a touch screen on it with a virtual keyboard to easily enter addresses . Without it is like trying to run Windows without a mouse or pointing devise - asinine. All these fancy features are meaningless if they are not intuitive and easy to use. I have worked with this type of equipment all my life, and I am convinced the engineers never talk to the end user.

Kassav

YES.

bmms8

it will delete the cassete player, whick i think is very cool, it pops upwards towards the screen...