Feature on the MS5000

MS 5500

VDO Dayton MS 5500 – DVD Navigation: The Next Generation. With the fastest computer performance on the market. (17th September 2002)

VDO Dayton is building the next generation of DVD-based navigation. With its new top-of-the-range model, the MS 5500, the market leader in screen-based navigation systems is not just one of the first European providers to switch to a new data medium offering vastly increased storage space. Rather, VDO Dayton is also launching a completely new software concept for the provision of navigation road data, travel info and traffic information on DVD. In C-IQ – Intelligent Content on Demand – every user can put together their own customised package of navigation data, wherever they are. Thanks to new hardware architecture, the MS 5500 also offers the fastest navigation computer performance on the market. In addition, the graphical user interface has been re-designed to be even more informative with optimised destination input. Users can now select their destination by postcode, for example.

By switching to the annually updated DVD, enclosed free with each MS 5500, there is now sufficient storage space for all of the previously digitised European road network, comprising some four million kilometers of road and over 500,000 points of interest, from petrol stations to shopping centres. In addition, the DVD also contains a great deal of travel information, from publishers such as VARTA, Merian autoscout or Michelin. In order to ensure that users always have access to the most up-to-date data and only pay for those services they actually need, VDO Dayton has developed the new generation of flexible navigation content provision in C-IQ. DVD updates, which are usually very expensive, will now be sent free of charge to MS 5500 users. Customers can purchase special access codes from the VDO Dayton website, C-IQ Service Centre or dealer – around the clock. Using the MS 5500 remote control, users can then access different sets of data in a matter of seconds, in the form of defined C-IQ content products stored on the DVD. Data can be authorised for use for individual days, months or a whole year. In this way, VDO Dayton is taking full advantage of the new DVD storage media while avoiding the previous disadvantages of costly updates for the customer. Drivers can plan their own intelligent requirements – activating the data for their home country for the whole year, but then also adding the Italian road network map for their two weeks on vacation, for example. And for business trips to Brussels there is no need to buy new mapping software – just purchase access authorisation for the Belgian data for the appropriate couple of days. Similarly, drivers can purchase access to the Michelin Guide, Varta Guide and Merian autoscout travel guides.

With this new product, VDO Dayton has also significantly improved the performance of the navigation computer. The introduction of new processors ensures that route calculation is faster than with any of the competing products. Maps are displayed on the screen in a matter of seconds, and if you deviate from the proposed route, an alternative route is proposed as soon as you make your first turn. When destinations are entered the computer immediately generates even complex lists without any delay, and images in web format from the digital travel info guides are displayed directly at the push of a button.

The graphical user interface has also been redesigned for the new top-of-the-range model. Compared with its predecessor, it is structured much more clearly, and provides even more information. At the same time, the voice guidance is now able to provide a “turn now” advice and the much-praised TMC handling system, which has recently been awarded the top marks in its class by the largest European automobile club ADAC, has been further developed. Selection of destinations is also much easier. Instead of having to spell long city names, users can now simply enter the post code to find their exact destination. This means that they no longer have to select the correct entry by state or county when the input matches more than one location. The new Quick Access function also represents further optimisation, enabling users to enter street names first and then select the corresponding city from a list. This is especially useful in large urban areas, as many roads pass over city boundaries, and users from out of town may well find it difficult to pinpoint the boundary between the centre of the city and its suburbs.

With the MS 5500, the design-oriented high-tech brand is now integrating the typically elegant form of VDO Dayton devices into the screens and computers of its navigation systems. The silver-coloured removable fascia, which adds a real touch of class to the front of the navigation computer, ensures that the navigation system can now also be protected against theft. This solution also means that the system can be upgraded in the future, simply by changing the fascia unit.

Even during installation, the MS 5500 demonstrates the modular approach of simple Plug & Play solutions and the ultimate in compatibility, which is typical of VDO Dayton. If you previously had the MS 5000 model installed in your vehicle, simply exchanging the computer allows you to launch the new generation of DVD navigation directly from the CD-ROM.