[andrewxie]

Hi guys, couple weeks ago, I got a email from MB USA says that map update is available. It is gonna cost 249 to update the map. I brought my car brand new in February, so I am wondering is this update worth the money?

Thanks a lot!

 

[shortspark]

This has been discussed here before and I take the position that unless you are a salesman or someone similar that is constantly on the road and in new sub-divisions or strange towns it is probably not worth the map upgrade. Instead, I pay a few dollars more a year and get MBrace which offers much more and also has the ability to give you updated maps. Simply attach the MBrace tool bar to your computer browser and type in the address(s) you want to map. Internet Google maps will be the most current of course and you can send them directly to your navigator via MBrace. When you go to your car and save the map to your list you will have the most up to date map to get to the address you requested. I do this all the time and it is easy and works like a charm.

I think MBrace costs $30 or $40 more a year than just a map update and has a host of features. And if you pay $15 extra you can call MBrace from the car's built in contact phone and have the service rep download the most current map to your destination either before you start travel or while you are in route. This is not a feature I use since I seldom need to go to more than one or two addresses at a time. For just a couple addresses it is just as easy to use the MBrace toolbar and have the most current map uploaded to the navigator.

 

[andrewxie]

Thank you for replying shortspark! I dont think I pay for the service rep service, thats like mbrace 2 right? However, I paid for mbrace 2 months ago. From my understanding, even service rep send you the destination to your car, you car's nav. map still have to have the routes to support it thou? right?

 

[shortspark]

I don't think so because I tried it once when I had the MBrace option for this service (I beleive I was given three months free trial and decided only to keep the basic MBrace). I pulled over one day and punched in an address manually but the navigator could not find it (of course, I might have done it wrong but I don't think so). I then contacted the service rep via the MBrace phone in the car and gave him the address and asked that he send me the map to the destination directly to my navigator while I was driving. In a few minutes it appeared and I got to that destination without a problem.

If I had been home I could have done the same thing with the MBrace tool bar and sent it to the navigator myself. Like I said, I might have punched in wrong info like a street spelling mistake or address number or something like that when I tried a manual imput. I will have to try it again sometime with an address I see when I am in a brand new subdivision just so I get a "can't find". Then see if I can send it directly via my MBrace tool bar.