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- Jun 5, 2009
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Hi all,
My car's in for a service and some investigation works at the moment. In the meantime, my wheels consist of a normal 500 mirror edition on a 17 plate with the 7in Uconnect system! I recall a few questions being asked about the system, so I thought I'd share what I found in the 15 minutes I was playing with it, before I got too embarrassed to be a single, 32 year old, overweight male seen by my neighbours in a baby blue 500.
It's this:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-q6hzsdClu...G1P0w_w/s1600/Fiat_500X_Uconnect_update_a.jpg
Versus this:
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/--j27onBNlI/maxresdefault.jpg
In my impromptu, poorly written and highly subjective review of two larger FCA ICE systems.
First off, without looking at what's behind each unit, it certainly looks like the system could potentially slot into the hole provided for the 6.5in variant. So potentially good news there.
In use, the system felt very much like the 6.5in variant. The graphics had a little animation (where the 6.5 has none), but on the whole it didn't feel any snappier. I'd probably say it felt like taps were a little more easily registered on the 7in screen though.
The user interface is identical to the 6.5in system, albeit with a couple of usability tweaks to the phone screen.
There are also, as you will have probably seen, very very few ordinary buttons. The buttons are all on the screen or they are capacitive areas flanking the screen. Whilst this may, for some improve the look of the screen, it felt a little unbalanced as there are now large areas of dead space.
From the driver's perspective, I think the 7in system is a step backwards in some ways. Gone are the days when I can fondle buttons and know that I am getting the option I want. When you're on the move, trying to hit the right part of a touch screen is tricky. Especially on a bumpy road.
In the dedicated Uconnect menu, there was some customisation options where you can drag and drop symbols. I think this is a nice touch.
I wasn't able to find the 'mirror' bit of the system though. I suspect this is built into a specific app within the live services bit. As I cannot face setting my own car off with the speed camera alerts, I won't be testing this element. It is here that I also presume the sat nav from Android/iOS is delivered, as opposed to the TomTom driven services of the 6.5in screen.
To round off - there's the usual UBS and AUX connection. The DS slot of my 6.5in system is gone. And the sunlight legibility is awful. Worse than the 6.5in system I think. That said, in general use, the screen is more pleasing to look at with better viewing angles and richer colours. Almost what AMOLED is to ordinary LED in terms of impact.
Conclusion - the 7in system is more evolutionary than revolutionary. I am not sure I'd bother upgrading as the differences are subtle and few and far between.
Hope this is of interest to people.
My car's in for a service and some investigation works at the moment. In the meantime, my wheels consist of a normal 500 mirror edition on a 17 plate with the 7in Uconnect system! I recall a few questions being asked about the system, so I thought I'd share what I found in the 15 minutes I was playing with it, before I got too embarrassed to be a single, 32 year old, overweight male seen by my neighbours in a baby blue 500.
It's this:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-q6hzsdClu...G1P0w_w/s1600/Fiat_500X_Uconnect_update_a.jpg
Versus this:
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/--j27onBNlI/maxresdefault.jpg
In my impromptu, poorly written and highly subjective review of two larger FCA ICE systems.
First off, without looking at what's behind each unit, it certainly looks like the system could potentially slot into the hole provided for the 6.5in variant. So potentially good news there.
In use, the system felt very much like the 6.5in variant. The graphics had a little animation (where the 6.5 has none), but on the whole it didn't feel any snappier. I'd probably say it felt like taps were a little more easily registered on the 7in screen though.
The user interface is identical to the 6.5in system, albeit with a couple of usability tweaks to the phone screen.
There are also, as you will have probably seen, very very few ordinary buttons. The buttons are all on the screen or they are capacitive areas flanking the screen. Whilst this may, for some improve the look of the screen, it felt a little unbalanced as there are now large areas of dead space.
From the driver's perspective, I think the 7in system is a step backwards in some ways. Gone are the days when I can fondle buttons and know that I am getting the option I want. When you're on the move, trying to hit the right part of a touch screen is tricky. Especially on a bumpy road.
In the dedicated Uconnect menu, there was some customisation options where you can drag and drop symbols. I think this is a nice touch.
I wasn't able to find the 'mirror' bit of the system though. I suspect this is built into a specific app within the live services bit. As I cannot face setting my own car off with the speed camera alerts, I won't be testing this element. It is here that I also presume the sat nav from Android/iOS is delivered, as opposed to the TomTom driven services of the 6.5in screen.
To round off - there's the usual UBS and AUX connection. The DS slot of my 6.5in system is gone. And the sunlight legibility is awful. Worse than the 6.5in system I think. That said, in general use, the screen is more pleasing to look at with better viewing angles and richer colours. Almost what AMOLED is to ordinary LED in terms of impact.
Conclusion - the 7in system is more evolutionary than revolutionary. I am not sure I'd bother upgrading as the differences are subtle and few and far between.
Hope this is of interest to people.
