Here's a short write-up comparing the Mk. I to Mk II I put in the ICE section a couple of years ago. The formatting doesn't work in that thread any longer so here it is again:
I thought I'd post something for those thinking about upgrading or purchasing an RNS-E unit.
I upgraded to a mark II because my eBay-sourced mark I failed and I thought, rather than pay another £300 for a unit that could also fail I would be better off investing in a mark 2 from
NHN.
Mark IIs were never released for the B6/B7 platform and the fascias for other models are incompatible with my dash. If you're in a similar situation you can either buy one from a similar model (I believe the Seat Exeo has the same fascia as it's based on the B6/B7) or splice a mark I fascia with a unit from a newer model (I believe mine was a unit from a newer A3).
Positives and negatives for the mark II.
Positives:
- Takes 2 x 32 GB SDHC cards (mark I only takes up to 4 GB SC cards (non-HC)).
- As far as I can see there's no file/folder limit - although I can fit so much on there it's hard to tell (mark I was limited to 400 files or folders so I could never get anywhere near the 4 GB capacity, even at 320 Kbps).
- Higher resolution.
- When flicking through the music directories it waits about 30 seconds before returning to the 'now playing' view (mark I only waits 3 seconds so it's difficult to browse and drive simultaneously).
- The SD cards load faster at start-up.
- Assuming you leave the cards in the unit, you return to where you were last listening when switching between cards (mark I always starts at first song in first folder when switching)
- Has a new 'track info' display (replaces the 'MP3 Control' view on mark I) with more info for current track; shows Contributing Artists field which is useful for compilations/mixes.
- Lists all media together in the selection menu (SD cards, CDs, external devices, etc.) (different menus to get to CD changer etc. in mark I).
Negatives:
- There's a delay of a second or so* when the unit loads a new track which is quite irritating if you're listening to a mix (I can't remember if there was any delay with the mark I but, if there was, it was negligible).
- I can no longer set the S4 logo on the start screen because the mark II was never available for S4s, I guess.
*I'm using SanDisk Extreme III Class 10 UHS-I cards with a supposed 80 MBps read speed. I've tried full-to-the-brim, just a couple of albums and using M3U playlists but nothing I've tried removes the delay. I've heard that the external hard drive you can plug in has no delays.
I can't really comment on any other features as I only every use the media or sat nav functions.
Overall the mark II is a better unit so if you can get one for a similar price to a mark I that would be the preference but I'm not sure it's worth spending a lot of money on if you already have a mark I (unless you're desperate for extra SD capacity).
