iPhone. Copilot live, short term, long distance review
in [UK Mac]
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From: Woody on 23 Jan 2010 15:28 We recently had a holiday travelling across the bottom right states by car, from florida to texas and round in a shallow oval. 3 Weeks, 4500 miles. Before I went when I was getting the car, the hire company wanted �100 for a GPS for the car for 3 weeks, and you know it is going to be the cheapest one going, which is probably less that the price. Then I found that Co-pilot live had a sale which meant that copilot US was �11. So I bought it, and a holder for the iPhone from eBay for �3 (well, 50p and �2.50 shipping). I didn't know how good it would be after Zoaras roundup of GPSs Picked up the car after a few days in florida and headed out. Luckily the car had an audio input, so I could also use iTunes on it at the same time, and copilot has iTunes control. Display is clear, and it does the usual 2d or 3d display, which can work in portrait or landscape. Voices are clear and if you select the 'digital' voice, it says the names of streets (and actually does a reasonable job of it). Overlays are good giving you the signposts you need to look for, and given the space the display is clear. Day / night changeover is good and in night mode is much easier on the eyes than my tom-tom that I am used to. Tracking I was concerned about after Zoaras posts, but I found it to be quick to acquire a signal, and surprisingly accurate. I wouldn't bother with a separate GPS controller, even if I had one [1]. The thing that made it really work for me all the way across the states was that you could just say 'points of interest' -> Restaurant -> Italian for example and it would show you the distance to the restaurants, same as hotels, parking etc. Its points of interest database is very comprehensive and was only wrong a couple of times (barnes and noble and starbucks that were no longer there). It was very useful. Downsides are that the iTunes control is a bit fiddly, when it doesn't need to be. I would have preferred an iTunes 'next' button, rather than an iTunes overlay, but it did the job. It also seemed a bit power hungry, you wouldn't want to do it not plugged in. All in all, I would have no problem swapping it for my tomtom 510 in day to day use if I had a good cradle to put it in in my car. It has already replaced the tomtom one in Sabs [2]. [1] However, trying Sabs iPhone out today in the UK version, her GPS thought I was in a different road, and dropped the signal a lot. THought it may be the UK one being different, but no, with both together, mine got the road right, hers was wrong, and was quite a way behind mine as well. I guess all iPhone GPSs are not made equal. [2] using my iPhone. Need to get hers sorted. -- Woody www.alienrat.com
From: D.M. Procida on 23 Jan 2010 17:02 Woody <usenet(a)alienrat.co.uk> wrote: > [2] using my iPhone. Need to get hers sorted. Worn off the keycaps again, has she? Daniele
From: Woody on 23 Jan 2010 17:36 D.M. Procida <real-not-anti-spam-address(a)apple-juice.co.uk> wrote: > Woody <usenet(a)alienrat.co.uk> wrote: > > > [2] using my iPhone. Need to get hers sorted. > > Worn off the keycaps again, has she? hehe - she would if she could. Actualy the 13" aluminium MacBook is faring pretty well. -- Woody www.alienrat.com
From: Jon B on 26 Jan 2010 10:18 Woody <usenet(a)alienrat.co.uk> wrote: > We recently had a holiday travelling across the bottom right states by > car, from florida to texas and round in a shallow oval. 3 Weeks, 4500 > miles. > > Before I went when I was getting the car, the hire company wanted �100 > for a GPS for the car for 3 weeks, and you know it is going to be the > cheapest one going, which is probably less that the price. > > Then I found that Co-pilot live had a sale which meant that copilot US > was �11. So I bought it, and a holder for the iPhone from eBay for �3 > (well, 50p and �2.50 shipping). I didn't know how good it would be after > Zoaras roundup of GPSs > > Picked up the car after a few days in florida and headed out. Luckily > the car had an audio input, so I could also use iTunes on it at the same > time, and copilot has iTunes control. > > Display is clear, and it does the usual 2d or 3d display, which can work > in portrait or landscape. Voices are clear and if you select the > 'digital' voice, it says the names of streets (and actually does a > reasonable job of it). > Overlays are good giving you the signposts you need to look for, and > given the space the display is clear. > > Day / night changeover is good and in night mode is much easier on the > eyes than my tom-tom that I am used to. > I find the night colours confusing, so stick to the day colours all the time. I do like the fact that most items can be configured to your own choices though. > Tracking I was concerned about after Zoaras posts, but I found it to be > quick to acquire a signal, and surprisingly accurate. I wouldn't bother > with a separate GPS controller, even if I had one [1]. > > The thing that made it really work for me all the way across the states > was that you could just say 'points of interest' -> Restaurant -> > Italian for example and it would show you the distance to the > restaurants, same as hotels, parking etc. Its points of interest > database is very comprehensive and was only wrong a couple of times > (barnes and noble and starbucks that were no longer there). It was very > useful. > > Downsides are that the iTunes control is a bit fiddly, when it doesn't > need to be. I would have preferred an iTunes 'next' button, rather than > an iTunes overlay, but it did the job. It also seemed a bit power > hungry, you wouldn't want to do it not plugged in. > Agreed to those. First thing you need is a car charger to go with, and ideally get the passengers to skip tracks. > All in all, I would have no problem swapping it for my tomtom 510 in day > to day use if I had a good cradle to put it in in my car. It has already > replaced the tomtom one in Sabs [2]. > My needs for sat nav are occasional, but at �26 very useful app to have in the arsenal. I had the sat nav app on the N95 and this is just leaps and bounds better in so many ways. I would never have really told anyone to look at the Nokia GPS over a sat nav, but this I would. At least unless you are the type that lives with the sat nav bolted to the windscreen all the time. > > [1] However, trying Sabs iPhone out today in the UK version, her GPS > thought I was in a different road, and dropped the signal a lot. THought > it may be the UK one being different, but no, with both together, mine > got the road right, hers was wrong, and was quite a way behind mine as > well. I guess all iPhone GPSs are not made equal. > Mine sometimes drops me on a parallel road for a few yards, but at least you can see enough of the route ahead to see when to ignore it. I think thats down to the iPhone GPS more than anything, and for now it's accurate enough. Think I have read somewhere (Zoara?) that the 3GS has a better GPS chip than the my 3G. -- Jon B Above email address IS valid. <http://www.bramley-computers.co.uk/> Apple Laptop Repairs.
From: Woody on 26 Jan 2010 13:50
Jon B <black.hole(a)jonbradbury.com> wrote: > Woody <usenet(a)alienrat.co.uk> wrote: > > > [1] However, trying Sabs iPhone out today in the UK version, her GPS > > thought I was in a different road, and dropped the signal a lot. THought > > it may be the UK one being different, but no, with both together, mine > > got the road right, hers was wrong, and was quite a way behind mine as > > well. I guess all iPhone GPSs are not made equal. > > > Mine sometimes drops me on a parallel road for a few yards, but at least > you can see enough of the route ahead to see when to ignore it. I think > thats down to the iPhone GPS more than anything, and for now it's > accurate enough. Think I have read somewhere (Zoara?) that the 3GS has a > better GPS chip than the my 3G. Both of ours are 3GSs. Mine is great, hers less so. Running both together they show a different position! -- Woody www.alienrat.com |