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Joined: Feb 22, 2005 Posts: 27 Location: LYMM - Cheshire
Posted: Sat May 21, 2005 4:06 pm Post subject: CoPilot is crap
I have been using sat nav now for 18 months after buying the Medion Navigator from Aldi. The only thing it didn’t do for me was ‘Optimise Stops’. So, in January I bought CoPilot Pocket PC5 software to run on my Medion PPC200.
Basically, it would not work. It couldn’t configure the GPS. I sent 3 separate email’s to alk.eu and they were ignored so, I contacted the US site and they came up with the basic advice that is in the manual, help and on their website that I had already tried. I told them that I had already tried this and the reply was:
“Unfortunately I can not assist you any further. From this point the UK technical support will have to assist you. They are extremely busy and I am trying to answer any emails I can or at least obtain more information from customer to provide them, since they are this busy.
I will resend the email to UK support and mark it with high priority”
I heard nothing from the UK site and a further email from me was ignored. So, I contacted the supplier who advised me (wrongly) that if it was an Aldi Medion it would not run any other GPS software than medions own. Fortunately, I found ‘pocket gps world’ and sumbited a post (listed at the end) which was replied to by a number of people (thanks) but in particular by Darren who came up with the answer and I got it working on Thursday.
Time for a test drive…...A simple trip of 2 miles of dual carriageway, 2 on the M6 & 1 mile of A road.
Not Copilots choice. It wanted me to take a 5 mile detour through a town centre. I couldn’t believe that it would not give in and recalculate the route until I was 3 miles from my destination. I could not hear a dam thing it was saying or make out where I was going by looking at the screen. Good job I Knew!
Time for some tweaking and playing about me thinks.
That night I had a look on here and read Tedkay’s post (also listed at the end) and one of dave’ reply's was to give the programme a fair trial and while was then and still am in full support of the majority of what Tedkay was saying I was still prepared to try and get acclimatised with it.
As a multi-drop driver doing around 50 stops a day It shouldn’t take long I thought….
The following day I set off and after my 20 mile ‘outrun’ I had to give in and go back to my trusty Medion before I killed someone!
In my opinion CoPilot 5 is downright DANGEROUS and should NOT be on the market.
All programmes have to be learnt over a period of time to get the best out of them. But, you at least expect to be able to do the basics. Copilot does not do that…
The speech volume is so low that it is inaudible, I tried a earpiece (great when you have to get in and out of the van 50+ times a day) and could not make sense of some of the directions as it was garbled, too fast to understand or inappropriate (turn left in 20miles etc). And whats this ‘just ahead, all about?
Dangerous, yes. The lack of spoken directions made me stare at the screen!
The screens (OH god I’m on one now!) are useless. ’Safety Screen’ ha! You have to take your eyes of the road for several seconds to read all of the information ‘Dangerous Screen’ more like. With the medion a quick glance gives you all the information you need.
I went to scroll foward and found out that the scroll button is the volume control (it turned it down even more). If you want to scroll the map you are expected to get out the stylus and use scroll bars….really convenient and safe when your approaching a junction.
The navigation is inferior to the medion aswell. After telling me to turn right it made me travel for 5 miles before making me go back in the same direction to the point I had turned…...OK I may have misread the confusing screen and made a wrong turn but the medion would have turned me round in a few seconds.
If you are new to GPS you would probably be impressed (simply by the satellite technology involved). But, having used others I can assure you that Copilot 5 is not a good product. In fact I would agree with Tedkay and say that it is ‘Not fit for Purpose’.
I don’t want to keep going on about the medion navigator but listed below are some of the reasons why it is far superior:
Voice prompts are crisp clear and at a level at which you can hear them even with the radio on.
They come at 200yds, and at other intervals and immediately before a manoeuvre.
On motorways they start at 2 miles before a junction.
The screen has a superior map with a coloured (blue) line tracking your route and on to the road you are turning into.
In addition to the distance to turn indicator a countdown bar appears 200yds before your turn and
reduces gradually to give another indication of how far you have got to go before the turn.
At the top of the screen is the name and number of the road your are turning into.
At the bottom of the screen the name and number of the road you are on.
Also at the bottom is a button which you can use to toggle between ETA,Duration and journey time.
Just before a roundabout or junction it ‘pans out’ to give you a fuller picture so you know exactly where you are going. (I’ve been told Coplit does this aswell. But, I didn’t see it).
All this is available at a split second glance.
At the end of the trip it announces your arrival and stops navigating. With copilot on another test journey (which I have not bored you with) I went past by a couple of feet and it started recalculating.
The only thing it doesn’t do for me is ‘Optimise Stops’. Which brings me back to Copilot.
The day I got it working I entered into the planner the previous days trip and optimised it. Had I used the route it was suggesting I would have gone past one stop twice only to have come back to it later on in the jouney!
For the reasons above and because it does not function properly (you only have to look at some of the posts here to learn about the bugs in it) I will be contacting ALK for a refund.
I am also considering contacting the Health & Safety Commission, Office of Fair Trading and the Advertising Trading Standards.
Mel.
PS: Tedkay was criticised because he mentioned that Copilot does not show inland waterways.
Well once again I agree that they should be shown because they aid navigation by road by giving you landmarks.
If your approaching a canal or railway bridge its handy to see that the road you want is the next turning after the bridge.
Joined: 03/05/2003 14:45:49 Posts: 3999 Location: leyland lancs ENGLAND
Posted: Sat May 21, 2005 5:29 pm Post subject:
mel have you tried the lastest update from alk i used it the other day to play with and it seamed alright routing seamed a bit better but time will tell i think it is improving but does need more work as not doing what its suppoed to Q does it gets you from a 2 b when you do not know where you are going thats what its supposed to do A yes it does wheter it take you a differnet way from one you have taken with a map as a driver youll know may short cuts and will have a pretty good memory of the uk road system dont expect any nav system to know you local or national kowledge _________________ currently using aponia truck navigation on windows phone. Good bye IOS don't let the door hit you on the way out .
Oh the joys of being a courier.
device Lumia 950 xl
Time for a test drive…...A simple trip of 2 miles of dual carriageway, 2 on the M6 & 1 mile of A road.
Not Copilots choice. It wanted me to take a 5 mile detour through a town centre. I couldn’t believe that it would not give in and recalculate the route until I was 3 miles from my destination. I could not hear a dam thing it was saying or make out where I was going by looking at the screen. Good job I Knew!
welcome to co-pilot.
I live in portsmouth and did a plan to rye in sussex. instead of taking you along the coast it takes you an extra 50 miles up the m3 to the m25 and along...
mine is in the draw and i feel like ive wasted £130
perhaps dave will have some influence now he has joined ALK? at least he has tomtom so he can find ALK HQ well thats if teleatlas have it listed?
Seriously though. its a disgrace after all this time the problems have not been addressed. unless something drastic happens i will never buy co-pilot again.
Im currently using AA navigator which i believe has some tie with ALK, it is getting better but still has some way to go. the maps lack clarity and recalcs are too slow for my liking. _________________ Ipaq 3970, Ipaq 2210 X2, Smart ST V1, Tomtom V3+V5, CoPilot V5, AA Navigator, Tomtom Bluetooth GPS, Navman 3450i Jacket, Navman Bluetooth GPS, Holux GM270, Fortuna GPS-PocketXtrack
, Tomtom GO V5 Classic, Road Angel Classic.
Joined: Feb 22, 2005 Posts: 27 Location: LYMM - Cheshire
Posted: Sun May 22, 2005 1:17 pm Post subject:
ALIX
Yes, I downloaded the patch after the first test run. It didn’t make the speech audible or give sensible directions, improve the vastly inferior display or kickstart alk into responding to someone (a customer) who was seeking HELP.
You said “it seamed alright routing seamed a bit better but time will tell i think it is improving but does need more work as not doing what its supposed to”
WOW! If you bought a freezer that only chilled but didn’t’ freeze would you take it back and demand a replacement or or a refund? Or would you accept that the manufacturer knows that they are selling faulty goods and say “Ah well its not doing what is supposed to do but things may get better in time”
MY answer to your Q is: No it does NOT get you from A-B. for fear of repeating myself I had to switch back to my Medion to achive this. It wanted to double my journey mileage and with our friend ‘clivers’ it wanted to add an extra 50 (YES, FIFTY) miles onto his trip! That realy makes sense doesn’t it!
Your last statement was, however, bang on. No satnav system will beat local knowledge. I never use it in Manchester (know it like the back of my hand) because I know quicker routes through the back streets. When I go to London I know that my medion will give me a bit of a run around. But, I know that’s it is still far superior to me trying to find my way round with an A-Z. Because I, just like Copilot, have got a useless sense of direction.
Clivers
Mate, its your £130 that should be in the draw not crapilot,sorry copilot!
Thanks both of you for reading my lengthy post (Believe me that’s the edited version!)
Joined: 03/05/2003 14:45:49 Posts: 3999 Location: leyland lancs ENGLAND
Posted: Sun May 22, 2005 2:50 pm Post subject:
mel it get me from a2d in 44 tonner though it isnt as good as tt or aa for routing but then i check the route and put waypoints in if needed i used it for a week solid on container work it got me from a2b and that was with tracking working as the mods and team had access to the tacking app so could see where i was as i said the routing needs lots of work and in certain uses it isnt suitable but i will stand by what i said it will get you to your destination when when you dont know where it is
mel just as a side thought you said you could hear the voice instructions were you useing tts try the .wav files there a bit louder also if your in a van then id reconend an ampified mount _________________ currently using aponia truck navigation on windows phone. Good bye IOS don't let the door hit you on the way out .
Oh the joys of being a courier.
device Lumia 950 xl
Last edited by alix776 on Sun May 22, 2005 2:57 pm; edited 1 time in total
if indeed AA Navigator has been deleloped by ALK? then it too routes along the coast..
where does it all end? _________________ Ipaq 3970, Ipaq 2210 X2, Smart ST V1, Tomtom V3+V5, CoPilot V5, AA Navigator, Tomtom Bluetooth GPS, Navman 3450i Jacket, Navman Bluetooth GPS, Holux GM270, Fortuna GPS-PocketXtrack
, Tomtom GO V5 Classic, Road Angel Classic.
Joined: 03/05/2003 14:45:49 Posts: 3999 Location: leyland lancs ENGLAND
Posted: Sun May 22, 2005 3:02 pm Post subject:
the aa navighator doesnt have anything to do with alk the only thing in common is they use navteq maps _________________ currently using aponia truck navigation on windows phone. Good bye IOS don't let the door hit you on the way out .
Oh the joys of being a courier.
device Lumia 950 xl
Joined: Feb 22, 2005 Posts: 27 Location: LYMM - Cheshire
Posted: Tue May 24, 2005 6:52 am Post subject:
alix
Hi, I really do appreciate your input. But, feel that you are missing the point.
YES... copilot does get you from A-B. But not as efficiently as other software. So, why use it when there are far superior programmes on the market?
Its is advertised as having:
'Detailed text to speech voice guidance that pronounces road names'
Announcing "just ahead turn right" is NOT detailed" (I don't want to repeat myself again - please read my original post. where I say how the medion gives excellent details both spoken & onscreen).
Why should I pay extra money for an amplified mount when I can hear 'other software' perfectly well in a van with the radio on?
clivers
I know nothing about AA Navigator. But, I do know that Medion Navigator also uses NAVTEQ and the maping detail is superior to copilot's.
I can only asume 1 of two things: NAVTEC supply different 'grades' of maps at different prices and alk have gone for the cheaper one! (my bet).
Or alk have remove detail for use with copilot......
Sorry, to both of you for the delay. But I have wireless internet & its easy to run up a big bill... So, I tend to ration my 'airtime'.
Well ALK have removed the rivers from co-pilot if i remember correctly?
Also AA navigator has them missing as well so i can assume it may well me NAVTEQ?
Given the choice at the moment i would go for the AA program. finding points of interest is so easy and everything is upto date. but as an everyday thing it always has to be Tomtom even with dodgy maps... _________________ Ipaq 3970, Ipaq 2210 X2, Smart ST V1, Tomtom V3+V5, CoPilot V5, AA Navigator, Tomtom Bluetooth GPS, Navman 3450i Jacket, Navman Bluetooth GPS, Holux GM270, Fortuna GPS-PocketXtrack
, Tomtom GO V5 Classic, Road Angel Classic.
Joined: 24/06/2003 00:22:12 Posts: 2946 Location: Escaped to the Antipodies! 36.83°S 174.75°E
Posted: Tue May 24, 2005 10:15 am Post subject:
clivers wrote:
Well ALK have removed the rivers from co-pilot if i remember correctly?
Also AA navigator has them missing as well so i can assume it may well me NAVTEQ?
Garmin use Navteq and they DO have rivers marked on the maps. _________________ Gone fishing!
Yes, Skippy is right about the Navtech' Mapsource maps used by Garmin. These do show rivers, canals, railways etc.
This would be very useful if you had to turn right just after the railway bridge. As CP5 does not currently show railways, it may not be that obvious.
Similarly, I was panning around the CP5 map At Cookham (Berks) where the A4094 crosses the River Thames. And this insignificant little river is not even shown.
Even more unusual, on my PC, at the same map of Cookham, it shows 3 Gatso cameras in the middle of fields. Obviously, they have very fast cows around those parts
It seems that I am one of the few lucky ones, CP5 seems to work pretty well for me, ok, I get the odd lock-up and odd route, but as previously mentioned, it would hve to be very sophisticated to route every journey perfectly.
I don't use it everyday, but I am pleased with the results so far (after seven monhs).
The sound is good, announcements are timely, e.g. two miles down to just ahead etc.
Maybe time will tell for me?? _________________ Mitac Mio 168 | CoPilot 5 | Brodit Mount | VW Sharan
TrafficMaster SmartNav | Built in | Isuzu Rodeo
Joined: Feb 22, 2005 Posts: 27 Location: LYMM - Cheshire
Posted: Wed May 25, 2005 9:45 am Post subject:
Hi AndyRat
If this your 1st GPS system?
If so, then you would be impressed with it! And why not, its far better than map reading.
1/ I am comparing CoPilot with software I bought 18 months ago and have found that instead of 'upgrading' I have taken a big backward step.
No software is perfect as it works off lumps of data and I do not expect any GPS system to route perfectly every time. But, CoPilot is vastly inferior to my old kit......
2/ CoPilot is being sold with many known faults and difficiencies. And if you've got a problem ALK do not want to know.
This is not just my opinion. You only have to have a look on this forum to confirm this!
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