Mapopolis satnav

[Guest soup dragon]

I've seen a lot of posts about Tom Tom (and various problems). I've been using Mapopolis for a while now on my Toshiba E800 PPC, C500 and XDA Mini and find it to be very good indeed.

The app itself is free and you just buy the maps (£70 for the whole of W Europe), works great with BT GPS. Time limited demo maps are available for download.

They do versions of the app for PPC, SmartPhone and Palm.

I have nothing to do with the company - just a happy user.

:)

[Guest Dr_StrangeTrick]

Me too, I have tried TomTom and I find it full of faults, the quality of the maps is appalling and compared to Mapopolis its so s...l...o...w.

I use mine on a C550 (QVGA support was already there) with an old TomTom BT GPS. I use it quite a lot and when I am abroad I don't have any problems at all.

And for £70 you cant go wrong.

[Guest Peppermint Hippo]

Might give the demo maps a go. Use Tom Tom myself and find it great but always willing to try new things! :)

[Guest Looby]

Just been and had a look at Mapopolis, looks interesting, even a trial period. Before I go ahead does anyone know if it will work on WM5? Thanks.

[Guest Dr_StrangeTrick]

Hi Looby Mapopolis works on WM5 with exception to the address book routing.

This they are working on but you may want to make sure you are using the latest version especially if you are using WM5.

Notes can be found here, the version on the Mapopolis website is the official release version and this is the beta which will eventually include full WM5 compatibility.

[Guest Looby]

Many thanks, have downloaded the latest beta version and am ready to give it a go. I have CameraAware on my SP5 and that works faultlessly as a matter of interest.

[Guest Looby]

This Mapopolis is one classy app. Thanks DR Strange Trickand soup dragon. I have just been down to my local eating house to try it out on my SP5 and it worked perfectly. The night screen is a delight. Everything about it is lovely, the interface is intuitive and it paired with the GPS straight away. You can adjust the volume of the voice and it is not necessary to have it more than halfway to hear it clearly. I am impressed. Top application. 10 out of 10.

Edited December 17, 2005 by Looby

[Guest soup dragon]

Many thanks, have downloaded the latest beta version and am ready to give it a go. I have CameraAware on my SP5 and that works faultlessly as a matter of interest.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Glad you like it. It's confused me for while why people have been getting wound up about installing/running Tom Tom when for less money they could have a fully featured app that runs pretty much flawlessly on a number of platforms.

Another bonus is that you can have the app itself installed on more than one platform (i.e. a PPC and a SmartPhone if you have both) and the same maps work on both.

Edited December 18, 2005 by soup dragon

[Guest Dr_StrangeTrick]

I have CameraAware on my SP5

Hi again Looby, glad you like it. You mentioned that you have CameraAware loaded as well. Just in case you dident know the download from PocketGPSWorld includes the Safety Camera database in Mapopolis format as well. But I don’t know why they don’t mention this on their site as I was converting them by hand for a while before I realised.

Now that you like why don’t you customise it even more with custom voices etc. If you go here you can find custom language files which alter what Mr Robot says from verbose to concise so instead of...

"In about 300 feet turn left onto High Street, High Street is next on the left"

You can have...

"300 feet turn left, High Street, Next" much less waffle

Also if you look here you can download Crystal which is a quite nice real female voice instead of Mr Robot, but as this uses pre-recorded sounds it will not pronounce road names and more to chhose here

If you really want to be extravagant, make up your own voice files with this now there's no limit.

[Guest adchaffey]

Hi All,

I've been on the verge of buying Tom Tom for my Vario for a while now, still in the process of fitting a nice holder and cradle in my car / can't afford it right now etc...

Anyway, I saw this thread and thought I'd look into Mapopolis as a cheaper alternative. However, once you've bought a GPS receiver and a decent map pack from Mapopolis it really isn't much cheaper than Tom Tom.

Is it really much better than Tom Tom??? I've only seen screenshots of the two, but Tom Tom looks like the better app and does pack in a few extra features. Is anyone here kind enough to do a little comparison of the 2 for me???? ;-)

Any help would be well appreciated!

[Guest DeanoSMB]

Had Mapopolis on the C500 and now the Vario and I can't imagine life without it anymore.

[Guest Looby]

Thanks dr Strangetrick for the information. I have the Pocket GPS database on my PC but I don't know which file is for the Mapopolis or which folder to put it in on my SP5. It would be really good to have the Gatso speed camera warning on the Mapopolis Satnav. Thanks, Looby...

[Guest Dr_StrangeTrick]

Hi Looby if you open the zip file from PocketGPSWorld and look in the 'single file version' folder then the 'mlp' folder and copy that to your mobile device (it does not matter where, but I have all of my overlays in a separate folder)

Then open Mapopolis, Press Menu, Choose Maps then Menu, Refresh. On the list of maps now enable pocketgps_uk_sc and press Done. That loads the overlay for you, now press Menu, Settings, Proximity alert tick the Enable Proximity alerts box then choose Camera. I find the best distance to be Within .25 miles but you can change this and for the options I go for Voice Prompts and Auto-Zoom but you can experiment.

Hi DeanoSMB if you get one of these GPS's (they work very good) at less than £50 including delivery and you buy Mapopolis at less than £70 then that only comes to £120 which is a lot cheaper than TomTom (thats if you are looking at an official version) and that gives you all of Europe when you but TomTom mobile you only get Great Britain.

As for a comparison then have a search on the forum there have been several discussions on which is the best Sat Nav. But for me Mapopolis does the trick, think of it like this.

If TomTom where a car it would be something like a top of the range Renault or Citroen, full of gadgets, loads of bling but not much underneath. Mapopolis would be more like a top range Vectra or Mondeo, zero bling but everything is sturdy and reliable.

But in a nutshell...

Mapopolis (Pros)....

Cheap (If you only want say London and you don't go anywhere else it will cost you £6)

All of Europe

Seamless routing across countries (see here for an example)

Works on any device (Including the original SPV)

Fast (2 seconds to calculate a route from Lands End to John O'Groats)

Simple 2D display

Much better road maps

Mapopolis (Cons)....

Have to load county maps individually

No 3D display

Only 1 category can be proximity alert enabled

Apart from Mr Robot not too many voices to choose from

Maps at the moment are 2003 (But they are more accurate than TomTom 2005 maps, and an update is due very soon)

TomTom (Pros)....

No need to select county maps, its all there

3D display

Graphical menus

Nice selection of voices

Postcode navigation

Multiple proximity alerts

TomTom (Cons)...

Very expensive (additional countries are around £70 each)

Only 1 country can be loaded into TomTom at once

3D display very slow and sometimes jerky

Wrong directions (Take 3rd exit at roundabout when there are only 2 etc)

Very poor map data

Slow (2 minutes to calculate a route from Lands End to John O'Groats)

Does not like going off road (I.E. roads which are not on the map yet)

Cant route to places not on a road (I.E. farms etc)

With Mapopolis being free and its just the maps you pay for try the demo, if you don't like it then go for TomTom. I personally don't like TomTom and after giving it quite a few goes (to be fair to it) it still keeps letting me down (yes even the latest version) and I cannot recommend TomTom to anyone but I will say give them a try its up to you which one you like.

As far as I am concerned if I am going somewhere I have never been before then I don't give a monkeys about 3D displays, nice voices, postcode navigation if it gives me duff information. All I care about it that it gets me there and even though Mapopolis is not as polished as TomTom it has never let me down.

[Guest adchaffey]

Thanks Dr_StrangeTrick. That's just what I needed to here!

Looks like I'll certainly give mapopolis a try once I get myself a GPS receiver.

Thanks again.

[Guest soup dragon]

TomTom (Pros)....

No need to select county maps, its all there

3D display

Graphical menus

Nice selection of voices

Postcode navigation

Multiple proximity alerts

TomTom (Cons)...

Very expensive (additional countries are around £70 each)

Only 1 country can be loaded into TomTom at once

3D display very slow and sometimes jerky

Wrong directions (Take 3rd exit at roundabout when there are only 2 etc)

Very poor map data

Slow (2 minutes to calculate a route from Lands End to John O'Groats)

Does not like going off road (I.E. roads which are not on the map yet)

Cant route to places not on a road (I.E. farms etc)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hi Dr_StrangeTrick - I take it you like Mapopolis then :) ................ I don't blame you.

You may have forgotten, but Mapopolis also does postcode navigation to a pretty good level. You can enter the first 4/5 characters of the postcode i.e. CH3 8, or CH64 8.

[Guest minty1978]

hi, only just looked at the mapopolis web site, the screen shots look awful...are you able to change the screen colours?? they are far too bright.

[Guest soup dragon]

hi, only just looked at the mapopolis web site, the screen shots look awful...are you able to change the screen colours?? they are far too bright.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hi minty1978. Yes you can change all the map colours (including different colours for day/night use).

I'd suggest downloading it and giving it a try, it won't cost you a bean.

In fact with the demo maps lasting for about 10 days, you could use mapopolis for a one-off trip completely free of charge - don't ask me how I know :)

[Guest minty1978]

Hi minty1978.  Yes you can change all the map colours (including different colours for day/night use).

I'd suggest downloading it and giving it a try, it won't cost you a bean. 

In fact with the demo maps lasting for about 10 days, you could use mapopolis for a one-off trip completely free of charge - don't ask me how I know  :)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

good news about the colour change.

lol, yeah might try it out over christmas....still, i do like the tomtom

i tried getting the software off a Road Angel navigator to work the on the vario...turns out its modified copilot software...and no, i didn't work :cry:

[Guest Dr_StrangeTrick]

I take it you like Mapopolis then

Hi you are certainly right, I have tried a few in my time but compared to Mapopolis they are all pants.

I know Mapopolis isn’t perfect but I can accepts Mapopolis’s faults whereas I cannot accept TomTom’s. don’t get me wrong though I think that TomTom have done a fantastic job of bringing Satellite Navigation to the masses and without them where would we be today (still using road maps).

As for postcode navigation, if Mapopolis could do full postcode navigation then I would be in heaven. I have managed to get around this by creating my own postcode overlay’s but they are huge and take ages to load.

But I do get full postcode searching but this is split into regions which I have to manually load such as Midlands, Anglia, South East, South West etc I have to admit that I don’t tend to use them very much and if I have a problem with an address/postcode then I usually check online and use this as my reference.

[Guest TomaHawk]

How do you navigate? if it doesn't use post-codes?

[Guest Looby]

Hi DR Strangetrick, have downloaded the MLP file as per your instructions and is perfect. It notifies me not only of fixed Gatsos but mobile vans on bridges too, how cool is that! Have just been Xmas shopping and the Mapopolis didn't put a foot wrong. It feels as dependable as a VW Beetle. I will buy the maps as soon as the trial expires. Many thanks for your help and have a lovely Christmas...Looby :)

[Guest turbo lemon]

The thing that bugs me about mapopolis is that you don't get a full UK map, you have to get the areas you particularly want. Now I don't know about anyone else, but I find satnav particularly useful when I find myself somewhere unexpectedly...!

[Guest adchaffey]

The thing that bugs me about mapopolis is that you don't get a full UK map, you have to get the areas you particularly want.  Now I don't know about anyone else, but I find satnav particularly useful when I find myself somewhere unexpectedly...!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I agree, that's one of my main concerne with mapopolis. Still I'll give the demo a go soon and see how I feel then!

[Guest chucky.egg]

I've been watching this thread, but dont use Mapo any more.

Quick tip that somebody gave me when using Mapo:

You often only need to load the maps for the Major Roads, and the County you're trying to get to. Trying to load maps for each County you'll pass through is not (normally) needed and slows it all down.

[Guest Dr_StrangeTrick]

Hi TomaHawk you navigate by the address. As Chucky.Egg said on the select map screen select the map for the area you want to go to and press Find, Address and type in the details then save that to your favourite.

Now this is what I do, the default key mapping for 9 is Favourites so I change this to Route to Favourite (change this is settings) then when you are ready to set off load your starting map, destination map and the major roads map then press 9 (or whatever key you want to use) highlight your destination and press Done :)

Hey Turbo Lemon I totally agree and 'dynamic mapping' is on the cards very soon so until then the best you can do is to close all maps except for the major roads map then start the GPS, when you get a fix your position will be shown on the map. Now for the detail to make life easier turn the GPS off for a while now zoom out (default key mapping is 2) now you may need to adjust the amount of detail (Press 7 or 8) and keep zooming out until you find a pointy star put the cross hair over this and press This Location twice and on the 2nd press you will see Open Map on the menu press this and that will load that map for you now when you restart your GPS you can see where you are :D

Not ideal but you pays your money and takes your choice at £70 for all of Europe it cant be beaten on price and while this is not a prefect solution to what you have described it does work (I know cos I have been there and done it)