Copilot Live 6 - a mini review

[Guest jimbouk]

So I bought Copilot Live 6 off ebay and thought I would share my first weeks impressions:

1) In the box: The software and maps on three cd's, the software on a mini-sd card, the copilot GPS BT receiver, a cigarette lighter charger cable for the receiver plus a Y splitter to charge both the receiver and the ppc, a sticky magnet mount to fix the receiver to the car dash.

2) Installation: As I have a SPV M3100 and thus needed it on microSD, I couldn't use the supplied Mini-SD quickstart card. No problem though, as I simply installed the software on my laptop, choosing UK as my one region I had a licence for (the software comes with loads of regions but you are only licenced for one). I then installed the software across to my 3100 choosing to put it on my 1gb microsd card rather than the device (as the program needs 11mb). I then activated the software and used the data download wizard on the pc to copy the full UK map across onto the microsd card (the full UK maps use 117mb).

3) First Usage: I then put a shortcut to Copilot on my SPB PocketPLus Today plugin and clicked on it to start the program. Go into settings, GPS Settings and paired the BT receiver with the device. Having left the receiver by the window, I set about playing with the device. Sure enough within a couple of minutes the device was able to report where I was. You can check the GPS status via the settings menu - it will tell you whether the GPS receiver is on, whether it has picked up any satellites (and how many) and whether it has determined its location. On the main copilot screen you can see the status (with red, amber and green bars advising the GPS signal strength).

4) Navigation: The device offers various routing options: for driving, walking or planning. It is very easy to set a destination - On the device, you can either enter an address, select a location on the map or choose a POI (Point of Interest). It is easy to set up some favourite locations like HOME. On the laptop, you can plan your route and then use the data download wizard to copy the route to your device. You can even add multiple stops - useful if you work for a delivery service!

5) On route: Once you click start driving, the device will keep the screen backlight on and works pretty much as any satnav system. You have a choice of views (3d, driver safety, next junction). You can either use the inbuilt voices or the texttospeech option. The screen, whilst small compared to a widescreen BMW satnav option, is plenty big enough and you can zoom in and out on the map quite easily. You are given clear guidance instructions (you can set the warning behavious for turns at 1 mile, 1/2 mile, 500 yds etc). There are some of the usual satnav issues - where it tells you to bear left or right - when actually you are effectively going straight on down the same road - but most of these seem to be clearer than the older system - ie it actually tells you that you are staying on the M25 for example when you bear left at Sevenoaks.

If you decide to ignore what the system tells you, it re-routes very quickly - usually in about two or three seconds.

6) The extras: The best two free extras for me are the safety camera warnings and the London Congestion Zone warning. I did 90 miles yesterday mainly on the North Circular and the system warned me about every camera on the route. If my route had included the Congestion Charging Zone, it would have warned me. You can subscribe to Traffic alerts along the route - with optional re-routing to avoid them, and to the Live option where the device can report to a webpage exactly where you are (with the option to send an email inviting your friends and family to see how you are getting on on the route). This last option would be superb for parents of 17 year olds worried about them on a long drive, or for bosses of delivery companies wanting to know where their drivers are!

Overall Impression: Very usable as long as you buy a cheap in-vent mount for your ppc. For about