COPILOT 5 UK ROUTING

[clivers]

ive given up with co-pilot myself and find it a complete waste of money
the text to speech is ok to an extent
wav files hardly announce most changes you need to make in direction
routing as most people have noticed is a complete joke
portsmouth to rye in sussex takes you 50 miles more than you need to go
so mines is just confined to the draw now like the aol cds
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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.

[PONDEROUS]

And STILL no response to all of this from ALK? Do they not read this forum?

[topgazza]

Overall I am reasonably happy with my CP5. I do have concerns over the slow customer response, although they are off until New Year despite promising staff.

I usually find the rerouting OK but would find it unacceptable if I constantly found myself taking routes I KNEW were pants. I tend to pick my address to somewhere like Coventry and go my own way until I get there and need street map detail. I then "trust" CP5 to find the actual address locally, which it does. I am less concerned over the extra couple of miles it might take once I am there as I don't have the local knowledge to know otherwise anyway.

However. The fact that a large number of people are experiencing the non-shortest route issue means to me that ALK have missed a very serious point. It also seems that their drive for the "Live" feature has come instead of fine tuning the basic product. At a basic level the ability to choose the actual shortest route should be a given. Non-motorway ditto. The stupidity of setting a way point that you end up looping to and then back to the original route is patently daft.

Before I try something else as a fallback it would be interesting to know if other progs, like TT3, have similar issues or other drawbacks

[Skippy]

[PONDEROUS]

You are only partly right. While one complainant appears to have used "fastest", I use "shortest" and still get similar problems - please see my earlier contributions.

Shortest does not mean shortest, or anything like it, with Copilot 5. It is time that it did, so that users can choose between that option and any others.

[lexuscol]

My CP5 is also confined to file thirteen for the same reasons as tother posts, the thing is pants for the money unless you are going in a straight line to somewhere. the timing calculations are also well out of sync with the speeds. I have now moved to Navigon MN4.2 and I am very happy with it thus far although the learning curve is much steeper, it also has its faults but I can put up with them. The sound files/instructions are much more informative and clearer than cp5's when cp5 does give instructions that is.anyway thats it I just thought i'd give my twopence worth.
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Col

tt go 730T

[roger7248]

I've put in a route Bicester to Winchester. Didn't really need the Satnav, just using it as a toy straight from Father Christmas.

Straight down the dual carriageway A34 is the obvious way

Copilot send you down M40, round M25, up M3. Both time and distance are longer, can't understand!! I got over it by putting in a waypoint.

ALK need some tweaking of the algorithm or better user options.

Also after downloading speed camera database, I noticed it didn't always give an upcoming location. It appears the co-ordinates aren't always bang on the road, so it is essential to set the POI indicator a couple of points off the "exact route" option to pick these up.

roger

[PONDEROUS]

I'm afraid that Copilot 5 needs rather more than a little fine tuning, tweaking of the algorith and the like.

In addition to the absurdities already reported, my intensified use over the last few days has produced many more examples of what I had believed were only occasional hiccups, as follows:

1 CP 5 fouls the routing for short journeys as well as long ones. For example, yesterday, its route was almost 8 miles between two villages when the actual journey was 3.5 miles. Manual waypoint setting - if it actually works (see earlier contributions) should not be necessary for such hops, but it is the only answer - apart from getting an atlas out!

2 If I make a spontaneous detour, say to take a familiar road on a route that I don't fully know, CP5 will tell me to TURN AROUND rather than provide sensible new instructions. It even does this in the middle of one-way motorway lanes for goodness sake!!!!!?????? Imagine what this is like when combined with the programme's insistence in taking main roads.

3 There are many turns that CP 5 does not announce. It is infuriating to hear the "blip" as it re-routes when I consequently miss a turn, and another 2, 5 or more miles are added to the journey.

4 There are even more turns where CP 5 merely says to go South, North, etc, rather than left or right. How are we supposed to know which way that is?? Similarly, it sometimes says "at roundabout take slip road to B1192" or similar - when there is no signpost to say which road that might be.

5 There are significant numbers of junctions where CP 5 says to turn the wrong way.

I purchased CP 5 for serious application. Having given it every chance, I can only conclude that it is no more use than a child's toy.which is, coincidentally, a phrase used already by roger7248. I am, therefore, now going to give up and purchase another product.

The whole thing is scandalous when this product is promoted as THE serious software for navigation, or similar.

[Taxman]

Interesting reading these notes. I'm wondering if ALK are weighting the routes correctly, so although going via a motorway may be longer the journey is actually quicker (how many people do 70 along a C road unless they really know it?). So is the option of choosing "shortest" really choosing the shortest route or the shortest that ALK think can be done in the quickest time?

Regarding redirects when missing a turning. Yup I've missed a turn or two due to late instructions from CP5 (even though it's set for first instruction at a mile out then more when nearer). But when I've sailed past the turn I found it stops telling me to turn around after about 1/2 a mile or so then redirects to get me back on route from the direction I'm driving.

Not having that much to spend on other programs I will have to stay with what I've got. But I'll be happy when an upgrade (free) becomes available. Particularly making it easier to change the choice of spoken instructions!

[lexuscol]

I have never heard of a free upgrade, Ponderous you can trade it in for a Navigon for about £68 read navigon reveiws, still has some faaults main one is the map layering of rivers they seem to be about 300yds out but a darn site better than cp5 in my opinion anyway which doesnt even show rivers, having said that there are a lot of folks happy with cp5 tt etc so what suits one doesn't suit all. I binned my cp5 for the reasons you have mentioned and I have no regrets.
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Col

tt go 730T

[PONDEROUS]

Thanks, Lexuscol, for the recommendation. I'll have to treat the reviews with caution, though. CP 5 was met by rave reviews when it first appeared. I too was fooled for some days, and even began singing its praises. Map downloading is illogical and often fails; POIs don't work properly; the voice instructions are frequently incomplete, misleading or incorrect; address selection is restrictive and awkward; manual routing is time-consuming and difficult to use; computer-calculated routing is farcical. Add in the fact that ALK's customer support people rarely respond, and it is difficult to imagine what there can be to redeem such a product.

None of this was picked up in any review that I read, and I read them closely having previously been disappointed with two other packages.

There is no substitute for prolonged use to show up the problems. This is a point that reviewers need to bear firmly in mind for the future.

In the meantime, I could still be persuaded if ALK would break their silence in this forum and tell us what they are going to do.

[Dave]

[PONDEROUS]

Thanks for that, Dave.

The re-routes to which I referred were spontaneous, while driving, not manually created by using stops or waypoints. They happen very frequently, at least where I have driven lately, so they are not just minor irritations.

I can assure you that the missed turns to which I have referred are not minor estate roads. Try driving around the Peterborough network, for example. Neither am I missing which turn it is referring to (second instead of third, etc.). I am speaking of major turns on straight roads, often on one-way dual-carriageway ringroads, leading to extended journeys around the next-available flyover.

I am afraid that putting the compass on the screen is no answer when driving and keeping your eyes on the road.

It is remarkable that assuming that an application will work properly should be dismissed as the result of excessive expectations! As I have said, this is not just the occasional hiccup, but a seriously and comprehensively flawed product.

Whether or not the faults come from Navteq maps (various references in your reply) they are faults nevertheless.

It seems that I have touched a nerve by impliedly criticising the reviewers! However, nothing in this reply answers my points (except possibly the reference to "tweaking instructions" for which I thank you - I will seek them out).

[PONDEROUS]

Perhaps I am not using the Pocketgps search facility properly, but I can't find any instructions on the forum telling me how to tweak Copilot to eliminate the major road bias.

Can anyone point me to these instructions, please?

While writing, I can't help reflecting on the fact that Copilot offers "shortest" and "quickest" options. Shouldn't shortest be shortest, whether I tweak the programme or not? Still, it will be interesting to see the difference.

[Dave]

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