Mapsonic vs mapopolis?

kvernick · Occasional Visitor Joined: May 14, 2004 Posts: 3

I need a GPS routing system in Europe for palm (T2, so don't say Tomtom, I'm not buying a T3 just for that, I'll probably get the generation after T3). It seems like the main contenders are these 2 above. I use mapopolis in the US and like it, although it looks like the European mapopolis maps are kind of short on POIs. Is Mapsonic preferable in that or any other way to Mapopolis? Cost is roughly the same (~$130-150), since for mapopolis you have to buy the whole w. europe map pack to get the navigator maps (ie, with GPS support). On the mapopolis plus side, you can use the same app in US or europe, while mapsonic is europe only.

Any observations appreciated.

Thanks,
kvernick

lbendlin · Posted: Fri May 14, 2004 11:13 pm Post subject:

Mapopolis is much slicker. Especially with the limited resources of the Palms I would go for Mapopolis.
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DennyL · Regular Visitor Joined: Jan 24, 2004 Posts: 114

I bought Mapsonic and now realise that it will only navigate in car + quickest route mode, so if you want to navigate on foot or on a bicycle, forget Mapsonic, because it will take you along motorways and main roads whenever it can.

lbendlin · Posted: Mon May 17, 2004 1:32 pm Post subject:

Mapopolis doesn't have "walking" modes either, but at least you can completely avoid highways, and can set the route to "shortest" which most of the time is the same as walking mode.
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DennyL · Regular Visitor Joined: Jan 24, 2004 Posts: 114

It's true that you can set parameters for shortest pedestrian route, then define a start and arrival point and calculate a shortest pedestrian route. But if you then enter Navigation mode and look at the parameters you will find that it has reverted to car + quickest route, and Mapsonic will when possible lead you to the nearest motorway/arterial road. If that is not the case for you then I would be very pleased to hear about it, as it would mean that my installation is screwed up. For the moment I'm assuming it's a bug. I'm using v1.3.

DennyL · Regular Visitor Joined: Jan 24, 2004 Posts: 114

After I wrote my previous post I went to the ViaMichelin site and discovered that patch 1.3.2 is now available. I installed it, and a quick test showed that it hasn't fixed the problem I describe above.

kvernick · Occasional Visitor Joined: May 14, 2004 Posts: 3

Thanks for the advice. This sounds good, Mapopolis it is (sorry Mapsonic, I know it's your forum. I'll buy you a beer sometime).

The lack of a pedestrian option is a problem, but it seems a common one. I think the old Tomtom City maps had a walking option, and I remember it routing me valid directions that were not roads (like steps up a hillside in Marseille).

DennyL · Regular Visitor Joined: Jan 24, 2004 Posts: 114

What is irritating about Mapsonic is that it HAS pedestrian and shortest route options, and will calculate corresponding routes, but it will not navigate you along them.

I emailed ViaMichelin about this here are the emails:-

I wrote:-

"In using Mapsonic I have found a fault which very much limits its usefulness to me. I have found that I can use it in Navigation mode only with parameters set to Car + Quickest route. If I set the parameters to Pedstrian + shortest route I can then define a Departure point and an Arrival point and calculate a shortest pedestrian route. If I then enter navigation mode and look at the Parameters I see that they have reverted to Car + Quickest route. I have not found a way to navigate with Mapsonic using the parameters set to Pedstrian + Shortest route. This serverely limits the usefulness of the product to me as I bought it to use when walking and cycling. In both cases I want to use small streets, avoiding arterial roads and motorways.

In addition I have found that when Mapsonic is set to kpm (kilometres per hour) in navigation mode there is an advance warning eg "in 200 metres turn right" followed by the instruction "Turn right". When it is set in mph (miles per hour) mode there is no advance warning, just the instruction. As I live in the UK this is a serious deficiency as it obliges me to use Mapsonic in KPH mode.

Finally, I have found that when I attempt to change the speeds associated with different road types in Parameters my changes don't stick and the speeds revert immediately to Mapsonic's default values.

I have been using Mapsonic v1.3. Today I installed v1.3.2 and a quick check showed that it didn't rectify the first problem (navigating only in car + quickest route mode).

Can you tell me when you expect these problems to be rectified or alternatively advise me on the best procedure to return the product for a refund?"

Here is ViaMichelin's reply:-

"Thank you for your message and your interest in ViaMichelin and our products.

In response to your question, we would like to inform you that the choice "shortest path" can only be used in Normal mode and that the Navigation mode is automatically set on "quickest path".

As a pedestrian, you must walk at a speed that is higher than 5 km/h so that the GPS receiver detects a movement. You can also modify the speed (e.g. set the lowest speed for highways) if you prefer to take streets and secondary roads in the navigation mode; it will help you avoid the main traffic (for example in the city center).

We hope we could provide you with enough information to answer your request. If you have any other question, please do not hesitate to contact us."

lbendlin · Posted: Wed May 26, 2004 2:13 pm Post subject:

Reminds me of the early days of TomTom 1.2 when they had the same issue with slow moving objects (read: pedestrians). But that's long been solved, no idea why Mapsonic are still claiming you need to be at least 5 km/h quick. The product probably still needs some maturing.
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DennyL · Regular Visitor Joined: Jan 24, 2004 Posts: 114

Mapsonic WORKS when I use it as a pedestrian, that's not a problem. I just don't particularly want to be walking along motorways and arterial roads, and I don't mind walking the wrong way down a one-way street.

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