CoPilot 6 and the Treo 700w

[Afishinado]

Thought I'd pass along my experience to you as it happens....
My goal: To add GPS to my vehicle. It's a new vehicle and I am getting all the now needed 'peripheral equipment' installed permanently (as in hard wired). My only experience with GPS in vehicles is two Hertz cars I rented had Magellan units which I was very impressed with. I've had at least 6 Garmin units on my boats over the years also BTW, and am a big fan of theirs. I didn't want stuff all over the dash and windshield that would make it mandatory to lock up the vehicle everytime I run into a convience store. If not, I can think of 4 items that would need to be plugged into the powerpoints alone.
On to start my experience.....
I puchased the CoPilot w/GPS direct from ALK Technologies... All arrived together within a week. Bought a 2GB SD card (you need 1GB just for the maps), the install was a tad cumbersome, but I had it working in about 1 hour with just the Eastern US maps installed. So here we are at day one.
First the positives;
The Treo screen is large enough to accomplish the task (a concern I had), and the built in speaker is loud and clear enough to do the job.
The negatives so far:
1) I didn't see where they tell you that the GPS unit has batteries that last about 8 hours and that you cannot hard wire the charger into the vehicle, you will fry the batteries. That alone would have prevented me from buying it, but I could live with turning it on/off as needed then plugging it in for a charge.
2) Once you reach your destination you have to quit the program, there is no way 'end the session' and just be a dot on the map...
3) If the phone rings, or you decide to check mails etc, you need go back to windows, programs, and start over again... Even though it is still running in the background?????
4) Here's the biggest issue. It's off by just enough to screw you all up. Right now it shows that I'm on the next street, not on mine (about 300' away)
5) When it's telling you to turn, it's usually too late.... I found that to be the case on every single turn I made on my trip yesterday, including exits off the interstate. If it weren't for the warnings at 2mi, 1 mi, .3 mi etc you'd miss turns.

I spoke with a tech support regarding some of the above mentioned. The battery issue was confirmed, and he suggested I reset the GPS, which I did, I'm still a block away. I have a couple errants to run and I'll report back later. But as it stands at the moment, I will be taking advantage of the 30 day return policy.

[StevenTyson]

My experiences were the same. I returned it the very same day. Wasn't worth the bother. Co-Pilot's supprt left much to be desired. I'll stick with Garmin M5 in my car and the 700 for all else.

[remilk]

This is cut from the original posting.

1) I didn't see where they tell you that the GPS unit has batteries that last about 8 hours and that you cannot hard wire the charger into the vehicle, you will fry the batteries. That alone would have prevented me from buying it, but I could live with turning it on/off as needed then plugging it in for a charge.

Response.

Your statement is correct in that you cannot directly hard-wire. This is because the voltage from the car is 12 volts while the GPS units voltage is less (probably around 5 volts). The way around this is to hard-wire a cigarette/power outlet then plug in the auto power supply into this new outlet. This combination reduces the voltage to that needed by the device. I wrapped the plug and new outlet with electrical tape to ensure that the plug stays in position. This is how I installed my XM radio.

Good Luck,
Bob

[Afishinado]

Last night I entered an address that I knew would be difficult for it. It told me I arrived two turns and about 3 blocks away. It has a very bad habit of telling me to bare right or left when the road makes a turn or has a bend in it, not a fork... Again, the only other GPS I've used in a car was a Magellan in Hertz rental cars. They were far more accurate and indepth. I am really trying to give it a chance, I really would like to keep from adding another peripheral to the car. However I am eyeing the Garmin i5, pretty small, which is good. Reviews show good feedback too.

Originally Posted by remilk

Your statement is correct in that you cannot directly hard-wire. This is because the voltage from the car is 12 volts while the GPS units voltage is less (probably around 5 volts). The way around this is to hard-wire a cigarette/power outlet then plug in the auto power supply into this new outlet. This combination reduces the voltage to that needed by the device. I wrapped the plug and new outlet with electrical tape to ensure that the plug stays in position.
Bob

I would have used the cigar lighter plug. Having it come on with the car, but supplying power for over 1 hour will hurt the batteries. So you cannot do it that way (what I meant in the first post by the way, sorry). You must turn on and off the unit when you use it, and recharge it after approximately 8 hours use for a period of one hour.

[Afishinado]

Tried it again last night... Just doesn't work well enough for me,
It's on it's way back and I have ordered a Garmin C330.