By September 19, 2009

CoPilot Live 8 Review

Introduction:

CoPilot has been around for some years now and so I thought I would test out there latest version and compare it with some other mobile navigation applications. The big question though is will it be as good as TomTom?

CoPilot Live 8 Review

CoPilot Live 8

I have been using sat nav since the very first TomTom was released, and I still cringe when I think that I paid over £500 for that first one!

Over the last few years I have used three TomTom stand alone devices, TomTom navigator and Nav n Go IGO8 on a Windows Mobile Device. Due to my job I spend on average five hours a day driving and each day to a different location, so I thought I would be the perfect person to give CoPilot a decent review.

Key Features:

  • Lane Guidance at junctions
  • Guidance in tunnels
  • Turn after turn indicator (display shows next two turns)
  • Speed limit alerts
  • POI’s
  • Live traffic information (subscription required)
  • Live search
  • Livelink location sharing
  • Weather
  • Fuel prices

Highlights:

  • Superb Map Display
  • Big selection of features

Lowlights:

  • Non QWERTY Keyboard
  • Rather Complicated Volume Controls

CoPilot Live 8 Review:

I downloaded Copilot for my winmo device and at £25.99 for the UK & Ireland map CoPilot Live 8 is an absolute bargain. The new TomTom version for the iphone is £59.99 so lets see if the cheaper option is better than the trusted market leader.

At present CoPilot is available for Windows Mobile, Iphone and Android devices. With the surge of Android devices creeping onto the market CoPilot will cover a huge number of handsets over the next twelve months.

Turning the CoPilot on for the first time I was pleasantly surprised how colourful the software was. Initially you are greeted with a small menu overlaying the map to enable quick navigation.

Launch Menu

CoPilot launch menu

As you will see in the picture above this menu allows for easy access to My Places, Settings, Mode (driving, walking etc) as well as Destination which dives straight into navigating to a new location.

The “My Places” option gives you a choice of four options for quick access to your favourite and recent destinations and using this section was smooth and simple.

My Places

My Places

Selecting “Destination” from the initial menu is where you enter a new location and this is where it gets a little tricky! As you will see in the picture below there are several options here but the “Address” one will be the most commonly used.

Selecting Destination

Selecting “Destination”

Actually entering the address on CoPilot has been a little disappointing, although if you have not used sat nav before you will not have the same frustration that I do. That frustration is that the input keypad on CoPilot is not QWERTY and there is no option (that I can find) to change it. I use a QWERTY keypad on not only my computers but also on my phone and having to then use something different takes me a hell of a lot longer to enter the text. All other sat nav software I have tried, including some free ones that use a data connection, have either a standard QWERTY key pad or at least the option of one.

Key Pad

CoPilot Key Pad

As with all the other sat nav’s available CoPilot lets you change most options, such as map styles/colours, map display and points of interest.

POIs Map Styles

POI’s & Map Styles

The POI’s were as good as on TomTom and the Safety alerts were just as reliable. You will see above there is a speed limit warning  option. I though to myself “great, this will come in handy on the motorway”, however the highest speed I managed to set it for was 30MPH so as you can imagine it was extremely annoying alerting me whenever I reached 31 MPH.

The other major issue I had with the Copilot was how hard it was to mute the volume. Most of the time when I am driving I don’t like to listen to the spoken instructions and I rely on the map and onscreen prompts. Although CoPilot can be muted it takes seven screen taps to do and then return back to the map and this did my head in. Every time I restarted CoPilot I had to do the seven screen taps once more.

The most important feature with any sat nav has to be the reliability of getting you to your destination correctly and the CoPilot has not let me down once. I must admit it has taken me on a few routes that I know TomTom would not have but I got there and quickly, whether I input the full address or just the postcode.

My favourite feature of CoPilot has to be the actual display when navigating. Not only do I love the map colours but also the layout of the onscreen information.

Everything seems to be in the right place and they have managed to fit a lot onto a relatively small display (depending on handset).

As you will see below the CoPilot offers lane guidance which is a nice feature and really comes in handy when you don’t know where you are going!

CoPilot Navigation Display

Copilot Navigation Display

Conclusion:

So, how does CoPilot Live 8 compare to its rivals?

In terms of navigation it is certainly as good and at that super low retail price its sure to do pretty well.

Will I be continuing to use it as my daily sat nav – No. I actually got my TomTom back out today and this was only due to the keyboard and volume issues I had. If these were rectified I would probably stick with the CoPilot.

A good effort CoPilot and I look forward to new versions in the years to come.

Posted by: James

Posted in: GPS/Sat Nav, Reviews
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About the Author:

Five year veteran of the site. BlackBerry specialist, but experienced in most operating systems. Enjoys flower arranging and cross stitch.
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