Review: Copilot Live 8

I purchased the software this past weekend. Overall it works pretty well. But I was disappointed to see that it doesn't have my home address in it's maps. My neighborhood is about 8 years old, which I thought was old enough for it to appear on a map.

I've used this for 2 months now and I've noticed that road names are off...Although addresses are available the name of the road may be wrong and hence you can't find a certain address. I read reviews and overseas (not US) the maps were more up to date than the US versions.
I am hoping for an update soon!

I use google maps and it tends to be really bad at finding where I am (sometimes a mile away) and I am luck I can easily read maps. Is this better at finding where you are?

i have been using copilot for about 2 years now. using it to drive in UK is great. I travel almost everyday and this is the only s/w on my windows mobile i use. I have never updated the maps so i had lil trouble finding new postcodes but otherthan that it was very useful. I got it as a deal from O2 and my collegues suggested me to install tomtom but after 2-3 days of tomtom use, i reverted back to this one. Its soo friendly and easy to operate and wont distract you when you dont need it. like on a stretch of road where you dont need to exit the road unlike tomtom.

Can't find some addresses, wrong road names, ect. (per above posts) equals fail for me. I work in a business where we go to the homes of the clients. Getting to a suppliers' locations and back is also part of most days.

Good to here about this problem before making purchases.

I used the Truck version of Copilot for years on the laptop and the pocket pc. For years my biggest gripe with them was their total lack of updates for maps. There has never been one on any version and it has sometimes been two years or more for a new version to come out. Even then, the map version was usually six months to a year old by the time that version was released so it was out of date before you even opened the box. Having said that, for years it was also the only game in town if you wanted to be routed with any semblance of correctness. The last update changed all of that. It was routing me to places even my three year old, $79 Tomtom wouldn't even take a car. Not just bad, but dangerous. I tremble to think just how bad it would be if and RV'er using ALK's $35 package where to be routed in this way when their premier commercial $299 dollar package can't even do it right now. I can see the headlines now. This may be and OK package as a backup for your car GPS but there are better solutions, even if they cost a few bucks more. Its sad to me because I loved their products for years, but in this day and age when you can get a decent stand alone unit that does the job right and gets and occasional update when new roads happen for $100 bucks, I just have to ask why?

Fun fact: The basic principle that makes GPS possible is based in Einstein's Theory of General Relativity. Cheers, Al!

I been using copilot since ver 6 first came out. WHen I upgraded to version 7 co pilot it included the live traffic which I liked allot and not since I upgraded to live version 8 it does not included the live traffic. has that sucks! have to pay extra. It should be free has your using your internet mobile connection to retrieve live traffic data. Right now I rather not get it has they should have live traffic free.

I have just purchased this to replace OnCourse Navigator 8.0. That was a pretty decent package, but it was locked into the 2GB microSD card I purchased it on. Also, I was in need of an update to the 8.3 version to be supported on my new AT&T Tilt 2, with the 800x480 WVGA resolution. I was told I had to purchase it new to get the update, as well as possibly purchase new maps.

So I went searching and found Copilot Live 8 on sale for $19.99 for download. I saw they had a maintenance application (Copilot Central), just like TomTom (TomTomHome)and OCN (NaviExtras Toolbox)have. I had previously done a map update on my OCN8, and it was simple to do, and at the time cheaper than TomTom. For $19.99, I got a premium live services subscription for a year. Also map updates are free for the life of the product.

I downloaded and installed this on a spare 2GB microSD card on Saturday the 19th, and installed and activated it on my AT&T Fuze (that was being replaced due to some problems). I downloaded and installed the CoPilot Central application, and remove unnecessary voices from the installation. I was insice my apartment and got a fix within a minute or so (with QuickGPS updated). I used it for 2 days just putzing around town, and worked my way through the settings and featurs. Live weather was usefull, and could get weather for my location, my destination, or my route. Traffic allerts worked as advertised, and appeared to be up to date in my area, reporting numerous accidents, and a special project zone. Now Live Search, that is the killer. Originally I purchased OCN with a premium POI package which I found really usefull containing an advertised 11 million POIs. I was concerned as CoPilot only had 6 million POI's. But with Live search, you can find and navigate to almost anything, as it pulls the addresses from the internet over you data connection.

I got my new AT&T Tilt 2, deactivated the software on my Fuze, put the card in the Tilt, and re-activated it no problem. And it is beautiful on the larger screen of the
Tilt 2. I hooked it up to CoPilot Central, and lo and behold there was the 4th quarter map updates, for free. I installed those, but had a little problem because of the limited size of my SD card, I had to remove the old maps first, before it would load the new maps. That done, I ran the program and had the new maps. It also informed me of a over the air map maintenance update, and I took that tool. Next day I got my new 8GB class 6 microSDHC card. I plugged both cards into my laptop, the old into a SD adapter and the SD card reader slot, and the new card into a tiny microSDHC USB reader that came with it, and into a USB port. I just copied everything over, plugged the new card in, and everything worked. Except it loaded the maps much faster, and I had room to spare for books and music and whatever. Originally I got CoPilot Live version 8.0.0.346, but just a yesterday I hooked up to Copilot Central and was informed of a program update, which I let it install. I am now running version 8.0.0.557.

So far I am rather pleased with this product. It runs smoothly, the voices are pleasant, it is not "chatty", and the features and options are remarkable for the price.

I am now waiting for the text-to-speech update for spoken street names, and for voice command. Even without those, so far this has been a good deal. Especially since TomTom discontinued support for their mobile product. They only support the iPhone/iPod Touch platform now.

1) When you click "QUICK STOP" the "RESTAURANT" listings are under the "HOTEL" tab, and the "HOTEL" listings are under the "RESTAURANT" tab.

2) When you do a live search and there is no match, the program gets stuck on searching until the phone turned off and reset.

3) I have read promises of a standard QWERTY keyboard but have not seen anything materialize. I purchased the program solely based on this as I dont have the time to relearn to type on a proprietary formated keyboard.

4) I also read where there would be spoken street names added to north america but have not seen this yet.

Hi,
I am using Copilot Live 8 on a HTC HD2 (windows mobile 6.5). I must say: I was stunned by the graphical interface and ease of use. I depend on a good navigation system so I have been using copilot for a few weeks. I have purchased the Europe-map license and I must say that I am surprised about all the positive reviews. Hasn't anyone noticed that the maps copilot uses, are way out of date? Streets aren't listed, routes are planned through streets that don't exist anymore..... I have had contact with the support desk and they say that the Navteq maps are updated once a year.

My opinion is: the looks are great, but the maps are far outdated compared to similar navigators as TomTom. Don't buy unless you take outdated maps for granted.

This app has so much potential if the advanced features weren't vaporware. If you look at ALK's website, today, it STILL shows that text-to-speech and voice command are coming Q4 2009. Neither are released. ALK, for over a month has been saying it is "coming soon." Sunday, they said it had past testing and was coming Monday. Monday came and went. The week before that, it was coming "imminently." Great basic product. Superb UI. Ridiculous company to deal with.