Control Vision Anywhere Map Considered Unsatisfactory
May 2nd, 2008At Air Venture 2007 I purchased an iPac based Anywhere Map GPS with XM weather from its manufacturer, Control Vision.
I had trouble with it for several months, and then it seemed to start working. Last winter I posted a review of the product here. My review was favorable overall. Today I updated the review to reflect more experience with the unit.
I’ve since had a lot of trouble with my Anywhere Map. XM weather only works occasionally, and today the GPS function died (‘no database found’ error).
I’ve had it with Anywhere Map. It’s a kludge of consumer parts held together with a flaky windows program.
I get sick every time I think about it. I could have had a Garmin for another $500. Garmins cost more because they are worth it. Now I’m stuck with this broken toy.
Don’t make the mistake I did.
If you need a reliable GPS/XM weather system, buy Garmin.
As an alternative to Anywhere Map and other GPS solutions I did extensive research on the Inet using price, reliability and size as criteria. I purchased a MIO c320 GPS off Ebay for $100US. The Mio GPS units use WinCE5 as an Operating System and as such are able to run any CE application if a person can boot into the OS.
This can be accomplished by booting from an SD card inserted into the unit’s slot which has a neat little program named MIO Pocket on it. Magically, it transforms the GPS into a PocketPC. Search “MIO Pocket” on Google for more information and the most current version.
I also discovered PocketFMS which will run on a Windows PC system AND sync with the MIO unit. It’s about $100US which includes map cycle updates.
I used the system on a recent flight of ~100 miles round-trip. I plugged in the power cord into the 12v Aux (cigarette lighter), mounted the holder to the side window with the suction cup and took-off. Tracking, altitude, Ground Speed where all realtime and accurate within VFR needs. The unit reminded me of Bendix’s new AV8OR;same size, similar functions and a whole lot cheaper.
So, for ~$200, I have a moving map aviation GPS. The database is completely configurable (colors, objects, information, etc.). It can download current Metars and display weather bars on the map.
I’m not pumping these products, just passing on the information, draw your own conclusions.
Link for available moving map GPS aviation applications:
http://www.aviationreviews.com/navigate.html
After seeing Carl’s comment, I decided to give the Mio & PocketFMS a try. I figured in the worst case, I would have 4.3″ car nav system (Personal Navigation Device(PND)(WinCE based car GPS)) for $99. I had been looking at the AV8OR & the Anywhere Map Travel Companion (ATC).
First of all Jim’s main complaint with his Anywhere Map setup was the interface (or lack of reliable interface)with the XM weather system. At this time PocketFMS doesn’t have the option of receiving in flight XM weather information. It can only use weather information downloaded from the internet.
The second thing I noticed is PocketFMS on my PND is slow. This is a complaint I saw from someone who bought the ATC. I don’t know about the AV8OR. I suspect this is a hardware issue since the PocketFMS desktop software runs quickly. It seems like the software is demanding more performance than the little WinCE PND can produce.
On the positive side, PocketFMS is very complete and flexible. There’s even a way to connect it to autopilots, even though I would never trust any Windows based system to guide an autopilot. All the features and flexibility can be confusing to a newbie to this program (like me).
You can download PocketFMS for free and try it 30 days. After that it’s 150 Euros / year (includes software & aviation data updates). The PocketFMS Foundation is based in Europe, but worldwide information is available. When I downloaded it, the site realized I was in the US and downloaded US data. The current version of PocketFMS can be set up on a SD card for your PND directly from the desktop version. The web site gives easy instructions, complete with screen shots on how to install it on a number of PNDs. You don’t need to install Mio Pockets to use PocketFMS on your PND. However Mio Pockets is a great way to turn your PND into a Pocket PC.
I haven’t decided if I’ll subscribe to PocketFMS since I haven’t tried it in the plane yet. Given the cost vs an AV8OR or ATC, I’ll probably try it for a year.