Off-road navigation units

Submitted: Wednesday, Jun 05, 2013 at 14:21

ThreadID: 102598 Views:3984 Replies:6 FollowUps:19

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Krooznalong

Looking on Ebay there are a few units available for around the $300 mark. The package includes a 7" screen, OziExplorer CE and off-road maps covering all of Australia.

As I have never had any meaningful exposure to digital off-road navigation I have no idea whether these units are any good.

If anyone has one could you please share your experiences - are they worth having?

Also what is the difference between OziExplorer and OziExplorer CE?

Thanks in advance.

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Reply By: Ray H4 - Wednesday, Jun 05, 2013 at 17:05

Wednesday, Jun 05, 2013 at 17:05

CE refers to Windows CE and operating system from microsoft the following link is to a news paper article which explains it well
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/advice/9558967/What-is-Windows-CE.html

regards

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Reply By: Ross M - Wednesday, Jun 05, 2013 at 18:27

Wednesday, Jun 05, 2013 at 18:27

Krooznalong
If you can possibly avoid a CE machine it will be better for you. CE doesn't have the backup of other operating systems.

An Android Samsung 7" tablet Good Guys $190 will allow you to still run Oziexplorer and buy a host of maps.
The Tablet has GPS to run from satellites.

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Reply By: WBS - Wednesday, Jun 05, 2013 at 18:31

Wednesday, Jun 05, 2013 at 18:31

I run with a 7" GPS running on Windows CE. I use OziExplorer and have the Hema and NATMAP series of maps as well as sundry other lesser known types. Mostly I use the NATMAP maps but Hema has far better specific information about tracks or destinations.

Mine has worked faultlessly for 3 years now and I have no complaints. It was the ants pants when I bought it, however, next time round I will be buying a 7" Android Tablet (probably Samsung Galaxy Tab 2) and using that, as it is new technology with far higher resolution and is also capable of doing a lot more non mapping stuff. For $300, a Tablet is far better value in my opinion. That's my recommendation to you: - Buy a 7" Android Tablet and load OziExplorer for Android.

Now to the difference between OziExplorer and OziExplorer CE (also applies to OziExplorer for Android)

OziExplorer is a full blown application for PC and won't work on a Windows CE based unit. OziExplorer running on a laptop is capable of being used in the same way as OziExplorer CE is used on the GPS.

OziExplorer CE is a cut down version solely for the Windows CE. It has limited functionality but great for displaying your location on your selected map (Moving Map), recording tracks and way-points and all the other things you may wish to do.

To be fully utilised Oziexplorer CE needs the PC version of OziExplorer for all the planning you might do before a trip or before you head off for a days driving as well as the screen designs you can design for your GPS, creating your own maps etc.

Thats my take on this subject
WBS

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Follow Up By: The Explorer - Wednesday, Jun 05, 2013 at 19:05

Wednesday, Jun 05, 2013 at 19:05

Hi

Keep in mind that Ozi for Android doesn't have same capabilities of Ozi CE as yet...but it may or may not suit peoples requirements...plus it will only get better over time. I see nothing wrong with using a CE device if it works. Windows CE may be old hat ..but if it works it works.

Cheers
Greg

I sent one final shout after him to stick to the track, to which he replied “All right,” That was the last ever seen of Gibson - E Giles 23 April 1874

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Reply By: Member - PJR (NSW) - Wednesday, Jun 05, 2013 at 20:23

Wednesday, Jun 05, 2013 at 20:23

Something to keep in mind.

Our WindowsCE box with OziexolorerCE is a double din unit installed in the cars dash in place of the original, radio, DVD etc entertauinment system. However we purchased a full blown double din unit that has all the entertainment, USB port and iPod ports as well as Blue Tooth and video (2) inputs for the reversing camera. It cost an arm and a leg a few years back.

No all those cheap units give you this.

Just to keep in mind if you go down the track of a dash mounted box that replaces your stereo etc.

Phil

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Reply By: Bazooka - Wednesday, Jun 05, 2013 at 23:02

Wednesday, Jun 05, 2013 at 23:02

Got a link? Seems fair value IF the maps are accurate and detailed and the unit is good quality. Ozi is $130 for starters but you can get quite a lot of map data for nothing - $0.

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Follow Up By: The Explorer - Thursday, Jun 06, 2013 at 00:13

Thursday, Jun 06, 2013 at 00:13

Hi,

OziCE is only $40, and I am guessing the maps are 250K Natmap, which are available for free, though even purchased copies can be copied and sold by anyone without breaching copyright (subject to certain conditions).

Cheers
Greg

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Follow Up By: Krooznalong - Thursday, Jun 06, 2013 at 07:40

Thursday, Jun 06, 2013 at 07:40

Here's the Ebay site
Ebay

Hope that's worked.

So I'm still mighty confused. If the CE version is not the full version, what useful features are missing?

And if the Android version is not as good, what useful features are not present.

I'm not looking for anything really fancy - just a simple to use system.

In fact I've also been looking at TrackRanger which appears (from the videos on their site) to be ideal for our purposes. But it doesn't run on Android and baby laptops or tablets that run on Windows capable of running TrackRanger are damned expensive. I cannot justify spending big $s.

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Follow Up By: WBS - Thursday, Jun 06, 2013 at 09:12

Thursday, Jun 06, 2013 at 09:12

Don't be fooled. If you look for 7"GPS on ebay you will find many units for under $100. These units all run on Windows CE6 but do not include the NATMAP maps but almost certainly include the Street Navigation app such as Igo. This means at $329, you are paying full price or more for the NATMAP product which can be purchased on this site (ExploreOz) for $99.

To the best of my knowledge unless there's been an upgrade, TrackRanger only works on Windows machines, not Windows CE or Android. Unless you buy a widows based tablet or use a PC, its not much good in the bush.

I run both Windows CE and Android versions of Ozi and have not noticed any difference in the functionality between the two, which means that any differences are in area's I don't go to. The big difference I do notice is in the screen resolution. Much better on Android.
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Follow Up By: Member - PJR (NSW) - Thursday, Jun 06, 2013 at 09:19

Thursday, Jun 06, 2013 at 09:19

The biggest thing missing is the external keyboard, microphone and mouse. Usually the Windows CE environment has less memory and speed thus doing any planning is slowed accordingly. It is also limited in that only one "window" is available so to swap to street navigation requires you to exit one program and start another. Thus screen manipulation, trip planning and editing is simplistic touch screen stuff. Slow and tedious.

But to answer your question Krooza, "what useful features are missing"; For us, nothing.

And we use OziCE only when on the road. Don't even swap to street navigation either. But remember we have it on a fully integrated GPS, navigation and entertainment (including blue tooth and camera) unit installed in the dash. I hate cabin clutter.

Phil

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Follow Up By: The Explorer - Thursday, Jun 06, 2013 at 10:07

Thursday, Jun 06, 2013 at 10:07

Hi

The main features of both OziCE and Ozi Android are listed on the OziExplorer webpage under the respective pages for each product.

If all you need to do is show your position, record/load tracks and way points then there is no real difference to worry about and any significant missing features (?) will be added in time. i.e hardware (with CE or Android) would be the more important choice.

Cheers
Greg

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Follow Up By: Member - PJR (NSW) - Thursday, Jun 06, 2013 at 10:47

Thursday, Jun 06, 2013 at 10:47

Very true Greg. I was trying tio summarise here for him.

Do you know how I can calculate the speed from the track files. Would a PM be better because I am confused about something.

Phil

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Follow Up By: The Explorer - Thursday, Jun 06, 2013 at 11:20

Thursday, Jun 06, 2013 at 11:20

Hi Phil

Speed between track points is shown in the track list (Ozi PC). To see that, load your track file, Open the "Track Control" box and then click on the "Show Track List".

Is this what you are after? If you wanted some sort of average speed you can grab the start and finish times shown in the track list and use the total distance traveled to get average, though this gets complicated if you stop during trip. Some GPS units figure it out ..not sure Ozi does by itself.

Cheers
Greg

I sent one final shout after him to stick to the track, to which he replied “All right,” That was the last ever seen of Gibson - E Giles 23 April 1874

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Follow Up By: get outmore - Thursday, Jun 06, 2013 at 11:52

Thursday, Jun 06, 2013 at 11:52

Yep I made my own for $120 $300 isntba rippoff though if you cant get the maps off mates (I already had them)

COst is

NAvigator.... $70
OZI ce...... $40
8Gig micro sd...... $15

And your away

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Follow Up By: Member - PJR (NSW) - Thursday, Jun 06, 2013 at 12:18

Thursday, Jun 06, 2013 at 12:18

Greg

If you look at the screen dump below you will see at one stage the track file profile and KPH data column showing something like 266 KPH. My Toyota would love that from a 100 diesel.

The actual track file itself does not contain the speed at each track point. They must be worked out and somehow normalised at run time. One of those "strange" points is where we had our little bingle and I know at the time the display was showing speed in the 40's.

I need a more accurate "profile" graph. Not one showing 266KPH. It would be ahndy if booked or in a "challenged" accident.

Two questions:
1. Do you know how I would do the calculation myself and add the speed column for something like Excell graph display.,
and
2. Do you know what would cause the "loss of track points"? (thats hard)

Phil

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Follow Up By: Bazooka - Thursday, Jun 06, 2013 at 19:54

Thursday, Jun 06, 2013 at 19:54

Thanks Greg. Yes for $40 software and free(ly available) Natmap maps it looks grossly overpriced.

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Follow Up By: The Explorer - Thursday, Jun 06, 2013 at 21:55

Thursday, Jun 06, 2013 at 21:55

..Suppose it is at tad over priced but some people like stuff all set up and ready to go, everyone has a budget but to some people a couple of hundred extra is probably diddly squat. Case of knowing all your options and choosing the one that suits you best.

Cheers
Greg

I sent one final shout after him to stick to the track, to which he replied “All right,” That was the last ever seen of Gibson - E Giles 23 April 1874

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Follow Up By: The Explorer - Thursday, Jun 06, 2013 at 22:04

Thursday, Jun 06, 2013 at 22:04

Phil - sorry for delayed response to our OT conversation. Firstly the one off high speed is obviously an aberrant track point...these need to be filtered out one way or another but most of the time results should be pretty good. Cant really help with doing speed calks manually (or via excel) that sounds like maths and that hurts my brain. I notice ExplorOz now has a distance calculator - you may wish to ask D&M for the formula !

Cheers
Greg

I sent one final shout after him to stick to the track, to which he replied “All right,” That was the last ever seen of Gibson - E Giles 23 April 1874

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Follow Up By: Member - PJR (NSW) - Friday, Jun 07, 2013 at 07:44

Friday, Jun 07, 2013 at 07:44

Thanks Greg. And I know its OT so I will make this brief. I have the formula to do the distance but not able to do the filtering. I know about the distance calculator with David. He got me to test it for him.

Thanks Greg

Have a good wekend mate

Phil

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Follow Up By: Member - PJR (NSW) - Friday, Jun 07, 2013 at 07:56

Friday, Jun 07, 2013 at 07:56

We paid heaps for ours. The main reason was that we, mainly myself, will not have anything in the car that could come loose in a prang or be hit with a flaying arm or bouncing head in an accident or roll over. Or inhibit the operation of the air bags.

You would be amazed at where a body will bend or stretch in a bad accident. Even the small safety camera on behind the mirror has a short length of steel wire securing it to the rear view mirror as well as the glass. I don not like a cluttered cabin.

It is a fully integrated unit connected to the car wiring for the speakers and controls and rear camera so that the camera automatically turns on when in reverse. It has all the bells and whistles and blue tooth.

Not interested in taking computers of any kind and mobile phones on trips for the internet or emails or to be part of the BORG. Bugger that. We are on holidays. And I prefer the uncluttered smaller window in the OziCE versions.

As Greg said. Personal budget and choice.

Phil

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Follow Up By: The Explorer - Friday, Jun 07, 2013 at 09:46

Friday, Jun 07, 2013 at 09:46

Phil - upon further thought I figure it would be, from a legal sense, better to have an unadulterated track log (even with occasional aberrant points) if you were going to use it to prove something in court. Turning up with a filtered track log could be seen as tampering with the evidence :)

I suppose you would need some sort of GPS "expert" as a witness to explain the in and outs of the data and its validity as proof of your speed at some specific time, despite some inaccuracies.

Cheers
Greg

I sent one final shout after him to stick to the track, to which he replied “All right,” That was the last ever seen of Gibson - E Giles 23 April 1874

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Follow Up By: Member - PJR (NSW) - Friday, Jun 07, 2013 at 12:44

Friday, Jun 07, 2013 at 12:44

Your spot on Greg

I think that I will drop it. Pity we cannot get the data as displayed added to the end. I may contact them.

Have a good weekend.

Phil

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Reply By: Krooznalong - Thursday, Jun 06, 2013 at 10:11

Thursday, Jun 06, 2013 at 10:11

Thank you one and all for your comments. They have been really helpful and I'm now significantly more informed on this topic.

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Follow Up By: Member - evaredy - Thursday, Jun 06, 2013 at 11:57

Thursday, Jun 06, 2013 at 11:57

Depending on how much your budget is, there is another option.

Mumap M7, I have this unit and am very happy with it.

http://www.mud-maps.com/m7/

It also has street navigation as well as 4x4. It has a nice 7" display and comes pre loaded with the following maps.

Street navigation
It uses iGO Primo with NAVTEQ Australia + NZ maps.

Off Road
It uses Ozi Explorer CE with Westprint 4WD maps, BackCountry 4WD maps and NATMAP Topo maps with Australia wide coverage.

Cost is $499

I have also bought the Hema map pack on CD that I will be using with it.

I haven't had a chance to use it off road as yet, although we are going away this week for a weeks holiday so I will get to see how it performs.

The street navigation is very good, I used to have a top of the line TomTom and the IGo is a hell of a lot better than the TomTom.

Support from the MudMap team is excellent they respond very quickly to requests and questions.

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Follow Up By: Capt. Wrongway - Thursday, Jun 06, 2013 at 12:00

Thursday, Jun 06, 2013 at 12:00

I purchased that same unit about two years ago. Used it recently on a trip through the Vic High Country. It never missed a beat even after dropping it a few tmes. For that price I would not hesitate in buying another one tomorrow. It comes in two versions, one with just off road maps, and one off road and street nav.
Capt.

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