Peaklife GPS

Has anyone used these Peaklife GPS units. You have buy your own maps from what I can gather. Could be the go for the price.

http://chinavasion.com.au/portable-gps/cvugtr16/

It is all about the maps; if you cannot get good maps for this unit for your area then it is just an expensive paperwieght
.

I bought one of these from chinagrabber.com recently - free shipping there too, I am really happy with it, comes with iGO8 nav software and a few maps - very easy to find more maps. Mine works really well and seems well made. Also plays music,videos and can be used as an ebook reader too. Certainly a much better deal than the Garmin at around a quarter the price! The handle bar mount and car cradle are reasonable quality too and also working well so far.

Only problem I have had is getting the bluetooth to work - but this is more likely to do with the headset I am trying to use than the unit.

Hope that helps,

I bought one of these from chinagrabber.com recently - free shipping there too, I am really happy with it, comes with iGO8 nav software and a few maps - very easy to find more maps. Mine works really well and seems well made

Hello Mormlas I have one of these also. You say it is "very easy to find maps". I would love to know where as I have looked everywhere but I'm not sure which Au map I should be downloading as each site has numorous au maps all with different numbers after them, and some say I need to uninstall the iGO that is on there gps, and from which site and what year ? compatability, etc.,etc,. Feedback would really be great on this one. I'm sure the unit will work great once I can get the right map to run on it. Then I would like to know how you found all this so easy? As you can see I need help here.

Thank you in advance

jim2009

Hiya Jim,
I found pretty much all the maps of the world for either Igo8 or tomtom and got them running on this unit - they all came from torrent sites - will post some details later, I am a bit of a geek and like playing around with these units - I even got Garmin software to run on this unit - although that was a HUGE challenge which i would not recommend to the non-geeks, turns out garmin uses a special way to send info from the GPS receiver to the mapping software and this required port emulators and some scripting etc....

But the tomtom and Igo8 maps were very straight forward and work great. In terms of the map numbers - they are usually a release version and you should go for the one with the most recent date as the number or the highest number (or the largest file which is usually the most uptodate). You do not need to uninstall anything!! For example, I have Igo8 running as the default from the internal memory and tomtom on the SD card, if I want to run tomtom ,I simply go into the unit directory and point it to the tomtom execute file on the SD card. If i want to go back to Igo8, simply restart the unit and point the directory to the default igo8 execute file. - Having tried both, I find the igo8 software better than tomtom, easier to use and better detail maps (at least for New Zealand).

The easiest solution is to simply add maps to the Igo8 software the unit came with, tomtom runs best from the SD card and requires a bit of a fiddle. Will add some more details when I get home later.

Cheers

Hi all,
here's some advice from my playing around with this unit - hope its helpful - use at your own risk!

Background:
This unit runs windows CE 5.0 and so any software you want to run must run on this operating system. So if you want to run Garmin for example you need the Garmin XT version made for windows- but I don't recommend this as its a huge job to get running. The Igo8 software it came with runs nice.

The Igo8 software mine came with has a full license -if you look in the igo\license folder in the unit you will see that you have licenses for every map in the world (those lic files can be opened as text files) - this makes life a little easier! It means that whatever map you copy into the igo\content folders should run OK

Instructions;

1) Back up what you have !! - hook the unit to the USB of your PC and make a copy of the entire drive called TFAT to your PC in case all goes to hell. You will have 2 drives visible, one the internal memory of the unit (TFAT) and the SD card.

2) Find the map you want online - either through torrent sites (piratebay or similar) or whatever you can find (suggest google search for "igo8 map download" works pretty well - just keep searching, there's loads of them out there.

3) Download and un-zip or un-rar them and they will usually contain a few folders with names like; building, map, poi, and a few others, simply copy the content of these folders to their respective folders with the same name in the igo\content directory on the unit, if a folder you have downloaded is not already there, just copy it into that directory. If it asks to replace files say yes. Make sure you have enough space on the internal drive to copy your map onto it! - if not delete a few maps you don't need and their corresponding poi and building files (you can always put them back later from your backup).

4) Reboot the GPS unit (unplugged from PC) and run the igo software and in the maps section you can choose to open the maps you have just installed. - Should work fine.

5) If all goes to hell, just replace the whole TFAT drive with the backup you made at the start.

You can keep a few maps you want on the SD card too and copy them to the unit once you need them using a PC, they can also be run from the SD card but this takes a few more steps - easier to copy them in to the unit when required.

These sites are useful for further and much more techie advice;

http://www.navitotal.com/forums/forum.php

http://www.gpspassion.com/forumsen/default.asp

Good luck!

I had a look at their website, I'm glad I did 'cos I found some dvd/cd/gps/tv in-dash units that would suit my fourby, and ultra cheap too!
The GPS doesn't seem to be that different to the ALDI units, one of which I saw for $88 dolars a couple of weeks after they were an advertised special. But, as long as they are serviceable and robust they are cheap enough eh.

Hi there all,

Might be a stupid question, but I'm going to post it anyway.

With the Peaklife GPS - has it the capacity to have voice directions whilst playing a list of mp3's? Indeed is it capable of playing a list of mp3's? and does it have text to speech? That is, if it is playing mp3, does the voice direction mute the music then return to music? Or is all this mainly set-up/controlled by whatever software you have loaded?

As you can see, I don't know a lot about this technology. Hoping some-one can help.

Cheers

Shaun

I just got my Peaklife 3.5 Motorcycle GPS for Christmas 2011.. There are no maps for North American Maps on it.. I ordered maps through http://yehob.ecrater.com/p/10235152/igo8-2011-q1-usa-ta-map
This company Rocks...! Request the SD card if you are not too PC savvy... It comes in windows format and ready to go..
It has all U.S. Canada and Mexico on it:jose
I hope this helps..
Ride safe Brotha's
Firematt<><

thinking of getting one of these....

just wondering is it possible do plan your route (e.g. mapsource on a PC) then drop the gpx file into any particular folder on the SD card and follow the route in iGO8?

i checked the iGO site and all it says there is that the iGO primo version has "support for 4WD routing (Australia)" but no more info than that.

i'd be keen to know of any free navigation software that allows custom routing on a windows CE6 based device.

I've been trying to do the same thing with this unit and have not yet managed to achieve it.

You can save a track that you've ridden on the unit using the 'track' feature, and then put that on the PC and read it in several different mapping programs.
But I've tried all manner of file formats (using GPSBabel or tyre software - both free) to try and get it to read tracks or routes that I've made or downloaded on the PC and I can't get it to work.

If you have more luck, let me know!

i decided against this one and opted for a cheap chinese one as i know they are easier to set up for using custom routes you have mapped out on the PC.

still on a steep learning curve, but the peaklife has Windows CE as it system software so there's a pile of different navigation software you can opt for instead. i supect the peaklife software, igo8 is really basic and doesnt allow custom routing. check the other igo software, maybe the primo version will do the trick?

another option is to try and get garmin xt mobile software to work on the peaklife then use mapsource to upload your files and run the free shonky maps, but it sounds like a real geek job, lots of messing around and beyond me.

I did get the garmin XT version working on this unit but it was a huge mission, requires software port-emulators and some scripting and although it worked in the end, it doesn't work well and I don't recommend it on this unit.

I also got tomtom to work on this unit which was much easier to get working but also won't let me import tracks or any kind of route file.

Again, if you find something that works, do let me know!

Hi All.
I think the Peaklife GPS is not too bad for the price. I've been running mine on my Yamaha XT 600 without any problems until now... There seems to be a hardware issue with my unit's on/off button. The device still functions, but I cannot switch it off. This is a little frustrating. I've tried resetting the device and played with the limited settings it comes with - to no avail...

Before this little problem, it was great. I've riden through a number of serious rainstorms with it and it has come out the otherside still functioning. It's software has a decent trip computer and it seems to track position and map routes without a problem. I do think that it is cheaply made though, hence the price! Oh, and finding legitimate maps for it was a pain in the net... so I just settled for some that had fallen off the back of a digital truck

Is it possible to open it up and see if the on/off switch is corroded? Maybe it just needs a bit of a clean inside.

The peaklife GPS are great! I have just purchased one from Chinavasion (check website). Don't get ripped off from other sellers, go direct. I have seen these units sell for $400AU. I just paid $130.00. If it works for a couple of years I'll be happy. I believe that maps can be purchased for almost any country so I'll be hitting the dirt with my new Peaklife in the very near future.

Go Peaklife

Looks like the same thing being cranked out of some Chinese factory,

Go to Motorcycle GPS
http://motorader.com.au/

Gotta luv the Australian price, If you reckon they are $130 fron China.
This bloke's charging $489 :eek1

it seems you can import a custom gps route into igo8 (click here) or igo primo (click here).

it has to be a kml file, so either draw the route in google maps and export, or just convert an existing gpx file with one of the many converters around (a free online one here).

the above threads say you just need to make the following folders on your SD card and drop the kml file in.

\iGO8\CONTENT\USERDATA\ROUTE
or
/primo/content/userdata/route

what puzzles me is why the file structure for the igo8 is uppercase, but lower case for the igo primo. maybe it doesn't matter?

in any case, once you turn the gps on it should automatically import the route. then you can save the route, and the gps will then convert it to a .dat file and save for future use.

I have just ordered my second Parklife GPS unit, I was originally running it on a Tenere 660z, put about 7000kms on it, now it sits on-board my KTM 350 and takes some serious punishment. The first one lasted me about 10 months before the backlights on the LCD failed, so the unit still works you just cant see the screen.
I never bothered with the original software, straight away I got Ozi Explorer put on and that has been great for off-roading.
The GPS is not water proof, I managed to get water between the touch screen and the LCD making it do random things, a week of drying sorted that out. There are holes where the speaker is so you can hear it, and the seal around the screen is not that great.
I have had a lot of trouble with the unit switching off whilst riding usually when you hit a decent bump. The first mod was hard wire the unit, bypassing the pin system on the back to ensure perfect connection. I utilised the water-proof plug that comes with it, this gave it some improvement. The next was to pack the battery tight, a business card does the trick stopping the battery from moving around. Neither of these methords fixed to problem completely but reduced the frequency of it cutting out. A quick hot-start means its not a great problem.
Now its on the KTM 350 I've put a flap over the screen to avoid mud, and water getting on it, this is after a muddy ride and a tiny stick got jammed between the plastic housing and the touch-screen pushing on the touch screen, locking the screen so you couldn't make it do anything.
Its not the best made unit on the market, but for the price if I destroy it (highly likely) then I'm not going to be to worried about it. Its an excellent piece of gear to have on the bike, I have found so many new tracks and am never to stressed about getting lost anymore.
I hope this info helps, I have a couple of pics of the mounting.

https://www.advrider.com/advrider-photobucket-images/images/s/simcorp69_IMG_0390.jpg
https://www.advrider.com/advrider-photobucket-images/images/s/simcorp69_IMG_0287.jpg
https://www.advrider.com/advrider-photobucket-images/images/s/simcorp69_IMG_0286.jpg

Hello,

I hope members will be interested in the pics of the inside Peaklife's interior.
The soldering on the mainboard looks very clear and accurate.

Best Regards,
Vlad