AMAZE GPS

[uktotty]

Anyone tried it?
I asked the man in the shop why I was going to get charged £7.99 a month for Orange Maps.
He suggested AmAze GPS, its free
Just installed it now on Sony Ericcson C905

[Liz]

Let us know what its like Russ, looks pretty good!

[filcee]

I've tried it.  It's OK (you get what you pay for).  On my E71, it seems to lock on reasonably quickly - certainly no worse than Nokia Maps or Voda's own Sat Nav application (and better than the free SportsTracker app!)

Things it doesn't do compared to Nokia Maps/TomTom:
- it doesn't give a huge amount of warning or information about entrances or exits - I tried it around Coventry's ring road and it was a good job I had my wits about me.  I like the TomTom/Nokia Maps 'keep left/'keep right' information to help me be in the right lane for the next maneuvre.
- I find the display overly busy, and the maps a bit 'cartoony'
- it doesn't scale the display as you speed up/slow down - you have to do this manually which means messing with your 'phone whilst driving - I'm not keen on this (or I didn't find a way to do it automatically in the settings)
- it shows an ETA in minutes from now (like Nokia Maps), I prefer the TomTom time of day version
- zooming in can result in no map display as that level of map detail may not yet be available
- seems greedy on the data plan as it downloads maps as you go - clearly, TomTom has them stored (no data) and Nokia Maps *I think* saves them for re-use once downloaded.  On a recent 30 minute pootle around it downloaded about 2MB of data (good job our work plan includes data!).

Odd niggles:
- strange Uhmmmerican accent for the instructions
- calls roundabouts/islands 'circles'   s:shock: :shock: s:shock:  
- if you select imperial as your settings (miles), it's all imperial - even the temperatures

And the 'nice bonus' - the local search function which purports to find places (e.g. shops) close to your current position - doesn't seem to work.

For navigation, overall it doesn't seem anymore or less stupid than the other navigation kit I've tried, it's just not quite as 'polished' - but it is free.

[kentsmudger]

It's OK....I tried it around Coventry's ring road ...

That's a harsh test for any sat-nav system!!

[uktotty]

Well I tried mine today and it couldn't render the maps quick enough, often found myself driving down the M4 in the sea or driving down a road with no names and no other roads coming from it.
I was 3.5 miles from my office for 3.5 miles

[filcee]

It's OK....I tried it around Coventry's ring road ...

That's a harsh test for any sat-nav system!!

  s:D s:D  Indeed, and it nearly didn't deliver me safely to my destination, thanks to the limited distance between 'junctions' being nearly too short to tell me to get off it.

Well I tried mine today and it couldn't render the maps quick enough, often found myself driving down the M4 in the sea or driving down a road with no names and no other roads coming from it.
I was 3.5 miles from my office for 3.5 miles

I seem to remember that happening to me, but the fact that I was ignoring the instructions in the interest of using a known shorter and quicker route than the one being presented[1] meant I didn't take a lot of notice of the 'stats'.

[1] This is not a 'problem' for just the Amaze GPS.  I have also confused a Sony/Palm variant of Navman, a TomTom and Nokia Maps the same way.  My opinion is that pretty much all Sat Navs suffer from terminal stupidity and don't have sufficient options available for you to instruct them on the type of route/driving you want to take.  I find them useful for the last mile only, especially in town, when I just need to get to my destination.

[northernalex]

Yeah I got this GPS thingy too.. and the "turn left at the circle" does get irritating, but its free!

Alex