Anywhere Map Travel Companion

ozone

Well-Known Member
Anyone use this device on the road? when I look up HP ipaq on review sites, it gets stinky reviews for its street navigation capabilities. I am looking to purchase a gps and i would ideally like to have it for car and airplane. I just wish one could get the features of the garmin 265t on an aviation gps as well without paying a bazillion dollars.

Anyway, i digress.....anyone use this for ground navigation. If so, how was it compared to garmin?
 
I have been thinking about one of these for a long time, actually nearly bit the bullet last spring before going on a long cross country, but they couldn't ship one to me in time.

Firstly, I too have heard that the street mapping portion is not to hot, and apparently controlvision strongly suggest you do not update the street mapping from HP as it might screw up the Anywhermap software. So, unless controlvision release updates for the street mapping, it is unlikely to get any better. For me, I couldn't care less about the street mapping as I have GPS on my phone.

As for the aviation GPS features, which is the actual reason for buying the thing, it seems that it has far more features than the Garmin x96, but it is not nearly as stable. I have read reviews that state it is a little buggy, and doesn't always sync with the XM, however, controlvision are supposed to be good about releasing updates.

I really like the idea of the product but not enough to spend $1700 to get it with the pocket plates and XM, yet. To me there there is no point in getting it without the plates and XM, might as well just get a cheap handheld off ebay for a couple of hundred. For the flying I do it isn't worth it, should I get a job flying freight or corporate, I would definitely rethink my decision.

I had a play with a buddy's 496 and really didn't like it that much, though I must admit I did not give it a huge ammount of time to get to know it, it just didn't feel intuitive to me.

Anyway, Killbilly has one and will probably give you a review when he signs on.
 
Hey Ozone!

Hows the training going??! I have used anywhere crap before and I say steer far away....it is laggy and cheap to be honest. The software has tons of bugs that need to be worked out. Not recommended....


Garmin 296 or 396, don't mess around just do the Garmin.
 
Yep - I'll give ya the straight dope on it.

The first couple batches of ATCs that rolled off the line from Control Vision were a bit wonky - always happens with a new type of toy, and they did have some bugs to work out. My ATC only hard-crashed once, and that's while I was trying to do an upgrade, but there were some sluggish features and I was kinda hoping it would improve in short order.

It did.

You have to play around with the settings to get it the way you want it - like, I didn't figure out how to put it in a "night" display mode (with a darker background) until AFTER I was flying one night and having my night vision killed by the brightness. Finally had to cover it with a rag so I could see.

Boy is that sucker bright. You could read the screen standing on the surface of the sun. Really nice during the day.

I like the touch screen. On bumpy days, it's easier than working with the stylus. And, as you get used to it, and you know how you like your views set up and stuff, you'll press fewer buttons.

I bought the XM version thinking I was going to go right into IR training, but that didn't happen. I didn't really need the XM, but I have to admit it's nice to have. It's also kinda fun to hook it up to a 12V inverter and sit on your porch playing with the NexRad display when you're not flying. :D

The street navigation on the unit isn't the greatest, but it's not awful. I use it a lot when I travel, and most of the time it does pretty good - I wrote a review somewhere else about it...it gets the job done.

But as a small aviation GPS it's really nice. CV has done a lot of little things to it which make it handy. It's like having a GPS, a Sectional, the AF/D and a fuel guide all in one little box.

It's also got a "co-pilot" function that will remind you to do things like switch tanks, check that landing gear is down, etc. The taxi diagrams are kinda nice, too, but I haven't really needed that much yet. The biggest place I fly is KAUS and they usually progressive taxi everyone because the construction has everything effed up there anyway.

Last word - I really like the unit. I was torn between it and a 496, but the price of the 496 was a killer. A lot of people recommended the Garmin, but a lot of pilots recommended the AnywhereMap products. I'd seen some of their other stuff and it was good.

Customer service at CV is great, too, by the way. The owner of the company personally deals with a lot of customer issues, and that kind of leadership is nice to see.
 
Hey Ozone!

Hows the training going??! I have used anywhere crap before and I say steer far away....it is laggy and cheap to be honest. The software has tons of bugs that need to be worked out. Not recommended...

Garmin 296 or 396, don't mess around just do the Garmin.

The ATC was buggy at first, but stabilized nicely.

I like the unit quite a bit. Haven't had any problems with it aside from the first crash when I was doing an upgrade. I actually found the screen rates to be faster than the Garmin I compared it with, but that was a 396, and I know the 496 has a faster processor.
 
if you already have a windows mobile 5/6 device try this
http://www.approach-systems.com/
similar functionality to AnywhereMap and it is free.
Depending where you need driving maps, you could use Google Maps but you need an internet/cell connection so rural can sometimes be a problem.
 
Garmin 696 is out & looks more like an iQue than it's predecessor, the 496.

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This approach systems thing sounds too good to be true! Anyone try out the AV80R from Bendix King?
 
This approach systems thing sounds too good to be true! Anyone try out the AV80R from Bendix King?

There's a comparison article in one of the monthly rags, can't remember which - that said they liked the ATC a little better for the feature set. More bang for the buck, as I recall.

I think they probably have a re-print on the ATC site by now.
 
Thanks for the input y'all!

I decided to get a road nav system for the road and to wait on an airnav system until AFTER my PPL and I have moved to the east. Plus, with a better job by then, I will have the extra cash to buy whatever fancy dancy thing the clever folks at garmin or ATC have come up with by then.

For what it's worth: Garmin 265wt (one of the best rated by consumer reports) road nav system is only $239 right now at buy.com
 
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