This GPS looks interesting - made especially for the Prado?

[steve61 Member Find all posts View Profile Close steve61]

Hi Mav,

I took mine out today and put the Toyota original satnav back in just too many thing wrong with the Roadrover if I could get Ozi on without sending back to China then I may of used it.

Have emailed Maria re refund but as usual no reply.

Cheers
Steve

[bitdist Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close bitdist]

Well I had a real good test run today going from Corlette in Port Stephens to Windsor and back. I will say straight up that the Roadrover failed pretty much all my testing.

Tried to run Route 66 and play MP3s from a USB hard drive, documentation says it can do this but it failed miserably. Give it ten minutes or so and the system will hang.

Tried then to run DVD and Satnav concurrently and again the system hung after a short period.

The system is unable to maintain stable time and for unkown reasons will jump anywhere from an hour to 12 hours in advance when switching between functions. This becomes annoying as it affects the Route 66 calculations of arrival times etc.

Audio quality of the radio on FM is severely affected by the Route 66 software running at the same time.

I think if you just wanted to use one function at a time the unit would work fine but the point is that if you have these kinds of units you normally want to have at least two functions going at once, ie Satnav and either DVD, Radio, or MP3 player. Unfortunately as it stands the Roadrover is not capable of performing these functions with any reliability.

When you have set a route using Route 66 and stop at a servo etc, once you switch off the engine and the unit loses power then there is no memory of the route that was planned and so when you start up again you have to re-enter your route. This is majorly annoying for me.

Another annoyance is that there is no way to dimm the display at night, you can turn the display off entirely or leave it on but nothing inbetween.

That's a bit rough!

I haven't had any of those issues with the one i put in. although i share a couple of your annoyances...

the unit forgetting the route when you turn the car off is annoying but can re-program using the navigate to recent destination really easily!

can do many things at same time. i often have GPS running while audio is playing, although would prefer to see GPS with radio in the backround than what it currently does which is show radio and run GPS in the backround (though it flashes the GPS on the screen when directions are given.) have found that bluetooth interrupts it all which is great. though if you're on the phone you don't get directions which has caught me out more than once when I've had phone calls come in when critical directions were required!

also can't dim it... or turn the screen off... but i'm used to it now..

good luck sorting it out!

I think the unit is running short on memory which is causing the lock ups. It could be that our crap copy of Route 66 is just a memory hog which would not surprise me. I am hoping that the new load of Route 66 will alter the way the unit is functioning at the moment otherwise I will be sending it back for a refund.

I don't think it will be memory. There is a screen that shows the resources used and there is plenty of memory left, with the navigation software running.
Mine has locked up once when running an Ipod on it after probably about 10 minutes, but it has no problems with FM stations while navigation is running.

[mav Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close mav]

Well I had a real good test run today going from Corlette in Port Stephens to Windsor and back. I will say straight up that the Roadrover failed pretty much all my testing.

Tried to run Route 66 and play MP3s from a USB hard drive, documentation says it can do this but it failed miserably. Give it ten minutes or so and the system will hang.

Tried then to run DVD and Satnav concurrently and again the system hung after a short period.

The system is unable to maintain stable time and for unkown reasons will jump anywhere from an hour to 12 hours in advance when switching between functions. This becomes annoying as it affects the Route 66 calculations of arrival times etc.

Audio quality of the radio on FM is severely affected by the Route 66 software running at the same time.

I think if you just wanted to use one function at a time the unit would work fine but the point is that if you have these kinds of units you normally want to have at least two functions going at once, ie Satnav and either DVD, Radio, or MP3 player. Unfortunately as it stands the Roadrover is not capable of performing these functions with any reliability.

When you have set a route using Route 66 and stop at a servo etc, once you switch off the engine and the unit loses power then there is no memory of the route that was planned and so when you start up again you have to re-enter your route. This is majorly annoying for me.

Another annoyance is that there is no way to dimm the display at night, you can turn the display off entirely or leave it on but nothing inbetween.

That's a bit rough!

I haven't had any of those issues with the one i put in. although i share a couple of your annoyances...

the unit forgetting the route when you turn the car off is annoying but can re-program using the navigate to recent destination really easily!

can do many things at same time. i often have GPS running while audio is playing, although would prefer to see GPS with radio in the backround than what it currently does which is show radio and run GPS in the backround (though it flashes the GPS on the screen when directions are given.) have found that bluetooth interrupts it all which is great. though if you're on the phone you don't get directions which has caught me out more than once when I've had phone calls come in when critical directions were required!

also can't dim it... or turn the screen off... but i'm used to it now..

good luck sorting it out!

I think the unit is running short on memory which is causing the lock ups. It could be that our crap copy of Route 66 is just a memory hog which would not surprise me. I am hoping that the new load of Route 66 will alter the way the unit is functioning at the moment otherwise I will be sending it back for a refund.

I don't think it will be memory. There is a screen that shows the resources used and there is plenty of memory left, with the navigation software running.
Mine has locked up once when running an Ipod on it after probably about 10 minutes, but it has no problems with FM stations while navigation is running.

Are you experiencing the clock problem that I am having Tim?

I noticed in your photos that the time on the Prado clock and on the Roadrover were not the same time.

I was playing a DVD whilst running the Satnav and everything was going good until I stopped hearing any Satnav commands, when I went to check the Satnav display it would not come up so I tried going to the home page and then the whole system locked up.

This was repeatable along with the USB MP3 playback lockups were repeatable.

It does not lock up when using the rdio function and Satnav however there is a very definite repetetive noise that comes through which happens to align itself with the screen updating on the Route 66 map. It is more noticeable on some FM stations than others but it definitely interferes with all of them to some degree. I know Steve also has this problem with his.

[bitdist Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close bitdist]

Hi Mav
I'm not sure about the clock problem. It is different in the photos bacause I had the battery disconnected while installing, and only put the car one right. I'll change it so they are both the same and have a look at what happens over the next day or so.
It would be interesting to talk to the VMS people here as they are using basically the same unit in a universal case and probably the same software. I would assume they would not be having any problems that they can't fix as they are still in business


Just heard back from Jessie....

As our factory is in moving,and the internet in office was off for few days,so we can't reply you instantly,sorry about it.

2.Regarding to your map problem, we have forwarded it to our map supplier Route66,but as they are on holiday so we didn't get feedback from them yet.We also don't know what happened on the new map software,because we never got any map complain for Australian map before.

We suggest you reinstall the map software to try it again,and I'm try to look for anyway to send one link to you to install it again.Thank you for your patient.

3.Our device can play navigation&MP3/DVD at the same time,do you mean after they work together for few times,then they will be hung,and stuck?

I feel sorry again for our late reply and hope we can provide the fast service for you later.

[mav Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close mav]

Hi Mav
I'm not sure about the clock problem. It is different in the photos bacause I had the battery disconnected while installing, and only put the car one right. I'll change it so they are both the same and have a look at what happens over the next day or so.
It would be interesting to talk to the VMS people here as they are using basically the same unit in a universal case and probably the same software. I would assume they would not be having any problems that they can't fix as they are still in business


Just heard back from Jessie....

As our factory is in moving,and the internet in office was off for few days,so we can't reply you instantly,sorry about it.

2.Regarding to your map problem, we have forwarded it to our map supplier Route66,but as they are on holiday so we didn't get feedback from them yet.We also don't know what happened on the new map software,because we never got any map complain for Australian map before.

We suggest you reinstall the map software to try it again,and I'm try to look for anyway to send one link to you to install it again.Thank you for your patient.

3.Our device can play navigation&MP3/DVD at the same time,do you mean after they work together for few times,then they will be hung,and stuck?

I feel sorry again for our late reply and hope we can provide the fast service for you later.

I basically received the same reply however the first reply I received promised to send me the Route 66 software and new map software.

[speedcomm Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close speedcomm]

Is this someone trying to offload a faulty one ? appears to be a similar device.


http://cgi.ebay.com.au/7-inch-Double-DI ... dZViewItem

[mav Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close mav]

Is this someone trying to offload a faulty one ? appears to be a similar device.


http://cgi.ebay.com.au/7-inch-Double-DI ... dZViewItem

No not the same as the Roadrover.

[Gordo Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Gordo]

Ive inquired about the price for the Roadrover via the web with no response. Not good service from my point of view. What sort of $$$ is the unit and what is the software like?.

Gordo

[mav Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close mav]

Ive inquired about the price for the Roadrover via the web with no response. Not good service from my point of view. What sort of $$$ is the unit and what is the software like?.

Gordo

Gordo if you read through this thread I think you will find all the answers and then some.

[bitdist Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close bitdist]

Done a bit more playing today.
I reakon it is the route 66 software that is doing it, especially if it has been tweaked for their hardware and it is meant to be a new version just out.
I had it going basically on its own and it locked up after a while
I then changed to Ozi and had it going with radio and then with mp3 files and there was no problem at all.
Hopefully this means that if we can get some answers from route 66 or the software to reinstall, then it will be OK

If I can get it stable with that, then I will be happy enough. The other little things I can live with
BTW, using the night skin on the route66 software seems OK at night and using the black colour config for the rest helps a lot as well at night

I still don't have any problem with the radio reception and the clock has not changed yet since this morning, so fingers crossed, they are OK on mine

[mav Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close mav]

Done a bit more playing today.
I reakon it is the route 66 software that is doing it, especially if it has been tweaked for their hardware and it is meant to be a new version just out.
I had it going basically on its own and it locked up after a while
I then changed to Ozi and had it going with radio and then with mp3 files and there was no problem at all.
Hopefully this means that if we can get some answers from route 66 or the software to reinstall, then it will be OK

If I can get it stable with that, then I will be happy enough. The other little things I can live with
BTW, using the night skin on the route66 software seems OK at night and using the black colour config for the rest helps a lot as well at night

I still don't have any problem with the radio reception and the clock has not changed yet since this morning, so fingers crossed, they are OK on mine

Tim I have just sent you an email covering this topic as it does not look good for us at the moment.

The clock only changes on mine when I mess around trying to get Satnav and another function going.

[mav Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close mav]

Okay just a bit of an update, I received another Route 66 software pack but unfortunately the problem with the no search results remains unchanged. I am guessing that this will need Route 66 software engineers to create a new version to correct the problems.

However strangely a lot of the problems I was experiencing with the old SD card package have disappeared, ie the clock is now stable and the unit is not locking up like it was with multiple functions operating. I also believe I have a faulty USB thumb drive which was causing the lockups when using the audio player function as I tried a new thumb drive today and it all worked okay.

McBain, the Roadrover is able to play the radio or MP3 audio player in the background whilst having the satnav screen on full time or you can choose to do it the other way around if you wish.

Tim has also advised me that we can still use the DTV box without the need to attach the control cable to the roadrover as it has its own remote control. We just have to feed the output of the DTV to the AV input of the roadrover. I still do not think I will bother installing it as there is not much in the way of DTV in outback Australia.

I am about to install the headrest monitors this week, purchased off ebay from Hong Kong, they come with inbuilt IR transmitters for the audio. I also will be receiving the IR headphones from a place in Sydney on Wednesday. Actually the chap that runs the business is heading up to Coffs for his family holidays and he is going to meet me at Raymond Terrace and give them to me.

So beside the minor annoyances and the need to get the Route 66 software fixed the roadrover is not as bad as it first seemed.

[McBAIN Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close McBAIN]

good result mav!

[mav Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close mav]

good result mav!

Yep it looks to be working out very well hardware wise.

I just had the headrests delivered today and they are a perfect match in every way for the Ivory interior, crikey they look like they could have come direct from the Toyota factory. They look a million bucks physically, I will have to hope that when I power them up that they work as advertised but so far I am impressed. They have dual video inputs as well as audio in and they have IR transmitters to transmit the audio to IR headphones. These are 9" 16:9 models. The pack also included a 1 in 4 out video amplifier/splitter which is perfect.

I will post up some pics when I have finished.

[mav Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close mav]

Okay here are some photos of the headrests installed:
























The next two shots are of the Roadrover installed in the dash, you can see the USB thumb drive attached to it.





The last shot is of my Scanguage II install.