Peaklife GPS

[AustRider]

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

[PBee]

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

[B1]

Originally Posted by Normlas

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!

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.

[simcorp69]

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.

http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...9/IMG_0390.jpg
http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...9/IMG_0287.jpg
http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...9/IMG_0286.jpg

[vladare]

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

[vladare]

Hello,

The pic of extrernal power pad (look inside). Two left pins (red wire) for the DC power and two right pins (black wire) for tew Ground/DC-. The fifth middle PIN intended for Antena.
Unfortunately I was not able to find if it is some sort of industry-standard or proprietary one.

Best Regards,
Vlad

[vladare]

Hello,

As you can see on this picture the water can get inside only though the gap between the rear case and the speaker's platform. It looks like mine attached too tightly but anyway it could be good idea to add the silicon along the dash red line.
The sole serious problem with this device is that I can't pair it neither to the SR10 (Sena) nor to F4 legacy Interphone headset. In both cases I get the message "Connection failed".

Update 03.05.2012
It seems that both either the first generation BlueAnt Interphone (bluetooth v1.2) headset or SR10 support only the HFP, HSP bluetooth profiles and don't support A2DP which may be the only option for Peaklife.

Personal opinion:

Pros.
Good price
Good quality
Fast CPU
Perfect gps signal reception
Variety of GPS software for Windows CE5

Cons:
No support from vendor
Bluetooth is not working (tested only with the SR10 and first generation BlueAnt Interphone (v1.2, HSP, HFP))

Best Regards,
Vlad

[Normlas]

Originally Posted by B1

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 had tried kml files but when imported to the unit it makes thousands of waypoints along the route as opposed to just the few I had used to make the route, this makes it very hard to see the route and almost impossible to change the route once on the unit. Any hints on a fix for this would be great.

Just sold the bike I had hardwired this unit on and have ordered another unit for the new ride, still very happy with it especially at around 15% the cost of an equivalent Garmin ! Just goes to show how much these units actually cost to make versus what they are sold for (by Garmin) .....

[Jasext]

Sorry to bring this back up but has anyone put OS maps like memory map we have in the uk on it , i already have TOMTOM installed and would to run OS maps also.

[TcRulz]

Guys, need the wisdom of the forum.

Can I load City Navigator, Tracks for Australia, Oztopo 2.1b, Shonky Maps, and the standard basemap and select them individually on the 'Peaklife' GPS or is this beyond it and my capabilities. It looks like a well made unit but I'm lost.

When I look at the higher priced Garmin Units (rino,montano) I find faults with these. This is alright but some of their GPS retail close to $1000. This is alot of money if it gets damaged.

I know other inmates have loaded the above maps on a Garmin and if I can't figure out how to do it, the fall back would be to pay for Garmin upgrades ( like $99.00 to GPSOZ and have upgrades like V4 of Oztopo maps installed).

Sorry to seem needy but I really need to know what the 'Peaklife' is capable of and some blokes here seem to like them enough to be on their 2nd one. Cheers in advance.

[B1]

Originally Posted by TcRulz

Can I load City Navigator, Tracks for Australia, Oztopo 2.1b, Shonky Maps, and the standard basemap and select them individually on the 'Peaklife' GPS or is this beyond it and my capabilities. It looks like a well made unit but I'm lost..

there are two kinds of maps, vector based and bitmap based and gps units are only designed to accept one type (far as i know). all garmin maps and shonky maps are vector, where the images are made up of lines and various shapes. most other gps units use bitmap images, meaning every map is actually like a photo, e.g. made up of pixels so you need to access different images when you zoom in and out.

i think garmin gets away with charging a lot because the good offroad maps are almost all vector based. the exception i know of is oziexplorer maps but they cost a fair bit and there's a bit of a learning curve with their software. a quick google shows you can load oziexplorer on to the peaklife.

i'm a budget too, i got a garmin 1450t from dick smiths for $150 and a ram mount from ebay for $50. five inch screen, you can load up shonky maps for free and get the free garmin mapsource software for your pc then plan and upload custom routes to your gps. only drawback is its not waterproof so carry a clear plastic bag and a twist tie around.

their cheapest waterproof gps is the garmin nuvi 550 for $300. i think they are discontinued now but you can still get new ones on ebay.

[Chop Chop]

Originally Posted by B1

there are two kinds of maps, vector based and bitmap based and gps units are only designed to accept one type (far as i know). all garmin maps and shonky maps are vector, where the images are made up of lines and various shapes. most other gps units use bitmap images, meaning every map is actually like a photo, e.g. made up of pixels so you need to access different images when you zoom in and out.

i think garmin gets away with charging a lot because the good offroad maps are almost all vector based. the exception i know of is oziexplorer maps but they cost a fair bit and there's a bit of a learning curve with their software. a quick google shows you can load oziexplorer on to the peaklife.

i'm a budget too, i got a garmin 1450t from dick smiths for $150 and a ram mount from ebay for $50. five inch screen, you can load up shonky maps for free and get the free garmin mapsource software for your pc then plan and upload custom routes to your gps. only drawback is its not waterproof so carry a clear plastic bag and a twist tie around.

their cheapest waterproof gps is the garmin nuvi 550 for $300. i think they are discontinued now but you can still get new ones on ebay.

All gps units are just mini computers. The software dictates whether they run vector or raster(bitmap) based maps. Garmin, Igo, TomTom are vector whilst Oziexplorer is raster. If you know what your'e doing and are prepared to muck around out of curiosity you can get all these programs to run on these units. Best to stick with units that have ce5 and not ce6 as it will be easier. Bluetooth problems arise when the unit is programmed to a particular passcode which a corresponding headset also has. The old Aldi m/c units are great to play with and are waterproof. Same physical case as the tomtom rider and strike gps. The earlier units had ce5 but not bluetooth, while the 2nd gen had ce6 and bluetooth, but tied to the headset.

[Jasext]

Just bought a senna smh 10 to work with this device but cannot pair it, i have tired a few different bluetooth devices like a mobile phones, they show the device when trying to pair bit i keep getting "pairing failed " , anyone able to help ?
Thanks

[Travellingkiwi]

Hi all,

I recently bought one of these from Chinavision after reading the views on this forum and I have to say, it's awesome!!!
I loaded igoPrimo onto it as it came with no software then put NZ/AUS maps on it no worries....the POI's on the maps I used don't work too well, but I can live with that.
If anyone needs a hand with info about how to do all this, let me know and I'll see if I can be of assistance.

www.bikehike.co.uk is a decent site to use to create your maps as it recognizes forest trails and the such from all over the world, I then save the file as a kml, then import it into google maps to add waypoints that the GPS can follow. May seem a long way around of doing it, but seems to be one of the only ways of putting forest trails and the like on the maps I use...

End of the day, it is a great/cheap unit that should work for long enough!!

[TwoUpTourer]

I also bought one of these, $126 delivered. I expected a light flimsy device, but it is actually quite heavy, and the handlebar mount is is diecast aluminium, which I expected to be plastic.
So far I'm only riding dirt country roads, and it works great. For the price it is the difference between having one or not, as a Zumo is just not on the budgetary horizon. Prefer a new set of tyres.

I just wanted something that told me where I was, and easy to use, and on both counts it succeeds. When I bought mine, I just asked whether Australian maps were included, and they quickly responded and said no problem, and trued to their word, I just turned it on and it worked, nothing else to do, which is all I wanted. I really did not want to mess about loading this and that and rooting etc etc. I found a stray plug under the seat of my BMW F650GS, and wired it to that, taking advantage of the wiring loom, and the GPS software automatically goes into a 10 second shutdown routine when I turn the ignition off, which I really like, avoiding having to press the button on the side for 5 seconds to turn it off.

I have a 5" chinese GPS in my car, also IGo8, so it was dejavu for me, but this version has a march larger arrow head so that it it quick to find in a quick glance. I haven't messed with the Bluetooth side of it, or the MP3 player, but it does have quite loud sound for a small gadget.

Like someone else said, if I get a few years out of, I will be very pleased, and happy to upgrade when the time comes. Its easy to use, accurate, and does the job for a really cheap price. Recommended!