Mapopolis Beta is Great

[kennyd]

The latest Mapopolis beta is really nice. Now the maps are running from the card instead of being copied to RAM.

These are the notes on the release..."Version 2.17 of Mapopolis Navigator transparently accesses map data on external memory cards such as SD cards and Mem Stick cards. There is no longer any need to transfer maps to RAM manually. However, for best performance, maps may be copied to RAM.

This version also includes 3D navigation (high resolution PDA recommended), polygon rendering, finger data entry mode, route regeneration at start, map directory selection and support for the Sony Clie TH55, Tungsten T3 and TapWave Zodiac extended screens.

Please delete any earlier version of Mapopolis before installing this version."


My Z72 is plenty of processor for 4MB worth of maps. I haven't tried it with more than that yet. The link for the beta is HERE (http://mapopolis.com/home.jsp?v=5&pg=dl&s=1095950715781788&p=&q=3). Scroll down to the bottom of the page to find it. I'm not sure what the release date was for this, but I never heard anything about it. It's probably been out for a while. A good app just got better.

[alsa]

I am using both Mapopolis 2.17 and Mapopolis 5.19 (the OS 4 version which is much faster but didn't have all the nice goodies). I have to say that Mapopolis (or AKA Navigator) 2.17 feels much slower on my TH55 -- it almost feels like Mapopolis on a 66 MHz machine. Hopefully, they will speed it up a bit with a future release. This is one of a few instances where you can really tell TH's speed is much lower than that of a 200MHz machine....

[wellsjs]

This is one of a few instances where you can really tell TH's speed is much lower than that of a 200MHz machine....Bingo! Makes me really wish for my NX80V back! Navigator 1.35 (current non-beta version) is quite fast. The 2.x betas have incorporated a search algorythm that is processor intense! It's a win/lose situation. We win in being able to "get at" many more maps without eating up our precious RAM, but search times (especially on the TH) are horrible. For an in-depth read of what's going on in the development of Mapopolis, check out their blog at:

http://www.gpspassion.com/forumsen/default.asp?group=2

Find the Mapopolis section of this multi-purpose blog community! The many, many page "News" thread is where the action is! "lamar" is THE MAN! ;)

[Perk]

The last time I tried this beta version it was so painfully slow I had to go back to 1.35.

I have a full 256 meg CF card with complete lists of counties for each state in a separate folder. It would take literally 5+ minutes to even load.

Does anyone know if they've addressed this issue? Thanks! :)

[alsa]

Also, when I installed Mapopolis beta, I put all files in RAM (about 10 MB; congruent maps), then I used ZLauncher to move everything to the card. It takes about 20 sec to start it up from the card -- I have three Metro Detroit counties, and the files are quite big (but very detailed!). I wonder if it would be any faster to keep the files elsewhere on the card?

[Perk]

Bingo! Makes me really wish for my NX80V back! Navigator 1.35 (current non-beta version) is quite fast. The 2.x betas have incorporated a search algorythm that is processor intense! It's a win/lose situation. We win in being able to "get at" many more maps without eating up our precious RAM, but search times (especially on the TH) are horrible. For an in-depth read of what's going on in the development of Mapopolis, check out their blog at:

http://www.gpspassion.com/forumsen/default.asp?group=2

Find the Mapopolis section of this multi-purpose blog community! The many, many page "News" thread is where the action is! "lamar" is THE MAN! ;)

Thanks Wellsjs! Sounds like it's still an issue and I'm using a NX70, not the Sony handheld engine processor.

[wellsjs]

What is quite cool is I now have my entire state loaded on my MS (512 Pro - plenty of room! :D ) and I can enter a city name in the "Place" search and pull up the map (in about 15-25 seconds :( ) to that town. Everything is relative . . . 15-25 seconds as opposed to no access at all, or having to manually load the map (BTW, who knows what map/county the city you're looking for is in?), is a better solution! ;)

[alsa]

Bingo! Makes me really wish for my NX80V back! Navigator 1.35 (current non-beta version) is quite fast. The 2.x betas have incorporated a search algorythm that is processor intense! It's a win/lose situation. We win in being able to "get at" many more maps without eating up our precious RAM, but search times (especially on the TH) are horrible. For an in-depth read of what's going on in the development of Mapopolis, check out their blog at:

http://www.gpspassion.com/forumsen/default.asp?group=2

Find the Mapopolis section of this multi-purpose blog community! The many, many page "News" thread is where the action is! "lamar" is THE MAN! ;)

Since it sounds like you are on top of the situation, you would probably know if going back to 1.35 on my TH55 would bring back speed? I have been using the beta since the summer so I already forgot what new features I would be sacrificing by going back to 1.35. Seems like these would be not being able to access maps directly from the card (I use ZLauncher anyway) and not being able to use TH's full screen -- maybe CodeDiver would work. Anything else I am missing?

Also, since I don't have much time to look through Mapopolis's blog right now, does it sound like the speed issue is important to the developers, and are they planning on bringing it back to the next stable release? Thanks in avdance!

[alsa]

What is quite cool is I now have my entire state loaded on my MS (512 Pro - plenty of room! :D ) and I can enter a city name in the "Place" search and pull up the map (in about 15-25 seconds :( ) to that town. Everything is relative . . . 15-25 seconds as opposed to no access at all, or having to manually load the map (BTW, who knows what map/county the city you're looking for is in?), is a better solution! ;)

Wow! Sounds like you have quite a few maps. I only really use three -- 3 adjacent maps in the Detroit area -- they are the largest counties in Michigan though, so each is a few MB. When I go on a business trip to Chicago I just load the Cook county map when I need to. Besides that, I also have maps of NYC and Cleveland, OH, but rarely use them as I only go there every once in a while, but they come in handy when I do.

[xyeta]

Also, Mapopolis maps can be 'forced' into Flash memory with JackFlash...works fine for me!

[winexprt]

Bingo! Makes me really wish for my NX80V back! Navigator 1.35 (current non-beta version) is quite fast. The 2.x betas have incorporated a search algorythm that is processor intense! It's a win/lose situation. We win in being able to "get at" many more maps without eating up our precious RAM, but search times (especially on the TH) are horrible. For an in-depth read of what's going on in the development of Mapopolis, check out their blog at:

http://www.gpspassion.com/forumsen/default.asp?group=2

Find the Mapopolis section of this multi-purpose blog community! The many, many page "News" thread is where the action is! "lamar" is THE MAN! ;)

Yep. Me too. Slow as molasses in Siberia in January on my TH55. Thought I was the only one. It looks sooo nice though...full screen and everything, but the speed is just maddeningly slow!

wellsjs...does the Non beta v1.35 offer full screen on our TH55's like the current beta does?

[wellsjs]

Yep. Me too. Slow as molasses in Siberia in January on my TH55. Thought I was the only one. It looks sooo nice though...full screen and everything, but the speed is just maddeningly slow!

wellsjs...does the Non beta v1.35 offer full screen on our TH55's like the current beta does?Nope, but somewhere in the blog link I gave is a link (if it's still live) to 1.39 that does. If you and alsa can't find it, PM me with email address and I'll sell you a copy real cheap! :D

[wellsjs]

does it sound like the speed issue is important to the developers, and are they planning on bringing it back to the next stable release? Thanks in avdance!In the blog, most of the "actives" are GPS users (I'm not) and it seems the Navigator series is to be catered to their needs. I think they are working toward (and it maybe already does) seamless display while driving of moving from map to map over a long distance with a GPS device. Speed of loading/searching in that scenario is moot! ;)

[wellsjs]

wellsjs...does the Non beta v1.35 offer full screen on our TH55's like the current beta does?Hey, my Bush hating friend - :p , I see where you found the 1.39 version over at the gpspassion forum! Hope it was what you needed and is working for you! ;)

[kennyd]

Hey, my Bush hating friend - :p , I see where you found the 1.39 version over at the gpspassion forum! Hope it was what you needed and is working for you! ;)

Hey, my Jesus lovin' friend- :p , what other features have been added to 1.39? Are any of them relative to non qps use of mapopolis? Does this version run faster than the 2.17 with the enhanced VFS support?

[wellsjs]

kennyd,

:) :rolleyes: :D

V1.39 is THE version for TH55 owners who don't want a gazillion maps to search from, i.e primarily interested in local surrounding area. (Working from memory now, as I've had 2.1x loaded for a while) 1.39 has a 3D view of address-to-address directions, which I find kind of hokie! I have the Platinum maps so I'm not sure what features you lose if you are using lower level maps. Try it out, just do a full backup first and if it's not for you, recover back where you were. Here's the link:

V1.39 (http://kudzumonthly.com/mapopolis/139Palm.zip)

[aliasx]

A couple of quick points about the latest beta release;

The jog dial doesn't seem to work to scroll through the navigation/driections feature on my UX50. I have to use the page down function which is no big deal.

When you copy a map to RAM and you exit mapopolis there is no prompt asking if you want to delete the map from ram as in previous versions. I am sure they will fix this in the final release.

Overall an excellent app and I am very happy that they included the 'copy directions to memo pad' option again. A little slow but o.k. because it saves ram.

[wellsjs]

When you copy a map to RAM and you exit mapopolis there is no prompt asking if you want to delete the map from ram as in previous versions. I am sure they will fix this in the final release.That might not be an accurate assumption, as this release is geared toward external card storage of many maps. It is designed to pull and temporarily load and unload maps from RAM seamlessly "on the fly." Using it other than for its purpose might cause problems.

As stated earlier, if it's local area map(s) and speed you want, stay with 1.39 (for now). If you use a GPS and travel, or just want a large number of maps with search capability, go with 2.17. ;)

[iboar]

Mapopolis recommends at least a 200mhz processor for running Navigator on a Palm. The Clie TH and UX series really don't have the horsepower to run it correctly due to the design of their processor. If you run Navigator on a T3 you should see a BIG difference. However, as I have stated many times, the Palm OS isn't very good for applications like GPS map navigation. If you see Navigator running on a PocketPC you will immediately realize that it has many more features and runs much faster. Perhaps OS 6 will be better, assuming PalmOne ever releases units with it installed.

And I must comment on that "enemy within" statement. It seems horribly closed minded and mean spirited. I am thankful to live in a country that tolerates divergent opinions. It is this tolerance and freedom that seems to be under the greatest attack these days. Often well intentioned but over zealous folks, especially right-wing religious groups/churches, do more to threaten our freedoms and way of life than do groups like al Quaida. So the true enemy within might just be your intolerance.

[kennyd]

I just got a Zodiac 1 yesterday. I ran the new Mapopolis beta on it and am very impressed with the results. My Z72 has a 312mhz processor and the zodiac only has a 200mhz processor. Everything runs very smooth and plenty responsive. I am only running about 4MB of maps on my card, I havn't tried more than that. The screen jolts only slightly when panning the maps, but not so much that you loose legibility of the map while panning. Does anyone know if Mapopolis can read maps from multiple SD cards simultaniously?

[alsa]

Mapopolis recommends at least a 200mhz processor for running Navigator on a Palm. The Clie TH and UX series really don't have the horsepower to run it correctly due to the design of their processor. If you run Navigator on a T3 you should see a BIG difference. However, as I have stated many times, the Palm OS isn't very good for applications like GPS map navigation. If you see Navigator running on a PocketPC you will immediately realize that it has many more features and runs much faster. Perhaps OS 6 will be better, assuming PalmOne ever releases units with it installed.

And I must comment on that "enemy within" statement. It seems horribly closed minded and mean spirited. I am thankful to live in a country that tolerates divergent opinions. It is this tolerance and freedom that seems to be under the greatest attack these days. Often well intentioned but over zealous folks, especially right-wing religious groups/churches, do more to threaten our freedoms and way of life than do groups like al Quaida. So the true enemy within might just be your intolerance.

Tough love.

[ir803]

OK ebays calling so please can someone answer as quick as possible. to use mapopolis can I use a globesat BC0307 GPS CF card and will it need Pelaca's drivers, or will I need a GPS serial mouse to attach to my NX73v
Please help asap guys TA

[kennyd]

OK ebays calling so please can someone answer as quick as possible. to use mapopolis can I use a globesat BC0307 GPS CF card and will it need Pelaca's drivers, or will I need a GPS serial mouse to attach to my NX73v
Please help asap guys TA
I have no idea. I know that historically the CF slot is definately not a "full" functioning IO cf slot. Based on that I would tend to think that it would be no.

[ir803]

I have pelaca's drivers for my CF card for movie audio and camera which all work great he lists the globesat CF card as one compatable with his drivers but I have never heard anyone reoprt back a test.

[ir803]

btw how much does mapopolis cost in GB pounds ?? i can't see it anywhere, there's no point me buying a reciever if I can't afford the software.

[kennyd]

btw how much does mapopolis cost in GB pounds ?? i can't see it anywhere, there's no point me buying a reciever if I can't afford the software.
70.05 GBP It's certainly not cheap when you move up to GPS support. I'm only running platinum w/out GPS. I've been looking into some BT GPS recievers to run with Mapopolis, but I will have to keep in mind the cost of the app in my budget.

[ir803]

is it 70£ for platinum or for the GPS ready version ?? if GPS then how much is the non GPS version and where can it be downloaded, mapopolis's website is a nightmare to navigate.

[ir803]

I just realised, looking at the mapopolis site the maps I would need are covering south Wales UK, and are all either non visual and gps maps for free or GPS ready ( which is the whole point of me doing this to start with) but they will cost £9 per map but only for 9 days at which point I assume I have to buy the map again, there seems to be no "navigator maps" covering my area, this makes mapopolis pretty expensive and useless for me.

[ir803]

OK so I think I may well go for Mapopolis afterall SO.. what is the best (value) serial gps mouse or bluetooth gps unit that will work with the NX73v, I just got caught out on ebay by purchasing a GPS mouse that will fit any T or N series clie and the seller now tells me it won't fit the Nx.

[ir803]

will this work ?? ebay gps link here (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=4668&item=5725188816&rd=1)