Review: Chinavasion Rage GPS

[v8-7]

I put dielectric grease on the cradle contacts and the GPS contacts and so far have not had a 'battery connection' issue. Sometimes the bottom of the unit will not be fully seated though it looks like it.

Here is why my unit is having power connection problems :

As you can see, the pin on the left side of the cradle is stuck and only makes intermittent contact .

I have written to Chinavision for a replacement cradle and am awaiting a reply .

This happened previously to the unit even being exposed to rain .

 

[BamaRider]

I'd say you know how to marry long riding with GPS. Well done.

 

[Uncle Phil]

Here is why my unit is having power connection problems :

As you can see, the pin on the left side of the cradle is stuck and only makes intermittent contact .

I have written to Chinavision for a replacement cradle and am awaiting a reply .

This happened previously to the unit even being exposed to rain .

I will be interested in what they 'say' to you. I'm in contact with them about one of my units that has a bad USB port. We'll both know hopefully in a while as to how they respond about warranty issues. They have already made some responses and offers but I'm pressing for a new unit! ;-)

 

[Uncle Phil]

Well, I got an RMA number to ship my faulty Rage back to Chinavasion. Sent it back with all the stuff and the form filled out that they requested. It cost me $24.15 USPS (required to use USPS) for postage. It will be quite a while before I hear anything else about it, but I'll let you know when I do. They made an offer of some 'compensation' (no amount mentioned) instead of shipping it back because only the USB quit working. I decided to go for a 'full' deal so we'll see how this sorts out at the end. Given the postage to return it, I may have wished I'd taken their 'compensation' offer!

 

[v8-7]

They agreed to replace my cradle.

I was told to go to the website and purchase one..

"Please place an order in Chinavasion for the accessory above, choosing airmail as shipping and bank transfer as payment. And please also confirm the delivery address, then reply to this email and tell us the order number. We will cover the payment for the order and send the item ASAP."

So have paid $ 5.47 for the part and 6.50 for the shipping , but don't know what I will receive as reimbursement.

 

[Uncle Phil]

That's interesting - I didn't know you could buy the cradle as an accessory now (I bought extra cradles for my Peaklife models just to have as backup). I've never put much faith in their 'warranty' from the onset but I guess I'll find out for sure how well it works. Since I have three working units, I've got time to sort through this with the fourth one that went south, see how it goes and let folks know accordingly. My hunch is you'll probably get a 'merchandise credit'. Did you set yourself up on their website with a user id?

 

[v8-7]

I thought about ordering 2 cradles , ( getting reimbursed for one), but but didn't want to confuse the issue .

here is the url to order the cradle :

http://www.chinavasion.com/china/wholesale/Accessories/Cradle_for_TR53_All_Terrain_4.3_Inch_Motorcycle_GPS_Navigation_System/


Only $5.47,( +6.50 shipping ) but I doubt it includes the power cords so having a spare cradle hardwired in to a 2nd vehicle may require making up a separate cable .

I have mine hardwired in to my bike and can remove the cradle and use the supplied cig lighter plug cable for a 2nd vehicle .

 

[Blrfl]

That's a bargain. $12.00 makes it not worth shipping a dead cradle back.

I see you can also order the car charger ($4.38), which makes me feel less bad about cannibalizing the cable from the one they supplied.

--Mark

 

[Blrfl]

Interesting: Chinavasion discontinued the old one and has introduced a second-generation version as of June 18. I wonder what's different.

--Mark

 

[v8-7]

Maybe Uncle Phil will let us know ...

Hopefully if will find the gps constellation faster as I find that the worst feature and have taken to turning the unit on as the first step to the ride .

 

[Nashcat]

I got to put my Rage to the test last Tuesday. I rode a 330 mile loop from middle TN, down into N AL. Janis had gone to GA, with my Zumo, that I accidentally left in her car, so I was at the mercy of the Rage. It had been about 30 years since I had been in the area, and although I grew up in AL, there were new roads besides the ones that I've forgotten. I paired it with my Sena for voice directions and off I went. Route was planned on the rage, and everything looked good. I hit the slab toward Decatur when I noticed the first problem. Every couple of minutes, under blue sky across flat ground, it would announce that it had lost satellite signal. It didn't announce when it found the signal, but it sure enjoyed telling me when it lost it.

After my first stop, I took off before it got a signal and rode 25 miles to my next stop, before it saw any signal. At that stop, I had to remove it from the cradle and reboot for it to get a signal. When I stopped for gas on the way home, I turned it off since I knew where I was going and had gotten real tired of the lost signal announcement.

Moved the Rage to the Wing on Wednesday to head for N GA, to meet Janis at he brother' house in Lafayette. Turned it on before I left and it was stuck on the location in Alabama where I turned it off the day before. Rebooted three times before it updated my location. I didn't need directions, but left it on to check its operation during the ride. Same as day before, with lost connection every few minutes. What I worry about is losing satellite connection when approaching a turn and missing it. Thursday, coming home, the Rage was in the trunk of the Wing and the Zumo had been retrieved from Janis's car. As usual, the Zumo worked flawless and again proved that it is indeed waterproof.

I got the Rage so I would have an extra and wouldn't have to swap the Zumo back and forth, but so far I can't really say that I trust it.

John

 

[Uncle Phil]

Maybe Uncle Phil will let us know ...

Hopefully if will find the gps constellation faster as I find that the worst feature and have taken to turning the unit on as the first step to the ride .

Not a clue unless they have been getting complaints like John and did some updates. I had a similar problem that John had when I was in New Zealand if you go back and check my posts. My hunch is the GPS chipset in the Rage is not as good as the GPS chipset in the Peaklife where I never had these kinds of problems. What is strange is that same GPS I had in New Zealand I have been using on Frost and it seems to have 'gotten over it'. It appears that the Rage does not like to 'find' satellites on the move from what I can tell. I have started pulling the unit out of the cradle and syncing it to the satellites before I start moving (GPS>See the green indicators) - while I'm getting my other stuff sorted for the ride. I believe there is an issue with the cradles. I know one of the cradle pins is for 'antenna' and my hunch is that is the source. But I've tried taping over that connector and it made no difference. I've currently got one of my units on it's way back to China for a bad USB port, so it will be interesting to see how that sorts out. Maybe they will send me a 'gen 2' to replace it and I'll see for myself what the difference is. ;-)

 

[v8-7]

aybe they will send me a 'gen 2' to replace it and I'll see for myself what the different it.

That's what I was thinking when I posted that .

 

[MajorTom]

i also notice that the Rage can be slow to pick up satellite connections, but I've never had a problem with it losing the signal once it was connected. I used the Rage for a week in a rental van in eastern Canada and then for our 13 day trip to CA and back with no loss of signal issues. I suspect there's a problem with the device.

 

[Gizmo]

I'm not known to name things (i.e. my bike) but knowing that Uncle Phil named his first Peaklife FRED got me thinking...the type of thinking you do when on a boring bit of highway between the curvaceous bits. I'm kinda leaning towards naming my Rage UPS (Uncle Phil Special) because it should always deliver me where I want to go when I want to get there

 

[Uncle Phil]

i also notice that the Rage can be slow to pick up satellite connections, but I've never had a problem with it losing the signal once it was connected. I used the Rage for a week in a rental van in eastern Canada and then for our 13 day trip to CA and back with no loss of signal issues. I suspect there's a problem with the device.

That's my hunch also. I've got one that suffers from the same malady (the one I took to New Zealand). I'm testing my remaining three (one onit's way to China for the USB problem) on all three cradles to see what the variances are for each unit. I use the same route (ride to work) so that should be consistent (about 10 miles one way). So far, I have one that did not 'latch on' to the satellites either direction in any cradle (the New Zealand one). What's interesting is that the GPS INFO shows it sees the satellites (blue bars light up), but never moves into the green bars showing it synced. But out of the cradle, it finds them pretty quickly.

 

[kiltman]

Mine has trouble latching onto a signal. When I have my other GPS running beside it, it seems to catch the signal more frequently. Sometimes I have to go to settings and unclick autodetect and it will find the signal.
Once it finds the signal it works fine. However there are days it won't latch on for love or money.

 

[Blrfl]

What's interesting is that the GPS INFO shows it sees the satellites (blue bars light up), but never moves into the green bars showing it synced. But out of the cradle, it finds them pretty quickly.

Just for laughs, try the same experiment with a cradle that's completely disconnected from anything else and without the bike running. I'm wondering if maybe there's some ignition noise that's just strong enough at L1 to make the GPS signals undetectable when they're not super-strong. (And that's a relative term, because by the time the GPS signal reaches the ground, there's precious little of it.)

Now that I have mine plugged into my Autocom, I noticed some signal loss early in a short trip yesterday that I didn't before, probably because I wasn't glued to the screen.

--Mark

 

[Uncle Phil]

Mark - I'll have to give that a try also. Thanks for the idea.

 

[Midlifemike]

I'm expecting my Rage to show up any day. I've tried to keep abreast of developments and instructions but there are always gaps to fill. What's the prevailing advice on programs to gather up and learn to install in the unit?
Honestly I find the help in the forums of more use than the official sites of the suggested software.
iGo8 seems to be preferred over Primo if knowing paved from unpaved roads is of concern (yes). It's a Windows CE device so, other useful stuff I should download to make riding more enjoyable?

I've enjoyed using my Sena SMH10 headset with an Android smartphone to receive phone calls and play song lists. My last GPS was a Street Pilot 2720 that finally gave up the ghost - so - Chinavision Rage coming soon.