Setting up a Chinavasion 5" Gen2 GPS

[paulcb]

I'm still running my 5" GPS mentioned throughout this thread. It's been very waterproof and quite rugged. My only problem was the screen scratched easily. Mostly my own fault because I didn't put on a screen protector. It was so bad, I was considering buying another because it was getting difficult to see the screen.

Today, I polished one of my ST11 windscreens with some Novus #2 plastic polish. Worked well. I thought, why not try this on my GPS? 5 mins later, my GPS screen look nearly new... 95% of the scratches gone. I then tried the Novus #3 (courser) to get the few big scratches out. It got a few of them, so I repolished again with the #2 to get it back to nearly perfect. It's now back to nearly new looking and I'm very pleased with the results.

Thought I'd mention this for others who might have this issue, with this or any other plastic screen GPS.

 

[MidLife]

I'm still running my 5" GPS mentioned throughout this thread. It's been very waterproof and quite rugged. My only problem was the screen scratched easily. Mostly my own fault because I didn't put on a screen protector. It was so bad, I was considering buying another because it was getting difficult to see the screen.

Today, I polished one of my ST11 windscreens with some Novus #2 plastic polish. Worked well. I thought, why not try this on my GPS? 5 mins later, my GPS screen look nearly new... 95% of the scratches gone. I then tried the Novus #3 (courser) to get the few big scratches out. It got a few of them, so I repolished again with the #2 to get it back to nearly perfect. It's now back to nearly new looking and I'm very pleased with the results.

Thought I'd mention this for others who might have this issue, with this or any other plastic screen GPS.

Have you tried finishing with Novus #1? It provides additional luster and protection. At least it does on my car headlights.

 

[paulcb]

Have you tried finishing with Novus #1? It provides additional luster and protection. At least it does on my car headlights.

I did not, until you mentioned it! Thanks for the reminder.

 

[paulcb]

Argh! 2 hours before leaving on a trip to NM and CO a couple weeks ago, I dropped my GPS and the screen cracked. And this was shortly after I'd polished the screen, making it nice and clear again! I thought it was still functional, but the crack also broke the touch sensitivity, so it's now a brick. I ended up using Google Maps on my phone for the trip, which worked pretty well, but it doesn't have all the features I'm used to on my old 5", so I guess I get to buy a new one after all. I know there are now other sources for this GPS other than Chinavasion... anyone recommend a better source?

 

[Uncle Phil]

There are some sellers on EBay with the same unit. I don't know if those units have the 1 year warranty from Chinavasion or not. And I don't know that their prices are any better - maybe with shipping included. At least you can still use the same micro SD card and have to do no new setup. ;-)

 

[paulcb]

There are some sellers on EBay with the same unit. I don't know if those units have the 1 year warranty from Chinavasion or not. And I don't know that their prices are any better - maybe with shipping included. At least you can still use the same micro SD card and have to do no new setup. ;-)

I'll probably just get it from Chinavasion... less risk. And yes, I'll just pop my SD card in and go!

 

[paulcb]

Well, since I broke my older unit, I ordered a replacement, exact same one as discussed in this thread. Since the Chinavasion site was OOS, I ordered one on eBay from a seller that looked reputable, and with quite a bit of history selling these. I ordered the WinCE version but got the Android version. He sent the Android version b/c the WinCE version is OOS in China! No kidding. His Ebay ad said that he had US stock of the WinCE versoin, thus the reason I purchased.

In any case, I was going to return it, but the WinCE version seems difficult to get (it was going to be several weeks at least), so I just kept the Android version. It's really quite nice, pretty much just a waterproof 5" Android wifi tablet that came with iGo nav software, so a LOT more capable than the old WinCE version. I setup an Android store account and downloaded a few apps. Seems pretty quick/responsive and Google maps works well, so now I have a lot more nav options with this device through the Android store. I've not used it for a big trip, but will post up a small review on it when I do.

 

[Uncle Phil]

I'll be interested as to how the Android one compares to the Wince. Is the physical unit the same (power, cradle, etc.)?

 

[paulcb]

Yes, all the hardware is identical.

For reference, this is what I ordered off of eBay. It shows both the WinCE and Android screens but the specs say Microsoft Windows CE 6.0.

 

[Uncle Phil]

The current Chinavasion site doesn't even show any MC GPSs any more that I can find. It appears that they have really scaled back on what they are offering. I bought a 'backup' unit for each of my units the last time they had them in stock.

 

[ST Gui]

I'd been casually thinking about a Chinavasion GPS because of the 5" screen and— it's cheap. What I didn't consider— I have only Mac gear. Is either version doable without investing in other platform hardware?

 

[Uncle Phil]

I'd been casually thinking about a Chinavasion GPS because of the 5" screen and— it's cheap. What I didn't consider— I have only Mac gear. Is either version doable without investing in other platform hardware?

Does your Mac 'see' USB drives and can it create KML files to download?

 

[ST Gui]

Yes, macOS sees USB drives and in various PC formats too. There's a Mac app Simple Geotagged Photo KML File Creator For PC/Mac that purports to work with KML files. I'll have to research that a bit.

 

[Uncle Phil]

On windows machines, you just drag and drop the .kml file into a particular folder on the GPS that looks like a USB drive.

 

[kiltman]

They're discontinued!!!! I was going to order one today. Can't get them from Chinavasion

 

[Uncle Phil]

After digging around a little bit, Google Phaeton Electronics on Alibaba. I think they maybe the actual manufacturer. Of the eBay sellers I've contacted, none of them actually have the units 'in hand'. One didn't even know that Chinavasion was out. I know the tour company in New Zealand was getting their units directly from the manufacturer. I have seen Chinavasion say 'out and not coming back' and then bring them back. So who knows?

https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/5-inch-motorcycle-GPS-Navigator-Waterproof_60472727567.html?spm=a2700.7724838.2017005.2.2f8c99fdUNpXpP

 

[paulcb]

Bad news... the Android version of this device does not work with gloves.

I figured since it was the same hardware, or appears to be, that it would work. Not sure what to do now... either return it and find another GPS option or buy that conductive thread and sew it into the glove finger tip. Just when I was starting to really like this thing!

 

[ST Gui]

Bad news... the Android version of this device does not work with gloves.

Yikes. That's disappointing. What about the Unk Phil version? The 5" screen (and the price) is the main reason I'd consider a dedicated GPS. In so doing, a pressure sensitive screen is mandatory.

 

[Outbackwack]

Bad news... the Android version of this device does not work with gloves.

Just received my Fod Sports and it does not work with gloves. Same boat.

 

[Uncle Phil]

Yikes. That's disappointing. What about the Unk Phil version? The 5" screen (and the price) is the main reason I'd consider a dedicated GPS. In so doing, a pressure sensitive screen is mandatory.

No problems with gloves on the WINCE versions I use - even Gerbing/WarmNSafe ones work.