It worked ...
 

.. back from USA now and can say with complete honesty it's a great device .. more so considering the cost !! Yes the display isn't brilliant in the direct sun in middle of Arizona but nothing shading with hand couldn't resolve .. one of the HD's we hired had a HD branded Garmin and although slightly better still not brilliant in that sun. If I was using in similar conditions again I would fashion some sort of shade for it with Sugro or similar .. for this trip we found three bits of cardboard and some black tape worked a treat !!

The maps and software were superior to the Garmin in functionality .. both more functionality and simpler to use.

All in all would recommend one to anyone ... in fact both guys I was travelling with have already said they'll be ordering one !

Matt's most recent post gives good feedback of how the Peaklife performs in direct sunlight compared with Garmins.
I have a Tom Tom and a Garmin and there is no difference between them when it comes to visibility in the sun - I wouldn't expect much else actually, but, as Matt says, it is easy enough to make a sunshade (and I have seen a purpose designed "professional" one on a GPS fitted to a bike in the Pyrenees - I just wish I had taken notice of it's name/details).

Matt,
Did you get any outcome with this idea?

I've looked at the link and it says "Navigator FREE - is a OpenStreetMaps based free turn-by-turn GPS navigation by mapFactor for Windows, Windows Mobile devices and Android devices" - so it wouldn't work with your Peaklife necessarily, using other software??

John, I got mine today. Please tell me if you still need the manual. It has 22 tiny pages, so I could take pics and send them to you.

Those are great news. I'm looking forward to trying it! Thanks for sharing the info, Matt.

Never got around to trying it - but no reason it shouldn't work ... Peaklife runs Windows CE (Windows mobile) operating system ...

Fair one Matt!

For all those who have bought one of these Peaklifes, I am interested in what software works with this hardware. For instance, OSM?
I am still playing around with the OSM on a Garmin and I find the maps to be "interesting" i.e. much better than the standard product from Garmin - in fact that is why I got a second hand Nuvi; to experiment with OSM.
But OSM doesn't seem to be at all compatible with Tom Tom, to name the other major supplier of sat navs.

Spot on.....

I have been toying with the idea of buying a Zumo 660 in recent weeks to replace the Peaklife. Then today I had to dig out a Nuvi 205W to use at work. Just thought the map detail was poor compared to the Peaklife and has made me think twice now about the "upgrade".
My big issue with the Peaklife is the screen size. I now want something with a bigger sceen, waterproof and can run Igo/Primo.

Matt, what is sugro? I'm on about page 10 of a google search and still baffled!!

Fat fingers - meant sugru great stuff !!

As for the Garmins .. having used two on the recent trip, mates Nuvi and the HD branded "Road Tech" I think the software on them is awful and far from user friendly .. not a patch on iGo. Haven't used Primo so can't comment. Be nice to have a slightly bigger screen but I think the Peaklife will do me for now ...

Fat fingers and a fat brain, I have both of them. Not sure how I manage life!

Primo feels like their answer to Tom Tom/Garmin. A more mainstream GUI. Has a media player built in as well. I tried both 1.2 & 2.0 on the Peaklife, and had issues with them so stuck with igo 8.X.

Anyone got an update about how they are getting on with the Peaklife?
In particular, what maps work OK with it?

I own both a Tom tom and a Garmin so I am reluctant to get yet another sat nav right now, but it could happen sometime if I don't get better confidence in how the Garmin software works; in summary, I much prefer the Tom Tom, but it doesn't work with OSM mapping (as far as I can tell anyway).

Recommended !
 

Took mine to the States this year .. iGo software with Teleatlas maps .. outperformed both the Garmin my mate took and HD branded satnav (a Garmin) easily. We also tried a TomTom we'd taken as back up .. and while that was better than the Garmins the Peaklife was still better .. a lot of this comes down to the software I believe which you could take as iGo being better ..
It was particularly better in less densely populated areas.

Personally for the money I don't think you can knock them.

Thanks Matt.
You seem to be a convert to Peaklife.
Can you say how the software outperforms the other models of Sat Nav?
(I still don't like the way that my Garmin knows best which route I want to take and I realise that this can be overcome by using Garmin's basecamp capability, but, hey, life is quite short!!)

I find any type of Sat Nav of most use in built up areas; out in the country I prefer to be without them - I'm talking here about "developed" countries with well established road networks and associated signing.
At sea, or in featureless terrain - yep, I know the advantages of any navigation system.

:offtopic:
I think the software is the key in any case; every new car now seems to be fitted with Sat Nav as standard, so the hardware market has been won by who ever is supplying the car manufacturers; I do wonder who is supplying that software though - it's a big, big market, especially compared with motorcycles.

Well what I liked with the software was the way to amend the "best" route it found, adding way points etc. all on the device .. no need for Basecamp or similar. Also considering it was notionally using the same maps as the Garmins it's detail seemed much better. Generally the routes it found were pretty much what we'd thought was best by looking at map as well.

As for software found in cars, trucks etc. - I'm led to believe that iGo 8 which I installed on the Peaklife or its successor Primo, is one of the most commonly used in built-in systems.

Sounds good then, with no downsides :thumbup1:

Is there anyone in the Brisbane area who has iGo8 maps of Australia for the Peaklife that I could copy to a micro sd card? Realised how computer illiterate I've become trying to sort mine out. The installed UK maps work brilliantly but the maps of Oz I ordered were the wrong format and do not work. Had a guy in Sydney look at it but because of workplace constraints he was unable to load any maps. I've tried downloading maps to my netbook (as I was advised) but just seem to be running round in circles. Am about to start my journey and, while GPS/SatNav is not essential it would be nice to have it for riding in the cities. Thanks in advance.
John