Road Angel Professional Connected

[Draven]

I've just finished reviewing the new Road Angel, and it's an absolute cracker.

Being able to get all your database updates in real time, while you're driving is brilliant. As is being able to transmit camera van locations to every other user

There's a link to the full review below for anyone who's interested...

http://www.trustedreviews.com/mobile-devices/review/2008/04/25/Road-Angel-Professional-Connected/p1

Definitely worth a look if you're considering a detector for your 911!

 

[pwebb]

Good review. I've still got the old origin B2 and it's saved my bacon many a time, particularly in unfamiliar territory. This one looks a step forward, particularly if temporary mobile units are input on the fly.

Peter

 

[clarkes]

I wonder if the mounting is really up to the job for seriously quick cars? My Road Angel plus has to be installed "just right" otherwise the only thing that prevents it ending up on my lap when I accelerate hard is the external antenna lead!

 

[Mark Elder]

The pictures make it look a bit big. Would be better if the extra technology was in a box that could be wired in and hidden and just have a small/light screen for the data readout.

 

[ResB]

[FONT=arial"]Nicely written review. One thing that does strike me though is that if mobile cameras are updated on the fly, could this not be open to abuse and therefore getting false alerts. For example, I have the Origin PogoAlert. When you identify a camera location you press one of the buttons and it's GPS location is stored. When you update the unit on the PC the stored location is sent to Origin, who then verify the camera position before they update their database. You then download their GPS information when the position has been verified, usually takes a couple of days maximum.

This seems the only logical way of doing things. Mobile units are going to be very hard to keep track of if indeed the location of the camera was in fact true and the user was totally honourable.

This one certainly looks better than the previous versions and looks like a good viable option. If you mix that with say the Laser Pro Park then I guess your sorted I think. []

 

[Draven]

Sorry for the late reply - haven't had time to check the forum for a while.

You don't have to pay any data charges for the updates. It uses the Orange network, but I'm assuming that Road Angel has negotiated the data costs and rolled them into the £4.99 monthly subscription. In fact you don't even know the number of the SIM, since if you did, you could send texts to the Road Angel from a phone, rather than using their online service

As for the live updates, you can only log a camera van as actrive in a predetermined Camera Van zone, since the police aparently have to specify where they "may" have camera vans. So you'll get a "possible" alarm when you approach one of those zones, but if someone has confirmed a van is there, you'll get a "definite" alarm for the next two hours.