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Developer/Vendor: Pocket Map Navigator
Price: Approx. $89.99
Rating (out of 5):

Pocket Map Navigator may well be one of the more cost effective GPS software solutions on the market, but its performance makes it one of the best I have used.

To start out, you get a software packet with 3 CDs and your registration code. There also is a short users guide that walks you through the software install and installing different types of GPS systems (CF, BT, Mouse, etc.).

The software install is very easy, you put the first disk in, it asks you for the serial, you put it in and it installs the program for your PC. You also have the option to install maps for select areas to your hard drive during the setup. (this is not required as you can later insert disks to get the maps). The PC program is used to put maps on your PPC or storage cards for use in your PPC. The install also installs the program on your Pocket PC.

To select maps to download to your PPC is very easy. You go into the program on your PC, then you can search by City, County, or State and download either the full State, City, or County. You also can go in an advanced mode to select more than one county/state/city or select include cities/counties within a set number of miles. This sounds complicated, but is very very easy to use and you will quickly pickup on it. If needed it will ask you to insert the disk with the map data on it (it will say what number), or it will just use the maps from your hard drive if you installed them there during the setup. Once you have the maps selected, you select where you want to put them, you can select Pocket PC or a Card Reader. I prefer the card reader as it is faster and you can put the data directly onto your flash card then put the flash card in your PPC. The whole process is very easy and organized.

Upon opening the program on your PPC you are greeted with the following screen that has shortcuts to the main areas.

You can easily select any of these areas even with your finger if driving in the car. You also can open the settings via the settings tab on the bottom.

I really like how this works as it is easy to get where you want to be and you do not have to fumble through menus.

The first button is the GPS button. This takes you to the GPS configuration/status area.

The program easily found my Haicom 303S via CF and BT and it also found the iTrek BT GPS just as easily. Once found, the colored bars show you how good of a signal the GPS is getting from satellites. This screen also shows you more raw data like Latitude/Longitude and your heading. In these pictures you can also see the small icons at the top of the screen that are the same icon as on the main screen just shrunk. These make it easy to switch between the different areas also.

Once you have your signal locked, you can go into the map area.

The map area lets you see a plain map view of the area and also lets you zoom in and out easily. POI (points of interest) can also be seen and are abbreviated by different icons. You also can enter a destination.

The next area is the Guidance area.

You can either use a flat map or a full 3D map that makes it feel as if you are actually on the road and makes it easy to visualize turn offs and intersections. There also is a bottom information bar that shows data like Estimated Time of Arrival (ETA), Speed, Miles to Go, and Heading. On the top a bar will pop down telling you when turns are coming up ahead. The whole guidance screen is very visually appealing and easy to look at. It makes it easy to tell where you are and even can be set to automatically zoom in when you get into tight intersections so that you know exactly when to turn. POIs (Points of Interest) are also shown but you can also turn off POI categories in the settings so that not all show up on the map. There also is a night mode that can be turned on manually or automatically at a set time. The night mode makes the colors not so bright to look at when it is dark out.

(Picture of Night Mode)

There are even more ways you can view the directions, even a list function that just lists the turns you have to make.

Next there is the Destination area.

Here you can find nearby places, take a look at your favorites list (like an address book), and even take addresses from your contacts book (you can see the other options in the picture above). This is a great shortcut and I find it very helpful to find things quickly. The Nearby POIs finder is especially helpful to find parks, hotels, restaurants, etc.. I feel that Pocket Map has done a great job at including tons of POIs (Points of Interest) and there seems to be many choices no matter what category you pick.

(POI Quick Find)

The Directions area, shows the turn-by-turn driving directions in a text format

The settings area is setup with drop down and check boxes and is nice and easy to navigate through. It is not as graphical as other parts of the program, but once you have the setting set to your liking you shouldn’t have to go back and change them that often.

Another very cool feature on Pocket Map Navigator is the voice prompts. The voice prompts tell you when to turn, and really guide you to your destination perfectly. Unlike some programs, in Pocket Map Navigator you set what volume you want the voice prompts to be at, and every time you go into the program it sets the PPC volume to that level. Then when you exit, it puts the volume back to what it was before. This is EXTREMELY helpful as you do not have to constantly go into your volume control and change the PPC volume for when you want to use the GPS. There also are 5 voices you can choose from.

Now to the critical part, how well does it work while on the road? Well all I have to say is that it is amazing. Its reroute features work perfectly and allow it to quickly find a new route if you miss a turn. The program is very quick and responsive and keeps you tracked at all times. Please remember that the response and tracking will be more dependent on what GPS hardware you have. The program is easy to look at and use while driving and big buttons help this. You can easily switch between areas and see where you are. I used the Pocket Map with the Seidio G2500 mount and the voice prompts came through clear and easy to understand. Overall the usage part of this program is excellent.

About the only thing that let me down was that this program is not totally VGA. It works perfectly with WM 2003 SE on my X50v (no glitches or things not visible), but some of the pictures are not totally VGA quality. I did not find this distracting, but it is something that could be improved. Do not get me wrong though, there are no glitches because of the VGA and the program looks as good if not better than Tom Tom and like GPS Programs that I have seen around.

The program is seemingly endless in its different views, yet easy to use. It can show the data in many different ways so that anyone can love using Pocket Map Navigator. This program is truly amazing and seems to feature everything. The working speed is excellent on my X50v and there is seemingly no loading time for loading maps and other date. Overall I think this is one of the best GPS software programs out there and I would personally recommend this to anyone looking for GPS software.

I give Pocket Map a lot of credit for making such a great program with all the features, great looks and layout, perfect map data, and all at a super low price.

I would recommend taking a look at Pocket Map’s site for more screenshots and info.

Thanks to Pocket Map for the Review Sample.

Chris Leckness (3531 Posts) - Website | Twitter | Facebook

Chris Leckness is the Owner/Administrator of Mobilitysite. He is a Microsoft MVP, Mobile Devices and a member of the exclusive focus group, Mobius. Chris runs a Mobilitysite, GotZune, and a few other smaller sites and blogs. His personal blog is chris.leckness.com.