ThatGuy

ALK Pocket CoPilot Live 4.5
http://www.alk.com/copilot/

Pros

• Custom map ranges
• Custom waypoints
• Custom waypoints can be grouped and labeled
• Several million waypoints inlucded
• Mostly intuitive
• Re-routing, re-calcing, adding stops and changing route on the fly
• Voice prompts
• POI prompts
• Highly visible, esily- readable 'driving' nav screen with changeable fields
• Screen changes near turns to show maps
• QuickStart option in case battery dies
• US Highway maps can be installed easily for country-wide nav in ~40MB
• Canada maps can be added for additional cost
• Desktop application makes it easier to set up complex trips before trasnferring to PDA
• Maps can have custom distances from start/end and a corridor of the entire trip

Cons

• PC-created routes must be re-created in downlaod dialog
• Custom waypoint groups cannot be separated when choosing
• Some of the PC interface, especially, is non-intuitive
• Addresses don't display fully
• Many addresses not found when trying to look up
• Intersection lookup nearly always fails
• Maps are well out of date now (this is an older version)
• Quite a lot of "Local Road" displays
• Quite a lot of "Turn around on..." navigation
• Voice prompts don't always work
• No way to show turn by turn directions
• POI prompts get really annoying at times
• Walking screen is awful, next to no information displayed
• Unable to input coordinates from the PDA
• No real geocaching support
• No world maps
• Crashes fairly regularly, once every 8 or so hours of use at least
• Expensive

Tested on an old iPAQ with Navman sleeve as well as Axim X50v with DeLorme Earthmate BlueLogger GPSr.

I have some screen shots available for comparison at http://th4tguy.com/nav/

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ThatGuy

DeLorme Street Atlast 2005 (I think it was '05)
https://shop.delorme.com/OA_HTML/DEL...minisite=10020

Pros

• It shows maps on the PDA

Cons

• Ugly, confusing interface
• Two versions (PC/PDA) are identical
• Have to manually select all tiles to download
• Navigation is confusing, small, and otherwise useless

Tested on an Axim X50v with DeLorme Earthmate BlueLogger GPSr.

I have some screen shots available for comparison at http://th4tguy.com/nav/

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ThatGuy

SmittyWare CacheMate 1.1.1a
http://www.smittyware.com/ppc/cachemate/

Pros

• Free Trial
• Very Cheap ($8)
• Updated regularly
• Geocache tracking - very detailed
• Guidance to cache with customizable display

Cons

• No street navigation
• No maps

Tested on an Axim X50v with DeLorme Earthmate BlueLogger GPSr.

I have some screen shots available for comparison at http://th4tguy.com/nav/

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saradepte

teletype pro

Pros:
Blue tooth enabled (x51v) setup is a snap
Sensitive, locks even with receiver under car seat
Nice, intuitive interface
Cons
most features are not available on the PPC, just the PC.
Not real accurate, often prompts, tells you that you have passed a turn, etc, as much as a half mile from said turn (not handy)
Map updates expensive, and not extensive
Steven Hawking voice can get a little annoying (but can be turned off, or natural voice added)
Locked a route in well, to take me to an addy in the State Capital, prompted me to turn in 2.8 miles, and one quarter mile later told me I missed my turn, then refused to tell me how to find the turn. Had to rely upon my own nose. Could lose you in a big city, and never find you again.
Other than that, great machine!

saradepte

Originally Posted by saradepte

teletype pro Pros: Blue tooth enabled (x51v) setup is a snap Sensitive, locks even with receiver under car seat Nice, intuitive interface Cons most features are not available on the PPC, just the PC. Not real accurate, often prompts, tells you that you have passed a turn, etc, as much as a half mile from said turn (not handy) Map updates expensive, and not extensive Steven Hawking voice can get a little annoying (but can be turned off, or natural voice added) Locked a route in well, to take me to an addy in the State Capital, prompted me to turn in 2.8 miles, and one quarter mile later told me I missed my turn, then refused to tell me how to find the turn. Had to rely upon my own nose. Could lose you in a big city, and never find you again. Other than that, great machine!

ACCURATE-Pin point accuracy, that is, if the pin has an average diameter of one half mile, and in some cases two miles. Heck, who needs to be more accurate than that, when lost in New Jersey?:)

polishruben

Originally Posted by akheron

Pros Nice GUI with useful features 3D view during navigation is very nice but not as fluent as TomTom Recent, favorites and route planning are handled nicely Satisfactory customer support Nice and clear voice prompts Navteq maps are good (in most areas)

just wanted to correct something..

Satisfactory customer support ???? Are you freaken kidding me? What kind of BS is that. Just look at their forum pages. it is a joke. THE WORLD's WORST CS EVER.

no wonder they run out of business.

heybhouse

OCN5
Pros:
Nice voice promts (very clear)
Most European countries of mapping software
Sharp, clear images
very accurate in my experience
runs very smoothly on my x50v (2003se)
day & night modes
very fast auto re-routing
have all of their maps (US & Europe) on one CF (total of 1.5GB)

Cons:
slow to get going (launching and connecting)
big program memory consumption
no longer being supported or upgraded (from what I understand)
doesn't show destination addess

JakeRich

Originally Posted by polishruben

just wanted to correct something.. Satisfactory customer support ???? Are you freaken kidding me? What kind of BS is that. Just look at their forum pages. it is a joke. THE WORLD's WORST CS EVER. no wonder they run out of business.

I was going to delete this comment but decided to leave it in and remind people of the caution on the first post of the thread where it says, "do not go into any kind of discussion here." Please don't post opinions, just your direct observations. Akheron said the supprt was satisfactory. For him, it was. that's a fact. If anyone else doesn't think so, post your direct experience as a fact, but no editorials, please. It's ok to say "Support was unsatisfactory because it took three weeks to get an answer to my email." because for you, that's a fact. It's not ok to say "worst support ever" because that's an opinion and unverifiable.

Thanks!

jss812

Tested with:

x51v WM5 A12, Widcomm BT Stack, gpsproxy when needed, Dell wired GPS, Garmin GPS 10, Seidio 4850 (also have used with x50v, se2003, Widcomm, etc)

Garmin City Navigator North America V7

Pros
US fits on 2 gig card
Reasonably quick once started
Reasonably accurate
Supports multiple waypoint
Supports off road navigation (waypoint can be offroad)
PC program included
Fantastic customer support

Cons
2d only (if that's a con)
A little slow to start
Proprietary

Don't know if there is a difference, but I have the Dell navigation package also, although I do have the wired gps. I use it with a Garmin GPS10 without problems (can switch from serial to bt by selecting com ports)

Quote:

Dell GPS Navigation -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tested with: x50v WM2003SE MS BT stack x50v WM5 MS BT Stack x51v WM5 MS BT Stack x51v WM5 Widcomm BT Stack (Doesn't work) Pros: Automated Bluetooth Connection Good Navteq maps Decent GUI Not bad features list Not bad POI list In my area, maps VERY accurate. Cons: Expensive map upgrades Automated Bluetooth Connection, with no COM port selection, making it useless with the Widcomm stack Map panning very slow Zooming very slow Sometimes, if the compation thread (x50 upgraded) is running, the voice becomes VERY UNBELIVEABLY slow. Cannot add POI Calculating route sometimes slow

sbddude

Axim X51v and Belkin BT GPS: iGuidance 3 vs. TomTom 5

iGuidance 3.0
Pros:

• Very accurate maps
• Easy to read "next turn" at the top of the screen
• Able to use PPC for other tasks at the same time (i.e. Mortplayer for music)
• Quick program load time
• Automatic Night time color mode
• Tells you what highway number to take (example: Enter freeway on the right onto 101 south)
• Tells you what side of the road your destination is on
• Names of exits on highway are on screen
• Can give you directions when GPS is not connected, mapquest style (useful when indoors giving friends directions, etc.)
• Can tell you elevation in GPS info screen.

Cons:

• Much harder to control without stylus than TomTom
• Dated interface
• Display is not as pretty
• Non-customizable voices
• Non-customizable menu
• Difficult to set up GPS
• Bugs you with "proceed to the nearest road" when in parking lot

TomTom Navigator 5
Pros:

• Intuitive and attractive interface, menu, and map
• Automatic zoom in on turns
• Shows GPS signal strength
• Easy to customize: add voices, POIs, menu, etc.
• Easy to use finger (no stylus needed)
• Often tells you the next direction (i.e. Make a right and then make a left)
• Maps cover the entire west region in the space it takes for just CA for iGuidance.

Cons:

• Outdated maps (The new highway on the way to my office was not on there)
• Does not tell you number of highway and south vs north
• Does not tell you what side your destination is on
• Exits on freeways are only numbered on screen (no names)
• Cannot route unless GPS is connected and has signal (unless you go to advanced planning and set both start and end points)
  

Summary. TomTom wins on interface, but iGuidance wins on accuracy. If TomTom could use iguidance's maps, it would be the ideal software.

ThatGuy

TomTom Navigator 5.21
http://www.tomtom.com/

Pros

• Automatic zoom in on turns
• Shows GPS signal strength
• Custom POIs and categories
• Large, finger-sized menus
• Speaks and shows two directions ahead
• Nice 3D display
• Manu voices available
• FAST re-routing
• REAL re-routes, not "turn around"

Cons

• Map selector
• Doesn't speak details, just "turn in 300 yards"
• Menus often have too many options, finding the right one can be tricky
• Destination and multiple stop routes are separated
• Must manually tell the app to go to next stop
• "Stay Right" voice prompt instead of "turn right" when there is a separate turn lane
• Seems to think some roads go through even when they don't (there's a house in the way)
• Zoom level on 2D makes it hard to see route
• No POI names shown while driving
• Can not move map while driving
• Next turn pop up display is small
• LONG start up time
• Navigation stops in the middle of the road, no guidance as to which side of the road destination is on

Tested on an Axim X50v with DeLorme Earthmate BlueLogger GPSr.

I have some screen shots available for comparison at http://th4tguy.com/nav/

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ThatGuy

iGuidance 3.0
http://www.inavcorp.com/

Pros

• Very detailed voice prompts
• Large, finger-sized menus
• Automatic re-routing
• Easy to read "next turn" at the top of the screen
• Quick program load time
• Automatic Night time color mode
• Speaks which road to take
• Tells you what side of the road your destination is on
• Names of exits on highway are on screen
• Can give you directions when GPS is not connected

Cons

• NO custom POIs
• Map loader is horrible, you must select EITHER one city radius or entire states
• Maps are huge
• Maps are completely erased and re-built every time you load a new one
• Maps take a LONG time to transfer
• You can only use one map at a time
• Voice prompts are almost too much, very talky
• Nonintuitive interface
• Destination and multiple stop routes are separated
• Must manually tell the app to go to next stop
• Dated interface
• Display is ugly
• Non-customizable voices
• Non-customizable menu
• Difficult to set up GPS

Tested on an Axim X50v with DeLorme Earthmate BlueLogger GPSr.

I have some screen shots available for comparison at http://th4tguy.com/nav/

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jimbo32

Originally Posted by jss812

Tested with: x51v WM5 A12, Widcomm BT Stack, gpsproxy when needed, Dell wired GPS, Garmin GPS 10, Seidio 4850 (also have used with x50v, se2003, Widcomm, etc) Garmin City Navigator North America V7 Pros US fits on 2 gig card Reasonably quick once started Reasonably accurate Supports multiple waypoint Supports off road navigation (waypoint can be offroad) PC program included Fantastic customer support Cons 2d only (if that's a con) A little slow to start Proprietary Don't know if there is a difference, but I have the Dell navigation package also, although I do have the wired gps. I use it with a Garmin GPS10 without problems (can switch from serial to bt by selecting com ports)

Agree with the above, with the following expansions

Pro:
3d is available in the new Mobile XT beta software. (Garmin has now removed it from their web site however).
The Mobile XT beta also has a very nice interface IMO (very similar to recent Garmin standalone devices and Garmin branded PPC PDAs).
Can chose which software to use Que or Mobile XT (but not both on same device).

Con:
Limited to Garmin hardware so can't use more sensitive SIRF III receiver, without using additional software.

Schira

Enviornment
x51v with Globalsat BT338

TomTom Navigator 5.21

Pros

Automatic zoom in on turns
Custom POIs and categories which will show the distance from home
Large, finger-sized menus
Decent 3D display with names
Thank God you can remove and sort the unwanted icons
Thank God you can edit the the colour schemes or create your own
Can easily adjust the volume with hardware button
Reasonably fast map bowsing.
Adjustable speed demo
Can display the favorites on map with icons, same with custom POIs
Almost fluid motion of map while running
Will show you where you are and the map will continue to move if you shift from the calculated route. Recalculation will take place in the background.
One Click option to find an alternate route. And you can keep hitting the button and everytime a different route will be given.
"Warn when near POI" option is great - note , you can make custom POI and you can specify how far ahead you want to be notified (I won't miss any more rest areas)
Very fast to display house numbers on a route when you click.
Its okay if you don't exit Tomtom before putting your PDA off (It can just wake up and go)
Very easy to filter the POI result with key board.
POIs will be shown to give an idea if they are on the planned route or if the deviation is much or you can even filter it to show only those on the route.
Will help you to get to the road from where there is no road by showing you a visual aid in the map. ( not very helpful if the distance is more)

Cons

Voice prompts are not descriptive(Does not say which highway going where)
3D does not look much far ahead and it looks like a slope
No way to set zoom at a particular level. (If you zoom out or zoom in, it will restore the default soon)
Multipoint calculations not easy.
Can't make a road block sticky(well, I don't know if any program does it)
Too thin highlight in 2D (Difficult to see the traveling route if fully zoomed out
No option to show the name of all POIs on screen(if you touch it, it will pop up and show you the name though)
No ATMs or Banks in the POI list!
Can not pan while driving. (What if I want to see the road on the side without changng the zoom?
Next turn pop up display(Text) could be bigger
Navigation stops at the entrance of private roads (map will display where you are and will show the route but no voice prompts)
No speed limit display or warning
You may not find your house number!(I've been using my neighbor's number as my Home)

OCN5

Pros

Number of clicks to hit HOME - 1
Very good for multipoint planing
3D looks much far ahead (so, you know verymuch in advance where to turn) and it looks like a globe
Can set the zoom level to auto/fixed
Eye candy 3D display- especially night mode
Speakes highway name(if it is a number) and says east west north or south
Very loud and clear - I use it at 60% volume level with only the PDA speaker.
Actual road signs pops up on screen
Almost predictable routing
Lot of info on screen including Altitude, Speed Limit, Actual Speed, Current Rd, Next Rd, If the immediate next turn is soon that, GPS status etc...
Can go to the today screen easily
Better maps than Tomtom(it is the other way in some areas though)
Very accurate
Reliable if you are going to an unknown place(Thanks to descriptive voice prompts and better maps)
Can easily block the road you are traveling upto certain distance.
POIs displays names
Stable once on the road and the speed is not a concern.
Will give you voice guidance even on private roads.
Hardware buttons can be used to pan around(even while driving)
Restaurants are categorized in the POI list( so, choose from Italian, American or what ever)
Zoom directly in to a particular area with the zoom box(window)

Cons

Somewhat sticky to the planned route.(Sometimes if I take an early exit and if I am traveling on the nearby parallel road, according to OCN, I am still on the highway)
Somewhat jerky display
No names on 3D
Too many clicks to get certain results.
Will test your patience going thru menus.
Might crash/hang if not properly exited last time.
No custom POIs or no direct option to enable or disable certain POIs.
Difficult to customize map colours.
No choice of voice.
Slow map browsing.
Takes the turns ahead of me!(the result is, if I have no plans to take the turn, it takes a while until the recalculation is done and the map is displayed)
Too slow to grab address when you choose point on map option.
Splits highways in to multiple segments( Eg- You will be going to I94W from I94W)
Does not show water / land boundaries in a zoomed out view( forget about zooming directly to Traverse City/Mackinack Island)

Discontinued ! But I hope Navigon comes up with a better product for US.


iGuidance 3.0 from my limited exposure...

Pros

Option to enter Street First or City First for address
Very descriptive voice prompts ( some times my required action is completed before the voice prompt finishes!)
Tells on which side of the road is the destination
Decent POI database
Updated map
Faster startup
Does not capture your desktop
Easy to brows contacts from your PDA
Shows in which direction the POI is in relation to the route

Cons (what I think is true may not be so... because of my limited exposure)


Buried in menus ... (did you think you could easily change from 2D to 3D , Day to Night or change the volume while driving? Think again, you might be risking a lot... because it is numerous clicks on not so finger friendly buttons( I like calling a button finger friendly when you can sill still see the button when my finger is on it).
Number of clicks to hit HOME - 3
Number of clicks to chage to 3D to 2D or the other way - 5 , and everytime you will be hitting a button at a different location. (see the Tip Below)
Jerky map movement (this is not a big issue. As always, you shouldn't keep staring at the screen while driving))
Voice is kind of uhmmm ... I would say .. robotic
You can't give a name to the favourite while saving.. you will have to go back to edit it
Too much refletion(virtual) on some of the buttons which has white lettering making it not that pleasing
Did it forget to tell me to make the turn "at the turn" at least sometimes? (It told me in advance though)
Why am I starting the bluetooth manually?
North/driving direction up is common for map browsing and navigation. The result is, unless you change, you will find the navigation map pointing north even while navigating - if you were browsing the map before that with north up.
Can not add your own POI
Can not change the layout of Icons
Can not customize map colour scheme.
Can not directly go to a particular level of zoom
Can not filter the POIs if you choose to display it by distance( I can filter it if I choose list all - with the key board)
Changing colors change only the backgound colour. (the result is, white roads disappear with white color scheme!
No way to put off that "Ding " sound at the turns( you can mute the whole sounds easily though)
Many street names are not shown even at 1000ft
In Shortcuts the only one you can add is Home
No warn near POI feature
Volume is lower than that of OCN5/Tomtom
How do you use the itinerary?

Tip: 1. I found that the easiest way to find out the route (Just to find out how to go from point A to B) is to tap and hold the map then say ... navigate from here ... and do the same for navigate to here(destination).
Tip: 2. Map the hardware buttons for common tasks like changing from 2D , direction heading/north etc. and save yourself time and stress!

Have Fun and Safe Driving!

Nypyren

More CONs for TomTom Navigator 5.00:

- It seems to have a pretty serious memory leak that freezes the entire PDA (I have an X50v and BT338) fairly often on long trips. It's annoying to have to soft reset the PDA when it's mounted on a car mount :( On the plus side, TomTom will remember your planned route if you soft reset (but you SHOULDN'T BE FORCED TO).

- Some roads are more than 5 years out of date (I found this out with highways in north Idaho and Montana).

- Searching for POIs requires that you choose from a category first, then lets you search by name. Sometimes it's hard to tell what category they put POIs in. Frustration.

- Totally incorrect speed limit for some roads (freeways in Oregon, for instance), which will distort how it plans "fastest route".