Robinhood

Jake,

With the available Map programs out there, do you feel that "you get what you pay for" ? In other words and generally speaking, is it worth it to spend more $$$? Do features, ease of use, quality of maps, yada yada yada, increase as the price tag increases?

RH

JakeRich

GPS software is very subjective. The GUI is critical to use, but we all differ in what we want. I like just maps; accurate, clean, easy-to-read maps. Others like 3-D views, POI's, Bird's eye views, etc. Some want what Co-Pilot provides, just directions, with maps only as secondary items. Some want topological data, or imagery on the display.

With all the variation in us, it is not possible to say which package is best, so it's not possible to say whether or not "you get what you pay for." What I want is accurate maps, reasonable routing, quick speed for display and re-route and a reasonably easy interface so that I can just have the GPS in my regular instrument scan and not have to focus on it. I have my preference and it's not terribly expensive. You, on the other hand, might hate it because it IS so simple. For you, it might well be a waste of money because it lacks the features you think are important (and which are, in fact, important TO YOU).

So, is the cost parallel to the features? That depends on what you want. Value is getting what you want for what you are willing to pay and then being happy with the decision. For me, the bells-and-whistles don't add to my happiness, so I don't value them. Others need the bells-and-whistles and are not happy without them so for those folks it's reasonable to pay for them. Generally, the more bells-and-whistles the more the software costs, although the difference is closing fast. These days most software differ more in database quality than in function richness.

I know this is a non-answer, but the bottom line is to get what makes you happy and don't worry about what makes me, or anyone else, happy.

Robinhood

Thats sort of what I was looking for. What makes you and any other Map user happy "is" important to me and helps me sort fact from fiction. Afterall, thats what this website is all about, right?

I'm willing to pay more for better but there doesn't appear to be compelling reason to do so (for what I need). Thanks.