Does anyone have any experience using either one of these programs? I just got a iTrek Z1 GPS for my X51V and now need the maps. ANY comments regarding these programs would be greatly appreciated before I spend hard earned money.
iGuidance 3 That's an older version but the interface is still the same. Version 4 adds text-to-speech so that it now states the name of the road on which you are being directed to turn.
You might also check out the GPSTalk forum at Aximsite for comments from users of both.
+ iGuidance has better maps, better routing, Text To Speech (TTS) feature which is very useful, doesn't require much memory and starts up very fast.
- It however doesn't work :( since it loses GPS signal every 20 - 30 sec. (The signal is there and receiver gets it, iGuidance just doesn't see it for some reason). It may have to do with me upgrading to WM5 ACU 3.5.2 and then to WM6, however somebody here posted same problem. Also, in v4 you have to load the entire US and Canada as one map - takes up over 1 Gb.
I used friend's iGo for a two week vacation in Florida (while still on WM5), and a couple of 2-day trips to Tennessee and Texas (after upgrade), also a bit in Michigan and Ohio. I didn't quite like it.
+ It has a nice 3D view, tons of POI, and maps are individual files so it's easy to load just what you need.
- It's very memory hungry - need to close all program to start it. It seemed to have some memory leak problems on WM5 - sometimes, if I used screen menus / recalculations etc. too much, it would sort of "stutter", i.e. the display would lag behind by about 3 sec or so, updating in jerky movements. (Didn't see this problem on WM6). It has a very busy interface and menus - some like it, some don't. Its routing is a bit less accurate than iGuidance, tending to choose freeways over highways at most settings even if it means 2-3 miles of extra driving; and re-calculations were much slower (iGuidance was very fast, at least in v3). Another feature that drove me nuts was the voice prompts. Every time I passed a left turn pocket on a divided highway, it would tell me to "keep right". That's roughly 10 times a minute.
It's still a solid, useful package, but I didn't like it that much. Not enough to buy.
I finally switched to TomTom and I love it. Its very reliable, it has the best user interface (menus, etc) that I've seen. It also has some unique route planning features that other programs lack. The routing is not as good as iGuidance's (also seems to prefer freeways over highways) but on par with iGo, and reviewing / planning / changing the entire route is better than any other package. It still requires to load a full map of US & Canada but it's smaller in size, or so it seems. I wish it would tell what side of street the destination is at (iGuidance does it, iGO doesn't). All things considered, I think it's a better overall package of three, especially for long journeys. I was initially worried about memory requirements, that on paper seemed quite high, but this wasn't ever a problem, I can have TT and GSPlayer on at same time.
Yep, I also have that same problem with iGuidance with the losing signal every 30 seconds or so, even the the satelite page still shows everything as normal. That is my main software, since I like that interface than TomTom, which I rarely use any more.
TomTom does have a very good POI database, but old maps in the U.S.
TTS is a nice extra in iGuidance too ;-) Very memory conservative, I like that part. However, before version 4 (version 3 and before), they allowed you to choose the states you wanted, you are now forced to use the entire North America map.
*Note, my pocket PC does not have WM6, and WM5 is not modified in any way, like yours was, but it still has that problem with iGuidance losing signal. I do, however, have the Widcomm bluetooth stack installed.
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Your problem may not be as bad as mine, by the sound of it. On mine iGuidance would run fine for some 20 min and then it would lose signal roughly 2-3 times a minute for 5 sec or so. This made it so unreliable I had to stop using it altogether. There's nothing like navigation quitting on you while approaching a multiroad intersection in a city you've never been to before.
And I don't believe it has anything to do with Widcomm stack. I used v3 for over a year with it.
It happens every 30 seconds, and loses for 5 seconds. During those 5 seconds, the screen just goes white, and nothing moves, but if you press the Satellite info screen, it shows as 7/11 satellites, or whatever it happens to be, but nothing shows up in terms of location. Its starting to become better now (less frequent). I had the same problem in version 3. It was actually worse there.
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Kevin Song
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