Newbie needs help deciding which navigation software

cyberdude · Occasional Visitor Joined: Dec 30, 2005 Posts: 51

Hi. I'm new to the GPS and navigation software and it seems the more research I'm doing the more confused I'm getting

I live in Portugal but frequently travel around Europe and the US so my requirements are for a PDA system which has seemless maps from one country or state to another and also up to date maps. Being finger friendly is high on the list too.

My short list was Navigon 5 or iGuidance.
I really liked the look of Navigon but, after reading on another board on this forum it seems Navigon has terrible customer service and version 5 seems to be quite buggy. Also the cost of the maps seem high and apparently there is no way to get date the maps once out of date without purchasing an upgrade in the software too.

iGuidance seems to be good value for money and has both a PDA and laptop version in one but you need two versions, one for the US and one for Europe. Also you can't add custom POIs.

Tom Tom is popular but I heard that you can't navigate from one map to another without manually stopping and loading it.

Is Destinator any good?

Am I being too fussy? I would appreciate some help.

maca2 · Frequent Visitor Joined: Jul 10, 2005 Posts: 303

I have used both Navigon 5 & Tom Tom 5.

I got Navigon 5 with my Mio 168 but never got on with it as it never ran in real time like Tom Tom does. I found that driving in the countryside was fine as there are fewer roads but in the city it just did not keep up with my car & I passed the roads before it told me to turn which is useless. I did like the software layout & map styles but never understood why it used twice the memory on my PDA than Tom Tom does.

Tom Tom 5 is what I use now & it runs in real time & is very easy to use although I do not like the map style as much as Navigon but that is about it.

I did try Navigon 5 with the update but it is still slow & behind everything.

cyberdude · Occasional Visitor Joined: Dec 30, 2005 Posts: 51

Thanks maca2. I've read about the delay problem elsewhere too.

I've had people say MN5 is a total waste of time and others tell me it's fantastic and works flawlessly.

The thing is you read the same about TT5, CoPilot, etc. It looks like it's a bit of a lottery and that I'm just going to have to try one and if it doesn't work then try sell it on or write it off.

maca2 · Frequent Visitor Joined: Jul 10, 2005 Posts: 303

Yes, very true, it's all down to personal preferences but the lag on Navigon 5 was a real problem for me & I did try everything to speed it up like a fast sd card etc.

I prefer the look of Navigon more so than TT5 & the look of the maps were nice but, like I said, it just ran yards behind my car all the time so that is the only reason I now use TT5, it runs very fast.

Happy Shopping

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