Win Your Free iGuidance 4 (Donated by iNav)

And the winners of the iNav iGuidance contest are ...

The contest is now over. Find out who the winners are in posting # 41 in this thread, or by following this link »


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iNav Corporation, the maker of the fabulous iGuidance navigation software program, has just donated 2 copies of iGuidance 4 to Laptop GPS World, to help kick-start this new website and forum.

Anyone is welcome to participate in this "mini-contest", and I think everyone has a very good chance of winning the prize, because Laptop GPS World is brand new, with only very few registered members so far.

To participate, all you need to do is post to this forum why you want iGuidance 4. If you have never heard of this GPS navigation program, you may find more about it by reading its review. If you have tried other programs, you may let us know why you think switching to iGuidance may benefit you. If you've never tried any GPS navigation program before, why do you think iGuidance may be better for you than other programs. Write as much or as little as you wish. The prize will go to the two people who I think would benefit the most by the features iGuidance has to offer.

Feel free to either start you own thread in iNav iGuidance Forum, or just reply to this one.

This "mini-contest" ends on December 12, 2007. Two winners will be announced here on or before December 15, 2007.

Thanks in advance for participating!

Out of the many Gps programs that I have tried. i believe IG 4 is the optimal one for my up coming car PC Project. It lends itself very well to this environment and integrates easily with many of the car PC front ends.

Looks like this would be a good program to use when traveling with our 5th wheel trailer. We have been using Streets & Trips and have found it quite useful in getting to where we want to go. The one draw back to S&T is there is no way to transfer a route or map to my PDA to use when walking around an area or for times when taking the laptop is a nusance.

I have tried other nav software like S&T, Nroute, and Street Atlas but have never been able to try this product. Would be nice to see if I'd like it better than the other software I've tried.

I have used IGuidance extensively in UMPC/PPC and laptop mode. It continues to be used daily by my parents on my handed down Samsung Q1. I am eager to try out the updated version.
Matthew

I'd love to win this product, I decided not to spend the money on it but it would be great to be able to use this software on my Samsung Q1. Would anyone recommend spending the money to get the Samsung Q1 car mount?

I heard about this site from Gottabemobile which makes me a tablet pc user. Currently I'm using Delorme's Street Atlas and while it works fine, it's interface is not really great for a tablet pc. I heard that this program is a lot more tablet pc friendly and looking at your review it seems this would be the case. Delorme's product has tiny buttons and tabs which makes the program virtually impossible to use while driving. While that's probably for the best safety-wise, let's be realistic. People will use their GPS software while driving without pulling over to the side of the road. At least with this product and the addition of iGkeys which you mentioned in your review this would be a much safer product for me to use.

While this product looks like a huge step up interface-wise from what I'm currently using my dream product would have a voice interface for complete hands free usage. I'd love to hear about any software that has this capability.

BTW, the site looks nice. Good luck with your new blog. Cheers!

This would go perfectly with the tablet pc I'm trying to integrate into all facets of my life.

This is the first I have seen the iGuidance software but it looks better that any laptop based gps software I have seen in the past. I have been looking for a package that would work with finger navigation on my UMPC as well as my tablet and my pocket pc phone. I travel all over the country and use gps navigation a lot and it would be great to have on constant interface across all my devices.

I have always appreciated the work and info you posted on gpspassion. I've used the past couple of version of IGuidence on my pda and now my umpc but I'd like to move up to the latest version.

A friend uses iGuidance software on their umpc and just loves it. I would love to put a copy on my TabletPC. Thanks

iGuidance 4 would be a great piece of software for my R2Hv umpc with it's built in GPS. One of the disadvantages I found with MS Streets and Trips is that if you make a wrong turn it won't re-route you. It also looks to be much more touch friendly.

All I can say is that I have iGuidance 3 and LOVE it and am dying to try out the new Text-to-Speech feature in version 4. Answers my question: How do you make a great thing greater?!

I am using version 3 on a Samsung Q1b and cannot say enough about what a great combination this is. And now that I have a Broadband USB Card I am in mobility heaven.

Now I can surf over to check this new laptopgpsworld.com site on the road - well, at least parked near the road!

This would be great to use on my new Tablet PC. It is small enough to use in the car, if I can find a way to mount it. I have Streets and Trips, but I like the 3D view and the text to speech options that this software provides.

I used to use what I'm told is basically an older version of iGuidance called Routis for the PocketPC. I LOVED that program. I would say I was 'auto GPS' before 'auto GPS' was cool. It would be great to see what's become of the 'old' program...

~Dan

I've been using iGuidance since v2 I believe, and it's great, works on both my laptop and Windows Mobile.

I have v3, and would love to upgrade to v4 for free

Thanks for this contest, and the site looks great, should be very useful.

T.

I'm a tablet PC user. I'm also a student pilot. As I get more proficient at flying it is my hope to incorporate my tablet into the cockpit, probably using some specialized software made for use by pilots. (I may need to buy a smaller tablet than I have now for that). But that's only part of my plans. Once I have my private pilot certificate, I want to use it to fly my wife and kids for weekends away to places to which we've never been.

Of course, once we're at those places, I'm going to need some good ground navigation to get us around. iGuidance would fit that bill very well!

I currently use Streets 2008 and just discovered iGuidance and it is much better to use in the car. Thanks for this site, I'll keep coming back to see how other users maximize their GPS.

I'm a newbe to GPS and have researched a lot of available GPS programs. iGuidance is the most recommended program. I have ordered the free trial version to give it a look.

Ed

I'm a field service tech with a large geographic area. I currently use S&T 2007, and it makes my life much easier. Based on the reviews, iGuidance sounds like a better choice for turn-by-turn guidance. S&T is good, but requires lots of interaction while in use.

Rick

Marvin;

After traveling around the US on my own for a number of years, I have come to rely on paper maps and as a result having fun getting lost sometimes. However, after getting married, having children and generally getting older (read: deteriorating eyesight), it was time to purchase a gps system for use with my laptop or PDA. Owning one will allow me to continue my love of traveling with the peace of mind knowing I have a travel buddy with me at all times with the family in tow. I know a gps system (with POI) will pay for itself the first time one or all of the kids are whining about being hungry or "they really need to go potty" while tooling around unknown territory.

This is my first foray into the gps world so I have spent countless hours researching gps software which led me to your site. Laptopgpsworld was one of the few that offered a review of the newer iGuidance v4 and as such I am thankful. After reviewing all the major gps software out there (Navigator, Teletype, DeLorme, Garmin, etc), iGuidance seems to have all the features that are important to me: itinerary planning, custom routing, brightly detailed maps, auto day/night display, text to speech, a large POI database (obviously), and good reviews from the professional and end-user community. When I found out it works on both laptops and PDA, that was the icing on the cake!

On a side note, thank you for maintaining this site and iNav for offering this contest. I will end up buying iGuidance even if I don't win, but I would be very grateful if I did!

Thanks.
Spencer

PS - If anyone is wondering why I am not having my wife help navigate instead of relying on gps, it's because she is usually preoccupied with our 5 year old twins and 3 year old when we drive. Only parents can relate to this.

I have an Asus R2H that came with Streets and Trips and I have not liked that as much as Copilot on my Pocket PC, I am looking for a better nav system for a umpc with built in GPS.
Thanks
Jim

I will be purchasing a GPS-enabled ASUS notebook by Xmas and this package would be a welcome addition. Cheers!

Sure would like a shot at trying the inav system. Travel in rv using s&t 2007 thinking about going to 2008. I would like to try the inav program. From the reviews it sounds interesting put my name in the hopper. Great site GREG

I just purchased a Samsung Q1 Ultra from Bestbuy and was wondering if anyone has used Inav 4 on a UMPC?

It seems like a logical solution.

I recently purchased a Mio C310x because of the great price and just in case I didn't like it I could always "unlock it" to install another software on it.

So far, I am not too impressed with the Mio C310x software (hardware is great!). The routing and out of date maps are awful, it tells me to get off and on highways constantly for no apparent reason or do u-turns when it should had told me to do a right turn. It also once told me to dive off an over pass by making a LEFT TURN off the over pass onto the ROAD BELOW instead of following the "long right hand turn circle".

I then found out that there are only U.S. maps from 2006 that I can purchase, and if I install these maps that I will lose my Canadian maps...I live IN CANADA.

I read great reviews about TomTom and IGuidance, TomTom is lacking text to speech but IGuidance 4 has it and newer maps than Tomtom. I also saw that many people have managed to install Iguidance 4 just fine on the Mio C310x.

I hope I win, thanks!

Well this comes along at the perfect time. I have been thinking about adding something other than S&T to my tablet pc for trip planning and navigation. Inav 4 seems like something that would fit in very nicely. I am planning a trip to California soon which would be the perfect opertunity to shake it down. The young lady I will be visiting and I both love to take detours for the pure enjoyment of seeing where we end up. Would be nice to have to get us back on track when we wander.

Sign me up! I'm working on setting my 4x4 rig up with a tablet and GPS software for back country and street nav, this would cover the street part nicely.

Great site! I'm a longtime S&T user, but lack of TTS and poorly-implemented 3D-view have kept me from upgrading to S&T 2008. I've heard that both of these features shine in iGuidance v4.

Wow, now this is weird. I posted a reply here earlier and now it is missing. Either that or I typed it and then forgot to hit post. Serious senior moment. <lol>
Anyway as I said before. This comes at a very interesting time. I am looking at adding something besides S&T to my arsenal of navigation and trip planning tools. Inav 4 looks as though it would do quite nicely. I am planning a trip to California soon to see the the young lady in my life and it would be the perfect way to put it thropugh it's paces. Both she and I like to just point the car in a direction and see what is out there. would be nice to have the advanced gps navigation to get us back on track.
Plus after doing software testing for many years in my work as a manufacturing engineer, I love beating on software and trying to break it. So I figured I mmight as well throw my hat in the ring as it were.

Regards
Keith

This product is not available here in New Zealand. I will shortly be travelling to USA for extended touring and would love the opportunity to try this new product while over there.
I currently use nRoute and i seems to be lacking many features that iGuidance offers so iGuidance would be the icing on the cake for my trip!

My situation is somewhat different from most, so I would be able to really make use of INav 4. My wife and I travel constantly in our RV - we are fulltimers. As Canadians, we travel north of the border in summer and south in the winter. The laptop with attached GPS is indispensable - we just don't use paper maps anymore. Furtehrmore, we need exstensive map coverage from deep south Texas all the way to northern Yukon.

Marvin, I (my wife, really) would be glad to write a review of INav4 from the viewpoint of a right-seat navigator and a full-time user. This is a somewhat different perspective in that the navigator can devote full attention to the software and doesn't have to depend on spoken directions or the like.

Clearly, our situation is different from many, and our experiences will bring something to Laptop GPS World. Remember that I offered the review first!

merci beaucoup

Hi Marvin,
I have been using IGuidance 2.1NA with my IOGear Bluetooth GPS and my Acer laptop for years.
Since I can't find my way out of a paper bag, I consider this app to be invaluable!

All the best.

Marvin,
Thanks so much for the effort you're putting into this community!

GPS is an increasingly useful tool for me, for my wife, and for the people we help.

I use technology to help non-profits make a difference around the world. For example, I have been testing and recommending GPS tools for people who work in India, in China, and got involved in GPS-based mapping during the latest big (Katrina, Tsunami) disasters.

My wife is a naturalist (birder, master gardener, etc); her favorite vacation is to wander around a new place, visit the "birding hot spots" and see what new bird sightings she can collect. I act as tech support for that (and I get to hang out with her in the process.) Lately, I've been trying to use GPS to route us to our destinations.

Together, we've also done some projects. This past summer, we helped update important scientific data on climate by collecting new tree ring "cores" from ancient Bristlecone pines in the Colorado mountains near us. GPS was of huge significance: previous data collections had no GPS data and it took us days to find the right trees. With GPS, I was able to go back to the same place a week later, and take more photos, etc. (See here for some photos of that adventure! We helped another blog win "Best Science Blog of 2007" through that little volunteer project.)

Anyway, why in the world would iGuidance be useful to us? I can't be certain because I've never had a chance to try it (we're on a VERY low budget -- they don't call it "non profit" work for nothing )... but here's some of my experiences, and what I'm hoping for -- and hoping I can then recommend to others...

I. More reliable and usable than MS S&T

We were given a copy of MS S&T, and have muddled along with it. But what a pain! My wife literally refuses to use it when she's acting as "copilot" while we're driving around. I won't go into the usability issues; I'm sure you're aware.

Not only that, but during our mountain tree-data adventure, I took my (tablet) laptop along for the hike to act as a nice big-screen GPS/map. It was VERY frustrating that S&T locked up two or three times. Ended up having to reboot, which ate up a chunk of valuable time (dark coming! Storms coming!) and battery life.

I'm hoping iGuidance will be a usable, reliable navigation system that even my non-tech wife will enjoy.

II. Compatible and Usable on both PC and PPC

I picked up our big Christmas present on black friday -- a Mio 320 for $150. A reasonable navigation GPS I can enjoy using, and will help us on our various adventures. (After Christmas we're heading to Florida where I'll spend a week helping my sweetie find new birds )

It would be fantastic to have the same tool on both my laptop and the Mio -- could find and create favorites together with my wife using the laptop and internet, and then copy them to the Mio and have more or less the same software available when actually going to each place. AND/or use the laptop and Mio at the same time in the "field." (She trudges all over looking for birds while I hold down the fort in the parking lot and/or visitor center, planning out our next steps. Due to some health issues, I have to be careful how far I hike these days.)

Anyway, I like the idea that iGuidance comes in both PC and PPC forms (Palm too? that would be interesting!) I'm hopeful iGuidance is reasonably compatible between versions, and can transfer favorites from PC to PPC. And perhaps back again -- "I found the Scissor-Tailed Hummingbird HERE on US42!"

(You may wonder why use a PC or touch/nav GPS instead of a "hiking GPS" -- those hiking GPS units are a PAIN to use. Too many buttons, hard to enter favorites, tiny tiny screens. And we're not (any longer) backpackers. Birding hikes are just a few hours, and always close to roads, usually right AT a road. Perfect for a PPC.)

III. Less Distracting

Another aspect I'm hoping for that kinda combines the above two elements. When traveling in unfamiliar territory (our birding trips) or dealing with emergencies (disaster relief), the LAST thing you need is to have tools that are hard to use or broken or "fiddly"... because all your attention needs to be on the situation at hand.

I like what you've said in reviews about recommending iGuidance for emergency vehicles. If iGuidance is that usable, seems to me it will be safer to use in our adventures, and a better recommendation for the various emergency response teams we advise.

IV. A great and affordable solution to recommend

Lots of people ask me my opinion about tech-tools. If iGuidance is as good as I'm hearing, I'd love to be able to recommend (and demo) it with confidence. That means I need to own it. But I can't afford to buy it. So, it would be wonderful to have this!

iGuidance looks like just what I need to keep from getting lost!

Hello

I am a user of S & T for many years, 2003 or 04 I don’t remember exactly… The 2008 version is really a great improvement if we compare with the first edition…

iGuidance 4 seems to be very different in his operating way ? I would like to try it ! That will be very interesting to compare…

Salutations

Alain

I believe that this Software will suit my needs. I am extremely bad with directions! , and this will help me a lot (will be installing on a Laptop with a GPS receiver)

I especially like the night-mode, looks like it would be easy on the eyes!

I am new to GPS, so hopefully this is my Solution! Looks like great software!

I am buying Streets and Trips 2008 with GPS, and will see how that is. However, this software looks like it would benefit me more (features, etc.) I will probably use both to compare them, but so far it looks like iGuidance will win the race!

Looks nice, does it come in french?

Toyfountain, that's a good question. Various PNDs (Personal Navigation Devices) based on the same software do indeed offer several languages to select from, but iGuidance 4.0 only comes in English.

This ends the contest. Winners will be announced here in a couple of days, on December 15, 2007, or sooner.

Thanks very much to every one who joined the contest by posting to this thread.

Thanks very much to iNav for donating two copies of iNav iGuidance 4.0 GPS navigation software to members of Laptop GPS World.

A big thanks to all participants: TechnoGuy, Wayne in Red Deer, DJEvergreen, matbat, bradray, kingjimmi, alexsthomas, Hunt, Hobie, gpc, mharrison, frbl, mapitman, dannyka, tasi, Perryman, garygray, edh, kcflyer, pencerc, jgolden, gabe1, glewis, snadboy, MikeTwo, Keith, Tools R Us, dingo99, peejayw, wandrr, tourlousti, bassist, MrPete, Phoenix, nialag, linkinpark9812, and toyfountain, who joined the contest at 11:59 PM, one minute before the contest ended in his time zone .

The two copies of iGuidance 4.0 will go to: wandrr and MrPete.

• wandrr and his wife travel "full-time" in their RV. As Canadians, they travel north of the border in summer and south in the winter. The laptop with attached GPS is indispensable for them - they just don't use paper maps anymore. I think they both will make good use of iGuidance, a software program they haven't tried yet. They suggested they would write a review of it. You don't have to feel obligated to do that, but if you one day do decide to write a review, it will certainly be very much appreciated. This is exactly what this site tries to do - to share user experiences with various PC navigation solutions.

• MrPete and his wife travel a lot for pleasure and also to help various non-profit organisations. They got involved in GPS-based mapping during the latest big (Katrina, Tsunami) disasters. Based on what he writes I think he needs more than one GPS software solution. He should keep the software he already has. He could perhaps consider some topo map for the birding adventures. And his new iGuidance 4 should take care of all the driving they do.

I think iGuidance would be useful to most people who joined the contest.

TechnoGuy mentioned his CarPC project. iGuidance has a great support in CarPC communities. iGuidance is in fact the most popular product among CarPC enthusiasts in USA and Canada, judging by MP3car user forum.

kcflyer, a field service technician with a large geographic area, would love iGuidance going from one customer to another. iGuidance would definitely be a great productivity tool for him.

All the people who mentioned their UMPCs and TabletPCs would most likely love iGuidance, if they drive a lot. iGuidance is finger-friendly (I just wish it had a Qwerty OSK!). iGuidance is excellent even on a small screen. Many people actually use it on tiny PDA screens. I myself used it on my PDA phone on several occasions.

iGuidance 4 can be purchased from iNav website or through several of their distributors. Street price is around $100.

Congratulations to the winners. I just sent both of you a PM to request your mailing address. I will e-mail it to iNav, who will send you your iGuidance 4.0.

A special thanks to Rob Bushway of GottaBeMobile.com for a plug at his site at the beginning of the contest. It noticeably increased the traffic here at this site .

Marvin and iNav, thanks very much! This is a very nice Christmas gift for us. Be assured we will give it a real workout and will definitely report back here. I will PM Marvin with our mailing address. However, if you want to see where we really are, click here Datastorm Users .

Once again, thanks very much!

Congratulations to the winners.

Ed

man... and I missed the free iGuidance contest . I would have posted something about using nameX GPS software for my UMPC in my car, and I crashed because I was too distracted while using it. Thus a search for a simpler and more user-friendly one, and where I found iGuidance through a search on google. BOOOOoooo!!! Sucks... I would have liked a free copy rather than paying... Oh well.

congrats to the winners!!!

Hey, ggtm85, stick around for a while. You never know, there just may be more similar contests at Laptop GPS World in the future

iGuidance 5???

mmmm I wonder when iGuidance 5 is coming out???

I think that will still be a while