Hey guys,

So in my other thread I stated how I was just starting out with this whole Laptop GPS thing (which is really awesome).

Now I was wondering what software you guys recommend?

I live in Canada. I want the software to be able to talk to me (i.e turn left at bob rd. Not turn left in 500 ft.)..and that's all I know so far.

Have been looking through the software list and they all look amazing.... :P

Hi DefconZero, and welcome to the forums. You came to the right place. Here we have a list of GPS software for laptop. I think most programs nowadays will pronounce street name, even though in my humble opinion this feature has been overrated. In real life users learn rather quickly how to estimate the distance given by GPS. Street names may not be of much value sometimes, unless we are familiar with the area, or we can spot a street name sign on the corner of a street.

And that's my problem with the whole text-to-speech thing. I can't spot the street signs until I'm close enough that it's often too late to make the turn, especially at night. I tried it for a little bit and went straight back to 'turn left in 500 metres'.

...ken...

Alright, makes sense . But as long as it speaks to me I'm happy. I looked through and the iGuidance seems really neat!

Is there anything this program doesn't have that another does? Cuz it seems it's pretty much perfect. It's PRETTY too!

I like iGuidance, too. A limitation of the software is that currently there is only the North American version available, covering USA/Canada. No coverage of other parts of the world. :-(

Well I guess that is fine :P. I don't plan on taking my car outside of NA within the next year XD, but yes I can see how that can pose a problem.

Have you run into any problems with it? Anything you dislike? Anything you wish they would add? Is it comparable to another software, or is it that good?

iGuidance looks very nice on a large screen of a laptop. There isn't much there to dislike. You may look through user feedback in our iGuidance forum to get a better feel for the software.

There's plenty to dislike about iGuidance, even though it is a nice piece of software. The ability to add your own POI's is the main problem.

And this includes....

Sorry if I seem dumb but saying *oh there's lots to hate* doesn't tell me anything.

It is a little light in its built-in POI database and adding favourites (you own POIs) is non-intuitive if not downright difficult. It is very touch screen friendly though.

Make sure you check out Garmin Mobile PC too. And Microsoft Streets & Trips has a free 90 day trial - you can't beat that.

Terry

The current version of iGuidance 2009 actually has 6 million POIs built-in, which is quite a lot, but yes, there is no way to add custom POIs, if one is interested in such functionality.

I tried out S&T and is it just me or does it look like it was made on Win 95? Not that I'm hating on it but it just doesn't have the *pretty* effect most newer GPS systems give you.

Will try out the Garmin stuff a little later, any others that are worth giving a look?

If you think S&T 2009 looks old-fashioned, you should see what S&T 2008 looked like. In fact, the predecessor to S&T dates back to the late 1980s, when Windows was at version 2.0.

It does have a full-screen navigation mode that looks a little better than the map mode. However, S&T's real forte is in trip-planning, because it started life as a trip-planning program, without GPS navigation features.

A favored combination on this board seems to be S&T for trip-planning, and iGuidance for navigation. But if you just need to get from point A to point B, you probably don't need S&T. (Given the relative pricing, though, it's not much of an investment for the additional functionality ...)

Hi all,

This is my first post to these forums...and did not want to start a new thread unnecessarily.

I, too, am looking for a laptop navigation software. Actually the machine I have is a 8.9" netbook with touchscreen capabilities: Kohjinsha SX3 running XP Home (Z520 1.33 GHz Atom Processor). I also have a Holux M-1200 Bluetooth GPS receiver that I would like to use it with the GPS software of choice. And here comes my dilemma: which of the numerous packages do I go with?

I was originally considering only Garmin Mobile PC but after seeing that there are other capable navigation packages I am not sure anymore.

Here are my choices, as I see them right now:

1. Garmin Mobile PC - used to have a Nuvi 755T, liked it but returned it because it was TOO expensive. Do not like the restrictions Garmin put on the software only version.

2. DeLorme Street Atlas Plus 2009 - for $70 they also throw in a BT receiver. Does it have FULL navigation, re-routing, etc?

3. iGuidance 2009 - more expensive but promising. I like it very much but I do not know enough about it.

4. Mapfactor PC Navigator 8 - I like it but not very comfortable ordering from Check Republic and paying only in Czech Koronas (anybody cares to ease my concerns?)

5. MS Streets and Trips 2009 - not very fond of it as it does not seem to have top notch navigation capabilities. Also, not sure if it works with my GPS receiver.

My requirements are:
- GPS navigation (spoken street names not a must)
- to work with my Holux M-1200 GPS receiver
- touch screen friendly
- allow for easy map zooming (in and out) and support resolution of 1280 x 768 (or around that)
- USA + Canada maps
- availabiltiy of Europe maps (especially Eastern Europe) a plus but not a must

I live in the Detroit area.

Any help in choosing a GPS navigation software for my new toy netbook is highly appreciated. Please chime in with your suggestions or even strong opinions.

Thanks,
Mircea

reply to MY reply ... I just came across StreetDeck 2 and I find it amazing, at least based on the youtube video. Did anybody here try it? It might just be what I am looking for.

I looked at StreetDeck for a short time. Mapping looked ok but hung up my UMPC a couple of times. I was not interested in any of the other front-end features.

Navigator8 is fine on a small screen and has some nice features but seemed rather expensive for what it offered. The menu is somewhat confusing and it only searches by city first. Also it uses TeleAtlas maps which are not quite as good as Navteq in North America. All the other products mentioned (except Delorme) use Navteq.

Hard to add favourites to iGuidance but it is good with a touch screen as is Mobile PC. What is wrong with Mobile PC besides it limitation to one computer?

Your Holux will work with any of these navigation programs including Streets & Trips when used in Bluetooth mode.

Terry

Terry,

Thanks a lot for your reply. I just tried MS Streets and Maps 2009 on both Vista and XP. Could not connect to the M-1200 in Vista but it worked fine in XP. I do not like it! Too complicated for car navigation, I will probably go back to my original idea: Garmin Mobile PC. Or maybe try StreetDeck 2. I like the cool "gestures". Not sure how their navigation software is.

Thanks,
Mircea

Streetdeck does offer a free download including the navigation to try. You can see if it meets your requirements.

Terry

I finally was able to give StreetDeck 2 a try and it's out. After a painful download (1.6+ GB) and install (20 minutes+) of the 30 day trial version, I wasn't too pleased when in the middle of trying to figure out how it works and how to connect to my GPS receiver, it just exited on me. Apparently the trial version can only run up to 15 minutes, then it shuts down and you need to restart it. That aside, there is nothing really to write home about regarding StreetDeck 2. So, I will most likely go with Garmin Mobile PC.

Thanks again for your input.

StreetDeck is mainly a front end program. This would allow you to access other features such as Satellite radio directly from the StreetDeck interface. I believe this is its strength but those features did not interest me. It is nice that a download including navigation is available for testing though, no matter what the limitations.

I hope you are satisfied with Mobile PC. It is one of my favourites but I am biased. I have acquired and used many Garmin products over the years so am comfortable with them. I used to do all my setup and printing with Steets & Trips though.

Terry

Yeah, unless you need a front end software to integrate a few applications (mp3-player, gps, phone, radio,etc), you may be better off without an application like StreetDeck. StreetDeck does serve a purpose in the CarPC market, but for the rest of us it is better to run our applications without it.

Marvin/Terry,

As I read my previous posts I realize they are little on the negative side...just frustration talking, nothing against these fine software packages. Anyway I will be ordering Garmin Mobile PC (software only) soon and return with my impressions.

Hi again,

Got my Garmin Mobile PC and I love it. It worked like a charm right off the bat with my Holux M-1200 receiver, no problem. I did not have a chance to test it while driving but I am sure it's going to be just fine. Now I need a car mount and charger. I was looking into Duracell PowerSource Mobile 100 and it seems like a fine choice. However, the price is kind of steep and it's the same as Xandrex PowerSource which is available at Amazon for $30. I also like the fact that it has a battery that could be used as a backup just in case. Any thoughts or suggestions? I need something to work with my Kohjinsha SX3 and I am not if I can trust the 'universal' car charger. I could not find the specifications for the charger tip (I am not even sure if they are standardized). All I know is that the tip is smaller than the Dell tip (about the size).

Thanks,
Mircea