Questions about Touch Screen Laptops/Tablets

So still new at this and have some questions. If I were to get a laptop with a touch screen does it do anything with the GPS programs out there (can I actually use the touch screen to navigate through the GPS functions or do they only work with a keyboard)? Sorry, not sure if that's a dumb question. I know absolutely nothing about the touch screens and barely now anything about plain old laptops. Are there advantages to having the touch screen? Thanks for the help and input.

Navigation programs are changing their interfaces to be more touch screen friendly. Bigger buttons on screen for the main functions make them easier to operate with a finger. Probably the top ones in North America are Garmin Mobile PC and iNav iGuidance 2009. Microsoft Streets & Trips is moving in the same direction as is Delorme Street Atlas 2009. Read the reviews on this site to get a better idea.

Terry

Take a look at Streetdeck. It's designed to work 100% as a touch screen interface. The mapping is great on it (NavTeq) and it will do a lot more than just the GPS part. Plus the price is very good on it - $99 for the program with North American navigation.

I used it when I was driving truck and absolutely loved it. I had my laptop in the back (sleeper) of the truck, with a 7" touchscreen mounted to my sunvisor.

Edit: I was just reading the forums about StreetDeck. They're supposed to be adding European routing to the program this summer.

I have Panasonic Toughbook CF-30. After using a touchscreen laptop, I can't go back to a normal one!

Garmin MobilePC and iGuidance have touchscreen-friendly controls. Moblie PC is essentially their PND GUI enlarged to fit your laptop screen. With all the products you're able to scroll around the map by dragging your finger across the screen. However, only Mobile PC and iGuidance have dedicated on-screen keyboards for address entry.

A slight correction: iGuidance does have it's own keyboard, but the current version of Garmin Mobile PC (as of today, June 23, 2009) still doesn't have a keyboard for destination address entry. You have to use the on-screen keyboard that comes with MS Windows, or use a 3rd party OSK, or a hardware keyboard.

I sure hope Garmin will add an optional OSK into Mobile PC in a future version of the program.

StreetDeck and Centrafuse are 2 other full screen touch friendly applications with their own on-screen keyboards. Another one is ALK's CoPilot.