iNav iGuidance 4 vs. MS Streets & Trips 2008

I am a previous user of Microsoft Streets and Trips 2008, 2004 and 2003. Current version of S&T 2008 on laptop will not startup due to some Microsoft issues that may or may not be resolved. I am looking to transition to another product and iGuidance 4.0 looks promising. I have not seen a side by side or feature to feature comparison of these products / versions. I only know from previous posts that what one does good the other does poorly. Could someone point me in the right direction for a feature comparison before I make the jump. Any info would be helpful.

Steve, ha ha, "What one does good the other does poorly" is actually a very good statement! I hope other users familiar with both, Streets & Trips and iGuidance, will give you their take on this. Here's my 2 cents worth: S&T is excellent if you need to modify the route the program generates for you. For example an operator of a large vehicle would have a need to avoid specific roads, and S&T would allow for that quite easily by using avoid area tool. iGuidance doesn't let you modify your route as easily. Yes, you can add a few intermediate stops along the road you wish to take, but that is not as quick as doing the same in Streets & Trips.

You would like iGuidance if you don't care much about modifying a route, if you are like me: I just want to type my destination address, and hit the enter key, and drive. If I think I know a better way, then I just ignore iGuidance and I drive my way. iGuidance will eventually catch up with me. It recalculates fast.

Ask more specific questions, I (and others) will try to answer. How do you normally use S&T, etc.

Marvin,
Thanks for your thoughts and the quick turnaround. I do like to mod the specific Streets & Trips route but IF I can add intermediate stops in iNAV iGuidance at route planning (before driving) time frame, this would be ok for me.
Does iNAV allow more than the single destination on a specific route? My trips are mostly broken down into segments going from point A to B but I will add two to three points to force a direction of route instead of dragging S&T route method. I know the pitfalls of using this approach in S&T but was concerned that iNAV only likes going from a point to another point route. Any thoughts on this?
Another feather of S&T that I like is the ability to see a full page map with various zoom features which can be read at several zoom levels. I tend to make route changes based on radio traffic calls and using the laptop screen allows better awareness of my options and then I let the GPS route cal catch up to the direction I have chosen.
I would have already tried the trial version of iGuidance 4 but too impatient to wait for a DVD to be shipped, I would have loved to try a download of their program and then ordered the activation code over the phone or email!
It appears to me that iNAV offers many of the features that I use and like from S&T but I did not want handheld GPS capability features running on my laptop without the advantages of the laptop screen and map capabilities of S&T. Since you are very familiar with both, I was hoping that iNAV offers many of the S&T features that I use everyday and accept that I can not do major trip planning (which I do not do that often). Single day trips from points A to B with route mods (via intermediate points) done before I leave and route changes via map view (due to congestion) is my majority of use. Any thoughts concerning my specific usage?

There may be one thing that you may dislike about attempting to modify a route by using intermediate stops. You will not be able to see the whole trip in one piece like you are used to in Streets & Trips. You will only see one segment at a time. This personally never bothered me, because as mentioned earlier I don't care much about modifying my route. But I'm mentioning it here because I can see how big of an issue this may potentially be to other users. If you plan a route from A to B to C to D, and when you zoom out you will only see the segment from A to B, or from your GPS position to B. The rest of the route will just simply not be drawn on the map yet. When you reach B, iGuidance will ask you if you wish to continue to C at this time. When you click or tap "Yes", then the segment between your GPS position and C will be plotted. Coming from Streets & Trips, you may find this one feature a bit limiting. Some users will not mind at all, and for some it may be a show stopper. It all depends on how one uses GPS navigation.

On the other hand, the experience during the actual driving will most likely be a much much more positive than using Streets & Trips. There will not be the need to place a myriad of check-marks into GPS Task pane before you can start driving. You just start the program, type in the address, and you are ready to go. iGuidance was designed to be used in conjunction with a touch screen, but the makers of the program thought of the keyboard users, too. iGuidance has several useful keyboard shortcuts. A tap on UpArrow or DownArrow keys very intuitively changes zoom level. Hit 3-key to toggle 3D-view, press N-key to toggle North-up / Heading-up. Hit M-key to mute, etc, etc. More keyboard shortcuts can be added with iGkeys.

You mention you like to look at the screen while driving, and based on traffic conditions you decide if to take an alternative route. Yes, that's easily done with iGuidance. I normally drive in 3D-view, but if I wish to see an alternative route, I just switch to 2D-view and perhaps change the map zoom level, too. That way I can visually guess where an alternative route may be.