Laptop GPS World

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!

__________________
Arnie
Software:
MS S&T 2008
Garmin nRoute 2.7.6
iNav iGuidance 4.0
Franson GPSGate 2.6
Hardware:
Thinkpad T60p
Microsoft (Pharos) GPS
Garmin eMap GPSMap60C

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.

__________________
Marvin Hlavac

Laptop GPS software reviews | Stores offering discounts to our members: Semsons & Co. Inc. and Deluo Electronics

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. Members of Laptop GPS World qualify for 10% discount when buying iGuidance, or any other laptop GPS software, at Semsons.com. Feel free to get your free discount coupons any time you need them.

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 Hlavac

Laptop GPS software reviews | Stores offering discounts to our members: Semsons & Co. Inc. and Deluo Electronics

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!

__________________
Arnie
Software:
MS S&T 2008
Garmin nRoute 2.7.6
iNav iGuidance 4.0
Franson GPSGate 2.6
Hardware:
Thinkpad T60p
Microsoft (Pharos) GPS
Garmin eMap GPSMap60C

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

__________________
Marvin Hlavac

Laptop GPS software reviews | Stores offering discounts to our members: Semsons & Co. Inc. and Deluo Electronics