Thread: Same old GPS software search

Originally Posted by backpack09

I have been searching here threw the archives for about 3 hours now and not found what I need.

Here is what I want:
decent GPS software
will work with this http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...&category=4668 reciever I already own.
voice recognition
voice directions
must work in the US

I currently use Streets&Trips and it is such a pain in the butt to pull out my keyboard everytime I want to use my GPS software, that i rarely ever use it.

i have heard alot about the destinatorV2 software, but cannot seem to find a decent price for it in the US (cant understand paying full price for something that is going to be old tech at the end of the year)

i also have heard a little about mappoint. but not enough either way to base a decision on it.

Anyone in the states want to give me a hand here?

Thanks,
Dan Gagne

Not sure about the voice recognition, but I've heard some good things about Routis 2004 and I see that its bundled with your gps receiver at delou and it's only $89. I'm using destinator 2 and think it does a pretty decent job. I've heard some good things about Mappoint with AGPS plugin.

it costs $10 and basically reads out the directions that mappoint generates, at the same time as giving you arrows and distances to your next turning. i've tried it and it looks pretty good!

Here's a detailed response I got to a similar question in one of the gps newsgroups. Basically it says Routis is still far better than Mappoint even with the AGPS plugin. I asked about Mappoint, Routis, Destinator and CoPilot.

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Out of the four you mentioned I have experience with two. I have used MS
MapPoint for over a year on a daily basis. A few weeks ago I switched to
Routis. Here are some of my observations:

To use MapPoint in a vehicle as an GPS navigation tool effectively, one
needs a plug-in called AGPS (or similar). AGPS is only $10 and it adds a lot
of functionality to MP for example it keeps the GPS icon centred in the map,
it changes the icon to an arrow pointing the direction of travel, it
constantly recalculates estimated time of arrival, it gives you voice
prompts etc.

However, MS MapPoint was never designed to be software for GPS navigation
system and eventhough AGPS add-on makes it one there are far superior
products on the market that were specifically designed for this purpose.
Still. MP is an excellent piece of software.

If you live in the US you may have greater selection than me in Canada.
Routis is one software that does cover my area and I started to use it just
very recently. With MP still after more than a year I would occasionally
make a left instead of a right turn and vice versa when traveling in a
direction other then north. In MP top is north. In Routis top can either be
north or it can be the direction of travel, your choice. When the second
choice is selected, the map rotates when you turn, so the direction you are
heading is on the top of your monitor. With Routis you can also turn on
3D-View which will display the map the way you could see the road ahead of
you if you were flying in an airplane. The roads closer to you will appear
larger and the far away streets smaller. In effect you can see more of the
map in the same size screen and it also looks more natural.

Just these two features alone, rotating map and 3d-view, made me instantly
stop using MS MapPoint and go with Routis. Another feature worth mentioning
is voice prompts. MS MapPoint with AGPS add-on does give you voice prompts
but the computer generated voice is at times difficult to understand and not
very attractive. At times the voice prompt is way too long if there are two
or three turns to be made one after another. You do have to watch the map
and you cannot rely only on what you hear. Routis on the other hand uses a
recorded real human voice and the prompts are short and to the point. I have
used it a few times with monitor off and it is possible to drive like that.

Another neat feature of Routis is that it changes color scheme. Dark at
night and bright during the day. You don't even have to change it yourself,
it is automated. The software calculates the time of sunrise and sunset in
your area and in the morning before sunrise, when in 3d-view, the color of
horizon will slowly change from black to light blue and exactly at sunrise
the map itself will change color from dark blue to soft yellow. Very neat,
perhaps in the future the software could calculate position of the sun and
it could display it as well when traveling toward it :-)

One thing to know about Routis is that you will see nothing but the road
network. No parks, no lakes, no rail roads, no rivers. But that is really
all you need to get from point A to point B. You do have some POI's (points
of interest) there but I turned that off. MapPoint does have larger database
of POI's, on the map you will see lakes, rivers, golf courses, parks, rail
roads etc, just like a regular printed map. I truly wish Microsoft could one
day make a GPS navigation software out of it but I suspect that may not
happen (soon, anyway).

--
Regards,
Marvin Hlavac
Toronto, Canada