Best WinXP GPS Software for the US??

**god_of_cpu** · 01-13-2005, 06:39 PM

Canada yes, UK definilty not with the initial release, but probably within a couple months after that. There will be 2 different versions and only 2 versions. Final price is yet to be determined but fully loaded NAV enabled version will be <$300, everthing else but NAV <$100.

You will definitly need a 3D card to run it, embedded GeForce4 MX runs it quite nicelyat 60 fps. The faster the card the better though.

**viguera** · 01-13-2005, 08:22 PM

Originally Posted by dano

Thanks for the quick replies!

Some more info on my dream WinXP-based GPS navigation system. Touchscreen is a must, "Starbucks locator" is a must (by this I mean some sort of yellow pages application with good data), turn-by-turn navigation is a must, and voice prompts are a must. I really don't care about traffic or construction information.

So you basically want everything...

I'm not sure if there's something that will do everything and still be easy to use. MS Streets and Street Atlas are definitely out, since they're not TS-friendly. AutoTouch uses an ActiveX control to talk to MapPoint, but I haven't played with it to tell you that it (MapPoint) is any good. At $300, it's also an expensive experiment to find out that it doesn't...

MS Streets doesn't have voice prompts or VR for navigation, but Street Atlas does. Not that it matters since they're out because they don't meet your "touchscreen" requirement. However, just about any other software that you find on the "supporting software" section will do one or both of those. Sprinkle some NaviVoice in there and you should be good to go.

The Ninja Monkey Destinator business is good... but depending on which way you go, the maps can be pricey. Some people have acquired them through... "different" methods, but AFAIK the "Starbucks Locator" function is MIA. There is some POI functionality in it, but I'd imagine that if you want to do something like telling it to "find the closest Chinese restaurant", it's not gonna work out of the box. The best part about the software is that there's an SDK though... and the latest beta has some interesting plug-ins, so it's certainly do-able with some work. Whether or not you wanna go that route is up to you.

I haven't played with Routis or iGuidance to tell you that they would be any better. Someone else might chip in and let you know. What I'd suggest is that you get a hold of that demo that comes with the maps for like $15 and try Ninja Monkey's version and see. You can try the interface using that Florence map that it comes with anyway -- even if you're not in Florence, at least you can mess with the GUI and see how you like it.

**Camryputer** · 01-13-2005, 08:53 PM

I use Street Atlas 2005 (Delorme.com). I got the s/w and gps receiver for ~$100 on ebay. It works fine - touch and all. Some of the tab navigation is a little messy, but you can't beat the price.http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/newr...te=1&p=352857#
Smilie

**viguera** · 01-13-2005, 11:11 PM

Originally Posted by Camryputer

I use Street Atlas 2005 (Delorme.com). I got the s/w and gps receiver for ~$100 on ebay. It works fine - touch and all. Some of the tab navigation is a little messy, but you can't beat the price.
Smilie

Well I have 2k4, so maybe they improved on it. I know I got it after the MS software because of the voice prompts and the VR. I think that the map display and POI integration are much better, but I can't imagine using this on anything but a 10" touchscreen... at least...

Did they add an OSK to the new version or does it behave well with the ones from other software? My main gripe with it in the car is that you need to type and interact with tiny controls... I can't imagine how hard this would be to use on anything smaller than a 10" screen...

**fantomas** · 01-13-2005, 11:32 PM

i use and love iGuidance 2.0

**0l33l** · 01-14-2005, 12:10 AM

Originally Posted by fantomas

i use and love iGuidance 2.0

I'm also liking D3 by Ninja Monkey, but I resent that the pocket pc has more features and bugfixes

**dano** · 01-14-2005, 04:03 PM

Awesome feedback folks... thanks again!

BTW, CoPilot Live | Laptop 8 might work for me... don't know how it is going to look on a 7" touchscreen however.

**bridqer** · 01-15-2005, 12:39 AM

Copilot works fine on a 7" screen unless you are running the 800x480 resolution, then dialogue boxes are too tall for the screen and buttons cutoff. But I have been hounding the copilot alk guys about making the GUI 800x480 friendly and they might support it in the next release. The more people emailing about supporting the resolution the better.

**nsmoller** · 01-16-2005, 06:59 AM

i have nroute with garmin

i have no idea how it will work on my carputer as it isnt done yet, but its freakin awesome

voice prompting

rerouting

the whole 9

**LATEOTT** · 01-17-2005, 03:32 PM

I am also interested in the topic because what I have is not so great.

I'm currently using MS MapPoint with the AGPS add-in:LINK

AGPS adds significant functionality (turn by turn voice prompts, etc.) but the combination is still a PITA when interacting with POI's (Starbucks, in your example.) I have not tried a touchscreen interface so I don't know what would happen there.

I would love to have more navigation tools (Better speed/heading/etc. interface), more trip options (Mileage remaining, time remaining, time to the next gas station or Starbucks, etc.) It could be that those are available to some extent, but I just haven't figured them out.

Streets and Trips is even less good. The GPS options are there, just very, very limited.

MapPoint itself strikes me as a wonderful, powerful (expensive) program. I just wish I could use it for something...

Seriously the maps are great, but it's kind of like having MapQuest or Yahoo Maps on your PC. Cool, but I just wish I could USE those maps a little better.

It would be great to use the map resources in a different application, like Destinator 3D.