Bye Bye IG4......

bambam · 10-15-2007, 10:30 AM

Well, I have hung in there patiently and given IG4 every opportunity to prove itself (because the interface with RR/DigitalFX is so good) but after this last trip we went on, it's time to say goodbye to IG4.

3 times within the past 2 monthz IG4 has screwed up on us and twice, the IG4 screen just locked up (XP was still running fine).

We just returned home from our trip to Southfield MI from Utica NY. On the way back, I wasn't paying attention and missed taking RT 290 West (42.98640N - 78.91260W) so it correctly told me to go continue going S until RT 198W -> 33 W->90N but instead of it telling us to take Thruway I90E, it kept saying to hit 290 which would of taken us in a huge loop around. Making mistakes on small rural roads is one thing but this was a huge mistake. There was only 2 ways to go and it picked the wrong one which would of taken us in the complete opposite direction.

Luckily, I started up Streets and Trips and was able to zoom out to see a very good display of a large area just to validate that I was right and IG4 was wrong.

That was the last draw for us. IG4 has a much better interface for touchscreen but other than that, it can't hold a candle to ST2008. Try zooming out in IG4 to see New York State being displayed CLEARLY so you can see your route. Hell, I can zoom out to see my entire route to MI clearly in ST2008.

As far as I'm concerned, IG4 is gone and ST2008 is in for us. I just need to write some code to make it TS friendly.

Just my $0.02 from real life examples. Hope it helps others out...

greatwhite · 10-15-2007, 11:56 AM

Ooooo.........
Post a pic or two once you get st 2008 done. I'm really interested in how you work it in.

I've always prefered st myself and have made a couple attempts to integrate it, but Ig has always ben an easier integration for me.

Cheers

bambam · 10-15-2007, 12:18 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by greatwhite

Ooooo.........
Post a pic or two once you get st 2008 done. I'm really interested in how you work it in.

I've always prefered st myself and have made a couple attempts to integrate it, but Ig has always ben an easier integration for me.

Cheers

Will do. It's been awhile since I coded in VB6 but I'm going to get back into it and write modules for S&T. I was looking at S&T Keys and into his code for a helpful starting point (you can decompile the 'exe').

S&T Keys

lostreception · 10-15-2007, 01:45 PM

i had a similar problem with ig but i think it was because i didnt have the route set to major
it was set to quickest and it considers cutting though towns apparently quicker sometimes because it assumes NO TRAFFIC. what setting did u have route on

bambam · 10-15-2007, 03:17 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by lostreception

i had a similar problem with ig but i think it was because i didnt have the route set to major
it was set to quickest and it considers cutting though towns apparently quicker sometimes because it assumes NO TRAFFIC. what setting did u have route on

Mine was set to quickest also. Like I said, making a mistake on small town roads is one thing but this was a decision between two major highways, NO smaller roads involved at all. IG4 wanted us to take 290 N which would of added at least another hour. Ironically, IG4's suggestion would of had us drive right by I90 on our right! LOL! Major, major screwup which was the last draw.

Marvin Hlavac · 10-15-2007, 06:30 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by bambam

Will do. It's been awhile since I coded in VB6 but I'm going to get back into it and write modules for S&T. I was looking at S&T Keys and into his code for a helpful starting point (you can decompile the 'exe').

S&T Keys

Actually the newest AutoIt version no longer decompiles EXE's :-). So I decided to upload source code for those who wish to use it. The new "home" for S&T Keys is a new site I just started a week ago

www.laptopgpsworld.com/keys

Enjoy!

bambam · 10-15-2007, 08:16 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by Marvin Hlavac

Actually the newest AutoIt version no longer decompiles EXE's :-). So I decided to upload source code for those who wish to use it. The new "home" for S&T Keys is a new site I just started a week ago

www.laptopgpsworld.com/keys

Enjoy!

Thank you Marvin. Your S&T Keys is really nice work...I'm looking forward to "learning" from your code...

Snortonnorton · 10-15-2007, 09:49 PM

I guidance also fuc*ed me pretty bad a few weeks ago. (and during a FIRST date with someone.) thank god I knew myself how to reroute my trip and knew a general direction.

what's weird is that was the only time iguidance was wrong. (it thought twice that there were two exits on a highway which had none there)

Snortonnorton · 10-15-2007, 09:50 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by lostreception

i had a similar problem with ig but i think it was because i didnt have the route set to major
it was set to quickest and it considers cutting though towns apparently quicker sometimes because it assumes NO TRAFFIC. what setting did u have route on

how do you set route to "major" and not quickest?

can I do this with IG 3?

nst6563 · 10-15-2007, 10:05 PM

To set the route type, go to the menu in iG, settings, and route. there you should have a selection. At least I think that's the location, I'm not in the car and don't have iG on my pc at home.

anyway, I'd be interested in seeing S&T integrated nicely like iG as well. Too bad M$ just doesn't make a umpc touchscreen friendly version. The last thing I want in the front of my car is a keyboard (even though I do have a small PS2 usb keyboard in the glovebox just in case).

bambam · 10-16-2007, 08:39 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by Snortonnorton

how do you set route to "major" and not quickest?

can I do this with IG 3?

I don't have IG3 anymore but in IG4 it's

Menu -> Settings -> Route Options -> Major

Snortonnorton · 10-16-2007, 11:34 AM

bam, how are you going to get street atlas or the microsoft gps software to display on a small 7 inch screen?

bambam · 10-17-2007, 12:00 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by Snortonnorton

bam, how are you going to get street atlas or the microsoft gps software to display on a small 7 inch screen?

I'm going to make sure it works at a minimum on an 800x600 screen. I'm not going to try to tackle anything less than that.
It's just like when designing a project at work...you spec out the minimum requirements and if people want to use it, they must meet them. If not, you can't. I know it sounds harsh but you have to draw a line somewhere.

For me, I want to design this along the lines of what Marvin did with his S&T Keys (nice program BTW). It would be great to have it run "full screen" with an embedded menu button to display/undisplay the frontend (in my case, DigitalFX) buttons. When I am in GPS mode, I love being able to use full screen like I currently can with IG.

On a side note, I completely forgot about Mappoint being "built in" to RR. I'm sure MP2008 should be out relatively soon. Maybe I should look at the current app and see if it can just be altered to fit my needs.

Either way, I hope to get on this soon....thanks

Snortonnorton · 10-17-2007, 12:04 PM

impressive challenge. all the best luck to you. Where do you guys learn to work on software like that?

also, why hell doesn't street atlas and the microsoft one just have a PDA/touchscreen friendly option built in to the software, wouldn't that increase sales?

Marvin Hlavac · 10-17-2007, 12:17 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by bambam

I'm going to make sure it works at a minimum on an 800x600 screen. I'm not going to try to tackle anything less than that.
It's just like when designing a project at work...you spec out the minimum requirements and if people want to use it, they must meet them. If not, you can't. I know it sounds harsh but you have to draw a line somewhere.

As far as I know the minimum system requirement of Streets & Trips is 800x600, so do not feel bad about your application limitting users to 800x600