delorme software replacement?

fortressgame · 10-04-2005, 12:58 AM

my carputer was installed with delorme usb and Streets and Maps, the delorme software.

it's really bad software. i mean for a touchscreen, its ridiculous. the interface is really a jumble of buttons, no consistent design or anything.

can i replace the software with other gps software even though i have the delorme hardware?

what are the other software options - i need it to read turns to me, and have a database of points of interest. pretty basic really. but ideally could be operated by touch.

fixerofallthing · 10-04-2005, 09:46 PM

iGuidance is what I use. The Delorme site has a usb to serial software. I have the delorme hardware and it works great with the emulator. iGuidance is the best GPS software around. The 3d mode is awesome.

Pokey · 10-05-2005, 04:54 AM

I started out with Delorme also, now i use iguidance, what a welcome. Delorme seems to be developed with a desktop in mind, too many features in a too small of a format. Iguidance on the other hand had car navigation in mind when being developed. Delorme wants a starting place to be keyed in, where Iguidance uses the current GPS location and gives voice direction, most of the time i dont even need to look at the screen, i just follow the female voice... (I think the significant other is jelous tho... she always says "sure.. you'll listen to her and not me.."

of couse I say... But Honey, She's right

)

smkaplan · 10-30-2005, 11:09 PM

It's great software, and I like the voice navigation better than any I've used (including iGuidance and s&t 2006) because it actually tells you what street you're turning onto. Of course I run a laptop on a stand with a 15" screen. I can't imagine how it would be usable on a 7 inch touchscreen. On the other hand, if you can get your route entered and get yourself on the road, the voice nav would be worth a little extra hassle.

Marvin Hlavac · 10-31-2005, 05:45 AM

Hi Smkaplan,

Do you feel that you are benefiting by the software telling you the street names even when travelling in areas where you are not familiar with street names yourself? I can see how I could perhaps occasionally benefit a little bit by the software reading me a street name if I happen to know the street, but if I'm not familiar with the street name myself I would need to slow down and look visually for street name signs and that could be tricky at night, during rain, rusted or missing signs, etc.

Also the reading of street names adds to the length of the voice direction prompt. I like it short and to the point. Tell me WHEN and WHERE to turn, for example "Left in X feet/meters". After a while users become good at judging distance ;-)

john1701 · 10-31-2005, 07:49 AM

i too switched from delorme to iguidance. Much much better. Iguidance is very accurate. So far, I still have not found any problems with iguidance. With delorme, the list is too long to post. Stay away from delorme.

neon_eddy · 10-31-2005, 08:48 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by Pokey

i just follow the female voice... (I think the significant other is jelous tho... she always says "sure.. you'll listen to her and not me.."

of couse I say... But Honey, She's right

)

thats so true.

also.. all your gps are belong to iguidance

QuickCarl · 10-31-2005, 12:38 PM

I started with Delorme's Street Atlas - using their receiver with CoPilot 8 right now.

Just purchased a BU-353 to replace the Earthamte (couldn't get good locks consistently.

I love CoPilot - Street Atlas is made for a laptop, not a CarPC. JMO-Carl

MobiTekLink · 11-01-2005, 12:07 PM

Just wondering how u like Co-Pilot8, not many people using it here but I was wondering how u liked it??!!

techy101 · 11-01-2005, 01:56 PM

I switched from Delorme a long time ago to FreeDrive. I keep the updated version of Delorme around for very long road trips (cross-country) and for the POI database, because it's a brizillion times better than the Destinator one, and I'm guessing the iGuidance one. But for day to day driving I wouldn't dare use Street Atlas.

djXternal · 11-01-2005, 02:03 PM

I used MapMonkey at first with my delorme receiver, but just recently switched to iguidance, havent been able to street test it yet, but i got good locks from the window in my room, and the install was extremely easy

QuickCarl · 11-01-2005, 03:35 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by MobiTekLink

Just wondering how u like Co-Pilot8, not many people using it here but I was wondering how u liked it??!!

As I said, I love it. The routing is great (almost always the very best route) no input of starting point. Saves your current positions to favorites if you like. V8 has 3D view (which I think is overrated by everyone who does it). It will instantly reroute you if you decide to go a different way.

Only problems I have had are that it doesn't seem to like to let me "unhide" the taskbar if I have it autohidden... so I have to keep the taskbar alive so that I can switch back and forth from GPS to FrodoPlayer.

Haven't tried it yet with FP 1.10, so I don't know if it will embed or not. Now it offers prerecorded voices for turn prompts, which I find much nicer than the text-to-speech engine.

The POI DB is huge, and it now seems to have all the streets that I was missing in V7... (Atlanta is a pretty fast growing place ya know). It will import contacts addresses straight from Outlook, but I don't run outlook on my CarPC so that is no matter.

Haven't tested the "Live" feature... looks cool but not sure that I will ever get to that... well maybe when WiMax is deployed.

Please excuse any typos or mispellings, my computer needs a transplant and is running like a 455 KHz 8086 right now...

chuckster · 11-03-2005, 11:53 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by QuickCarl

Only problems I have had are that it doesn't seem to like to let me "unhide" the taskbar if I have it autohidden... so I have to keep the taskbar alive so that I can switch back and forth from GPS to FrodoPlayer.

Have you tried the ALT-TAB program XBrady has http://www.mp3car.biz/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=38823? I used this program when I was trying out CP8. It's a great little app for switching between running applications.

Chuck

pip · 11-06-2005, 09:46 AM

I've been using CoPilot7, but was rather annoyed that software that is SO expensive has NO updades or upgrade path. The maps in my local area are woefully innaccurate and 2 years out of date. I'm going to switch to iGuidance which looks as good, has customization available on this forum and seems to have more accurate maps. Plus, for the price of CoPilot I can get three iGuidances.

Marvin Hlavac · 11-06-2005, 10:07 AM

2 years out of date is not bad ;-) You will not find anything more recent, really. In my experience all we can hope for these days is 2 to 3 years old maps.