BU-353 + iGuidance review

RedGTiVR6 · 04-27-2006, 04:48 PM

I know that there have been some reviews on here already for this combo, but I figured I would give one of my own.

I plugged in the BU-353 reciever and within about 4 seconds, I was locked onto 10 of 11 satelites....all while inside my garage.

The accuracy of this unit compared to the POS delorme that I had 2+ years ago is amazing. Being able to be accurate enough to tell when your on the feeder or the freeway is pretty damn good IMO, and this unit has that ability.

iGuidance is wonderful as well. It will recalculate directions pretty darn quick and has yet to fail me (other than being of my own fault for putting in the wrong address...hehe).

The ability to choose local, quickest, shortest, or major for route directions takes a bit of getting used to. I had to remember for a while that if it's not giving me the directions that make the most sense, I should check these settings.

Using the program while driving is pretty darn simple as well. Very touch screen friendly to say the least. Now I just need a car with suspension that's more plush, so I don't go clicking places where I didn't mean to.

Anywho, I know that when I was considering this set-up, i searched for reviews and there were only a handful. So I just wanted to add to the list.

It's got my stamp of approval!

elemeno0pee · 04-27-2006, 09:05 PM

I have this same setup too, as of yesterday.

I agree that the receiver is great and locks on to many satellites with ease. I too, used to have the old Delorme as well. It was horrible. iGuidance however has been pretty weird. I searched through the restaurants and found a place that I love to go to, and didn't expect it to be in there. So I set it up to give me directions there, and I followed them. When I got there it had me taking a pointless U-Turn at the end, which is okay I guess... but when I pulled into the shopping center, the maps didn't even know the center existed. Immediately it told me to "Please find the nearest road." Didn't make much sense to me. How can it know that this place exists, but not even really know where it is? Just seems like lazy programming to me.

I would like to try other software and see which produces the best and most efficient directions, but with each piece of software having a ridiculous price tag, that's nearly impossible. I love the idea of GPS, and despite iGuidance being (in my opinion) about 80% perfect, I still absolutely love it, heh. I guess I'm just a sucker for neat technology.

seanz0rz · 04-27-2006, 09:16 PM

i also have to testify about what a great combination they are.

i believe if i moved my reciever outside the car i would get many more locks, and it proved to be correct, as i run the gps outside when weather permits (in california thats most of the time)

wonderful products. i just want a newer version of iguidance to come out as alot of my business takes me on roads that dont exist in the version i have.

RedGTiVR6 · 04-28-2006, 06:50 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by elemeno0pee

I have this same setup too, as of yesterday.

I agree that the receiver is great and locks on to many satellites with ease. I too, used to have the old Delorme as well. It was horrible. iGuidance however has been pretty weird. I searched through the restaurants and found a place that I love to go to, and didn't expect it to be in there. So I set it up to give me directions there, and I followed them. When I got there it had me taking a pointless U-Turn at the end, which is okay I guess... but when I pulled into the shopping center, the maps didn't even know the center existed. Immediately it told me to "Please find the nearest road." Didn't make much sense to me. How can it know that this place exists, but not even really know where it is? Just seems like lazy programming to me.

I would like to try other software and see which produces the best and most efficient directions, but with each piece of software having a ridiculous price tag, that's nearly impossible. I love the idea of GPS, and despite iGuidance being (in my opinion) about 80% perfect, I still absolutely love it, heh. I guess I'm just a sucker for neat technology.

My husband get's all bent outta shape when iGuidance tells us to go the long way around to get to some place. I find it really hard to explain to him, but it make sense to me. I can't imaging how much programming it must take to do something like this. They can't possibly code for every instance. But they get it pretty darn close. There are just some things you have to accept with a $100 piece of software (which, in all reality, isn't that much money for a piece of software that does so much).