PC Navigator 6 - Europe - coming next week - Page 3

Beezer · 01-18-2007, 12:44 PM

I've sent them some questions based on my own experiences with this software.

>To: Directions
>Subject: RE: PC Navigator 6 Europe

>Thanks for sending me a copy to try out.

>I've installed it on the carpc & given it a test drive. I must say that
>its one of the best looking navigation programs that I've used & the
>voice navigation is great. It handles roundabouts as you would expect it
>to unlike others that I've used.

>However, there are a few things that would make it almost impossible to
>use on my carpc. I hope you don't mind some feedback.

>1) It runs full screen & can't be windowed which means I can't embed it
i>nto my carpc software (Road Runner). This is a show stopper. Please add
>an option for it to be windowed or even better ask your programmers to
>test it embedded into Road Runner.

we are working on this and resisable window will be available soon

>2) The voice volume slider changes the entire system volume not just the
>voices. This means it will also turn down any music I have running in
>the background.

>What would be ideal is if we could set the voice volume, but would also
>reduce the system volume whilst the voices are speaking. In other words,
>the music temporarily lowers volume & the voice speaks. This isn't a
>show stopper just a bit of a pain.

I have no idea if this is possible - will pass it on

>3) My carpc runs on a 640x480 LCD screen & the software seems to have
>been written for a minimum of 800x600. It does run ok but some of the
>screens overflow the edges and some of them are just a bit too chunky
>(the address input for example). The map screen is ok but the current
>position arrow is a bit chunky. It would be great if graphics could
>reduce in size to take account of the screen mode.

position arrow is determined by number of pixels, but it should be ok on
640x480 = please email screenshots of the other problems, we are not
aware of any. Could it be that you have incorrectly set windows?

>4) Why doesn't the GPS connect as soon as the program starts? Why do I
>have to go into the menu to start it manually? Even when I'm not
>navigating I'd like to see my current position on the map.

you may like it, but others may not - not everybody runs Navigator on
carPC
having said this, I will pass it on for consideration

>5) There doesn't appear to be an option for "up is forwards" for the 2d
>map when you're not navigating. It seems fixed on "up is north". Thus
>when I'm driving south, the pointer moves down on the map. This is just
>a slight irritation - The 3d mode when navigating is perfect.

I do not understand this

>I'll be keeping an eye on your updates to see if any of these are fixed
i>n future & then I think I'll be purchasing it.

cala · 01-18-2007, 05:13 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by Graham

For those of us in Europe

Saw this today on the Directions web site. Sounds good!

http://directions.ltd.uk/laptop-navi...ming-next-week

http://directions.ltd.uk/laptop-navi...ming-next-week

I consider the current version to be good, this version seems even better.

Graham

holy mouly. even estonia and latvia are there. definitely must try that! is somwhere trial download possible?

can someone put here or send me zoomed in view: take any other city than Tallinn or Tartu

regards,

Beezer · 01-18-2007, 07:17 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by cala

holy mouly. even estonia and latvia are there. definitely must try that! is somwhere trial download possible?

can someone put here or send me zoomed in view: take any other city than Tallinn or Tartu

regards,

I could only find detailed maps for Tallinn - the rest of Estonia is lovely and green with only major motorways.

Latvia seems to only have Riga.

_dopehead_ · 01-19-2007, 08:46 AM

It would seem that they are aware of the major hurdles on the carpc scene for this sw to work properly, those things get fixed and this software could be the europe gps solution of choice.

cala · 01-19-2007, 03:06 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by Beezer

I could only find detailed maps for Tallinn - the rest of Estonia is lovely and green with only major motorways.

Latvia seems to only have Riga.

thanks a lot

then its better to use AND/marcopolo Route Planner further, even if it's GUI is grappy, but what's most important, maps are accurate! the closest one to our local map software, also same for Latvia.

Finland was also good and it's uncomparable with M$ Autoroute

mrspangle · 01-22-2007, 03:34 PM

I'm glad to hear they are brining out the SDK with ActiveX control soon. I was put off buying version 6 as it didn't come with the ActiveX control like version 4 did.

Soon as its released, it will open up a whole lot of opportunities to be used in custom front ends.

Awesome

John

Graham · 02-15-2007, 06:04 PM

Does anyone know whether Directions have implemented any of the improvements that Dopehead and Beezer were promised?

Graham

colindunscombe · 02-16-2007, 06:29 AM

I contacted Directions this week to enquire about a Mac friendly version(for those that are interested), they advised me it won't be here 'til at least Q3 this year. Something to look forward to!!

_dopehead_ · 02-16-2007, 06:41 AM

Mac friendly ? how ? does it run on OSX ?

KillingTime · 02-24-2007, 09:00 AM

Has anyone had a play with the SDK yet? According to the blurb on their site:

"Support and setup files for the Navigator 4.3/4.4 Active X controls. This development resource allows you to embed maps and routes in your own application. "
which sounds promising for embedding into roadrunner etc.

Having played with the program, first impressions are quite good, it's certainly pretty, 3d view displays road names, maps are up to date, interface is not that bad, voice prompts are clear.

bad sides are:
you cant adjust window size or position as it's allways full screen, I think I could force it across to a second monitor with nView controls, but my lappy has ATI

The speed camera warning system is pretty basic, I have managed to import cameras by using excel to convert csv to xls then importing them into the program, but there seems to be no facility for the program to distinguish between what type of cameras they are, so you get the same warning regardless

You still have to manually enable GPS every time you run the program, which is just rubbish

I also really think that the interface needs work, the menu's are laid out badly and I would like to be able to place icons from within the menu's onto the top map screen.

However I do think that the program shows a lot of promise, especially if some of the cool programmers in the car pc world have a go at modifying it....

_dopehead_ · 02-25-2007, 12:14 PM

The SDK for 6.x is not out yet, so no i have not tried it.
As you may have seen the screen resize has been brought to directions attention a few times now, and they promise that this is being worked on. Personally i don't care about speed cameras, as they are not stationary where i live.

KillingTime · 02-27-2007, 06:54 PM

It wasn't just speed cams that I was thinking about, it would also be useful to be able to add your own custom poi's for wireless hotspots etc... I've looked at the poi files and the only one that you can add is cat999.mef, as the existing poi catagories only go up to about 040 there might be others, but I havent found any.

I've tried all sorts to get the window to behave in the way I want it to, I can send it to my touch screen with ati hydravision, but the menu's still appear on the primary monitor which is a pain. It does embed into roadrunner ok, but it resizes to your desktop display depth before it embeds, giving you a larger than ideal window area.

I'm also not all that sure how new the maps are, the D6 maps seem newer to me, they have a few changes on them locally to me that N6 doesn't

Graham · 02-28-2007, 07:54 AM

Please see below a mail exchange that I've had with Directions. I'm not sure what the "it" is that will be released after CEBIT but it's good to know that they're still developing this product.

Graham

it will be released just after CeBIT, in approx 3 weeks time

-----Original Message-----
From: Graham Diacon
Sent: 28 February 2007 11:14
To: 'Directions'
Subject: RE: PC Navigator 6

Thank you for your reply to my email. Has there been any any progress since then? So far as I'm aware version 6.4.38 which was released in January doesn't offer the possibility to run the program in a resizable window.

Best Regards

Graham Diacon

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Directions [mailto:sales@directions.ltd.uk]
Sent: 11 December 2006 09:14
To: 'Graham Diacon'
Subject: RE: PC Navigator 6

Graham,

This has been poited to us already and we will do some improvement, but I cannot tell you date right now - probably by Xmas.

Regards

Tomas
-----Original Message-----
From: Graham Diacon
Sent: 07 December 2006 15:15
To: support@directions.ltd.uk
Subject: PC Navigator 6

I recently purchased PC Navigator 6 as an upgrade to Navigator 4.4 which I have used since early last year. I used Navigator 4.4 on a PC permanently installed in my car as part of Road Runner a software suite that enables me to play music, control my radio and mobile phone etc. This was possible because Navigator 4.4 runs inside a window.

PC Navigator 6 on the other hand appears to run only as a full screen application thus making it impossible to to use within Road Runner. Do you have any plans to remove this restriction on PC Navigator 6? To me this would seem a very desirable improvement for you to offer since the current interface is effectively the same as you can get with a hand held device. I would have thought that most people buying a PC version of a programme would expect it to offer PC like characteristics, such as multiple resizable windows otherwise there is no point in using a PC to navigate instead of a hand held device.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Best Regards

Graham Diacon

ccsnet · 02-28-2007, 09:28 AM

Not exactly a stuningly quick response for a simple issue ?

Terran

Graham · 02-28-2007, 10:11 AM

Not exactly a stunningly quick response for a simple issue ?

I agree and I don't understand their answer. They say "it" will be available after CEBIT but don't explain what "it" is.

A new version, an SDK or an ocx?

Graham