OnCourse? Of Course! OnCourse Navigator 6 Reviewed [Archive]

View Full Version : OnCourse? Of Course! OnCourse Navigator 6 Reviewed

Doug Raeburn

07-11-2007, 04:00 PM

<img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/raeburn-july07-OCN6-00.jpg" /> Product Category: Pocket PC Navigation Software Manufacturer: <a href="http://www.oncoursenavigator.com/">Easy PocketNAV, Inc.</a> Where to Buy: <a href="http://www.buygpsnow.com/ocn6-north-america-premium-edition-2gb-12-5-million-pois-791.aspx">buyGPSnow.com</a> Price: $135.00 USD; $104.00 USD upgrade for OCN4 and OCN5 owners. Pros: <li>Great routing;<li>Fast and stable;<li>Cockpit view is great while on the move;<li>Effective voice prompts;<li>Extensive and informative POI lists. Cons: <li>Routing to contacts feature is clumsy to use;<li>Menu design is a bit inconsistent. It seems to be a busy year for publishers of navigation software. There's been a bumper crop of major revisions of popular packages since the beginning of the year. Coming on the heels of my recent reviews of TomTom Navigator 6 and Pharos Ostia, this time I’m going to take a look at a completely revamped version of an old favorite, OnCourse Navigator 6. Read on for the full review! <!><PAGEBREAK> Product History and Installation The most recent versions of OnCourse Navigator prior to OnCourse Navigator 6 (henceforth referred to as OCN6) used Navigon, a navigation product marketed in Europe, as their foundation. OCN6 features a new foundation, that of iGo, another navigation product marketed in Europe. As you might expect, that makes OCN6 a completely different product from its predecessors. Ease of installation is a hallmark of the latest generation of navigation software, along with the elimination of the desktop component. As with TomTom Navigator 6 (henceforth referred to as TTN6), the entire product installation, including maps, is included on a single 2GB micro SD card. A micro SD to SD converter is also included. You simply insert the card and the program automatically installs and the maps are immediately available. Another giant step toward ease of use is made with the fact that there is NO activation required. This contrasts to the clumsy and byzantine activation routines required by many of OCN6’s competitors. Setting Up a Route <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/raeburn-july07-OCN6-01.jpg"><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/raeburn-july07-OCN6-01-thumb.jpg" /></a> Figure 1: The Main menu. You can click on any image that contains a magnifying glass to see a larger version. When you first run OCN6, you probably won’t be surprised to encounter the ubiquitous legalese screen, on which you promise to use the product safely. When you run it in subsequent sessions, however, you’ll be pleasantly surprised to find that the legalese screen does NOT appear. Instead, you’ll be brought to the main menu screen. Menu selections consist of: <li>Cockpit, which brings you to a view with the current map and displays such as the next turn, speed, etc., intended to use while driving;<li>Map, which brings you to the current map with none of the additional displays, intended mostly for route setup;<li>Find & Go, which starts a route creation wizard;<li>Settings and About, which are what you’d expect. <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/raeburn-july07-OCN6-02.jpg"><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/raeburn-july07-OCN6-02-thumb.jpg" /></a> Figure 2: The Find menu. To start your journey, tap on Find & Go to bring up the Find menu. Here you’ll find all of the options that you’d probably expect… selecting a destination as an address or a Point of Interest (POI), selecting from a History List and entering coordinates directly. Many nav programs include the ability to preset your Home location… OCN6 goes them one better by allowing you to preset your Work location as well. <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/raeburn-july07-OCN6-03.jpg"><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/raeburn-july07-OCN6-03-thumb.jpg" /></a> Figure 3: Entering the city name. <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/raeburn-july07-OCN6-04.jpg"><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/raeburn-july07-OCN6-04-thumb.jpg" /></a> Figure 4: Results of the city search. Selecting a destination by address uses the wizard-like approach common among most of these products. First you specify the city in which the destination resides. As you enter letters, only keys for valid letters for the next position are available. If no more letters can be entered, the program will jump to the city list, from which you can choose the desired city. <PAGEBREAK> <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/raeburn-july07-OCN6-05.jpg"><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/raeburn-july07-OCN6-05-thumb.jpg" /></a> Figure 5: Entering the city name. <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/raeburn-july07-OCN6-06.jpg"><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/raeburn-july07-OCN6-06-thumb.jpg" /></a> Figure 6: Results of the city search. Next you enter the street name. This works much like entering the city name, with only valid next keys being available. Once it finds a distinct match, the street list will be displayed. <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/raeburn-july07-OCN6-07.jpg"><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/raeburn-july07-OCN6-07-thumb.jpg" /></a> Figure 7: Entering the house number. After selecting the street, you finish by entering the house number. The program knows valid house numbers for the chosen street and will tell you if the number you entered doesn’t exist. As an alternative, you can click on the “Find Intersection” button, and OCN6 will display a list of streets that intersect with the street you specified in the previous step. Once you successfully complete this step, you should have found your destination. <PAGEBREAK> Points of Interest <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/raeburn-july07-OCN6-08.jpg"><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/raeburn-july07-OCN6-08-thumb.jpg" /></a> Figure 8: Find POI Main menu. The POI button on the Find menu takes you to the first Find POI menu. These are high level categories that take you to more specific categories to help locate your desired POI. I decided to look for a hospital, so I started out by tapping on “Emergency/Government”. <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/raeburn-july07-OCN6-09.jpg"><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/raeburn-july07-OCN6-09-thumb.jpg" /></a> Figure 9: Find POI Submenu. This took me to the Find POI submenu, which displayed a series of choices in the chosen category. I tapped on “Hospital/Clinic” to continue my search. <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/raeburn-july07-OCN6-10.jpg"><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/raeburn-july07-OCN6-10-thumb.jpg" /></a> Figure 10: Results of the search for Hospitals/Clinics. The next screen displayed the first of 50 screens containing hospitals and clinics. I found the hospital that I was looking for and tapped on it. <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/raeburn-july07-OCN6-11.jpg"><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/raeburn-july07-OCN6-11-thumb.jpg" /></a> Figure 11: Details about the hospital. The details of my chosen POI were then displayed. Tapping on “OK” set this POI as my destination. <PAGEBREAK> History List and Itineraries <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/raeburn-july07-OCN6-12.jpg"><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/raeburn-july07-OCN6-12-thumb.jpg" /></a> Figure 12: The History list. Back on the Find menu, tapping on “History” brings up a list of recently used destinations, making it easy to use them again. <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/raeburn-july07-OCN6-13.jpg"><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/raeburn-july07-OCN6-13-thumb.jpg" /></a> Figure 13: The itinerary... the condensed version. Once you’ve chosen your destination, you can display your itinerary, which is a list of the instructions for your route. Figure 13 shows the “condensed” version. <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/raeburn-july07-OCN6-14.jpg"><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/raeburn-july07-OCN6-14-thumb.jpg" /></a> Figure 14: Detailed intinerary. Figure 14 shows the detailed instructions, which include major roads that you pass between turns. This is a great feature if you need reassurance that you haven’t strayed from your route. Of course, if you do, OCN6 will bring you back on track. <PAGEBREAK> Multi-Stop Routes <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/raeburn-july07-OCN6-15.jpg"><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/raeburn-july07-OCN6-15-thumb.jpg" /></a> Figure 15: Managing a multi-stop route. OCN6 also supports multi-stop routes. Figure 15 shows the screen that you’d use to set up such a route. When you tap on the Add button, the Find menu is displayed. You then can use all of the methods described above to find a destination to add to the route list. You can also use the Up and Down buttons to change the order of the list. <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/raeburn-july07-OCN6-16.jpg"><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/raeburn-july07-OCN6-16-thumb.jpg" /></a> Figure 16: Details about the first stop. <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/raeburn-july07-OCN6-17.jpg"><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/raeburn-july07-OCN6-17-thumb.jpg" /></a> Figure 17: Details about the second stop. After setting up your multi-stop route, you can get information about the route by each of the intermediate and end destinations. <PAGEBREAK> Settings and Options <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/raeburn-july07-OCN6-18.jpg"><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/raeburn-july07-OCN6-18-thumb.jpg" /></a> Figure 18: The Quick menu. If you tap the Menu tab on the top right of the map, an intermediate menu is displayed giving you access to the Find menu, a Quick menu with items that you might want change frequently, and a Route menu that allows you to get more Route information. Figure 18 shows the Quick tab, which allows you to quickly change between 2D and 3D maps, change to Night mode, set up zooming, etc. <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/raeburn-july07-OCN6-19.jpg"><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/raeburn-july07-OCN6-19-thumb.jpg" /></a> Figure 19: Zoom and Tilt (and no, it's not a ride at Great America...). The Zoom and Tilt mode adds 4 icons/buttons on the left side of the screen, as shown in Figure 19. These icons allow you to zoom in and out and tilt the map from a 2D view to various angles of 3D. <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/raeburn-july07-OCN6-20.jpg"><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/raeburn-july07-OCN6-20-thumb.jpg" /></a> Figure 20: The Settings menu. The menu in Figure 20 is displayed when you tap the Settings button on the main menu. <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/raeburn-july07-OCN6-21.jpg"><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/raeburn-july07-OCN6-21-thumb.jpg" /></a> Figure 21: General Settings. Here you see the General Settings menu which allows setting of the Safety mode (which disables the touch screen when your speed exceeds 6 mph) and set the screen orientation, among other things. <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/raeburn-july07-OCN6-22.jpg"><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/raeburn-july07-OCN6-22-thumb.jpg" /></a> Figure 22: Display Options. The Display options let you specify if you want to see 2D maps or 3D maps in Map and Cockpit modes and modify the Cockpit screen layout. <PAGEBREAK> Hit the Road, Jack! <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/raeburn-july07-OCN6-23.jpg"><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/raeburn-july07-OCN6-23-thumb.jpg" /></a> Figure 23: The Cockpit. Figure 23 shows the Cockpit screen with a 2D map. On the top, the arrow on the left shows the next instruction (in this case, going straight through a major intersection), with the distance until that maneuver and the road that you’ll be on afterwards. Your position is the blue arrow and your route is the green line. In the set of green boxes on the bottom, the long top box is the road that you’re currently on. The 3 boxes below are, from left to right, remaining distance to destination, estimated time of arrival and current speed. Display settings provide the means for changing the contents of the bottom 3 boxes as desired. <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/raeburn-july07-OCN6-24.jpg"><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/raeburn-july07-OCN6-24-thumb.jpg" /></a> Figure 24: The Map view in 3D. Figure 24 shows an example of a 3D map. <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/raeburn-july07-OCN6-25.jpg"><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/raeburn-july07-OCN6-25-thumb.jpg" /></a> Figure 25: "North-up" orientation. The icons/buttons on the right of the map are both indicators and buttons. The top button controls the map’s north orientation. When the icon displays a red N at the tip of the arrow (as in Figure 25), the orientation is north-up, which means that north is always displayed at the top of the screen and the maps don’t rotate. When the icon displays just the arrow with no red N, the orientation is track-up, meaning that the top of the screen always shows your direction of travel. With track-up, the arrow rotates within the icon to point to north. Tapping on this icon allows you to switch between the 2 orientations. <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/raeburn-july07-OCN6-26.jpg"><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/raeburn-july07-OCN6-26-thumb.jpg" /></a> Figure 26: The GPS status screen. The next icon displays GPS status. The status values include no GPS connected, weak signal, 2D position, 3D position and TMC (traffic message channel, real time traffic information) available. Tapping on this icon displays the GPS status screen, as shown in Figure 26. The next 2 icons show battery power and sound on/muted, respectively. <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/raeburn-july07-OCN6-27.jpg"><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/raeburn-july07-OCN6-27-thumb.jpg" /></a> Figure 27: Auto-zoom. As with most nav software, OCN6 will auto-zoom to highlight instructions on the map. <PAGEBREAK> Voice Instructions OCN6 makes some points with the most thorough voice instructions of any navigation software that I’ve tested. The best example of this is the fact that it gives you the travel distance to the next instruction, even if it’s a fairly short distance, like a mile or more. I appreciate this information, because it helps you to know when to prepare to follow another instruction. If it’s a short distance, I know to remain alert for further instructions, whereas if it’s a longer distance, I know that I can relax a bit and just follow the road. The previous version of OCN did this only for longer distances (I think 25 miles or more), while TTN6 doesn’t do this at all. OCN6 also gives you a verbal heads-up that it’s recalculating a route. I think it’s important to be cognizant of the fact that your route has changed, so you know that instructions that you may have seen in an earlier route review may no longer be part of your route. By contrast, TTN6 does its route recalculations silently. But both products do them very quickly. OCN6 can give you both a warning tone and the voice instruction when a maneuver is required. The tone gets your attention so that the instruction doesn’t just blend in with radio sounds or conversation. This is a worthwhile addition in my opinion. Both OCN6 and TTN6 give you an early warning that a maneuver is coming up. However, I prefer the TomTom implementation. With TTN6, the distance before the maneuver at which the warning sounds varies by speed. When you’re travelling at highway speeds, the early warning comes at 2 miles before the instruction, with another early warning at about ½ mile. At lower speeds, the early warning distance is reduced to 1 mile or ½ mile. On the other hand, the early warning distance in OCN6 is preset at ½ mile and it doesn’t vary by speed. If you’re on a busy interstate highway or expressway, ½ mile may not be enough advance notice to smoothly and easily change lanes in anticipation of your next turn or exit. (Update: A member has reported that his setup of OCN6 gives advance warning at 3 miles at highway speeds and is speed sensitive just like TTN6. So my experience is probably due to a different setting.) The volume controls in OCN6 are superior to those in TTN6. The volume control in OCN6 is completely independent from system volume. When you run OCN6, it will set the Pocket PC to whatever volume you’re set within the program, even if that volume is higher than the current system volume setting. When you exit OCN6, it will return the volume to the system setting. TTN6 works similarly, with one exception. It will change the volume to the program settings when run and set the volume back to system settings when you exit. However, at run time, it uses the current system volume as the maximum volume. If you need maximum volume with TTN6, you have to set the system volume to maximum prior to running it, a step that isn’t required with OCN6. Since the system volume that you’d use at home or in an office is usually lower than the volume you’d need to hear instructions while driving, the OCN6 design makes more sense here. Another useful volume related feature is dynamic volume control. OCN6 can automatically increase the volume as speed (and cabin noise) increase. This is another detail that’s well thought out. Contacts Issue Another feature that OCN6 shares with other nav programs is the ability to select a contact to use the address as a destination. However, I found the implementation here to be troublesome. Initially, every time I attempted to import contacts, only 1 contact living 1100 miles away was imported. All other contacts were ignored, including local ones with addresses that the program could use from the Find menu. I sent an inquiry to tech support and they told me that the import function only works with addresses that OCN6 could parse. In order to ensure this, I found that it was necessary to make the following changes to the addresses of my contacts: <li>Eliminate full street types, i.e. replace Drive with Dr;<li>And Dr. won't work... no period allowed;<li>Symbols like # for apartment or unit numbers are invalid;<li>Street directions must be, for example, S instead of South, again with no period;<li>Numeric street names must be like 10 St... 10th St is invalid. I finally got frustrated with having to butcher all of the addresses in my contacts list, so I decided to pass on OCN6's contact functionality. The bottom line is, if you frequently use your Contacts list to set destinations, you may want to check to see that this works to your satisfaction before purchasing OCN6. <PAGEBREAK> Other Details The maps in OCN6 are detailed and very sharp, and are available in both QVGA and VGA resolutions. Menus are generally well organized, but I found that some menus are accessed in different ways from others, which makes them less intuitive than I would like. By comparison, TTN6 has very consistent menus, which is more intuitive but may require an extra tap here or there. In my testing, OCN6 was rock solid. I never experienced any errors or lockups. Conclusions OCN6 proved itself to be another top performer among Pocket PC navigation software, on a par with TTN6 and ahead of Pharos Ostia. And it’s a major advance over its immediate predecessor, OCN5. Easy-to-use routing capability, great overall navigation performance and sharp, detailed maps combine with effective voice navigation to make OCN6 a pleasure to use. The contacts import issue was the only big concern that I encountered. That issue aside, I give a strong recommendation to OCN6. Along with TTN6, OCN6 is well designed and feature rich, and should satisfy most or all of your navigation needs. Doug Raeburn is a data architect specializing in data warehouse design. He lives in Pewaukee, Wisconsin, USA.

Mark Kenepp

07-11-2007, 05:09 PM

Contacts Issue
Another feature that OCN6 shares with other nav programs is the ability to select a contact to use the address as a destination. However, I found the implementation here to be troublesome. Initially, every time I attempted to import contacts, only 1 contact living 1100 miles away was imported. All other contacts were ignored, including local ones with addresses that the program could use from the Find menu. I sent an inquiry to tech support and they told me that the import function only works with addresses that OCN6 could parse. In order to ensure this, I found that it was necessary to make the following changes to the addresses of my contacts:

Eliminate full street types, i.e. replace Drive with Dr; And Dr. won't work... no period allowed; Symbols like # for apartment or unit numbers are invalid; Street directions must be, for example, S instead of South, again with no period; Numeric street names must be like 10 St... 10th St is invalid.

I finally got frustrated with having to butcher all of the addresses in my contacts list, so I decided to pass on OCN6's contact functionality. The bottom line is, if you frequently use your Contacts list to set destinations, you may want to check to see that this works to your satisfaction before purchasing OCN6.

Are you saying that this Nav software can not read the contacts database and you need to import the data into the program to make use of it!?!

I have experience with only two Nav programs (iGuidance and CoPilot) and I just thought that that feature would be standard!

Jason Lee

07-11-2007, 05:53 PM

excellent review. :)

I currently use iGuidance but will not be purchasing the new version that just came out as it now requires online activation. I really love the software but refuse to buy the new version simply because of the online activation.

On course looks very nice. I will miss the laptop/UMPC/tablet pc versions that come with iGuidance but that is they price they pay for online activation. ;)

Mountain343

07-11-2007, 07:56 PM

Hmmmm... I have an HP2215 with WM2003 and I am running TT6 with no problems at all.

JakeRich

07-11-2007, 08:57 PM

Nice review. On my OCN6 I get do verbal warnings of turns that do seem to be speed related. At highway speeds I get a warning at 3 miles, then again at either 1/2 or 1/4 mile, in addition to the final verbal comment to make the turn. At slower speeds that maximum distance warning seems to drop to 1 mile. I don't recall getting a two mile warning, but I do consistently get the three and one milers. Perhaps you have something set differently, but it worked out of the box that way for me.

Doug Raeburn

07-11-2007, 11:47 PM

Hmmmm... I have an HP2215 with WM2003 and I am running TT6 with no problems at all.

I'll swear on a stack of bibles that I read system requirements for TTN6 of WM5 or greater. :? But I can't for the life of me find that again, so I must be imagining things. I'll update the review to reflect the correct information. Thanks!

Doug Raeburn

07-11-2007, 11:50 PM

Doug Raeburn

07-11-2007, 11:59 PM

Are you saying that this Nav software can not read the contacts database and you need to import the data into the program to make use of it!?!

I have experience with only two Nav programs (iGuidance and CoPilot) and I just thought that that feature would be standard!

Well, no, the software can read the contacts database, but yes, you need to import the data into the program to make use of it. At first I also thought it was a bit outrageous, but then I realized that all OCN6 is doing differently from other nav software is that by doing the import, it's pre-identifying contacts with addresses that it can parse. With other nav software, you don't find out if the program can't parse a contact's address until you try to use it.

I will say, however, that OCN6's parsing routine appears to be less flexible regarding different ways of formatting addresses and the use of abbreviations than other nav software that I've used. Which lead to my frustration in trying to do the import. Had the parsing routine been able to work effectively with non-abbreviated terms, punctuation marks, etc., the import would really have not been an issue.

signothefish

07-12-2007, 03:42 AM

Fantastic review, Doug! I have a few questions and highly covet your comments:
* How accurate were the routes? Did you try different profiles (shortest vs fastest, etc) to check for accuracy? Did you compare any of them to ones calculated by other software to see which ones were consistently better?
* Was the estimated time of arrival pretty accurate?
* Does it have elevation display. If so, is it accurate?
* How fast do the routes calculate- particularly for long distances? Did OcN6 seem to perform any unnecessary calculations using multiple waypoints before or during navigation?
* You mentioned an extensive and informative POI list. Were there any POI's you were surprised to see missing (such as established department stores, etc)? Do phone numbers show up for the POI database?

dequardo

07-12-2007, 04:10 AM

Hi Doug. Nice review. I received my iGuidance 4.0 upgrade yesterday. I also work on Riverwood Drive in Pewaukee. :-)

Mike

palur

07-12-2007, 04:56 PM

TTN6 does not announce street names. Does OCN6 announce?
Thanks

yvilla

07-12-2007, 05:21 PM

Doug Raeburn

07-12-2007, 07:13 PM

Hi Doug. Nice review. I received my iGuidance 4.0 upgrade yesterday. I also work on Riverwood Drive in Pewaukee. :-)

Mike

Hi neighbor!

One of my next reviews is going to be iGuidance, so you'll have to keep me honest on that one!

Thanks for the kind words about the review!

Doug

Doug Raeburn

07-12-2007, 07:14 PM

Doug Raeburn

07-12-2007, 07:24 PM

Please pardon my ignorance in asking this question, but having never used any GPS system before I'm clueless: I am planning on buying my first system so I went to the OnCourse site after reading your review, and cannot find any explanation of the choice between buying it on a 2 GB SD versus the slightly more expensive 4 GB SD.

Is the 4 GB version designed for someone that may want or need to save routes? And if so, does that mean mean the 2 GB version does not have enough room on the card for that at all, or just that it it doesn't have as much room?

I got the 2 GB version and had no problem with saving routes. I didn't check how much space the routes would take, but I don't think it's significant. But the 2 GB card contained all of the maps and the software with room to spare. The 4 GB card would just have more free space, because both contain the same version (Premium) with the same maps and # of POIs.

Keep in mind that support for 4 GB SD cards isn't a given with older devices and applications. Some apps on some devices may not be able to access the card unless it's partitioned. The 2GB card, on the other hand, should be no problem with any SD compatible device or application.

Doug Raeburn

07-12-2007, 07:26 PM

signofthefish...

I didn't miss your questions... I'll have to do a little research on a couple of them and I'll post a response probably tomorrow.

Thanks... Doug

yvilla

07-12-2007, 07:58 PM

Thanks for the answer, Doug.

And I was too caught up in my question to remember to tell you how much I appreciated your review. Sorry for that, because I thought it was great!

dequardo

07-13-2007, 01:46 AM

TTN6 does not announce street names. Does OCN6 announce?
Thanks

OCN6 does not announce street names. If that's really important to you, I understand that iGuidance will do that. But I have no experience with it (that will change shortly, but nothing for now). Maybe Mike can elaborate?

The new iGuidance 4.0 does indeed add text-to-speech as a major improvement over previous versions. I've used it a couple of times since I received the new version this week. I've been an iGuidance user since the 2.x days. I won't steal any of Doug's upcoming review thunder other than to say I like it a LOT.

Mike

signothefish

07-13-2007, 02:39 AM

signofthefish...

I didn't miss your questions... I'll have to do a little research on a couple of them and I'll post a response probably tomorrow.

Thanks... Doug

Thank you, Doug. If it's too much effort to get any of those answers, feel free to just say you don't know. I'd hate it if you went off and started doing some extra testing just for my sake. :oops:

SVX

07-13-2007, 04:15 AM

SVX

07-13-2007, 04:20 AM

dequardo

07-13-2007, 12:06 PM

I would LOVE to know how it performs at the I43/I94 junction in Milwaukee. That is a MESS and not one GPS I have used has gotten the routes correctly (TomTom, CoPilot, TeleNav)! I know it is all under construction, but it would be nice if the DOT could provide changes to a site that all GPS programs could access regularly (monthly) and update points. If you can test it I would appreciate it. That would be the ultimate GPS test IMO given the cluster fubar there.

While nice I don't think what you are asking for is practical. Mapping changes would simply be cost prohibitive. As it is is takes over a year for most all programs to update their maps-and at a cost of at least $100 per copy to consumers.

If it's that important you can look at one of the AIO devices (I'd recommend Garmin) that has traffic alerts and guidance built-in. Will cost you a subscription though that's extra.

signothefish

07-13-2007, 09:02 PM

SVX

07-14-2007, 05:00 AM

Signothefish, funny to see your post. I moved to Wisconsin back in Feb from Raleigh. I was out at RTP with IBM and they moved me up here. How are things there? I am getting home sick!! I regularly log on to WRAL just to see the news and of course check out Linda Loveland ;).

Howdy, from your old stompin' grounds, SVX. IBM is not too far down the road from where I work. I imagine it's not so good to be that far from the beach. :cry: BTW, I-540 between I-40 and Hwy 55 is opening tomorrow. It's about time!

Yeah. Go figure they actually start making progress AFTER I moved! I swear I thought NCDOT was bad until I moved up here. There is a fifth season of the year called the Orange Barrel Season which occurs between May and August overlapping Spring and Summer. You cannot go anywhere without seeing a darn barrel. At least they get it right thought the first time "cough" I40 stretch between 147 and highway 54 in Durham "/cough" and the first I540 leg I believe from Creedmore and Capitol which had to be redone.

Doug Raeburn

07-14-2007, 01:28 PM

* How accurate were the routes? Did you try different profiles (shortest vs fastest, etc) to check for accuracy? Did you compare any of them to ones calculated by other software to see which ones were consistently better?

OK, I have some answers for you. This one I could have answered right away, but I thought I'd try to get some info on the rest of them before answering.

The routes were very accurate. I recently took OCN6 on a trip from Milwaukee to Rapid City, South Dakota. I also had TTN6 on my primary PDA. TTN6 was intended as the actual nav software on the trip, since I had used it and its quality and accuracy was known. OCN6 was along to be evaluated. At any rate, when I used both packages to route to a particular destination, the routes were just about always identical and quite accurate. This seems to apply regardless of the profiles used.

* Was the estimated time of arrival pretty accurate?

It seemed to be. Again, when running in parallel with TTN6, the ETAs were similar, although OCN6's ETAs were a few minutes later than TTN6. I'm sure that's due to different assumptions of speeds in the profiles.

* Does it have elevation display. If so, is it accurate?

Elevation is displayed through the GPS Status screen. As far as I was able to check, it seems to be accurate.

* How fast do the routes calculate- particularly for long distances? Did OcN6 seem to perform any unnecessary calculations using multiple waypoints before or during navigation?

I tried a 2200 mile route with one intermediate stop. This was calculated in approximately 45 seconds. The same route took just under a minute with TTN6, so both were pretty much comparable. I wasn't aware of any unnecessary calculations at any time.

* You mentioned an extensive and informative POI list. Were there any POI's you were surprised to see missing (such as established department stores, etc)? Do phone numbers show up for the POI database?

I tried a number of different department stores in my area, as well as some that are not in my area. OCN6 found all of the stores in my test, with one exception. I tried Macy's, one of the major dept stores in my area. For some reason, it didn't find the closest one, a former Marshall Fields store about 10 miles away. On the other hand, it found a different Macy's that's also a former Marshall Fields store about 60 miles away. But overall, it did a pretty good job. And it does have phone numbers available.

I couldn't compare to TTN6 as I have been throughout in this review, since department stores aren't a POI category.

When I'm out and about today, I'll try to check into the elevation thing. Hope this helps.

signothefish

07-14-2007, 07:39 PM

Thank you, Doug! Those are all very positive assessments. And some of the items I mentioned were sticking points in OcN5. It looks to me to be a hands-down winner over previous versions and comparable to its competitors.

Doug Raeburn

07-14-2007, 08:19 PM

I would LOVE to know how it performs at the I43/I94 junction in Milwaukee. That is a MESS and not one GPS I have used has gotten the routes correctly (TomTom, CoPilot, TeleNav)! I know it is all under construction, but it would be nice if the DOT could provide changes to a site that all GPS programs could access regularly (monthly) and update points. If you can test it I would appreciate it. That would be the ultimate GPS test IMO given the cluster fubar there.

I feel your pain about the Marquette interchange mess. Fortunately I don't work downtown so I've been able to largely avoid it. I had to brave it a couple of months ago to go to an art show (my cousin had an exhibit there) and TTN6 was able to get me there by rerouting around the construction, but it wasn't easy even with the nav software. I can only imagine how bad the same scenario would have been without it.

The maps in OCN6 show the standard pre-construction roads, just like TTN6. So other than using its "avoid" capability, it wouldn't do any better than the other packages you've tried. Mike hit the nail on the head regarding the logistics of ongoing map updates, so it seems that there isn't a good PDA based solution to the problems of large scale road construction.

Don Tolson

07-16-2007, 06:53 PM

Hi Doug... good review. Sorry I wasn't able to get into the initial discussion, as I've been away camping in the backwoods (so to speak) of Vancouver Island and giving my version of OCN6 a good run.

A couple of things readers should know.

a) Software on a card -- while this is good in that it doesn't require activation, they should know that the software is hardwired to that specific card. This means that they cannot copy the software to another, larger card if they don't want to keep switching cards. However, as noted, OCN does provide cards of various sizes, but be aware that the 2GB version has many more POI's loaded than the 1GB version. Best bet is to order the larger card, then copy all the maps to a separate location, then delete the unneeded maps from the OCN card to free up some space.

b) Canadian customers should know that the Contacts import will not work at all for Canadian addresses. This is a known bug in the software that they are working on now, I believe. Also, just to be clear -- OCN does not 'use' the contacts db on the unit on an ongoing basis. It reads it at the first installation, then does its own import of the data into its own db. I don't believe this is 'interactive', so adding new contacts or updating addresses may not show up in the OCN POI's.

c) Saving POI's -- there is also a bug in the MyPOIs section of OCN, where it will not save new POI's in the folders you define. It seems to pick the first folder created, and even this is not consistent. Again, they know about this and are working on it.

d) Routing -- OCN6 tends to prefer major roadways in navigating cities. There may be a shorter and faster way to a point using side roads, but OCN6 tends to stick to the main thoroughfares. It's not a bad choice, it's just that these tend to get congested first, and until we get consistent implemenation of TCN information, you may have to use your 'first hand' knowledge of the city to avoid getting stuck in a long line.

Map accuracy -- OCN6 uses maps from NavTeq and I've found out that most of the maps for the US and some for Canada are less than a year old! This is great, and OCN has mentioned that they will be providing some way to update maps in the future, separate from the software. For me, I found these maps to be the most accurate and complete, from a Canadian perspective of any of the nav systems I've worked with.

Don Tolson

07-16-2007, 07:09 PM

One other feature that I found useful on longer trips was the AutoZoom. With this enabled, the Cockpit view will change its map view dependent upon distance to the next maneuver. If it's a long way away, the map will zoom out to show less detail but more of the road ahead. As you get closer to the next intersection/manueuver, the map will zoom automatically into much closer detail of the upcoming intersection.

Doug Raeburn

07-18-2007, 02:15 PM

Thanks for the additional information, Don! You do what you can as a reviewer, but nobody knows the software better than someone who uses it all the time.

buyGPSnow

07-18-2007, 08:01 PM

Don Tolson:

Thanks very much for your post.

b) Yes, contact importing feature is not perfect now and it is beeing addressed by Nav N Go, our software partner (aka iGO)

At the present time, anytime you have a changes (additional outlook contact added, deleted, modified), OCN6 will re-sync it when you next restart the software. OCN6 index the outlook contacts into it's own internal database, just like the customs POI database or if you have Red Lights camera POI db for POI alert....all listings must be indexed for faster search / lookup.

d) I recommend you try "Economical" (best bet most of the time) or "Short", exam the route by tapping on "Route" (top left corner), then, "Info", then "Fit to scree". If you do not like the route proposed, go back to that screen, select "Parameters" and change either or both the Route and Vehicle.

FYI: Glad to hear that OCN6 has complete and comprehensive map data. Actually, OCN6 uses TeleAtlas map and it is more comprehensive than previous generations of TeleAtlas map for Canada because it has got a merged set of map data from GDT and TeleAtlas. Glad to hear that is it on par with NAVTEQ!

disconnected

07-19-2007, 02:05 AM

Thanks for the review and screenshots.

I'm looking for something to replace Mapopolis; my maps are several years old now. I'm not sure I'm willing to give up text-to-speech though.

One other concern I have is entering the city name before the street. I can see why it might be necessary because of having the whole country on the card, but I often don't know exactly what city a given intersection is in -- could be in any of several suburbs.

A few other questions if anyone has time for them (sorry if they've been answered and I missed it) --

Does OCN6 have all 50 states and all of Canada?

It appears that the maps show bodies of water? My version of Mapopolis does; I never upgraded? to later versions because they lost this feature. Does it also show other features like parks, golf courses, etc?

If you tap on something on the screen is there a popup to tell what it is, with address and city?

Can you create and save multiple routes?

Does it work on WM2003SE?

Does the card have to be in an SD slot or can I put it into the SD adapter and then put that whole thing into a CF adapter and put it into the CF slot? I currently have an iPAQ 4700 with 2 slots and am thinking ot getting the HTC Advantage.

Are there differences between OCN6 and iGO, and will iGO not be releasing a new US version?

I guess that's enough questions for now. :oops:

buyGPSnow

07-19-2007, 03:41 AM

Does OCN6 have all 50 states and all of Canada?

[ANS]: Yes.

It appears that the maps show bodies of water? My version of Mapopolis does; I never upgraded? to later versions because they lost this feature. Does it also show other features like parks, golf courses, etc?

[ANS]: Yes, borders of lake, ocean, greens on the golf courses and I believe "brown" on airport area...

If you tap on something on the screen is there a popup to tell what it is, with address and city?

[ANS]: Yes, if applicable (meaning having a valid address), it would tell you the complete address including house number, otherwise, Unnamed road with the nearest city name presented.

Can you create and save multiple routes?

[ANS]: You could create and optimize multiple stopes/waypoints but not saving them. Saving will be supported in the next version.

Does it work on WM2003SE?

[ANS]: Yes.

Does the card have to be in an SD slot or can I put it into the SD adapter and then put that whole thing into a CF adapter and put it into the CF slot? I currently have an iPAQ 4700 with 2 slots and am thinking ot getting the HTC Advantage.

[ANS]: I am not 100% positive if OCN6 works on HTC Advantage but based on the VGA screen resolution same as an axim x51v / ipaq 4707, it may work well. Actually, I we do not sell CF version of OCN6. You may not it on a SD to CF Adapter but I cannot guarantee it would work.

Are there differences between OCN6 and iGO, and will iGO not be releasing a new US version?

[ANS]: iGO has elected OCN as one of their official distributors for USA market. Basically OCN is for PDA segment and on the PND segment, it is the same software made by iGO on Mio devices such as C310 and C220. Here is a list of official distributors of Nav N Go: http://www.navngo.com/en/company/distributors.php

disconnected

07-20-2007, 06:19 AM

Thanks for all the answers. I'm having a tough time deciding between OCN6, IGuidance, and TomTom, but I guess I'll need to make up my mind soon.

erussell

07-24-2007, 02:00 PM

I've been using OCN6 for about 1 week. Works great! I'm a Realtor in Northern NJ and I'm able to map out a full day's worth of showing homes very easy. Was using Mapopolis, but since they don't sell anymore, I decided to get updated maps. Like the feature that all maps and software on on the SD card.

Don Tolson

07-27-2007, 06:52 PM

Actually, OCN6 uses TeleAtlas map and it is more comprehensive than previous generations of TeleAtlas map for Canada because it has got a merged set of map data from GDT and TeleAtlas. Glad to hear that is it on par with NAVTEQ!

Hi Joe...sorry, but I guess my confusion was due to this response in the OCN6 Support Knowledge Base:

How do I report map data error?
ID: 966 Category: Software Status: Resolved Views: 784

Question:
How do I report map data error?

Solution:

[--- UPDATED: 11/9/2005 12:49:43 PM BY AGENT: OnCourse Team ---]

Report Map Errors: >>> NAVTEQ <<<<

From there, I assumed that the maps were from NavTeq. How do we notify TeleAtlas of map errors? Thanks.

buyGPSnow

07-27-2007, 06:59 PM

Hi Don, sorry for the confusion. To report map data error in TeleAtlas, please visit this link below:
http://www.oncoursenavigator.com/forum/default.aspx?f=10&m=5485

tjy

08-17-2007, 01:57 PM

I have purchased GPS software and found that the maps included were older than software that I had purchased 2 years earlier (at least it did not have roads that were in the older version). All software say they have the newest maps available but never tell you the date of the maps. I think we should demand that the map dates be advertised on the box. I also think that reviewers should state the map date since this is a very important item.

buyGPSnow

08-17-2007, 06:02 PM

Map material on OCN6 is from TeleAtlas's Jan 2007 edition.

May I know the complete address that you failed to locate the address on OCN6?

bobdahm

09-10-2007, 02:44 AM

dequardo

09-10-2007, 12:25 PM

Bob, I'm not aware of PDA based navigator programs with a pedestrian mode but I do know some of the A-I-O's do. Specifically I know the Garmin Nuvi 350 does. You'll need one with TTS. Not sure how much I'd trust one though for this application. Good luck.

buyGPSnow

09-10-2007, 08:36 PM

I would be very interested to know if this (and other GPS navigation software reviewed) has pedestrian or bicycle modes included. I work with visually impaired persons who can't use visual landmarks when walking (street signs, building names, etc.). I know that the program "Destinator" has both pedestrian and bicycle modes but the voice feedback is more limited. There are specialty programs for blind and visually impaired for GPS navigation but they tied to adaptive hardware and in the $2K to $5K range (USD).
If anyone has used PDA navigation software as a pedestrian, using the different types of voice output and has any comments I would like to hear them. If there is an interest, perhaps we can move them to a new topic.

bobdahm

OCN6 provides both Pedestrian and Bicycle mode as routing choices but the challenge is for the "visually impaired" person to enter their address before a route is generated. Address is entered via the software keyboard via a touchscreen of your PPC and PPC Phone.

Please checkout Destinator bundle package with Pac Mac call StreetTalk GPS Solution by FreedomScientific: http://www.freedomscientific.com/fs_products/StreetTalk.asp