DIRECTIONS on-the-go Reviewed [Archive]

Philip Colmer

07-28-2005, 05:00 PM

<img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/Colmer-Directions-Banner.gif" /> Product Category: Route planning Manufacturer: <a href="http://www.gomdm.com/">Mobile Digital Media (MDM)</a> Where to Buy: <a href="http://www.handango.com/brainstore/PlatformProductDetail.jsp?siteId=311&productId=141343">Handango</a> (affiliate link) Price: $39.99 USD System Requirements: Windows Mobile-based Pocket PC and Pocket PC Phone Edition 2002 and 2003 with 1MB available free memory for application and at least 8MB free memory for city & data files. GPS interoperability requires NMEA 0183 compliant receiver. Pros:<li>Clear maps; <li>Simple, fast and easy to use; <li>Free additional maps available via download.Cons:<li>Some bugs; <li>Maps limited to metros; <li>Cannot safely be used by a lone driver.Summary: This product hits a good price point and offers decent fast routing. It has limitations compared to more expensive products but nothing to worry about at this price. Read on for the full review!<!> <PAGEBREAK> Why Choose DIRECTIONS on-the-go? DIRECTIONS on-the-go has what I would consider to be two unique selling points:<li> It is available for the Palm OS, Windows Mobile Pocket PC, Windows Mobile Smartphone and Symbian OS Series 60 platforms; <li> The supplier offers downloadable access to map updates free for life.It should be understood from the outset, though, that this product is not the equivalent of Navman SmartST, TomTom Navigator or similar GPS navigation products. This was my first mistake when I started to look at this product. In retrospect, the price gives it away, really. Navman's SmartST software costs £149 for the US edition, so there is bound to be some difference in functionality when DIRECTIONS on-the-go costs £20! I should also make it clear that the misconception was entirely of my own making. None of the "missing" features that I mention in this review are in any way mentioned or advertised on the product. I simply draw attention to them because they might be what you expect to be there. The first thing you notice when you start using the product is that it only has maps for "metro" areas, i.e. built-up areas of the US. This is not the product to get if you want the route calculated for, say, San Francisco to Seattle. The CD-ROM includes 35 metro maps and there are a further 25 available for download. The next thing to notice is that although the software has some support for GPS units, it is very limited. What it does do is display your current location on the map. What it doesn't do is any sort of route recalculation if it sees you deviating from the planned route. Planning a Route As with any route planning process, you need a start and an end point. The product has a searchable and browsable list of known locations. <img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/Colmer-Directions-Locations-Categories.GIF" /> Figure 1: Browsing the list of locations. Searching consists of entering a search phrase and (optionally) selecting a category to limit the results of the search. The search results, and the results of clicking on a category button as shown in Figure 1, are displayed in what seems to be an arbitrary manner, as you can see from Figure 2. <img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/Colmer-Directions-Locations-Search.GIF" /> Figure 2: Search results. It seems to me that it would be much more useful if the list was, at the very least, sorted into alphabetical order to make it easier to try to locate an entry that you might be looking for. Clicking on an entry in the list switches the display to show the map and the selected location. What I particularly liked about this part of the user interface is that you can step through the list of results by clicking on the forward & backward arrows next to the name, or you can easily return to the list by clicking on the list icon. <img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/Colmer-Directions-SearchResults.GIF" /> Figure 3: Looking at a location. Having found the location you are looking for, you can then specify whether it is your starting point or your finishing point. <img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/Colmer-Directions-OptionsRoute.GIF" /> Figure 4: Setting up the route. Once you've got both ends set, clicking on the route icon confirms your choices, allows you to "tweak" the routing options (Figure 6) and then calculate the route. Hmmm ... except that, as you can see from Figure 5, it doesn't confirm the start & end points. There seems to be a bug in the software that means it reports one of the points twice. <img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/Colmer-Directions-SetRoute.GIF" /> Figure 5: Getting the directions. <PAGEBREAK> There is also a bug in the code that handles the options screen where clicking on the Type of Route drop-down menu creates a very long menu to be displayed with only car listed! <img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/Colmer-Directions-TypeOfRoute.GIF" /> Figure 6: Setting the route options. Once the software has calculated the route, it displays it as step-by-step instructions, as you can see from Figure 7. Once again, the developers have put quite a bit of thought into what can be done. As with the search results, you can step through the list by clicking on the forward & backward arrows. Across the top, the software shows a series of bars. As you go through the instructions, they change to red, showing how far through the journey you've gotten. The length of the bars is an indication of the relative distance between each step. <img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/Colmer-Directions-Route.GIF" /> Figure 7: Getting from here to there. Clicking on the map tab has fairly obvious results :D. What is interesting about being in map mode is that when the software wants to move from one location to the next, it zooms out of the map until both points are visible and then zooms back into the map to get to that next point. It is quite effective and can be useful to a degree to provide some context of how the two locations are positioned relative to each other. <img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/Colmer-Directions-RouteAlong.GIF" /> Figure 8: Moving along the route. We now get to a few more "missing" features compared to the bigger products. As I mentioned at the start of the review, the software will connect to a GPS unit in order to display your current location. However, it will not automatically step through the planned route as you yourself move. This coupled with the fact that there is no speech for the instructions means that you cannot safely use this product while driving if you are on your own. You either have to keep on pulling over so that you can refer back to the instructions, or you need a human navigator to control the PDA. The Maps in Detail The software supports an orthogonal view of the map, as shown in Figure 9. This is a development that has become very popular in routing products because it provides a more useful view of the map when you are driving along. <img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/Colmer-Directions-MapOrthogonal.GIF" /> Figure 9: Orthogonal mode. The slider on the right-hand side of the map allows you to vary the zoom factor of the map, as you can see from Figures 10 to 12. The software is very responsive in redrawing the map as you drag the slider. It is also possible to drag the magnifying glass over the map and the software will zoom into where you keep the stylus. Zooming stops when you take the stylus off the screen. <img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/Colmer-Directions-MapZoomOut.GIF" /> Figure 10: Zoomed out. <img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/Colmer-Directions-MapZoom.GIF" /> Figure 11: A bit more detail. <img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/Colmer-Directions-MapZoomIn.GIF" /> Figure 12: Zoomed in even more. <PAGEBREAK> Miscellaneous Points I've mentioned a few times that the software can use a GPS receiver. This is controlled through one of the map options, as shown in Figure 13. If you haven't got GPS, you can still manually set your position, but this possibly isn't that useful. There are only two things that the software does with your position - show where it is on the map and show the distance between the currently selected location and your position. Even that latter feature isn't as useful as it might sound because all that happens is that the software zooms the map out until you can see both points on the map at the same time. <img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/Colmer-Directions-OptionsMe.GIF" /> Figure 13: My position options. On the GPS side, I wasn't able to get this to work. I've got the Navman Bluetooth GPS receiver. I'm used to setting this up with Bluetooth, but DIRECTIONS on-the-go simply wouldn't connect to the serial port that was associated with the GPS device. The final feature that could come in useful if you visit certain places often is the ability to set bookmarks, as shown in Figure 14. It is then easy to click on the bookmark entry and the software displays that location. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a way of deleting the bookmarks ... <img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/Colmer-Directions-OptionsSave.GIF" /> Figure 14: Setting a bookmark. Conclusions There is no doubt that this product offers a cost effective routing solution and, if it meets your needs, it's great value for your money. However, despite the offer of free downloads of additional maps, there is a lot of competition out there for this product, not least of which is Pocket Streets 2005. Where this product does beat products like Pocket Streets is the routing. The product is limited to metros but within those confines, the routing works well ... so long as you've got a navigator or the sense to pull over instead of driving whilst looking at your PDA. Philip Colmer is Head of I.T. for a global electronic publishing company. In his spare time, he enjoys researching his family history, developing his videography skills and going shopping with his wife.