Best GPS software?

[karinatwork]

I picked myself up a HTC Touch (love it!), and a Freedom GPS 2000, and this GPS receiver does not come with software. So, I was wondering, which GPS software should I look at? The only ones I know about are TomTom and Google Maps. I am looking for a software that will guide you with voice directions.

Any suggestions would be very welcome! :D
Thanks in advance!

Karin

[JesterMania]

I have TomTom (older version 5) and it's very good - I like it a lot. You can also check out Garmin Mobile XT. I use it on my Nokia device and I've been told the maps are more accurate than TomTom for North America, although I think both work equally well. TomTom always seemed simpler for me to use but with the Garmin MapSource application, it seems to be more powerful uploading maps/mapping out routes particularly from a PC->mobile device.

Besides TomTom and Garmin, there is also Route66 and Navigon (which to me, doesn't look as refined as TomTom/Garmin) and there's iGO My Way. I don't own iGo but my co-worker has it and I've played with it for sometime. My co-worker told me the routing for iGo did not seem as efficient as TomTom in some particular instances, but commented that the interface and POI database was superb (I agree). TomTom 6 and the latest Garmin Mobile XT should also have great POI databases. They are coming out with iGo My Way 8, which appears to have a detailed 3D navigation with building/terrain simulation. I saw a couple of videos on this on youtube.com and looks fantastic.

To summarize, for me: I would recommend either TomTom Navigator, Garmin Mobile XT, or iGo My Way. I don't think you can go wrong with either of these three. It's a shame there doesn't seem to be demo versions of these so you'll have to go look at the 3 websites and check out the features/screenshots in detail. All 3 of these have full voice and routing. Youtube.com is probably a good place as they should have videos of all these products in action.

[hamishmacdonald]

I'm using TomTom 6, and... it's good, but something about it always strikes me as clunky. They've obviously designed the program to be authored once then used on a variety of different devices -- which is convenient for them, but isn't necessarily best for me. Installation and activation are also awkward and user-unfriendly. I'm also sick of programs like this one that put their application folders in the My Documents folder. It's for MY documents! You can move it and change the links in the preferences, but the next time you need to re-install the program, it can't find the installation files and complains.

I bought i-Go's software, and it was ridiculously expensive, but I really liked the UI. Unfortunately, it came on a Mini-SD card, and now I'm using a device with Micro-SD, and you can't transfer it over. I've written a bunch of times to the manufacturers, but they haven't answered my messages.

[Russ Smith]

The two best I've found are iNav's iGuidance (http://www.inavcorp.com/product/navigation/iguidance_software.php) and ALK's CoPilot (http://www.alk.com/copilot/default.asp). Of the two, I like CoPilot GUI best but it's coverage of Canadian roads looks a bit sparse. The advantage of iGuidance is that it comes all on one disk with the desktop/laptop and PDA versions where you buy separate versions for CoPilot. Both offer large buttons for easy finger use and verbal quidance as well as visual.

[Cybrid]

To round out the list:
There's destinator as well.
Do not purchase Pharos Ostia yet. Not WM6 compatible.

[Brad Adrian]

The two best I've found are iNav's iGuidance (http://www.inavcorp.com/product/navigation/iguidance_software.php)...

I've been using iGuidance for about a year now and think it's pretty good. The only thing it can't do that the now-defunct Mapopolis could do is create and save customized routes. I don't know if any of the others out there do, but it's a great feature.

iGuidance's buttons are easy to use; you don't need any of the Pocket PC buttons at all and its database has never failed to find a point of interest I needed -- including what I consider fairly obscure restaurants. And, it does a good job acquiring the Bluetooth signal from the GPS unit.

[kenny1]

Thanks for the info. 8)

[jadesse]

One other feature that you may want to look at is this. Some of the sofware & map packages (co-pilot is one) come loaded 2G micro SD card. If you travel, you will never have to worry about loading maps. Just pop in the card & go.