Using a GPS with a
PDA is completely unless you have the software to map your
location for you. Software for mapping can be fairly simple, just
showing you where you are on a map, or software can be extremely
advanced. On the advanced side of things you have PocketMap Navigator by
Space Machine. PocketMap Navigator includes not only the ability to plot
yourself on a map, but also allows you to change your view of the
current map, develop multi-stop routes, recalculate routes on the fly,
and find points of interest that are near your current location.
PocketMap Navigator is not only for PDA?s but also has a Windows
component for mapping before you go on your trip. I'll talk about all
that in just a minute, but simply put, PocketMap Navigator is the
complete solution for using a GPS with your Pocket PC PDA. And before I
get into the review, I must thank "thePDAmart" for supplying me with
a copy of PocketMap Navigator for use with the
Arkon Powered GPS Mount.
Both are available in a special package from "thePDAmart website for great price.
PocketMap Navigator
comes on three CD's for the United States due to the massive amount of
information contained on the disks. In most cases, users do not need all
this data. For me, I have not used anything other than the west coast
disk, and more specifically, nothing other than some counties in Oregon
and Washington. PocketMap Navigator does not require downloading whole
states or cities, you just download the counties you need. But if you
don?t know what counties you will need, PocketMap Navigator will take
care of that as well based on your route.
The part of PocketMap Navigator that runs on your computer is primarily
for downloading maps to your device. It will also plot routes for you
with multiple stops and will allow you to download the route with the
corresponding maps. The desktop application is one of the pitfalls of
PocketMap Navigator. Simply put, it really is not quite as good as it
could be. It can be confusing to use and has some functions that really
limit route making. For instance, one part of the application is the Map
Data download. Simple mode is kind of pointless as it shows you a map of
the US but does not zoom when you want to narrow down which maps you need
to download. In advanced mode it is much better as you can specify a
city and state, and PocketMap Navigator will tell you which counties you
need to download. Having the right maps is critical. There are some
problems with PocketMap Navigator when you do not have the exact maps you
need or if you have maps to specific for a route (for instance my device
could not show me a route because it didn?t have the maps it needed).
Another part of the application is the Highway Grid download. This part
allows you to download highway grids so you don?t have to download all
the counties on a longer trip where you are on the highway. Really, this
has no use as you are probably building a route anyway and downloading
the appropriate maps there. To build a route on the Windows
applications, you use the Route Corridor creator. It is nice to have
this functionality off the mobile device as well so you can create your
route before you leave. You can create a multi-stop route and download
the appropriate maps for the route. Finding addresses can sometimes be
trouble some. PocketMap Navigator tries to give you a lot of different
ways to find an address, but they tend to just be more confusing than
helpful. It would be much easier if PocketMap Navigator simply allowed
you to put in an address instead of having to input all the information
in separate boxes and find the appropriate street/city/state in a
drop-down. On the mobile device it is the same way and tends to be a
hassle. It also sometimes does not recognize things like Street as
apposed to ST or if you put the North before the street or after.
Another draw back is that you ca not see the map for the route, only the
directions. But what you can do is tell PocketMap Navigator that you
would like to avoid a certain road and it will recalculate a new map.
Similarly, you can tell it which kinds of roads you like to drive and
which you do not (for instance I put in that I like driving on
interstates and highways) and it will try and mold the map to where you
like to drive.
But part of
PocketMap Navigator you want to hear about is the mobile device side of
things. PocketMap Navigator is only available for Pocket PC, and I use
it on my Dell Axim X5. One of the coolest things about PocketMap
Navigator is the ability to look at a map from another perspective than
just the bird-eye view. You can tilt the map to be more from the
perspective of what you would see as you drive. The view is what is
ahead of you toward the horizon. This a really cool way to look at where
you are going and is completely unlike what you could do with a
conventional map.
The main menu screen
of PocketMap Navigator is great as the buttons are huge and easy to
press with your finger while you are in the car. There are four sections
of the program, GPS (for setting up the GPS), Map (for building a route
or viewing a map), Directions (for viewing directions for a route), and
Guidance (for viewing your current position on a map). Also you can
access a special database of destinations. This is a very useful part of
PocketMap Navigator, allowing you to quickly set a destination either by
Address, Intersection, Coordinates, or Points of Interest that appear in
the PocketMap Navigator system. But it gets better as you can also
access your favorite locations you added on the desktop application or
in the mobile application, you can view recent locations you used, or
you can pull addresses from contacts (though this sometimes is a problem
in the case that you have an apartment number on the address).
In the GPS section you can see how man satellites are in view, being
tracked, and are active. Also specified is the latitude and longitude of
your current (or last) position as well as the current altitude. When
you are connected to satellites you can also see you current speed and
the direction you are traveling. In order to connect a GPS unit you can
either have PocketMap Navigator scan for a device or set where the GPS
is in advanced mode. I used the Arkon Powered GPS Mount which connects
via the sync port to the device and all I had to do was specify that it
connects to Com Port 1 (and I only had to specify this the first time).
Map mode is where
you can setup a route. Again, I worry that Map mode is confusing as I
had a hard time using it. Some of the functions simply don?t work like
you would think when setting origin and destination points. It is much
easier to use the desktop application to setup a route than trying to do
it on the device. Map mode is best if you just need to set a destination
from your current location or want to look at a map or route in a
different location than where you currently are. Directions mode is only
available when you have a route loaded and will show you the written
directions of the route. Like in the desktop application you can change
the route and tell the device to make a new map which avoids certain
roads.
The mode that you
will use most is Guidance mode as it is the active map mode where you
either can ?cruise? (see your current position without a route) or be
guided by ?guidance? mode. In the cruise mode, you can view the map of
where you either with the map oriented to your forward direction, north,
or in the driving perspective mode. Also displayed on the screen in
cruise mode is a compass along with your current speed. You can even set
PocketMap Navigator to warn you if the speed is over the speed limit for
that stretch of road. Below that the current street and city are
displayed with the current block. All this comes in particularly handy
when you are driving around a city. PocketMap Navigator also marks where
you have been which is helpful if you need to review where you have
been or to help you not drive in circles. Guidance mode works similar only instead of simply a map, a line
shows the path PocketMap Navigator thinks you should follow. At the top
of the screen the current/next direction is shown with easy to read
symbols.
There are a number
of really cool functions of PocketMap Navigator. A really helpful
function is that PocketMap Navigator talks to you. It does welcome
and thank you when you open and close the program which is REALLY
annoying since you can not turn it off without turning off the navigation
volume, but the navigation vocalization is helpful. PocketMap Navigator
will tell you which way to will be turning when you are within a mile,
then at 0.2 miles, and with then notify you when you are at the turn.
This is great to keep your eyes on the road and is almost like having a
navigator in the card. Also with the press of a button you can have the
system repeat a direction of tell you the next direction. One that I
always have to show off is the route recalculation function. Often I
miss a turn or turn on a wrong street. Then my directions from the web
are totally useless. But with PocketMap Navigator, directions are
recalculated as soon as the system notices that you are on the wrong
road or wrong part of the road instead of where you need to be. It
thinks for a couple of seconds and then recalculates a new route for
you, or if nothing else it shows you how to get back on course with the
old route. The other really cool function is that there is both a
mileage and time countdown when you are driving a route. It tells you
both how many miles you have left to travel in the trip and how many
minutes. But when more than that, it does the calculation for you and
will show you when it think you will arrive at your destination. No more
estimating when your friends call and ask how long, PocketMap Navigator
has you covered.
Mapping is a
great function for your PDA. The ability to recalculate routes is great
for a PDA especially a powerful device like a Pocket PC. Being able to
use a Pocket PC with my GPS in my car has been great in helping me get
where I need to go and not getting lost along the way. PocketMap
Navigator is an interregnal part of the solution. The functionally of
PocketMap Navigator puts a large scale mapping solution right in your
mobile device for use on the go with the information you will need at
your fingertips. PocketMap Navigator is not cheap, priced at $90 for
maps of the United States (or $75 if you buy it with the
Arkon Powered
GPS Mount with our friends at
"thePDAmart),
but if you are looking for one of the best GPS mapping programs,
PocketMap Navigator is it.
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