Hi,

I am having trouble trying to find out the differences, benefits vs. drawbacks for these two software that I have narrowed it down to that I wish to buy asap. My main concerns are POI, TTS, routing efficiency, and any other benefits/drawbacks of these two programs that buyGPSnow experts would like to point out for me.

Also, does the Destinator 6 North America that buyGPSnow sells work for my phone- Cingular 8525?

 Thank you ahead of time

 

TTS is only available in the upcoming iGuidance 4. Shipping begins next week at best, or July 5th at worst.

FYI: No one else in the market has a TTS for PDA / Phone at this time.

I applogize that I do not have a D6 vs. iG4 comparison and I would like to refer you to the following popular topic. It describes OCN6 vs. iGuidance 3.

http://discussion.buygpsnow.com/forums/permalink/4261/4264/ShowThread.aspx#4264

 

Side notes:

1) There is one cons for OCN6 compares to Destinator 6: In D6, you are able to set a permanent AVOID street name. This is useful if you know of a street that is on a long term contruction and you want to make that street name as an AVOID. D6 remembers it and will always route you around that specific street / propose an alternative route.

2) All the pros of OCN6 vs. iGuidance 3 applies to Destinator 6.

3) I cannot comment on iGuidance 4 as it has not been released but from what were told, iGuidance 4 has:

a) Newer maps of 2006 Q3 from NAVTEQ,

b) Text-to-speech feature included, and

c) POI has been increased to 6 millions from 1.6 millions. This is still shy of 6 millions (total 12.5 millions POIs) in OCN6 Premium edition.

 

Warning: Yes, Destinator 6 works for Cingular 8525, but it may not have been tested for WM6.

 

Hi Buygpsnow.com, I have a few more questions.

Does TTS really matter? Why do some consumers consider it so great? What happens if there is no TTS- does the GPS still pronounce the street name?

I already ruled out OCN6 from my selection, so the premium package does not matter to me. However, are you saying that Destinator is very similar to OCN6 in terms of # of POI's?

How many POIs do Destinator have? Can you add custom POIs on there?

How is Destinator's scrolling compared to iGuidance- which is smoother?

Does Destinator tell you which side of the street your destination is located like iGuidance?  

Finally, are there drawbacks of Destinator? I still cannot decide which is best between the two, but they are definitely the only ones I am looking at.

 

Thanks for your post.

1) TTS helps occasionaly and it is becoming a popular feature. I would say it is a nice to have feature of course but picture you are driving in a downtown with 2 quick turns, you still have to take a quick glance on your screen to get ready for the for the next turn and stick to the correct lane.

Disclaimer: iGuidance would like us to warn or set customer's expectation correctly. If you pay attention to the product page of iGuidance 4, there is this line at the bottom of the page: TTS quality on laptop/umpc is much better than PPC versions as PPC version TTS sounds more synthesized and robotic due to device limitation.  

Source: http://www.buygpsnow.com/iguidance-v4-gps-navigation-software-version-4-for-north-america-dvd-runs-on-pocket-pc-pc-and-umpc-864.aspx

The Demo posted on our product page is a demo recorded from an UMPC and due to the CPU Processor limitation on a PPC Phone / PDA, the TTS engine has to be tuned down so that it requires less CPU or it would conpete for other important tasks such as rotating / updating the maps and all the screen elements. Without turning the resource requirement down, you may have sluggish / not-so-smooth moving maps. So, the end result could be a robotic sound of street name rather than close to natural human voice. Let's wait for the release version before we confirm this "Disclaimer" from iNAV.

2) No, Destinator 6 only has about 1.6 millions POI. Yes, you may add customs POI.

3) Scolling maps are about the same on both.

4) No, only iGuidance tells you which side of the street your destination is located.

5) On drawbacks of Destinator: Not that I can think of right now.

 

I tried iGuidance 3 and Destinator 6, in general, iG is better than D6, but there are some stupid problems, I don't whether those are still there

in iG4 (In the new features description of IG4, didn't mention about that).

1. Very slow response to GPS, D6 is a bit faster, my GPS is WAAS enabled Globat bt-338 (Sirf III), after I go off I405 at least 50m, it still says I'm in I405, when you driving on Seattle

downtown I-5, it totally get lost.

2. When two turns are pretty close, it cannot give you enough time before notification, Mappopolis gives a second sign, it is much better.

3. After you set the favor, you cannot update the actual address, you can only update the favor's name.

4. Some roads, it give you significant wrong routes.

5. It cannot give you any suggestion only if reach a named road.

 

seckg, you listed some significant drawbacks of Iguidance-

so what makes iGuidance better than Destinator 6 then?

I know D6 can list every step of the directions from start to stop- like getting step by step directions all on one list as if you are mapping on google or yahoo; can iGuidance do that?

Anyone know? That way when two turns are close to each other, if you have read ahead of time, you would at least be aware of it.
 

If you are coming to a two close turns, iGuidance would announce in ONE verbal instruction something like "Turn left then keep right".

Hi. Thank you SalesTeam for prompt replies and patience with all my questions. A few more questions I have are, is there a way to turn off the multiple alerts before a turn on iGuidance?

And does iGuidance have the capability to alert you of favorite destinations that you have input on the map audibly and visually as you approach them?
 

No, it is impossible to turn off / reduce the number of alerts on iGuidance. You may (I have not tried) replace each sound file with mute or sound file with no actual sound on it. Try it out and let me know if it works.

No, no POI alert. This is available in OCN6, TomTom 6 and Destinator 6 only.

Hi SalesTeam.

I know that IGuidance3.0 pronounces freeway names during the navigation.
eg. "Follow-the-signs-for one-o-one west" (101W)
But when it comes to streets, it just says take left or take right. As I have read, Iguidance 4.0 corrects this problem.

However, what about Destinator 6. Does destinator 6 pronounce atleast freeway names during navigation ? Or is it just take left / take right all the time. ?
I am sure that Destinator doesnt pronounce street names but wasnt sure what happens when we hit the freeways.

Thanks.
 

Hi. Thanks for your post.

 

Yes, in iGuidance 3, it does not pronounce the actual street name, it only pronounce Highway / Interstate number and heading like you have mentioned.

On the other hand, iGuidance 4 has Text-To-Speech feature and will pronounce the street names as well.

I believe Destinator also does not pronounce the highway / Interstate number at all.

 

Hi SalesTeam once again,

 I was about to buy the iGuidance 14 day trial CD, but for some reason the shipping is 6.10 cents, which makes it a lot more expensive to buy iGuidance later on when purchasing the registration key. Why is shipping so expensive to try it out? Does it come with the original box/contents and all the instruction manuals but just a limited version on the CD? If so, that makes sense.

When purchasing the registry key later on will we have to pay shipping again?
 

If you purchase this iGuidance V4 North America License Key (http://www.buygpsnow.com/iGuidance-V4-North-America-License-Key_867.aspx). the license key will be emailed to you, hence, no shipping cost is involved.

Once you have registered this product, the Pocket PC version can be downloaded from www.inavcorp.com

 

ok thanks, but you didn't answer my first question- which was, when i purchase the trail version, will it come with all the original box/contents and all the instruction manuals that would usually come with the full version? thanks for your patience and promptness.

 

 

I am sorry i missed that.

Nope, the trial version is shipped via a paper sleeve containing a DVD vs. DVD case plus Quick Start Guide booklet (less than 10 pages). Instruction manual should be available inside of the DVD on both versions and you are welcome to print a copy or view them on a PC.