Autorouting Pocket Pc Software???

[+dino_hunters]

Can anyone recomend a good street mapping program for the Pocket PC? It would need to have detailed roads in Rural areas, prefereable for the entire USA. It would also need good autorouting capabilities. Tell my why you like it over the alternatives.

 

I'm thinking that instead of getting a Garmin 60CS, I'll keep my etrex summit and get a gps cable and mapping software. That way i can upgrade my PPC instead.

 

thanks

[+JamesJM]

I use Mapopolis. I have no idea how it compares to other mapping applications so I'm not saying it's better or worse.

 

I like it. It's simple to use. The auto-routing is ok with some little quirks. Occasionally, in rural areas, it will choose a dirt road or gravel road. That doesn't bother me but I'm sure it would upset a lot of people. It doesn't always choose the shortest way but I'm being picky because I'm comparing to an area I know like the back of my hand.

 

I love the maplet's feature which allows you to place anything, especially geocaches, on the map as an overlay and allows for very quick autorouting.

 

I like the voice directions because I don't have to be looking down while I'm driving. Great for geocaching because I don't have to be staring at my GPS to see how close I am. And when I do not want the voice I simply mute my PDA.

 

I don't know how it compares $-wise. I think for the entire USA I paid about $100 which is for the maps...the program is free, (lot of good the program alone will do you but it may allow you to download and experiment with it).

 

I use a handheld GPS rather than a CF GPS for the PDA itself. Connectivity is a bit involved with a Garmin Etrex in finding the right cable and I know nothing of the CF GPS .

 

Overall I'm completely satisfied. Never given me any trouble at all, well, except one thing that drives me nuts. The maps are by "county" so you have to know which county map to load. IOW...when I'm geocaching I cross many county lines and I never pay attention to counties so I do not know them which means...guessing until I hit it right. <smile> - JamesJM

[+dino_hunters]

I noticed that Microsoft Streets & Trips is only $30 and comes with pocket streets for the ppc. Can anyone tell me if its any good? Will it autoroute on a Pocket pc?

 

thanks

[+EtrexRose]

Mapopolis is VERY simple, lots of confusing menus make it hard to mess with while driving, but its good for some people. It worked terrible when I used a BlueTooth GPS with my HP 2210 Pocket PC, the program doesn't like the HP's or BT gps's so keep that in mind. Other then that I really didn't have much of a problem with the auto routing when I had it.

 

One thing I like is they let you download a sample map for your area along with the full version of the program, the map lasts a few days. So try it out if your looking for one.

[+TerraTrekkers]

Mapopolis works much better than Pocket Streets and Trips. I have them both.

[+Renegade Knight]

Having used a PDA hooked up to a GPS I'll tell you that I'd take the all in one package of a GPS hands down over a GPS, Cable, and PDA combo.

 

Cables are a PITA. If I was to do the effort again it will be with Bluetooth.

[+JeepCachr]

Mapopolis is VERY simple, lots of confusing menus make it hard to mess with while driving, but its good for some people.  It worked terrible when I used a BlueTooth GPS with my HP 2210 Pocket PC, the program doesn't like the HP's or BT gps's so keep that in mind.  Other then that I really didn't have much of a problem with the auto routing when I had it.

 

One thing I like is they let you download a sample map for your area along with the full version of the program, the map lasts a few days.  So try it out if your looking for one.

I currently have Pocket Streets and Mapopolis installed.

 

Pocket streets is awefull. The maps are good but getting the maps on your PPC is kludgey. It does not have any routing. Reading the maps can also be an issue. It is cheap and will work with your GPS.

 

Mapopolis is the best I've found. I don't have the problems with figureing out which county to load because I have a Ipaq 5550 which has an obscene amount of memory and I can load every county in multiple states at the same time. I also have multiple 512mb SD memory cards so bringing every map I could need with me is not an issue. I've d/l'd 20 states so far and its just over 500mb. They also have major road maps for each state so for long distance traveling its not necessary to take every detailed map with you. The autorouting is good and even dynamically re-routes if you miss a turn. I like the voice prompts. The maplets allow you to import your caches which is very cool. You could even import your caches with different symbles. Like traditional caches could be one symble on the map and micro's another and even have other symbles like for found caches or whatever. The online 1 year subscription to all the US maps in the highest level map pack they have is $99 a year direct from mapopolis. You can get it for $89 from http://semsons.com and if your a club member at http://gpspassion.com you can get an additional 10% off at Semsons. Mapopolis also has a cd option and a $30 PPC package. I don't think the $30 package does the voice navigating and autorouting but it would be a lot better than Pocket streets.

 

I don't know what version of mapopolis Etrex Rose is using but the newest version supposedly made a lot of improvements to the menus. I didn't use the old version so I can't comment on the difference but I think the new menus are very easy to use. Especially when you remember that it is a pocket device and has to work within those limitations.

 

I've only had mapopolis and my bluetooth gps for a week but I am in Love! The bluetooth works very well and is convenient since my ipaq has it built in. I'm ready to uninstall pocket streets and dump all those maps that I spent hours creating. There are a couple of quirks with the bluetooth but its more an issue or limitation of bluetooth than an actual problem with the GPS or the software. I have a fortuna bluetooth clip on GPS. I don't know how good other bluetooth receivers are but I love this one. Its size will surprise you. There is a reveiw of 16 bluetooth receivers here- http://www.gpspassion.com/fr/articles.asp?id=55. I bought mine at Semsons because they had the best price I could find plus the 10% discount because I'm a club member at gpspassion. Another bonus was a free Arkon PDA mount with the GPS.

 

Another recomendation I would make is to get a waterproof ruggedized case for you ipaq. I found mine at http://www.watertightcase.com/Armorseries.html and am very happy with it.

 

A peice of software called GPXsonar is something your going to want to get if you don't already have it. This is a cool peice of software can load a GPX file and give you portable access to all the information on the cache information page including recent logs and hints. Now if only you could click on a entry in GPXsonar and have it pop up in Mapopolis. There has been discussion on this and I think its only a matter of time before it happens.

 

I've mentioned http://semsons.com a couple times in this message. I'm not afffialated in any way with them I'm just a very happy customer. My order came fast, well packaged, was exactly what I was expecting and they had the best price around. I sent them 3 emails in the days leading up to my purchase and each time they responded promptly with complete and thoughtfull responces.

[+JeepCachr]

Having used a PDA hooked up to a GPS I'll tell you that I'd take the all in one package of a GPS hands down over a GPS, Cable, and PDA combo.

 

Cables are a PITA.  If I was to do the effort again it will be with Bluetooth.

I agree cables are a pain. Having used a bluetooth reciever with a PPC I'll tell you that it is really cool.

 

All of your cache information, street maps, topo data, ariel photos, hints, logs, in one place. The bluetooth receiver can go anywhere. You can even put the PPC in your pocket or turn it off and not worry about losing your GPS lock.

 

I was surprised how small my Bluetooth receiver was when it came. I had seen pictures of it before but nothing that really put it into perspective.

 

My bluetooth receiver uses rechargeable Nokia phone battery and even uses the same charging plug as my Ipaq. It lasts 8-10 hours between charges. It is also one of the few GPS's that have both the st and xt chipsets in it.

[+UncleRMC]

I have been using Teletype software for years on my notebook and really like it because it is simple to use whilst driving. If it works with your GPSr I would highly recommend it.

 

I got a GPS expansion jacket for my iPaq (Pocket CoPilot) and did not like the software at all. Looked around for other software that would work with this jacket, as Teletype did not, and found Mapopolis.

 

Mapopolis is good for routing AND you can use it for caching too. It is what I used to start caching. Once I decided that I was going to stick with it I got a Meridian Gold as it is more accurate and has better battery life.

 

I would highly recommend GPXsonar too.

[+sledgehampster]

I use Delorme SA 2004 Handheld and quite like it once I got used to it. I believe it was $39.99. PPC will give spoken turn-by-turn directions, Palm just alarms at the turn.

[+JeepCachr]

I use Delorme SA 2004 Handheld and quite like it once I got used to it. I believe it was $39.99. PPC will give spoken turn-by-turn directions, Palm just alarms at the turn.

I've used previous versions of the delorme pocket map software and was very dissapointed. I don't have experience with the newest version though.