How to choose the gps maps for your auto?

At present, there are many kinds of gps maps. In this part, we will have a compare the most Well-knowned gps maps, they are IGO maps, Garmin maps, TomTom maps and Route66 maps.

IGO map

Most of user thinks IGO is really fast for navigation, especially if you live in Europe, iGO is the best. Now I'm pleasure to list some features for iGO8, then we could have a check, and choose the best one.

New Features

* Real 3D navigation with outstanding graphics of buildings, landmarks, and entire cities
* Two different user modes let the user interface fit your needs: with Simple mode the main functions are close at hand, while in Advanced mode you have access to the full functionality of the software
* Search for POIs anywhere, near certain locations or along the planned route to minimize the detour
* Have the whole route displayed on the map with a touch of a button, and check all relevant route information on a data screen
* Advanced POI management: Search, save, and load your own POIs and routes and share them on the Internet! (supporting Google Maps/Google Earth formats)
* Easy updating and extra content downloading with the help of the Content Manager application

Detailed description

Compatible with most mobile devices on the market, just plug in the SD card and go
iGO My way 8 gps software is available on a memory card with 3-in-1 adapter: full-size SD adapter, mini SD card and micro SD card providing universal compatibility with all devices, even with ultra-small mobile phones. It supports different screen resolutions and orientations including widescreen devices.

TMC support, speed-camera support
All of the European free TMC sources are integrated. When TMC information is available, it is possible to view the TMC events either on the map as icons or as a list on a dedicated traffic information listing. Your PDA device should have an integrated TMC reciever or external TMC aerial connected.

Real 3D navigation with outstanding graphics of buildings, landmarks, and entire cities
iGO My way 8 has separated 2D and 3D map visualization.

The full 3D visualization is including: road elevation, terrain elevation, 3D city maps, 3D landmarks. The 3D mode gives the driver a real-life driving experience directly onto the screen device. The space orientation becomes easier when on the screen the user can see picture-like buildings or outside the city when there are visible all landforms from the widest plains to the highest mountains harmoniously disposed.

The engine has a unique capability: it renders realistic and detailed 3D terrain up to 20 kilometres away seamlessly.

Two different user modes let the user interface fit your needs: with Simple mode the main functions are close at hand, while in Advanced mode you have access to the full functionality of the software
The Simple mode can be used intuitively, even without reading the manual. It contains the simplest commands to drive the user to the desired destination.
At the same time, a rich and powerful user interface capabilities are retained via an advanced mode. The Advanced mode is made for those picky users and gadget lovers who expect the best innovative features from their navigation devices.

Advanced POI management: Search, save, and load your own POIs and routes and share them on the Internet! (supporting Google Maps/Google Earth formats)
The users can add their own POIs into the User POI section, they have full flexibility to put the POIs on categories, and they can modify or delete them.
The POI search allows for searching around a position or also searching along the planned route. Search around a position can be around the current position or around any address.

More features

Improved rendering for complex 3D junctions
Terrain-shaded map
Country specific road-shield visualization
Multi-route planning with seamless border crossing
Better orientation on the map
Select route from Favorites
Load and save your routes
Detour function
Routing methods to review distance and time
Fit to screen – see your route on a full screen
Better voice guidance instructions, new voices
Visual warnings for restrictions
GPS data screen
Automatic switching between Day/Night modes
Automatic route planning
Screen orientation

Garmin map

You will have to decide between two types of maps. Road or Topo. Garmin sells both and you can use both in one unit. You can view the maps on the appropriate page (it matters what the initials are after Vista. If you go to a map page, you can select the view map tab and get a preview of what detail is on the map.

I have the road map and it works for most things but it does not have topo lines and some lakes are missing. It seems that there are too many lakes in Minnesota for the road map makers to collect all this "non-road" data. It also does not include the regionall (over 100 miles in our metro area) bike trails and no hiking trails.

The topo maps are based on the USGS maps and include all that informations.

Route 66 map

a. Detailed street information.

One user in Australia find that Route 66 maps offer much more detailed street information than that of TomTom and Destinator. In his neighborhood, he says, those small streets like Lennon Street in Parkville and Caprice Avenue in Port Melbourne can be found on Route 66 maps, but not on the other two maps. Although Route 66 has to make further efforts in offering much more detailed information in suburban areas, it is so far users' first choice for detailed street information.

b. User-friendly address entry.

Users don't have to enter the full name of a certain street. Instead, they just need to enter the first few letters of the street name, and Route 66 would automatically give them a list of street names to choose from. For example, if one wants to find "251 Salmon Street,Port Melbourne", entering the main information "Sal 251 Melb" would just do.

c. Effective route planning and route management.

Route 66 proves itself to be a match for TomTom in this respect.

d. Fast route re-calculation.

Route 66 map system would get users re-calculate their route when they are no more than 10m off their original route.

f. Convenient phone numbers offered.

When one hits on a certain POI (points-of-interest), Route 66 map would show the company's phone number. TomTom map does not have this function.

TomTom map

For this gps map, I just skim their official website and find the features below.

We cross-check our map data with more than reliable 50,000 sources, including government agencies, satellite imagery and of course anonymous TomTom users' journeys.

Our maps cover more than 27 million km of roads worldwide.

To date, users from around the world have created and shared over nine million Map Share corrections.

During an hour-long journey, a TomTom user typically encounters around 30 Map Share corrections.

We collect Map Share corrections and build them back into our maps.

IQ Routes has collected more than 800 billion speed measurements to date. This equals more than 15 million kilometres driven – or every road on our map being driven an average of 2000 times.

More than a billion new measurements are collected each day.

TomTom is the only satnav manufacturer able to do this, thanks to its millions of users connecting to HOME software every day.

HD Traffic covers more than 97% of UK motorways, slip roads, trunk roads and A roads. This is more than 10,000 km of roads than other traffic information providers, such as RDS-TMC.

HD Traffic gives you traffic updates up to five times more frequently than other providers. That means that instead of waiting up to 15 minutes to hear about a jam, you can be sure you'll know about it within just three minutes.

TomTom offers wonderful route planning, but the map, drawing on Sensis sources, is not detailed enough; Destinator is detailed enough but is rather poor at route planning.

To choose the best gps map for your auto, we should pay more attentions to the points below: detailed map information, route planning quality and search database.

About the Author

Panatron Corporation was founded in 2000, and has since positioned itself as a market leader in the design and development of car audio & video products. From Car Multimedia & Navigation Systems to Telematics solutions for a well-known Japanese company and aftermarket channel customers worldwide.www.DVDGPSNavigation.com is a fast-growing online subsidiary of Panatron Corporation that is committed to becoming a loved and trusted web marketplace by offering a superior shopping experience, rapid delivery, and stellar customer service. With our unique focus on cartronic businesses, we strive for long-term relationships that allow us to understand, anticipate and promptly respond to the challenges of our customers' needs.