Route planning software
The way forward?
As people spend more and more time travelling, whether for work
or pleasure, it is becoming increasingly important to plan your
route beforehand, avoiding the worst road bottlenecks and ensuring
that you use the most fuel efficient or fastest route. Imagine the
convenience of having a Navigator at your side that always told
you where and when to turn - even correcting wrong turns whenever
you went off track.
We've all been in the same dilemma at some time or other. We need
to be somewhere and don't know the best way to get there. Obviously
there are a number of choices.
PC Solutions
With a laptop computer,GPS and software bundle you have everything
you need for a powerful in-car satellite navigation system making
it a simple choice. They have the processing power and disk capacity
required to run the largest and most complex mapping software packages.
That's exactly how Infomap Navigator''s dynamic directions work.
Simply tell Infomap Navigator where you want to go then sit back,
relax, and follow pinpoint accurate directions right to your destination's
doorstep.
No more reading complicated itineraries as you drive, just let
Infomap Navigator guide you to your destination using clear voice
guidance. When you reach your destination, you've got a DVD player,
CD player, games machine, with an add-on card you can watch TV on
them. Use a different card or your mobile phone and you can check
your email or browse the internet. Oh, and you call also use them
as a computer!
 Built-in
Systems
These are the ultimate after market solutions. The Pioneer systems
replaces the car radio with a single din unit that merges the satellite
navigation with radio, CD Changers and DVD players. A single touchscreen
controls everything for the neatest and slickest package imaginable.
When you turn the ignition off the screen retracts back into the
dashboard. If you've got to have the best this is the one to go
for. Definitely one-up-manship!
 PDA
Systems
At first glance PDA systems look to be ideal. The ability to move
them from vehicle to vehicle. Built in GPS, Route planning and guidance.
Palm or Pocket PC based GPS give you all the advantages of the
GPS systems fitted in some cars, at a much lower cost, in a package
which can easily be moved from vehicle to vehicle, or even carried
when walking. The downsides are the very small screens, small amounts
of memory and expensive addons such as the GPS sleeve. The latest
generation overcome these limitations with very high performance
Sirf Star III GPS receivers built into the case.
 Integrated
GPS/Route Planners
These systems seem to have it all. The ability to move them from
vehicle to vehicle. Built in GPS, Route planning and guidance. Until
recently it was only the most expensive that had the amount of memory
they needed. Very few could hold maps for the whole of a single
country let alone the whole of Europe. For a lot of people spending
hundreds of pounds on a system that does nothing more than that
is difficult to justify.
The latest generation of products such as the Mio give smooth scrolling
maps covering the whole of Europe down to the finest detail. Features
such as toll road avoidance and TMC are now making travelling easier
than ever.
Map Books
Having someone in the passenger seat with a good map book can be
the easiest option of all. You can ask them questions and hopefully
they'll give you the answer before the turning. Unless they can't
read the map! How many map books do you know of that give you the
post code? Or are detailed enough to find each individual street
throughout Europe?
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