[SprintTouch08]

i recommend igo8. Besides the 3d pretty stuff it just simply works. Garmin XT is ok for the price, but i think its definitely not as easy to use.

First off the searching for POI on Garmin is PAINFULLY slow- it searches 2mi, 6mi, 12mi, 30mi etc then gives the results which can take a minute or two sometimes. On igo8 is basically instant when you type it and shows next to where youre typing how many POI match that spelling. Much much more intuitive and much faster. Ive had some problems with missing POI that igo8 had and Garmin on 2009 maps didnt which is aggravating after moving to a city where i dont know where things are at all.

Second you cant scroll on the map during navigation on Garmin, while on igo8 you can. Very useful if you want to see whats coming up, turns on the route, etc. Another good use is sometimes ill see the overview map and a cross street that looks quicker or to get around something happening on that road, so i can finger scroll on the map ahead a little while routing and see that street and then get rerouted after i make the turn-off.

Finally igo8 can announce the street names by dragging and dropping about 5 files onto your card. Garmin only says turn left/right in x feet. Not very useful if you dont know where you are or never been in that area. Street names are MUCH more useful (ex. "turn right in 400ft onto main st" and you can see the physical street sign for main st.). distances are hard to judge for some people (like whats 700 ft going 45 mph?)

Garmin is nice because it does traffic. I like igo's avoidence settings better though. i can set it to not take me on the highway, on Garmin you cant for some reason- it just has minor and major roads but major roads include bigger city streets too. I dont always think highways are the fastest route or sometimes just dont feel like dealing with highway drivers or going 70mph in pouring rain/bad weather and prefer to stick to side streets.

Igo8 simply gives you many more options, it just lacks traffic. but remember traffic is strictly that- construction or closed roads. it wont pick up the car accident 10 min ago that backs up the road, i dont know how often the traffic is updated in Garmin's system but its not real-time either and mainly good for construction really. so its not all that useful and usually there are signs for construction so you can get off the road and the system reroutes you anyways. The best real-time traffic is still pop on an AM radio station to the news and its up to date