My iGo8 Review

[mindfrost82]

I'm used to using Garmin Mobile XT. I also tried TomTom6 and didn't care much for it. I also own iGuidance v4, and while I like TTS, Garmin is much more polished.

Also, I have iGo8 8.3.xxxx with the latest maps.

PROS:
- Map looks very nice and I like the looks of it over Garmin, TomTom, and iGuidance.
- TTS works pretty well, but instead of saying "North Charles Street" it'll say "N Charles Street"...still not a big deal.
- I like how it'll say "take the next right" or "take the 2nd right" when you get close to your turn. With Garmin I always have to look at the map or try to read the street signs to see exactly when to turn....which can be hard in the dark.
- The menus are very easy to navigate and I like all of the options they have included.
- Fast re-route if you go off your route
- Being able to pan the map is nice

CONS:
- I prefer seeing my arrival time rather than how much longer is left in my trip (it shows 5:15, meaning I have 5 hours and 15 minutes left). Is there a way to change this?
- Routing was COMPLETELY off on my long trip. It seems to do fine in my area and for short trips, but I tried it when going to my parent's house and it was going to take me a way that it said was 45 minutes longer than the way Garmin had....and they were both set to the fastest route.

All-in-all it is a very nice program, but the routing problem on my trip did it in for me. That's the whole point of a GPS program and if it doesn't give me a good route, then its useless IMO. I might try changing some settings around to see if it'll give me the same route as what Garmin did, but unless it can get me there in the same amount of time or less, then I don't plan on using it.

[jmorton10]

Originally Posted by mindfrost82

but the routing problem on my trip did it in for me. That's the whole point of a GPS program and if it doesn't give me a good route, then its useless IMO. .

That is why I have always preferred Garmin stuff & I have been a GPS/NAV user for years. I have an Eclipse NAV unit built into my truck. It is a killer sound system & looks awesome (it is a full double din unit & uses the same Navteq maps as Garmin)

The d@mn thing doesn't route well at all however. I was planning a route on it to my sons college on Sunday. It is a 3 1/2 hour drive & I know the way, but I still like to have the NAV unit announce upcoming turns etc. The Eclipse unit always gives you three routes to choose from & you select the one you prefer. The thing is, none of the routes it picked is the logical route to take without some modification (you can drag the route from one road to another).

Garmin XT on the other hand only gave one route, but it is the way any intelligent person would pick in the first place (& the exact same route that Google maps gives)

~John

[jmorton10]

By the way, I also have CoPilot Live 7 installed in my phone.

That gave the same route as Garmin XT & is a pretty nice program although I prefer Garmin because I am used to the features of Garmin stuff.

~John

[mindfrost82]

I tried CoPilot Live 7 back when I had the Q and it was a pretty nice lookin program. At the time it didn't offer TTS, I'm not sure if they ever released an update for that or not.

I really hope Garmin comes out with a version that supports TTS, then that would be my hands down choice since I don't really need all the eye-candy in iGo8.

[jmorton10]

Originally Posted by mindfrost82

I tried CoPilot Live 7 back when I had the Q and it was a pretty nice lookin program. At the time it didn't offer TTS, I'm not sure if they ever released an update for that or not.

I really hope Garmin comes out with a version that supports TTS, then that would be my hands down choice since I don't really need all the eye-candy in iGo8.

CP still does not support TTS. My Garmin 7200 does & it's kind of a nice feature, but I can live without it.

~John

[stroths]

Originally Posted by mindfrost82

- TTS works pretty well, but instead of saying "North Charles Street" it'll say "N Charles Street"...still not a big deal.

You can fix this by modifying the dictionary file. I had to do it on mine because for "Dr" it would say "Doctor" rather than "Drive". I forget what app I used, but you should be able to google for it. Google for something like ig08 dictionary (or lex) editor.

Originally Posted by mindfrost82

CONS:
- I prefer seeing my arrival time rather than how much longer is left in my trip (it shows 5:15, meaning I have 5 hours and 15 minutes left). Is there a way to change this?

You can manually modify the skin/data file if you know how. There are other skins out there that have more flexibility than the default skin. There is a TomTom clone, one called Ultimate and many more available for free. Depending on the skin, you could have what you want.

[caseyatbt]

I've been to iGO's website. I don't see it available for PPC. Can you post a link.