Reading Mel Chaney's articles on RV navigation systems inspired me to look into this area much closer. I looked at the new Alpine system, the Philips Carin, the Hertz Never Lost, and the BMW Navigation System at the Consumers Electronic Show last month. These systems cost over $2000 plus installation and are hard wired into the car. Many of these systems require the owner to buy a CD for each geographic region at a cost of about $150 each. They typically have about 8 different regional CDs. An Rver would have to insert a new CD upon entering a different region. They are dedicated systems using PC components packaged for 12vdc use. I found them all interesting but expensive as well as a little hard for a PC nut, like me, to interface with. I always wanted to do something these systems would not do. I liked the hands off, and eyes off features that make these built in systems easy to use and safe, but found myself wanting more information than a voice telling me to turn right or left in a few seconds.
So then also at CES I looked at Laptop PC systems from Delorme, ETAK (Sony Division) and TravRoute which cost $200 to $350 and require a laptop to operate. They all provided a GPS that is and will pass on my experience. I got systems from ETAK and TravRoute on a trial basis and put them through vigorous testing. The ETAK system is basically like the Delorme system in that it allows trip planning, trip tracking via GPS, and trip saving for later playback. The ETAK system uses an IR remote (like a TV remote) to allow the driver to zoom in and zoom out, etc., but I found it distracting to the driver. The Software gave ample warning not to look at the dynamic map display while driving, but I found myself glancing at it taking a little attention away from driving. As a guy that is really interesting in Safety, I immediately positioned the PC screen so that my copilot could see it and answer questions. The accuracy of the GPS system used with ETAK left some to be desired, it was off the road by 300 meters most of the time and at sometimes greater than that.
I then set up the Door to Door CoPilot from TravRoute and became really impressed. This system allows complete multi-stop trips to be planned and stored away as files. When you get ready to go, you just open the proper trip and click on "Start Tracking" and, voila!, you are off on the trip. The actual trip track is stored and you can later play it back to impress all your friends. The play back is speed up, so that you hear all the voice prompts and the tracking arrow moves very fast when no turns were made. A voice output warns of the next turn in plenty of time and it has a voice recognition system that was great even without training.
You could ask: Where am I; How far; Zoom in, Zoom out, Next Turn, Heading, Speed, Thank You, etc. It dutifully answered the voice requests with verification of the action. The display turns off, so the driver can't see the map. If you have a copilot you can leave the display on so its really the honor system when it comes to showing the track on the map. It properly planned a complex multi-stop 200 mile trip with the same ease that it planned a 40 block trip. CoPilot senses when you deviate from the planned route because of traffic or making a mistake, and dynamically recalculates a new route to get you back on track. The GPS was accurate to about 50 meters most of the time and never off more than 100 meters. It was very accurate and has all the streets in the US in the system.
During the trip planning process or even with a recorded trip it is possible with CoPilot to Copy and Paste maps, route instructions, etc. into other Windows based applications. So you can facilitate the trip diaries with real maps. CoPilot is a true and capable navigation system, but comes up short compared to some other systems on displaying restaurants, lodging, etc. I found those other systems to have incomplete data bases for this kind of information anyway. CoPilot does allow a user to add personalized information in the trip documentation and also on the maps, so it's possible to put a customized pin on the street where your favorite restaurant or campground is located. That way you will always be able to drive back to the exact spot later. TravRoute has a web site where all this kind of information is maintained and can be downloaded ahead of time. None of the systems has a complete campground directory, or freeway exit services directory so you still can't throw away all your directories. TravRoute is planning a real time system to overcome traffic conditions like accidents that will be available in April.
Of all the systems that I have looked at the CoPilot by TravRoute is the best at any price, and only costs about $350. Of course you have to have the laptop, but most of us who travel and Internet have that toy anyway. This makes one more things that we can use to justify the expense. I recommend it highly and will travel with it from now on. For us Guys, TravRoute claims that we'll never have to stop for directions again! Wow, what a valuable toy it is.
Sometime in the near future we will all be able to drive with affordable Internet access as we drive, so just imagine the systems that will evolve to make it easy to travel.
Safe travel, Frank