Windows Phone Thoughts: Road Trip Revolutions: The MyGuide 500 Navigation System Reviewed

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Thursday, January 12, 2006

Road Trip Revolutions: The MyGuide 500 Navigation System Reviewed

Posted by Doug Raeburn in "HARDWARE" @ 09:00 AM


Some Minor Issues
While I found the MyGuide to be a very capable navigation unit, I did run into some minor issues while using it. The first issue was that, on occasion, OCN couldn’t find the maps when first started up. To correct this, I’d have to exit OCN, eject and re-insert the SD card, and start OCN again. The issue was easily corrected, but it was a bit of a nuisance.

Second, I ran into a memory allocation error a couple of times. I’ve seen this same error on a friend’s Pocket PC with OCN 5, and I believe it’s because 64 MB of RAM is marginal for this program, especially when you let Windows Mobile’s memory management take care of closing applications. I eventually got to the point where I would check the running programs before I started using OCN, and I’d close anything other than ActiveSync and my screen snapshot program. When I did that, I didn’t encounter this error.

I’d recommend running an application such as WisBar Advance that allows you to close programs rather than “smart minimize” them. I’ve been running OCN 5 on my Loox 720 with 128 MB of RAM for several months and I never encountered the memory error.

How Does It Compare to the Dedicated Units?
Unfortunately, I haven’t had the opportunity to use a Garmin or Magellan unit. However, from a price/feature perspective, the MyGuide appears to have an advantage over the competition. The roughly comparably priced Garmin StreetPilot i3 ($428 USD MSRP) comes with a 128 MB storage card and a much smaller, lower resolution screen. A Garmin unit with more comparable specifications, the StreetPilot 2720 ($1076 USD MSRP) has only dedicated storage (no memory cards supported) and has only a slightly larger screen for the additional bump of nearly $500.

The Magellan RoadMate 300 ($523 USD MSRP) has a roughly comparable screen size but only internal storage, and doesn’t include an SD card, although it can accommodate them. The more expensive RoadMate 700 ($749 USD MSRP) has a slightly larger screen and uses an internal hard drive in place of flash memory storage. So it has generally comparable features as a nav unit at a higher price.

Finally, none of the dedicated units mentioned above have the additional capabilities of a Pocket PC. So if the idea of a navigation unit that provides lots of functionality when you aren’t on the road appeals to you, the MyGuide is clearly a better choice.

Conclusions
With the introduction of the MyGuide 500, fans of Pocket PC navigation systems have an option that matches the form factor advantages of dedicated navigation units. OCN 5 remains a top choice among Pocket PC navigation software, and the new seamless maps eliminate another advantage that dedicated units could claim. And in my opinion, the value quotient clearly favors the MyGuide 500. When the MyGuide 500 can match the capabilities of the higher priced dedicated units at a price more in the league of the entry level dedicated units, there’s little reason to look anywhere else.

Doug Raeburn is a data architect specializing in data warehouse design. He lives in Pewaukee, Wisconsin, USA.

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