Navigation Software for Pedestrians

[+Alibags]

My 'stepmonster' has got the idea that she fancies a nice PPC with GPS so that she can navigate her way around cities, etc on her holidays. I guess she would be better with a model with built in GPS (less faffing, etc) and I have some ideas on the hardware score, but I have no idea about which of the various naivigation softwares that are available would be best for people on foot.

 

I am a very new user to Tom Tom so I dunno if it will give you a pedestrian route, and I dont know about other products such as Navman. If anybody has used a PPC navigation application for pedestrian / cycling navigation, I would be glad to hear of your experiences. She will be picking my brains on this subject this weekend and I want to attempt to appear as if I know something!

[+Pharisee]

How about this?

[+Mr'D]

I want to attempt to appear as if I know something!

oh you do make me larf!

 

Seriously though... the Garmin that John has suggested looks like the dog's knees! Wonder if anyone else uses this set-up? My personal experience using a PDA/Sat Nav is far from successful however... another thread I feel

 

Jon

[+Learned Gerbil]

Just remember that sat nav is at its worse in city centres due to the tall buildings.

[+Alibags]

Does that provide routes for pedestrians? The example routes on the Garmin webpage for this software look very much like driving routes.

[+Mad H@ter]

TomTom does provide an option for pedestrians, but all it does differently to the standard car routes is ignore one way systems and possibly does not use motorways but I've not tested that bit . What TomTom and probably the others wont do is route you down access routes where cars are not allowed i.e. alleyways etc.

Edited March 2, 2007 by Phillimore Clan

[+Alibags]

I suppose as these don't tend to include footpaths, then what the Phillies say is logical. I will see what she thinks. It may be that for a handy streetmap and position indicator, then a mapping GPS would do, eg an Etrex Venture Cx. I will show her my Vista and my PPC at the weekend and see what she makes of either option. I think for streetmap navigation, I would go with the Etrex, but then again, I reckon the ability to do other stuff like wifi surfing the net will appeal to her!

[Alan White]

CoPilot also has a walking option but all it does is to overlay a straight-line pointer to your chosen destination (just like the standard arrow we're all used to) and you're left to find the route yourself. It doesn't have any routing options specifically for pedestrians. I expect that such routes aren't mapped by the usual map suppliers (Navtech etc).

 

We're not being very helpful here, are we?

[+Mad H@ter]

When caching in London I find that Memory Map on PDA with the London A to Z is very useful. Only problem with this option will be the limited amount of towns/cities with street level mapping available on MM.

[+Jaz666]

I can recommend any Garmin product over Tom Tom for pedestrian use - being a cacher who doesn't drive.

[+douglasf]

.. or the new satmap device

[+The Blorenges]

When caching in London I find that Memory Map on PDA with the London A to Z is very useful. Only problem with this option will be the limited amount of towns/cities with street level mapping available on MM.

 

I too use Mem Map on a PDA (Mio P550) and find it works very well walking around - admittedly good street maps would be nice. Mem Map does have a 'Go To' function showing the way to the next waypoint if you create a route but it won't talk to you! But then maps are meant to be read, aren't they?

 

Re GPS's not working too well in towns because of high buildings - it is true but the SiRF III receivers now available in most new GPS's are very much better at locking on. I've been very impressed with the Mio over my Garmin Vista C (which itself is pretty good!). But you do get those days when there are no satellites overhead, they are all just behind those buildings!

 

Chris

[+Bear and Ragged]

.. or the new satmap device

 

If you win the lottery!

 

Link to price

 

G

[+The Great Redmondo]

If you are trying to keep costs down, you may be interested in a solution I keep in my bag for days when I don't take my PPC with me. There is a version of TT that runs on a 'Symbian Operating System' which is Nokia smart phone to you and I. So I bought a 2nd hand phone for £50 and a Blue tooth GPS for £20 (both ebay) which together are quite usefull for finding your way round London without having £300 of PPC to be mugged for.

[+skinnymalinky]

When caching in London I find that Memory Map on PDA with the London A to Z is very useful. Only problem with this option will be the limited amount of towns/cities with street level mapping available on MM.

 

We use Memory Map. You can get every single 1:50,000 OS map and I believe 1:25,000 ones too. (a tad expensive but worth it in my opinion).

 

If the GPS reception is poor then at least you have a good quality map to navigate the traditional way with. You can also print off your own maps - I recommend waterproof paper.

 

We have a PDA with built in GPSr which works brilliantly.

[+tteggod trackers]

often use my nuvi 350around cities in pedestrian mode. it still uses roads though for navigation.