n95 Naviagtion

Their are a number of options out there besides using the n95’s own built in navigation. Two that spring to mind are Garmin and TomTom.

I am currently using Garmin XT which performs like a dream. especially after the Assisted GPS and the extended battery life firmware updates. The product is easy to install and works well in driving mode. The one thing I don’t like are the safety camera warnings that present a red warning header and no audio, not very useful for a driver who is focussing on watching the road! I am informed that voice files can be substituted for the silence but haven’t got this to work on my unit to press but otherwise a very capable bit of kit and more power to the n95’s elbow. The one bug bear of the Garmin’s utility-ware is Mapsource (this is a bit of software for the pc, where you can create sub-maps, create waypoints and routing for maps and most important of all install maps to your unit) which I have had endless fun trying to install, I eventually got it to install only to find it grind to a halt later that day giving me the now more than familiar and just a little annoying recurring “reinstall MapSource” message.

TomTom is a different story on the other hand altogether. TomTom Mobile will NOT work with the n95’s internal GPS. I spent much of yesterday messing about with TomTom on my n95, it is easy to install to and you can set it to work with an external GPS no probs, but it does not recognise the n95’s internal GPS. With no patch imminent to rectify this, I feel that TomTom are missing out on a big market here with the n95. The n95 isn’t even mentioned as compatible with the n95 according to their own site!

So until TomTom pull their finger out (and probably even when they pull their out) I will stick with the smooth running Garmin XT. Hardly seems like TomTom are on the ball, after all I have had my n95 a year now and they haven’t even listed it as compatible with their product!!!

What’s the point of having an external GPS device when you have a perfectly good built in device on the n95?!

Are you using any different  navigation software on your n95? Let us know what and if it’s any good.

~ by Moo on April 11, 2008.