Alternative Navigation Software for Route 66 Chicago PND

Wibbler

Hi,

I recently spotted that Route 66 are pushing a new range of PNDs to replace/supplement the Chicago series. As a mostly happy owner of a Chicago, I was disappointed to see that the newer MAXI and MINI PNDs have better software and that Route 66 hasn't released this for the Chicago. Also the available maps (Q2 2007) are older than one would like. I'm currently on Q2 2006.

I'm looking for (legal) alternative software for the Chicago with better maps. I believe that Sygic McGuider, which is available as a multi-platform SD card will work with WinCE Core 5 devices, but it uses Teleatlas maps (2008 Q1).

I know that historically Navteq have trumped Teleatlas for coverage in Ireland, at least in rural areas, but does anyone know how good the 2008 Q1 Teleatlas maps are in Ireland?

Alternatively, does anyone have success stories to share with running other navigation packages such as Navigon's Navigator 6 on a WinCE core 5 device?

Thanks!

blobert

The 2007 Q2 maps are available for the Chicago now but as you say they are a year old.

I've tried a few alternatives, though they are quite fiddly to set up, Route 66 software keeps trying to take over

McGuider for WinCE looks great, great interface, the maps are 2008 Teleatlas which are certainly better than the Q2 2006 ones. The main problem is with the routing, which has yet to be perfected, it's useless if you take a wrong turn and takes ages to calculate a new route. I've seen this mentioned in other reviews of the product so I don't think it's just me with the problem. Once this is perfected I think it will be a great option.

MioMaps v3.3 uses the same maps, I don't quite like the interface as much as McGuider but the routing works fine and it's an improvement on the older Chicago maps.

The only version of TomTom that works is an older version that will not support the newest maps so it's not an option.

The Chicago is not a particulalry popular unit so it's very difficult to find out information about changing the software. Most of the advice is on not doing this legitimately, I emailed Route 66 about it before and they did not reply (though they did finally update their maps shortly after:)

I like my Chicago a lot but the lack of support for a product that I bought less than a year ago is forcing me to look at alternatives.

Hope this is of some help:)

Wibbler

blobert wrote: »

The Chicago is not a particulalry popular unit so it's very difficult to find out information about changing the software.

That's annoying alright. I've always liked the Route 66 software. It's been stable and easy to use, if not as feature rich as other out there. The Chicago was a good move for me from Navigate 7 on an old iPaq PDA. I'd be willing to pay money to upgrade the software, but perhaps Route 66 is focusing on its newer babies. I hope they continue to bring out map updates for it.

I see a lot of Airis users feel they have been left high and dry and I hope that doesn't happen with the Chicago. Mine is only a year old, if that.

Any word on the state of play with the latest Teleatlas 2008 Q1 maps as regards Ireland. They've had long enough to catch up with Navteq.

blobert

They certainly seem much better than the Q2 2006 on my Chicago. I've only been using them in Dublin and for a few days but they've been fine so far.

Incidentally I've had to ditch the McGuider software completely, I tried following it's routing and it was bringing me all over the place, would give it another go when it gets better.

Am currently using MioMaps v3.3 with newest Teleatlas maps (2008 Q1 I think) and it's been great so far.

Wibbler

I've ordered myself one of Sygic's 2GB Europe 2008 McGuider SD cards. The price is pretty favorable.

With the help of the excellent free AirisTool, my Chicago is all set up to allow me to choose which of the installed nav packages I'd like to run. Best of both worlds :-)

My only niggle is that I need to use a workaround to set the maximum brightness of the backlight. The brightness option in AirisTool 2.7 beta is grayed out, so after a reset I need to run Route 66 first to set the brightness.

blobert

Let me know how you get on, like I said I think it could be excellent but for the routing problems.

Also where did you get AirisTool from?

I found it here but the installation instructions were all in French:
http://www.airisgps.fr/index.php?wiki=AirisTool

Wibbler

blobert wrote: »

Let me know how you get on, like I said I think it could be excellent but for the routing problems.

Also where did you get AirisTool from?

I found it here but the installation instructions were all in French:
http://www.airisgps.fr/index.php?wiki=AirisTool

I just Googled for it and allowed Google to translate the page. Works well enough for me :-)

I'll report how I get on with McGuider. The card arrived yesterday, but haven't had the time to play test it yet.