There are different grades of navigation software and systems we should be quite clear that some of the bundled systems do have poor navigation software and if you want the best mapping you have to pay for it, the navigation experts commonly use Pocket PC's running MS pocket PC 2003 and a hardware GPS receiver possibly connected via Bluetooth certainly not a cheap setup but one that delivers results.

For those who want this level of quality there are few Navigation and mapping software suites that deliver the same quality, Destinator 3 from PowerLOC certainly claims this throne and we managed to borrow an Ipaq H1930 loaded with Destinator 3 European edition for a week long test.

Destinator 3 comes on CD and is installed on the pocket PC via active sync, you'll need a fair chunk of memory to run the application so it demands most of your PPC resources when running and will require a good size storage card (128mb) minimum for map storage but that doesn't hold the entire UK map which is a whopping 133mb, instead you have to use the Destinator 3's customer map feature. Here you can take a large map (lets say the UK) and slice it into the sections you want or need, so in our case we chopped off Ireland as we have no reason to drive there and now the map fits comfortably on a 128mb card. This feature is useful for creating maps with sections of Europe so you don't need an IBM micro drive to hold your maps.

The maps themselves are of very high quality which isn't surprising as powerLoc were the first company to introduce 3D mapping to the pocket PC software arena, the resolution of the Destinator maps is quite stunning while the 3D is good the 2D is best and we quickly moved to the overhead 2D view for all our testing, unlike other route finder software Destinator feels more professional and that is in a large part due to the map quality.

So onto some real life experience and our first journey from East London to Rickmansworth, firstly time to fire up Destinator and when paired with the Navman GPS receiver it gave use a TTF (Time to Fix) of under a minute which is fine, then to input destination. Again Destinator excels here the address database is very comprehensive and could even find a road we've never been able to put into Tom Tom, its very comprehensive even enabling us to select house number and to choose roads to be avoided. To give ourselves a reasonable test we blocked Destinator from choosing the M25 and the A406 which increased the journey time and length but gave us a chance to see route calculation in action, the selected route through Enfield and North London was good and even when we deliberately strayed away from it the recalculation was quick and brought us back on track.

The user interface is excellent and our Ipaq managed  to render the maps in real time very smoothly but most users will rely on the audible instructions which are again good, very clear and concise especially considering that like all Pocket PC based systems they have to use the tiny in built PDA speakers, one of the nice touches is a pre warning of upcoming turns especially if you are travelling at high speeds. Warnings like "roundabout ahead" or "right turn ahead" give you notice that the next instruction will be one where you need to take action, these audible warnings are backed up on screen with overlaid text and a quick flash of day to night and back again to get your attention.

Nearing the end of our first trip we tried to send Destinator mad by going back on ourselves and down a side road, it quite calmly re calculated the route and started to provide instructions again, compared to a factory fit BMW system we experienced this was significantly faster and not quite so "German".

Onto our second journey to Southampton and this time an altogether different experience, setting off round the M25 no real drama but having decided to take the M3 against the advice of Destinator it tried quite ferociously to get us back to its chosen route (which was shorter) normally our usual driving companion Tom Tom 2 would have given up after a few attempts or miles but Destinator 3 was still trying even through to change to this route would now take longer. The usual method of re routing in our experience is to try and get you back to the optimum route but after a number of re tries re plot from the current position, sadly Destinator 3 would have had us going back up the M3 to rejoin its route hardly confidence inspiring.

There are now a growing number of add on's for the Destinator product like POI's (point of interest) these can be anything from petrol stations to speed cameras and powerLoc seem to be encouraging a community to setup via its site but it is a way behind the size of the Tom Tom community.

Being unashamed gadget nuts we always like to have a poke about inside settings and configuration especially with GPS systems, the Destinator GPS status screen started to take on a mystical quality amongst the team, it's 3D display showing satellites orbiting our location is without doubt the most attractive GUI we've seen for the mundane function of checking signal levels and com ports.

Destinator 3 is a product of variable quality its maps are first class as is its database of locations and some elements of the user interface, clearly a lot of thought has been put into the software and it has developed from the earlier versions, but any pocket PC GPS system must route correctly. While checking background research we came across a number of stories relating to Destinator 3 not supporting roundabouts correctly PowerLOC will release a patch for this in March and we are a bit mystified why the unit we borrowed did not experience any issues. It does concern us that a product can get onto the market with such an error within its code and combined with our experience of its poor route re calculation we have strong concern over the algorithms used by Destinator 3.

Perhaps with this issue sorted and not diverting off the chosen route Destinator 3 would make a good system but we are afraid that it still has some way to go from knocking our current champion Tom Tom 2 out of first place.

More GPS Software Reviews -

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