Review: OnCourse Navigator 6 (OCN6)

Continuing my newbie trek into the world of GPS, get-go I reviewed some hardware for the Treo 7xx serial and now I'll take a await some software, namely OnCourse Navigator 6 (OCN6) - $89.95. How did I fare with this absolutely unproblematic-to-setup GPS solution?

OnCourse Navigator is just near as *simple* as you can get for setting up a relatively sophisticated GPS software mapping solution on your WM device. One caveat though: it only supports 320x240 or 240x320 resolution, which means square 240x240 Treo screens are, regrettably, excluded from this otherwise fantabulous software (**Update:** WMExperts at present carriers this version which is compatible with WM Treos)

What do I mean by simple? Read on below...

Hardware & Setup

Well, the whole software package shows up on an SD carte in an envelope--no CD, no clunky dragging maps from your computer to your SD card and awkward file transfers, it'south all done for you already. But wait, you accept miniSD on your device? No trouble. OnCourse Navigator actually comes on a 2gb microSD carte du jour, which is then couched in a miniSD adapter, which...aye...is and then couched in a full SD menu adapter (phew!). So you lot literally have every option available no matter what type of device you're using.

Installation is a snap. Just insert the bill of fare into your device and after a few seconds a pop-up screen will inquire if you want to install OCN6. Installation is very quick since all it is doing is adding a few files to the device's main retention including their nifty Today plugin (optional) which gives you lot a 1-click launch. During setup the plan volition ask you some basic questions such equally where you live, device setup and your option for vox navigation e.k. male, female person, accent, etc.

Configuring your external GPS receiver is also straight forrad (or equally straightforward as you can get in WM). Assuming you accept your GPS receiver setup and paired with your device (hither's a video showing you how) you can either let OCN6 automobile-search for the device or you lot tin can manually enter in the COM port settings and speed. The only issues I ever had hither was related to how WM handles GPS devices and manages the COM ports, but the program itself had no problem finding the device assuming it was paired correctly.

The first affair I noticed most OCN6 was the large, bold graphics. OCN6 is visually quite stunning in that it provides a lot of information notwithstanding you don't feel overwhelmed. All the icons and images are large, elementary and seemed to exist logically placed. In addition, although I oasis't used whatsoever of the other competitor products, I know from screens shots that one way they vary is in usage of screen real manor: use WM softkeys and First bar or not? OCN6 falls into the latter category: no WM softkeys or Start bar. While somewhat disconcerting the do good here of course is you get a nice full-screen map. Just as of import, I rarely plant myself using a stylus with the program equally all the buttons, letters and numbers are perfectly sized for thumb usage--a necessity when in the car.

Taking it for a spin

Once the program is setup and paired with your GPS, you tin can bank check out the neat "radar screen" which gives all of your necessary GPS satellite, longitude and breadth data. I won't lie: the whole video game, radar-room look works for me.

To commencement a trip you just tap the screen for "Route". Hither I really enjoyed the intuitiveness of this program, you know, those petty things that make it easier to utilize. When you lot showtime choose your location, you begin by selecting your state, nothing, town, street name and finally house or edifice number. Only what I really liked is how the on screen keyboard works. Say you demand to type a town, say "Springfield", instead of typing information technology all out, it has a blazon of text prediction built in where as you type "South" "p" "r" the messages on screen begin to disappear--the reason it does this is because OCN6 is narrowing downwardly your logical choices for your text input. Besides with zip codes: type in "1" "1" it will already begin to show you what those could be leading to giving your the full choices on screen. In short, when you are in a automobile and need to input your destination (no doubtfulness the most tedious office), this picayune technique profoundly reduces the time information technology takes to find the address. In addition, all of your recent trips are saved and can be accessed later based on City, Country, zip lawmaking, etc which is useful for finding other nearby stops at your new destination.

In one case the destination is entered, the program calculates the trip and starts you off. Route adding takes no more than 10-30 seconds on average. The voice prompts were quite loud and clear on my device (ppc-6700) and I had no bug following the prompts. Ane thing should exist noted: no street or road names for the voice prompts. This is one of those features that many folks savour and I tin see why, because with OCN6 the prompts are usually like "Turn right in 1/2 a mile" with more than reminders as you get closer "Turn right in 300 anxiety", etc.. For the most part, this works fine merely indeed, if you are blazing at 40 mph on a back route, trying to effigy out what 300 anxiety looks similar is a scrap of a challenge! OCN6 does prove the street name of the side by side turn but it is not very large and requires a few extra seconds to visually identify, which I constitute hard. How I would know I missed my 300 anxiety was when the program of a sudden blurted out "Route recalculation!", which I have to admit, gave me a feeling downwardly seeming every bit I failed to mind the little voice from the box. Luckily for me, road recalculation is very quick and never failed me. In fact, in the three months I've used the plan it never failed to get me to my destination, route recalculations and all.

Other on screen information includes side by side management, prototype for your next "motion" east.g. lane merge or exit and my favorite your estimated time of inflow (ETA) which is based on your current speed. Actually that final part is dangerous when you're driving as I constitute myself hitting the pedal to, you know, decrease my ETA "aha! Now I'll exist there in 18 minutes". There is likewise the very convenient Solar day or Night graphics, which can be gear up based on your electric current time. Where Day graphics feels like a standard map, Night fashion feels straight up like the original [http://starwars.ugo.com/images/games/starwarsarcade/starwarsarcade_2.jpg ]Star Wars Arcade game, meaning of grade that I loved it, plus in all seriousness its very easy on your eyes at night.

Some other tidbits about OCN6 that I enjoyed were the ability to change the map view from post-obit you to and to a higher place shot and the airplane/satellite view. If your GPS connection is lost, the program will alert you lot to this fact—this happened a few times only that was related to the GPS receiver losing power.

Conclusions

Overall I really enjoyed using OCN6. This GPS mapping software is highly recommended for the novice and the person who does not want to invest a lot of time in ownership the right maps (OCN6 includes the entire U.S. and Canada) nor setting it up on their device. Even if that is not the case, the overnice sharp graphics, total-screen maps and touch-friendly UI make it a pleasure to use, in fact I imagine it would look fantastic on the HTC Bear on and it gave new life to my sometime ppc-6700! My merely gripes would be the post-obit: no street/road names for phonation prompts and no real way to update the maps (OnCourse just makes the navigator, not the maps). Other than that though I accept to highly recommend OCN6 as it will go you to where you're going without devoting much fourth dimension.

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Source: https://www.windowscentral.com/review-oncourse-navigator-6-ocn6

Posted by: ballthismillond.blogspot.com

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