Comfortable driving is provided not only by the parameters of the car itself, but also by additional devices - a multimedia system, air conditioning or, for example, a navigator. Every driver had at least one situation when he had to find his way. Paper maps are a thing of the past, and an electronic navigator allows you to quickly and accurately get directions to the desired place.
Despite the many additional functions, the GPS navigator for a car is primarily intended for orientation on the terrain, so it is advisable to start choosing a navigator with the choice of mapping software. There are currently four main developers and manufacturers of mapping software. These are Navteq, Navitel, iGO and Avtosputnik. Each of these programs is intended for certain brands of manufacturers of navigators.
Description of the mapping software
- Navteq is one of the most complete and modern cartographic programs. Published by Garmin and designed to work with this brand of navigator only. At the moment, this software includes maps of 17 regions of the Central, 7 maps of the North-West and 2 maps of the regions of the Southern Federal Districts. All maps provide the most accurate and complete information about the objects on the territory of these districts. Currently, Garmin navigators are the most popular in Russia;
- Navitel - this software presents detailed maps of Russian cities with house numbering and street names, displays important for orientation large objects such as metro stations or shopping centers to facilitate orientation in unfamiliar terrain. In high-end navigators, it is also possible to display traffic jams in real time. When using special access cards, additional areas are opened that are not available in the basic version.
- iGO - this software is delivered on miniSD cards and is tied to this card, not to the navigator, so it can be used with various devices. The software is affordable and contains 2D and 3D maps of major Russian cities and roads between them.
- Avtosputnik - software developed by a Russian company and contains detailed maps of major cities in Russia. The main feature of the program is the ability to accurately display traffic jams on the navigator screen.
The main criteria for choosing a navigator
When choosing a navigator, you should pay attention to the following parameters:
- screen size and resolution - the standard screen size of the navigator is 4.3 inches, but devices with a screen size of up to 8 inches are available. The larger the screen and the higher the resolution, the better the maps are displayed;
- processor power - the more powerful and newer the processor, the higher the speed of the device. The map scrolls faster and navigation hints are obtained faster. Also, processor speed is important when using multimedia functions;
- the amount of internal memory of the navigator - many navigators allow you to use memory cards, however, the speed of the device and the number of downloaded maps depend on the amount of internal memory;
- display of traffic jams - this function will be useful for residents of large cities. The screen will display traffic jams on the route in real time and ways to avoid them. This requires an Internet connection via GPRS or Bluetooth;
- additional functions: if Bluetooth is available, the navigator can be used as a Hands Free device. Also, many navigators can be used to listen to music, upload photo and video files to memory and view them on the device screen.
