Microsoft Streets & Trips 2008 better than Garmin City Navigator 2008?

Recently, I got a Garmin Nuvi 650 GPS with City Navigator 2008
installed. I have both City Navigator and S&T installed on my PC as
well.

I did a few test routes and I was actually surprised at the inaccuracies
of the Garmin software. With S&T, the direction specifically told me to
avoid a particular lane by keeping left onto the ramp then keep right to
stay on ramp, keep left on local road, then bear left on the street.
This is not a new route but has been that way for more than 15 years.
The Nuvi told me to stay left and then keep going until I hit a major
artery 7 km away. If I would've done what the Nuvi asked, I would've
ended up over a bridge in another part of town!

I would say S&T did a fantastic job for a $30 program compared to the
$140 Garmin charges for their GPS software.

Sam wrote:

S&T uses Tele-Atlas data and Garmin NavTeq, that can produce major
differences in results.

But I'm not defending either product. From years of use of various
products, I don't expect any mapping to be perfect or any software
implementation or routing algorithms to be foolproof.

Your preferences and settings can play a major part in the results and
make one of those look much smarter or dumber than it really is.

Simple choices like road type preferences, type of use, etc.

Jack

Actually they both use Navteq data :)

--
Marvin Hlavac
Laptop GPS World
www.laptopgpsworld.com

You make a good point. Many don't know that their preferences can make a
difference. In my case, that route was bang on with S&T and my avoidances
were completely disabled in the Nuvi. I think the algorithm used in the
Nuvi needs some serious improvement considering how much it actually costs.
I might head out to Best Buy to try out the newes Nuvi to see how it
compares.

Anybody use Streets & Trips in Mexico, around Cancun? Is there a specific
product that is good to use in Mexico?