Auto Navigation

Name	Routing	U.S. Maps (Updated)	User interface	TTS	Works in shell
iGo 8.0.0*	4.0-Good	TeleAtlas (2008.2)	Very Good	yes	no
iGo 8.3	4.5-Good	TeleAtlas (2011.09) NavTeq (2011Q4)	Very Good	yes	yes- (Click screen)
iGo Amigo 8.4	Same as 8.3.1	"	"	"	"
iGo Primo	"	"	"	"	"
TomTom 7.x	5.0-Excellent	TeleAtlas (2012Q2) [890]	Good	no	yes- (Click screen)
Garmin XT 5.x	4.0-Good	NavTeq (2011Q4) [2012.40]	Good	no	no
NaviTel 3.2*	2.0-OK	Custom	Poor	no	kind of
PolNav 4 and 5*	4.5-Good+	NavTeq (2008Q2)	OK	no	yes
iGuidance 4.0*	5.0-Excellent	NavTeq (2006)	Good	yes	no
Navigon MN7*	4.0-Good	NavTeq (2009Q3)	Good but slow	yes	yes
McGuider 7.7*	4.0-Good	TeleAtlas (2008Q4)	Good	no*	no
Route 66 v8*		(2008Q3)		no	yes
Smart2Go*	2.5-Average-	NavTeq (2007.2)	OK	yes	yes+ TMC

*Not updating map information. [Note: The ratings are subjective. I tested all but iGuidance and Route 66. rickgtx]

• iGo 8.3.1.56007 is the one version that works with the Nokia Shell without modification so you can press the menu button to get to bluetooth, FM, and Music. For other versions of iGo 8.3 see this. All iGo versions have a very customizable and friendly user interface. You create and add POIs and Speedcams. There are many regions of the world covered by the maps. Note iGo 8.0.0 and iGo 8.3.1 maps do not work on each other. Good routing with newer maps. Maps by state. Great performance on Nokia 500. TTS
• TomTom 7.45, 7.91 has the best routing. The user interface is good but not very customizable. You can add raster maps to cover areas not on the provide maps. Maps by Continent. No TTS
• PolNav 4, 5 has an OK interface and has good+ routing. This version has a photo POI feature for images with location information. Easy to get maps for. Maps by region(West/East/Mid). No TTS
• Garmin XT 5.00.20.wp has the most areas of the world maps. With the PC Mapsource program you can create custom areas for your SD Card. Good routing. Maps by Continent or custom. No TTS
• iGuidance 4.0 routing is as good as TomTom's. The user interface is good, but you might need to find some fixes for 480x272 screen. The maps are out-of-date. TTS
• NaviTel 3.2 allows you to create/edit your own maps using GPSMapEdit. It can use non-NT Garmin maps as input. OK routing but depends on how you create the map. No TTS
• Navigon MN7 has the best TTS. Good routing. Maps by state. Some have found this software frustratingly slow on the Nokia 500. TTS
• McGuider 7.7 Good routing. Maps by state. *Not true TTS (Exit numbers and Highway numbers are announced)
• Others (Testing) iGuidance 2009, NDrive, Desginator,... (None work in the shell)

Other Navigation

• OziExplorerCE 2.19 uses raster map images which are either scanned or purchased in digital format. It allows you to track your position received from a GPS on a map.
• NoniGPSPlot 2.73d is a freeware like OziExplorer with much less function. But it allows you callibrate a scanned image on location.

Misc

• MioPocket an installable package of programs, scripts, registry files and skins--to unlock Mio-brand GPS devices (plus some other brands) and allow them to be used as PDAs. See Installing MioPocket
  

How to choose

None of these are perfect. It depends on what is important to you. Bluetooth, TTS, Routing, Maps for a certain region, or ...? The only way for bluetooth phone features at this time is with the Nokia shell. See the samples below, other topics in the wiki, or the forums listed in Useful Links for instruction how to install.

Look at the table above and discussions on this site and other sites to see what people say. I need the most up-to-date maps, so I change depending who has the latest maps. TomTom seems to offer the latest maps. The maps are the biggest part of these programs. Some of the maps might take a while to download. See Useful Links to find maps.

The samples below do not contain maps. You have many choices.

A sampling of the programs

N500SampleFeb2012_2.zip contains samples to get you started. (225MB - Unlocked nk.bin, Startup script, iGo, TomTom, Garmin, OziExplorer, and Smart2Go)
See New startup script for instructions how to modify the menu.



Old 2008 samples that uses the old Startup script:

• N500Sample.part1.rar (98MB) Autostart, unlocked nk.bin, iGo 8.3.1.56007, TomTom 7.45, PolNav 4, and Smart2Go that co-exist with the Nokia shell.
  
• N500Sample.part2.rar (25MB)
• N500SamplePlus.rar (26MB) Garmin XT 5.00.20.wp, OziExplorerCE 2.19, and NoniGPSPlot 2.74 that combines the programs to autostart that do not work in the Nokia shell.
  

Caution: Do not use any .lg5 files that did not come on your device. See Troubleshooting.