15. Downtown Chicago To Wrigley Field: Know Thy Destination

Our next destination on the list was Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs baseball team. Again it was a challenge for both systems to keep a satellite reception. It was the Roadmate - which we chose as guide for this leg - that first regained a satellite link. The iWay could not be used until buildings were smaller than about 10 stories. Until then, the device confused us with several unexpected and nonsense turn commands.

Once we left downtown, both devices agreed on a 4.3 mile route to Wrigley Field, estimating the travel time as 11 (Roadmate) and 12 minutes (iWay). The drive went without problems, but we felt both units could react quicker with turn announcements in city traffic. Announcements sometimes are made without enough time before the actual turn, which is especially the case for the iWay unit. The Roadmate's "ding-dong" signal is a simple but very useful assistant when the displayed city map is not detailed enough for the driver to make a clear-cut decision about which street to take or when traffic gets hectic.

We arrived after exactly 12 minutes at our destination, but were initially unsuccessful finding a parking spot in densely-populated Wrigleyville.

Arrival at Wrigley Field: The Roadmate automatically canceled the route when we passed the stadium, even when we were still looking for a parking spot. The advantage of the iWay is that routes always have to be canceled manually and guide the user back to a destination as often as needed.

A surprise was the fact that both units displayed plenty of points of interest in the area around the stadium, but not the designated parking opportunities. As a result, we were forced to circle the area around Wrigley Field a few times. We noticed that the Roadmate automatically cancels the navigation process when a destination is passed; the iWay only cancels the current route through user confirmation. When looking for a parking space, the iWay's approach is more useful-especially, if drivers are unfamiliar with the area.