Ok,
we have our compass calibrated and our maps loaded. Time to work
with maps. After tapping the globe icon from the Home screen or Reader
portion, you have a map screen with selective icons at the bottom.
The large "g" icon lets you configure the content categories that will
be displayed: Recreation, Culture & Learning, Shopping, Entertainment,
Routes and Tours, Dining, Lodging, Services, Events, and Buildings.
Each
content category has a nicely descriptive icon. You can also select
what sources you want loaded. By checking only needed categories
and map sources, you can increase the time it takes to finish drawing a
map on the screen.
Next to the "g" icon are quick-access icons to the Home
screen and Reader screen. It would have
been nice to have a Geode Info icon (a satellite
maybe?), as the only way to get to the Geode Info application is to select
View
| Geode Info.
Map navigation is done by tap-and-drag to pan the screen and using the
arrow icon next to the minus sign for zooming in on a specific area.
Tap the arrow icon then draw a box on the screen where you want to zoom
into. This is very handy, as you can actually zoom out almost 6,000
miles! You can zoom in to slightly less than 1,000 feet.
If you only want to zoom in or out, you can also tap the plus or minus
icons. There is also a "slider" that lets you adjust the zoom control
more quickly. I put quotes around slider because it is not a true
sliding control. Tap and it zooms to that point. This isn't
very intuitive to me, and it's easy to accidentally zoom out so far that
your map becomes a tiny speck. I would rather have the slider removed
or let it become a true slider control. I would also like to see
the Visor's up/down hardware buttons used to zoom in/out.
Rounding out the icons, the far right icon lets you collapse the toolbar
so that you get basically a full-screen mode.
Don't
like the toolbar? Go into Options | Preferences
and change it. Here you can change the Map
Control from the Default to a Corner design that was used during
the Geode's beta testing. The controls are the same, but it's nice
to have a choice.
Using the Map >>