Thanks. I've been playing around with Here for the last 24 hours and can make some initial observations--with the caveat that I've used the app on roads with which I'm very familiar while my most recent Nav Free experience in Ireland was on some roads that I've never been on in five previous trips. I figure withdrawing the threat of truly getting lost along with the somewhat higher degree of difficulty on Irish roads (default in the US: if you're on a road, you can mostly count on that road not changing names; default in Ireland: if you're on a road, you can count on that road changing names, perhaps multiple times in several miles) means I'm probably comparing oranges to tangerines.

Since I am so familiar with the roads I used Here on in the last 24 hours, I made it a point to ignore directions every so often to see how the app would handle it. I was very impressed with how quickly Here generally rerouted me. At one point, in fact, Here suggested a rerouting that essentially amounted to a U-turn by going off the street I was on and going through a parking lot in the business park where I work--a valid routing that I've never seen any other app suggest.

I also appreciated that Here does not seem to nag as much as Nav Free--more than once on my Irish trip, Nav Free would tell me, almost in one continuous direction, "in a quarter-mile, carry on straight ahead, carry on straight ahead, in a half-mile, carry on straight ahead." Here seems to presume you don't need as many oral directions.

The visual display and hi-fi voices are also a pleasure. Here packs a lot of information into the bottom of the screen, including warnings that you're exceeding the speed limit. Nav Free does this as well (as does my Garmin), but it seems easier to understand the information Here presents. I've never gotten that information from Google Maps.

Another advantage of Here and Nav Free over Google Maps, as discussed in this thread, is the ability to search when off line. The Here app again seemed simpler to use in comparison with Nav Free.

I wish I had seen this thread during my trip to Ireland because I would have tried Here while there, but I'm happy with my early experience. Both Nav Free and Here render my old Garmin unit obsolete for my trips to the UK and Ireland.