Delorme Street Atlas USA 2008 [Old Version]

List Price: $39.95 Discount Price: $16.00

Features:

• GPS voice commands and spoken directions
• Mexico highway maps, as well as U.S. & Canadian detailed streets & points-of-interest
• More than 3.4 million updated streets across the U.S. and Canada
• Ideal for laptops, desktops, PDAs, iPods, and GPS
• Updated maps and four million places of interest produced by experienced mapmakers at DeLorme

Accessories:
Windows Vista: The Definitive Guide	PC World

Customer Reviews:

Worth the upgrade [Posted on 2008-01-07]
We purchased this to update from Delorme 2005.The new version has larger control buttons and campground search. All for less than the cost to update our Garmen. Easy to use once you get past the learning curve.

Let me help you understand mapping programs [Posted on 2008-04-04]
I am an 'over-the-road' long haul truck driver. As such, mapping and routing is crucial to doing my job well. I actually use 4 different mapping programs (3 of them run on one gps receiver, the other is a stand-alone). It is totally possible to enter the same data into each program and come up with 4 different routes. But that usually doesnt happen. I do get minor discrepancies between them at times. Of the laptop/desktop programs, the Delorme Street Atlas (SA) is by far the best. Having said that, I will admit that it is NOT intuitive to use at first. MS-Streets and Trips (SNT) is easier to use out of the box and for simple short trips. However, after taking the time to beat the learning curve on SA, it is a far superior product than SNT. The third program that I have is a terribly expensive product designed to be used by truckers. It is useless for the most part. I only consult it if I have concerns about truck restricted roads or bridge clearances. They all have mapping errors in them. They cannot possibly keep up with all the road building that goes on, and must rely on input from users. I dont believe that many people take the time to report errors or changes. There is also a considerable lag time from when the map data is created and the software vendor issues the product. So yes, when you buy the latest version, it is already months out of date.

I am not sure where they get the data for commercial points of interests. In my opinion, I think many places have to pay for the 'advertising', thus if they choose not to, they wont appear. It was frustrating when I was attempting to find a local post office and the data was for a mailbox location. Again, the management and collection of this type of data is an impossible task,they must rely upon the veracity of the data that is supplied to them. Think of what it would cost to send someone to each and every POI to verify the information, and as well collect new data on new resturants, etc. We wouldnt be able to afford such a conveniece.

My advice to you is this, If you are a casual user in familiar areas, consider the dedicated units such as tom-tom or garvin or delphi. I dont believe that you get much by paying a higher price. I wouldnt spend more than a couple of hundred dollars. I would also look for refurbished units. They will give you the best price. Often, they are units returned to stores because the user changed his/her mind. Neither the store nor manufacturer can resell the item as new. There is nothing wrong with it and it will have the same warranty as a brand new one. They are all about the same, though I did like my Delphi unit better than the device I use now that runs Tom Tom. I would stick with the major brands, I just dont trust the no-names. A larger screen is about the only good reason to spend more money.

If you are a heavy user, one who is likely to have a laptop in your vehicle with gps, get both SA and SNT. Get the GPS receiver from Delorme. Then go to their website and download a free small program (called a serial port emulator)that will allow SNT and other programs to use the same receiver. For quick and easy routes use SNT. Use SA for your GPS monitoring. Compare the routes between the two products. If they are not the same, make a decision according to your preferences. You will find it much easier to manipulate your route in SA than in SNT.

And finally, my best advice to you, is to secure the device that you are using. The most popular item to steal from a car today is a GPS device. Remove it from you windshield, including the bracket. It is also a good idea to clean the windshield so that the ring mark left by the suction cup on the bracket doesnt advertise that you have and use a GPS device. A bother you say! Yep, it is! But not as much bother as having to deal with the result of your car having been broken into and stuff stolen from you! And please -- when passing me on the road wave with more than one finger (I go slow because I have to and it saves on fuel)and give plenty of room before you move back into the lane. At highway speeds it takes me 3 football fields to bring my truck to a panic stop. I dont want to have to live with the fact that I killed someone because the driver of the other vehicle was ignorant or in just too big a hurry.

Gets the job done [Posted on 2008-04-19]
I researched and compared both this product and Microsoft Streets and Trips. I had Streets and Trips several years ago, so I was familiar with the "look and feel" of that progam. I thought I would try something different, since it was not an expensive tool, as opposed to buying a GPS navigator. I do prefer the Streets and Trips interface to this program, but that may be just what I am used to. This interface seems a bit "dated", while Streets and Trips seems more professional and polished. I use this software for planning leisure trips, and I like to experiment with several routes to the same destination. This product allows me to do that quite easily. One part of my planning is to figure out where we may want to stay overnight on our way somewhere. I like the listing of POI's which shows the distance that POI is from my origin or destination. For example, if I want to stop after about 300 miles, I can scroll down and see the hotels available at about the 300 mile point on my route. It also shows me how far off the route that the POI's are located. All this can be done before I leave home, and I can verify the POI details online. I am the family navigator, so I can have my laptop in front of me and read out directions to my husband. One feature that does not appear to be working correctly, is the connection of this program to the Internet. That may just be my inexperience with the product, but I am not sure how POI, road construction, and any other updates will become available. Overall, this program gets the job done, but I think I would have preferred Streets and Trips.

Works Great [Posted on 2008-04-21]
I have installed it and tested it out and it worked great. Easy to use, lots of great points of interest. I was mainly using it with a laptop and a usb gps unit. I finally broke down and bought a protable GPS Nav system and I like it a lot and don't have to carry the laptop around all the time now. I will continue to use this product on my PCs for its mapping ability.

Works great [Posted on 2008-04-27]
I really like this product. It works very well with my Holux GPSlim 236 GPS device via bluetooth to my laptop. It speaks the names of the steet names and automatically recalculates the route if you miss a turn.

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