Delorme 40% off

[Tom]

Delorme announced a 40% discount off their 2006 products for registered owners. I don't see the "prior owners" stipulation on their web site, but that's what their email said. Has anyone upgraded from Street Atlas 2004/2005 to 2006? I'm trying to figure out if it's worth the $30 to upgrade.

I've been evaluating MS Streets and Trips since I bought it for IIRC $5 with the Costco price and rebate. We really haven't travelled far/often enough since I bought it to make a good comparison, although it doesn't have such good routing tools as SA. Haven't checked for S&T updates, but does anyone know if they're paid or free? (I suppose 'Microsoft and free' is an oxymoron).

I understand the advantages of a Street Pilot and its derivatives (we have one), so I'm not looking for the virtues of a SP vs PC-based software.

 

[Ned]

I upgraded to SA2006 months ago when it first was released.  The current discount offering is to encourage people to buy additional copies for Christmas presents, but if you haven't upgraded, you can certainly take advantage of the offer.  I upgrade every year as the interface does improve, albeit slowly, from year to year, but the map and POI databases don't always get better.  Overall, I find it to be a reasonable tradeoff and each year it gets a little bit better.  Still far from perfect but a much better product that SA was several years ago.

 

[Tom]

Thanks Ned. Call me a cheapskate, but I've resisted the frequent upgrade offers they send me, feeling they charge too much. OTOH the $29.95 price is at or below the threshold of pain. Apart from the incremental improvement in the interface, are there really that many updates/corrections in the maps?

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

are there really that many updates/corrections in the maps?

That's like asking if insurance is worth it, Tom.  It's priceless if you have the occasion to need it and a useless expense otherwise.  So, are you going to drive on a road that is not on the SA2005 map or not?  And how do you predict it? 

 

[Ned]

As with any mapping product, they can only update a portion of the map data each year and there is no way to know which areas are up to date and which aren't.  It's easy to find missing roads in any map product but that doesn't mean the update is worthless, unless it's your street that's missing, of course

 

[Tom]

That's like asking if insurance is worth it, Tom.

It was a serious question. I wasn't asking if a specific road(s) has been added. I was merely trying to understand if the changes include more than just the incremental interface improvements that Ned mentioned. If, for example, I upgrade my marine charting software, all I'd get for $200 is improvements to the interface. All chart updates with that vendor cost additional $$. I've never purchased a Delorme upgrade, so I asked the question. 

 

[Tom]

Thanks Ned. Sounds like they do include some map updates. Understand that some roads will be missing - there's no way any cartography can be current.

 

[Ned]

If all they had were interface improvements, then they could release every month   The 2006 version has configurable hot keys for the different views and is a huge improvement over past versions.  It's now much easier to run the program from the keyboard while bouncing down the road.

The only map errors we've seen this year are in areas with new roads or relocated road sections and I can't expect any mapping program to have those updates yet.

 

[Tom]

It's now much easier to run the program from the keyboard while bouncing down the road.

That's very good to know, although I'm usually navigating while Chris is driving. We've also come to rely more on the SPIII for directions (strange how Chris will obey that little machine and ignore my directions). I still like to see the bigger picture while having the ability to instantly see the detail at those times when SPIII is obviously wrong. So the programmable keys sounds like a definite improvement.

The only map errors we've seen this year are in areas with new roads or relocated road sections....

We all know what it's like to discover those holes/errors in the maps but, as you say, they're inevitable 

 

[UK-RV]

Hi Tom (and all)

Does this software allow you to specify RV-Friendly routing ?

I know there is one satnav version over there that has this specific function, but wasnt sure which one it was.

I already have a program called TomTom Navigator installed on my PDA, which has a specific map for each US State, plus one with just the "major roads of the US", plus Canada - it even allows me to hear route directions in "Brit-Friendly" terms like Motorway and A-Road instead of Freeway and/or Highway etc etc.

I also have MS Streets & Trips installed on the Laptop.

BUT, neither of these allow specific RV routing.

Thanks

Paul

 

[Tom]

Paul

Delorme allows you to set preferences for route planning, including preferred road type or which types to avoid. I've never used this feature, so I have no idea how well it works, but maybe someone else can comment. My Delorme is 2004 and I don't know if this might be something they improved in the 2006 version.

If you want to be more specific, Delorme allows you to place vias on your route. So, for example, you can put a via on a specific road or at a specific place and it will route/reroute through your vias.

 

[Ned]

Street Atlas lets you set preferences for different road type as well as urban and rural speeds for those road types.  It does not have routing by vehicle type as some of the Garmin Street Pilot models do.

 

[joelmyer]

Street Atlas lets you set preferences for different road type as well as urban and rural speeds for those road types.  It does not have routing by vehicle type as some of the Garmin Street Pilot models do.

Mrs G sometimes puts us on roads (or tries to) that are not suitable.  I've tried telling her we're a truck (rv is not an option).  What vehicle type do you use?

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

I've tried both "truck" and "bus" settings on my SP III and it doesn't seem to have any effect.  The "lady in the box" [Mrs G.]  loves interstates, but once she gets off them, anything goes! 

 

[Expatriate]

My SP-III in combo with Delorme Street Atlas V8.0 and V9.0 is never off more than the width of the Interstate. Sometimes it does show me in the other lane, however.

I use Streets and Trips when traveling in Mexico, though, and it often shows the highway 1/4-1/2 mile away from where I'm driving. I believe that's likely to be errors in the database as provided by the country in question. Otherwise, why would it be so accurate in U.S. and so far off in Mexico.

I have noticed that the programs don't automatically switch to Spanish when I cross the Rio Grande.

 

[Karl1]

Tom:

(strange how Chris will obey that little machine and ignore my directions).

Maybe she just wants to get to the desired location in a reasonable length of time  ;D ;D

 

[Ron3]

Tom:

Maybe she just wants to get to the desired location in a reasonable length of time? ;D ;D

Sound like a valid reason to me. ;D ;D ;D

 

[Len and Jo]

Tom, I have not found any place to get up dates for S&T's.  Looks to me that one must get the next years program.  We have S&T 2005 with its new features (verses 2003 that we had) and they are great.  Only glitch I have found with 2005 S&T has been that when we have lost GPS signal that only way to get it back is to reload program.  This happened twice on on a 3000 mile trip.  :-\  Our 2003 version didn't do this. 

 

[Tom]

Len, I was afraid of that. Microsoft's model is to tease you in, then keep getting your money every year. Strange issue losing GPS like that. Are you sure it wasn't an antenna issue? There would not appear to be a reason that the software could lose a fix. I've had this happen with marine navigation software and it turned out to be a problem with the receiver (built into the antenna). The manufacturer replaced it.

Separately, I've seen issues with port conflicts that prevent the GPS from talking to the PC.

 

[joelmyer]

I was afraid of that. Microsoft's model is to tease you in, then keep getting your money every year.

Tom,

I really don't like defending Microsoft, but....

S&T shows up in Sam's Club from time to time for $20 something.  That's a far cry from Garmin's $100 something or even Delome's $40.

Joel