RV Campground Navigator CD set

[Karl]

Recently received an 'offer' from Good Sam to preview the 2005 RV Campground Navigator 2-cd set for 30 days; purchase price $35.95. Say's it contains every listing fromTrailer Life Campground, RV Park & Services Directory. Has anyone tried this CD set and what are your opinions?

Thanks!

Karl

 

[Steve CDN]

Will be looking forward to hearing reports because a couple of years ago it was a disappointment.  I would take them up on the 30 day trial..if you don't like it..send it back!

 

[Ron]

IMHO if the latest CD isn't any better than the couple I saw you should charge them for the time you expended veiwing it.

 

[Ned]

I have the 2005 edition and it's much better than the previous several years.  I use it as an alternative to the printed guide but it does have some trip routing capabilities (not very useful IMO) and does work with most GPS units for real time map tracking.  If you have the printed guide you probably don't need it, but is a nice quick online reference.

The maps are much better than the previous editions.

 

[Karl]

Thanks for the replies. Based on the improvements Ned mentioned, I think I'll take them up on the trial. Question: does it have bookmarking ability so you can select 2 or more campgrounds and then switch back and forth to make your selection?

 

[Ned]

You can switch between any campgrounds on the map display by just clicking on them.  The info is shown in a separate window to the right of the map.

The only feature I haven't found useful is the routing.  It's an ackward procedure to setup the end and waypoints.  But I use Street Atlas for that so I don't miss it.

 

[jerryarlyne]

I ordered the new version and found that in spite of their claims many of the camgrounds listed in the printed version are not on the CD. I returned it for that reason, also found it harder to use then the book version. The trip router does work but I have an older version of Rand McNally trip maker that I use and find it much easier to use.

 

[Ned]

Jerry,

How did you discover that the CD was missing listings?  I haven't done a comparison for any areas myself, but the CD did seem pretty complete.

 

[Phil]

Has anyone tried this CD set and what are your opinions?

Karl,

I'm not overly impressed with the 2004 version CD but, I do use the online Trailer Life campground directory and I like that.  If the new CD gets some good reviews, I'll probably purchase it.

Phil

 

[Phil]

How did you discover that the CD was missing listings?  I haven't done a comparison for any areas myself, but the CD did seem pretty complete.

Ned,

I use the free MapQuest to search for campgrounds in the desired location.  There are many campground listings in MapQuest that don't appear in the TL directory.  MapQuest won't give you a description of the park but, it does give you an address and phone number.

I use the 2004 TL CD and the current online version of the TL directory.

Phil

 

[Ned]

I didn't like the 2004 CD, it was had a lousy interface.  The 2005 version is much nicer to use.

I haven't tried MapQuest for CG info.  I'll have to take a look, thanks for the tip.

 

[Karl]

Very few, if any, campground directory cd's (worse still a printed directory) could be considered complete -what with additions, changes, etc. One with only phone numbers and addresses would be of limitied value. I would like to know space size, hook-ups, rates, season - that sort of stuff. Routing is secondary 'cause MapSource and other routing programs are better (more up-to-date) and at least MapSource gives me a direct interface to the Garmin GPS. I suppose some directories provide lat./lon. coordinates, but keying them into a routing program is just another time taking and error prone step; but better than nothing.

Jerry,

I'm also curious as to how you found out there were missing entries on the CD?

Also curious: the Trailer Life website advertises this:

2005 RV Parks & Campground Navigator, 2 CD-ROM Set
 
    All New Software!
Street level detail for both the U.S. and Canada!
Instant Searches Show You Everything! Park Ratings, Full hook-ups, Tourist Attractions, Service Centers, Park Features ? and more!
Choose from over 12,000 rated RV parks and campgrounds
Interactive Maps let you zoom in and out to the detail that you want
Maps and all details for every listing from the 2005 Trailer Life Directory
Maps show all Good Sam Parks and 10% discount locations
Real Time GPS Interface
Step-by-step Trip Routing
Print Listings and Maps in the scale you choose! 

Sounds good, but farther down the page you come across this:

Get your copy of the 2005 Trailer Life RV Parks, Campgrounds & Services Directory to cross reference your trip planning with the TL 2 CD-ROM set. You don?t want to get in your RV without first looking in this indispensable planning tool! Don?t wait; order it today for only $12.45!

Question: If the CD set has ALL the details from the printed directory, why would you need the printed directory? Also, the listings do not give GPS coord's. That would be a big help.

Comments???

 

[jerryarlyne]

Jerry,

How did you discover that the CD was missing listings?  I haven't done a comparison for any areas myself, but the CD did seem pretty complete.

Hi Ned,
Sorry for the delayed answer, The way I found that it was incomplete was to try to find C/G's I have stayed at and that are listed in the 04 paper directory but could find no listing for them on the 05 CD. I know, some C/G's may have gone out of business but in this case I have stayed at those places and know they are still around.

 

[Ned]

Did you compare the 2005 CD with the 2005 directory?  It's possible the parks dropped their listing.  The claim is that the CD and the directory contain the same listings.

 

[jerryarlyne]

No I do not have a 2005 directory, but the campgrounds I checked have been around for a long time and have always been listed in the past. I guess it is possible they dropped their listing but I can't imagine why they would.

 

[Ned]

Give me a couple of names and I'll look them up.