Customer Reviews

Streets USA

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I got this software thinking that, like most mapping software, it would allow me to print directions between two points. It does not. The maps are adequate but the number of features and the ease of use are pretty terrible.

This product's About page states that map data is from 1998, but their information was out of date even then. Let's take their map of Seattle, the city I know best.

1) Interstate 90 is shown as being a surface freeway for its entire length, with on- and off-ramps at Martin Luther King Way and 35th Ave. S. To begin with, it never was a surface freeway through Mount Baker. Originally, it ran in a tunnel under Mount Baker to the lake. In the early 90's a few more blocks were put underground, and the two interchanges mentioned above were closed. West of Martin Luther King Way, the product represents I-90 as it used to be, with the freeway being carried on surface streets. This hasn't been the case for over ten years and Streets USA had ample time to get correct data for their product.

2) They locate Magnolia Bluff smack in the middle of Interlaken Park. Needless to say, it's nowhere near Interlaken Park.

3) They locate Broadway (the neighborhood) at the corner of Franklin and Galer. Broadway is in fact located along...you guessed it...Broadway, on top of Capitol Hill, not at its base.

4) They locate University Village in the UW's wildlife preserve area along Union Bay.

5) Ah, Tacoma's close enough to Seattle to count. There, they still have SR-16 routed along city streets, instead of its own freeway, which has been the case for I don't know how long, but well before 1998 in any case.

Need I go on? With so many inaccuracies and out-of-date depictions in the Seattle-Tacoma area alone, I can only imagine how many errors this product contains as a whole.

To top it off, it doesn't even look good. They make the unfortunate style decision of using the direction abbreviations Ne, Nw, Se, Sw instead of NE, NW, SE, SW. Try Microsoft Streets & Trips instead--it's not perfect, but it's better than this.

I'm actually 43 years old, but didn't want to take the time to sign up. Actual rating for this product: NO stars. A research group solicited my involvment with an interview group in Houston, TX, and used this program to produce maps to the interview location, a hotel on the north side of the city (presumably, the same maps were sent to all participants). Although the address was listed correctly, the map showed the hotel in the middle of a residential neighborhood south of Houston, approximately 30 miles away! It's a good thing I did my own research rather than rely on this map. I wonder how many of the other participants missed the interview because of this map?
Sorry, but with all the available technology out there, there is no excuse for this.

This product save me tremendous amount of time, by having all the information of every city I travel to in one compact CD.