Customer Reviews

DeLorme Street Atlas USA 2009 [OLD VERSION]

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

I had a previous version of this and wanted to update it to get the latest road changes. I was very disappointed in how out of date the maps are. It was almost no change to the 2 year old version I already had for the area I live in. Even corrections I sent in over a year earlier were not included.

DeLorme has a lot to recommend it, and I expected terrific things from the people who created AAA Map'nGo several years ago. But the agglomeration of half-thought-out features found in Street Atlas USA 2009 (SA2009) has left me agog. Every "feature" has something to annoy.

Yes, there's maps of the entire US, Canada and Mexico, but they appear to be significantly out of date. An interchange I know was removed over twelve years ago still shows in its old location. Even with the "show 1-way streets" option (which is bizarrely un-set by default), streets in my city that have been one-way since Prohibition are happily routed the wrong way by SA2009. DeLorme does provide a "draw" function that claims to let you edit such problems, but it doesn't work on limited access highways, and you have to set one-way markers one road segment at a time. Then there's the printed maps. "Strip maps" set for 30-mile intervals use a 5-point font to label everything. Good luck using that on the road even at high noon on a sunny day. For printed mapping, I switched back to MS Streets & Trips 2007 (MSS&T).

One thing SA2009 does a bit better than MSS&T is the handheld application. Before SA2009, I used Microsoft Pocket Streets (MSPS -- no longer available) to download maps to my PDA, but while MSPS was capable of GPS locating, it couldn't show a route. At least SA2009 provides the route display in addition to GPS locating, and I use that ability cautiously. Why cautiously? Well, a test run from my office to my home kept producing SA2009 warnings of "off route" because I refused to break through highway barriers, cross ravines and navigate streams suggested by the SA2009 routing. However, being able to see a mostly-correct route with a display of where I am and how long until the next turn is handy on a road trip (and cheaper than cell based updates). But I always check the route on the Web BEFORE setting out, then apply corrections to SA2009 using "route vias". Although the handheld purports to perform such routing, it's ludicrously slow (between 5 minutes for a few blocks to hours for inter-city routing), and half the time it gives up on some obscure and undocumented error. Still, SA2009 routing can be handy to find a way back to a missed exit (if you can find a place to wait 5 or 10 minutes), but little beyond that.

If DeLorme finished the product that SA2009 seems designed to become, it would be a powerhouse. As it is, it's little more than an occasionally useful, but never dependable toy. With work, you can extend it to become useful, but I don't plan on buying Street Atlas USA 2010.

I all ready had 2005 Delorme program and was very pleased. So far I find the 2009 version more difficult to navigate. I can not find how to get mileage comptuted for a trip up on the map itself,through the "create route" feature. I'd like to see the numbers on the map itself as the way it works on he 2005 program. And I really hope someone is reading this and maybe will respond but I doubt it!

The maps look pretty nice, but I'm a bit concerned about the accuracy. I live in Northwest Las Vegas, my neighborhood was built in 2004, and my entire subdivision does not appear on the map. Huh? This is the 2009 version of the program and they don't have urban streets that have existed for five years? I also looked around the map in my surrounding area and I saw several other streets were missing. In terms of accuracy, Google Maps is much better, as far as my area goes anyway.

My next gripe is that the GPS function does not work on my Windows Vista laptop. When I switch to GPS mode after a few seconds the computer crashes and I get the blue screen of death. It does, however work fine on my other laptop with Windows XP. In fairness, this could be a problem with Vista or with the GPS driver, so it's not necessarily the fault of the Street Atlas software. But so far I haven't been able to fix it.

Another thing that sort of irritates me is that when using the GPS function, the map rotates so that the direction you're heading is at the top of the screen. In other words, if you're headed north and you turn to the east, the map rotates 90 degrees counter clockwise to put east at the top of the screen. Some people might like this feature, but I find it very counter-intuitive, since I am accustomed to maps being orientated with north always at the top. If I'm heading east I want to see my path going from left to right, not from bottom to top. I'll have to explore the settings and see if I can change this.

Lastly, the price of their data downloads seems excessive. You can download satellite imagery from the DeLorme web site to lay over your maps, and my package came with a certificate for a free download of $40 worth of images. This was only enough to cover 1/4 of Las Vegas when I chose the less expensive black & white imagery (the color imagery costs up to $2 per square kilometer!). If you want to download an entire metropolitan area be prepared to shell out some big bucks. Of course, it is not necessary to download any imagery for the product to be functional and useful, but considering that Google Earth provides the whole country in color satellite images for free, it's hard to understand why DeLorme charges so much for lower quality imagery.

I wish I had read the reviews on Amazon before purchasing this product. I found it to be absolutely useless on a handheld device. DeLorme claim that it can be used on a Windows Mobile Pocket PC but fails to mention that you it doesn't work well as navigation device. You have to spend hours planning routes and entering waypoints in advance to your trip. Once that's done it cannot correct your route if you decide to take a detour or if there are road closures.

To use the navigation feature on you device you must do what called 'Tracking' to a waypoint, POI or following your predefined route. But for the first several hours of attempting to use it the program would automatically shut down when hit the Start Tracking button. Once it started working it was intermittent, but that didn't matter. When navigating, the map doesn't show enough detail, no matter what zoom level, to see exactly which streets to turn on and the voice directions rarely say anything, & when it does it's volume is low and doesn't even provide useful information. You must know the street names from memory before you get to them because the device wont tell you by text or voice.

If you want Aerial or Satellite imagery you can purchase it from within the software for a $50 minimum purchase, but can't seem to figure out how to add my own.

Adding new streets is simple enough but I have trouble correcting wrong street names and incorrect POI's.

If you have an internet connection on your mobile device/smart phone you're better off with the free Google navigation software.

The data (at least in my area) is from mapping data at least 10 years old.

I purchased the 2009 version of this product to upgrade from the 2004 version. I am very disappointed in this product. It is more cluttered and has a poorer user interfaces. The geo-registration of the maps does is significantly off from the gps locations. The route planning now does work correctly since multiple routes cannot be entered and displayed, contrary to the statements in the help files. I do not know what other deficiencies I will find in this product. I will investigate if it is returnable. I will not be buying any more Delorme products.

I have been buying and using Delorme software for many years starting with the first issue of Street Atlas through the latest `Street Atlas USA 2009', including all versions of the defunct `Map'N'Go', and one version of `Topo USA'.

Since Delorme changed the user interface of Street Atlas USA 3 or 4 years ago it has gone from bad to worse. While it "may" have more features than `Streets and Trips', it is some what like the American medical system that claims to be the best in the world, but what good is it if it is not accessible.

The "new" interface is so convoluted and non-intuitive that is for all practical purposes, worthless. For instance none of the menu icons have labels, so if have a task that is not familiar such as a file folder or a `floppy disc' for saving, you have to highlight each icon with the cursor to determine its function. Trip planning? Forget it! You'll be at your destination before you can work your way through their menu system. As I started writing this `review' I loaded `Street Atlas 2009' and a message popped up indicating that an upgrade was available and all I had to do was press the download button. Great, right? Well for the life of me I can't find a `download button' on their screen or in any submenu.

One of the hypes for the 2009 release was highway maps for Mexico. `Streets and Trips' had better highway maps of Mexico 2 releases ago, and now `Streets and Trips' has street level maps of Mexico City, Guadalajara, and Monterrey including a vast database of restaurants, hotels, gas stations, points of interest, etc.

`Street Atlas 2009' is probably the last DeLorme product that I will succumb to the `new version' hype.

The user interface in the DeLorme Street Atlas USA 2009 is so bad that it hurts to use it! I was pleased with the accuracy of the GPS tracking, though, so I'll give it one gold star for that. But it was just too frustrating to use the DeLorme software that came with the GPS bundle that I bought. With skepticism, but high hopes, I downloaded a 60 day trial of the Microsoft Map Point 2009 to see if it might be easier to use - and is it ever! It had a much more intuitive feel - I was able to make my route in less than a minute after installing the software! The Delorme made it very difficult to do trip planning offline from the GPS as it did not recognize the standard address, city, state nomenclature. Why not??? When I tried this same nomenclature with the Microsoft product, it instantly came up with my location. After a few more minutes of tinkering in the Microsoft software, I had it configured it to calculate trip costs and even tell me when I was getting low on fuel based upon my own preferences (no waiting the gas light!) I am thrilled to have an alternative to the DeLorme product and my next trip will be less stressful now that I have a decent product to use! (I noticed that Microsoft also has a Streets and Trips 2009, which is cheaper than the s/w trial that I downloaded, but with the same programming and interface, minus some business tools). I'll buy that one once my trail has ended. Try this: Microsoft Streets & Trips 2009 instead of the DeLorme version! Go to [...] to find a 60 free trial download if you want to try before you buy like I did. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

This program has one of the worst user interfaces I have ever seen. There are far too many options for the casual user. To make matters even worse, there are options to show or hide other options. This is what happens when "feature creep" gets out of hand or when product development is driven by the sales department. I'm going to return it to Delorme and find something else or keep it as a reminder of just how bad a program can be.