Customer Reviews

Street Atlas USA 9.0

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

 

 

I've used Street Atlas for many years. The latest release isn't a significant upgrade from the previous version of Street Atlas. There are updates to changes made in roads and points of interest, but not much beyond that.

I think the routing engine could use some work. I'd like to see a routing choice of "least turns" added so that it makes an efficient route with the least number of turns/roads. I actually own the latest Delorme Map n Go product and it does a much better job at routing between two points. The combination of the two products works well since maps are interchangeable between the products.

The software works great with the Delorme Earthmate GPS and I imagine with most/all NMEA receivers. While driving I usually throw the Overview Map up in the corner and it would be nice to have a direction/speed window you could put up too (vs the very tiny text showing current speed and distance to next turn). The GPS Status window has the info (plus much more) but it's bigger and takes up more screen real estate then a direction/speed specific window would. Also, though you can set it for voice prompts as you approach turns, most laptops aren't loud enough to be heard over normal driving noises.

I haven't looked at competing products since I first purchased Street Atlas so I can't compare the functionality and accuracy against products such as the Microsoft Streets. Even with all the minor annoyances, it's probably my most used product outside of normal office productivity apps and I would recommend it for folks looking for street level map data with routing and GPS capabilities.

This is an OK product. I've used Map-N-Go for several years and Street Atlas basically is road travel software with street level capability. I just bought it, and tried it. If you are using it for city to city funtions, it will do fine. If you are using it primarily for street to street, it might raise your blood pressure. I tried it for my city, Seattle. I mapped from the airport to my house. It referenced a street for departing the airport that was not apparent at the airport. Then it directed me to take a road off of the highway exit that did not exist. I ran Yahoo map with the same stuff. It gave a flawless performance, using the same signs/postings that are at the airport and it gave the proper street to exit to my home. The next day we used it to map about 8 houses on our house hunting list to look at. Several times it referenced street names that were not posted or not commonly used. Bottom line, if I had been given a trial first, no question that this software funtions poorly on the street level. Your mileage may vary.

Version 9.0 is still the best mapping software I have used, and I have tried many. Yes, it is now dated, and it's maps are dated, it being 2003 as I write this. I notice a bad review just above mine that mentions tabbed interface which is the later (and IMHO inferior) SA 200x versions, someone posted that review under v9 by mistake. This version is not MAXIMUM CAPABILITY, it is clean simple and trim, like mapping software should be. It does a limited number of things, but figuring out how to do the basics is largely intuitive to a Windows user. It doesn't have the atrocious tabbed interface Delorme adopted later.

V9 has many good things:
1) FAST and efficient!
I run my V9 on an old ThinkPad 560X (Pentium 233MMX) and it runs just great! Try that with newer mapping software. I like that I can leave my cheapo laptop in the trunk and not worry if it gets stolen after all it only cost me a hundred bucks off EBay.
2) SIMPLE
Using the classic Windows interface it's easy to operate. It may not have the new features of 2004 like voice commands or radar serch but then again it's not bloatware. It does the limited set of things it does, very well.
3) Back-on-track!
I love this feature if I overshoot the exit it will recalc and tell me how to recover.
4) Map extraction
You can run the map extractor and install only the states you need if you don't have enough space for the whole US. Nice! My 560X doesn't even have a CD-ROM so I installed the states I needed over the network and never have to refer to CD's again.
5) Voice navigation
Okay, voice is not the best and not changeable, but it does give me audible cue I need to exit soon or whatever
6) Quick keys. There are quick keys like page-up/page-down to zoom and arrow keys to recenter that are easy to find in the dark on most keyboards or in my case a slimline IBM numeric keypad.

Yes it has some issues and I have a wishlist of items I wish it had like select the voice to use, etc. but still the best out there! I just wish Delorme would sell map updates for this veteran. Ah well...

Unfortunately Delorme has become fixated on it's new tabbed product and discontinued this excellent product. Avoid SA 2003 and 2004. Find a copy of V9 on Ebay or in the bargain bin and use it for a few more years until something better comes along.

I have both Delorme Streets and Microsoft Streets and Trips. I usually use the Delorme product, because it is faster and produces a better map. Both products suffer from having small inaccuracies at the very local level. Whether you encounter one where you are looking is kind of the luck of the draw. Despite small inaccuracies, the resulting maps using Delorme Streets are usually more than good enough to enable you to find your way.

The Delorme Streets gives VERY accurate mileage assessments from one place to another, which alone makes it worthwhile. I use it anytime I am planning a trip and have always found it very useful.

I had a problem with Microsoft Streets & Trips and when I reported the missing address - not just the library at the address, but the entire section of a major street in a county seat - and I got a "Mailbox Full" error from Microsoft, I figured what the heck, go with the map specialists, and they have a 30 day money back guarantee. Hey, how bad can it be. How can they go wrong. Boy, was I wrong!

Step 1 - In the installation, they don't ask you if you want to install the data in addition to the program. With modern mega-gigabyte drives, that is a no-brainer.

Step 2 - I track down how to load the data disk, following the steps to the letter.

Step 3 - I start the program and I am told that the data disk is missing. Duh, guys, you just told me how to load it. Esc, esc, esc... ad nauseaum.. I get to the program.

Step 4 - I will be doing a lot of local travel researching a book so I'm not worried about hotels, restaurants, ATMs, etc. so I want to know how to find libraries. Oh... that's not in our standard list of interesting places. I'll admit that they do have beautiful maps and it was pretty cool to just choose Public Libraries when I did find the search feature.

Step 4 - My God, what kind of interface is this?? I thought the tabs at the bottom would be cool, but as much I as I used to hate Windows, sometimes I flipped through all the tabs and did not have a clue, not a clue where to find things beyond the first level of menu.

As someone mentioned earlier about not being a computer dummy, I have been a PC software analyst since the late 70s covering packages in CP/M, DOS, W3.1, Win98 and Win2k. I have frequently had to pick up packages with no manual and no instruction. This is one of the clumsiest interfaces I have ever seen.

Within 30 minutes of installing this package, I was packing it up for return. I don't mind paying the shipping and handling and tracking fees just to get this piece of tripe off my computer.

I hate to be mean to these guys so I won't call them and say "WHAT were you thinking??"

...This product works excellent, especially when integrated with DeLorme's 8 channel GPS Receiver

I have used their product for years staring with version 5.0 through version 9.0 and in terms of usability and accuracey you won't find a better piece of equipment for your money. This product will operate through most Palm/Handheld devices or for the over the road traveler like myself integrating both the hardware and software is easy and effective with the use of my laptop. I have used a variety of other brands like TravRoute in addition to the weak handheld GPS units like Garmon, Magellan and nothing in my "opinion" gives you more bang for the buck than DeLorme.

Word to the wise don't be too quick to get their latest version; Street Atals 2003. It's very new and very different and resembles their X-Map Business software which I found to be much more cumbersome and less functional in many ways.

I received StreetAtlas USA and a handheld GPS receiver (Garmin eTrex) on the same day. It was a great out-of-the-box experience with both the software and the receiver. However, when I started planning known routes with StreetAtlas, I noticed that it was missing a major bypass just off of I-40 (the bypass is relatively new, but still over 2 years old, so I expected it to be on the map). I then started clicking on some of the restaurants in my area, and noticed that it was displaying establishments that had been closed for a year or more, while missing a Chik-Fil-A that is several years old. Having said that, it performed flawlessly on several other more established (read "older") routes I asked it to map, and I find the restaurant and gas locator to be a very cool feature.

Bottom line - this is very good software that uses map data that appears to be several years old. My advice is to use it with caution (and a grain of salt), particularly if you're using it to navigate in unknown territory (of course, there's not much need to use it in familiar territory). Maybe it deserves an extra star, but I like having confidence in the maps I use when travelling, and I just can't say that I feel confident with these maps. Still, I think I'll find it useful.

This software was the most user unfriendly impotent waste of time I have ever encountered.
It is almost impossible to begin of end a route at a specific street address. It has to be first in the software's list of places, such as flower shops and tourist traps (who have paid to advertise, no doubt.)
It never semms to find an address more specific than a block. It also has no provision for automatically putting stops along a route in an optimized order.

I'd reccoment Microsoft's product. It PAINS me to admit it, but it is more useful.

It seems that DeLorme engineers think that the world revolves around where they think you might want to shop. I couldn't get it to stop trying to find business whose names most closely resembled the address for which I was looking. Lest one believe me computer impaired, I assure I am not. I was programming in COBOL when these engineers where in diapers.

I have a hard time restraining the profanity which is foremost on my tongue when offering a description of this electronic tripe.

I use this software often and like it. This new version tells you whether to turn left or right in addition to telling you which direction (N, S, E, W) you should be going. Unlike one reviewer, I found this software easy to install and had no problems. When the software calculates a route, the time is usually within five minutes of the actual driving time (you can customize the speed you usually use on a type of road).

I had a problem with Microsoft Streets & Trips and when I reported the missing address - not just the library at the address, but the entire section of a major street in a county seat - and I got a "Mailbox Full" error from Microsoft, I figured what the heck, go with the map specialists, and they have a 30 day money back guarantee. Hey, how bad can it be. How can they go wrong. Boy, was I wrong!

Step 1 - In the installation, they don't ask you if you want to install the data in addition to the program. With modern mega-gigabyte drives, that is a no-brainer.

Step 2 - I track down how to load the data disk, following the steps to the letter.

Step 3 - I start the program and I am told that the data disk is missing. Duh, guys, you just told me how to load it. Esc, esc, esc... ad nauseaum.. I get to the program.

Step 4 - I will be doing a lot of local travel researching a book so I'm not worried about hotels, restaurants, ATMs, etc. so I want to know how to find libraries. Oh... that's not in our standard list of interesting places. I'll admit that they do have beautiful maps and it was pretty cool to just choose Public Libraries when I did find the search feature.

Step 4 - My God, what kind of interface is this?? I thought the tabs at the bottom would be cool, but as much I as I used to hate Windows, sometimes I flipped through all the tabs and did not have a clue, not a clue where to find things beyond the first level of menu.

As someone mentioned earlier about not being a computer dummy, I have been a PC software analyst since the late 70s covering packages in CP/M, DOS, W3.1, Win98 and Win2k. I have frequently had to pick up packages with no manual and no instruction. This is one of the clumsiest interfaces I have ever seen.

Within 30 minutes of installing this package, I was packing it up for return. I don't mind paying the shipping and handling and tracking fees just to get this piece of tripe off my computer.

I hate to be mean to these guys so I won't call them and say "WHAT were you thinking??"