Customer Reviews

Delorme Street Atlas USA 2006 Handheld

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

This is the third or fourth version of Street Atlas USA Handheld I've bought. On each of the prior occasions I gave up trying to use it with a variety of PDAs. One more time I thought since DeLorme boasted of the major revision they'd made.

Not really. It is still a stinkeroo.

It installs easily to a Palm device and earlier versions installed easily to Windows CE. And it works nicely with a non-DeLorme Blutetooth GPS.

But it is useless on a PDA. Maps are shown in 2D view only and they are simply thin lines across the screen. Street names even in the optional large font size are still unreadable unless you focus intensely. The highest zoom setting still covers too much area while the lowest zoom settings result in such crowded data that your route is lost.

The second weakest feature is trying to find a location. DeLorme forces you through a convoluted procedure. And finding an address seems to take forever.

The absolute worst feature is trying to create a route on the PDA. It is frustrating, time consuming and, in my experience, almost never works.

Finally, DeLorme's map information is incorrect and doesn't seem to be updated. The 2004 version didn't note that the street I live on is one-way and it constantly routed me going the wrong way. It sill does.

Actually using the product is a nightmare. The representation of your GPS location on the Palm TX's 320 x 480 screen is so tiny as to be invisible, virtually impossible to quickly see in a moving vehicle. Not a good situation. The display does not stay centered. One moment your GPS locator is squarely in the center of the screen. The next, it is at the top of the screen. Then the bottom or the sides. There is no uniformity.

The product allows you to set waypoints in order to customize your route. You literally have to do that on the computer rather than the PDA, because the PDA maps are simply too cumbersome to work with. You can do a reverse route on the PDA. Wouldn't you expect that if you simply reverse the route you created, that the waypoints you inserted would be considered? Logic says yes; DeLorme says no. Recalculating a route took almost 15 minutes on the Palm and resulted in a hodgepodge of side streets being included. Since I didn't follow the recommended (and very strange) reverse route, the program simply stopped posting the GPS location to the map. Apparently if you aren't following a pre-determined route, you are out of luck.

I'm finished with DeLorme. Never again.

Jerry

Last year I got totally screwed over by Delorme for Handheld 2005. That was so horrible! Delorme and some other 'reviews' claimed the 2006 version was a total overhaul. It ISN'T. Delorme's Street Atlas 2006 is nice software for a PC/laptop...it just really sucks on a PDA. I don't know why everyone else under the sun has created nice GPS products for PDA's and why Delorme can't. Maybe they will get it together in the year 2020.

Some benefits have been added in this version. Honestly though, if you have a GPS unit, just go buy Tom Tom's PDA software for $150. It is accurate, detailed...gets updated and is versatile. If you don't have a GPS unit, you can buy the package deal from Tom Tom for $300. I know it is alot of money, but you won't be disappointed. It performs well, let's you create alternate routes on the fly and has no trouble connecting and maintaining a signal with a blue tooth unit.

Well, Delorme has improved a somewhat bad product into something useful. I remember back with Street Atlas for the Palm and I couldn't get it to stop crashing. Now, I've installed SA USA 2006 and notice a great speed improvement. If your files are on a storage card or on an external device, it takes a while for it to load it into main memory and will slow it down.

Put the map files you want to use into main memory and you'll see a great speed increase. The program is not without its bugs or bad features. Mapping is something that you might want to do on your PC instead of your PDA. Use the routing features for getting yourself on track or small distances instead.

Like someone else said, unlike Streets and Trips, you can create your own maps by selecting blocks on the main map. The maps are somewhat smaller than S&T. Plus, it doesn't limit the size of the map unlike S&T. Mapping and directions are very good on the PC. If it gives you a route with a street that you know is One Way or Do Not Enter on it, you can edit it and the PC will recalculate.

This program on the PC *actually* can send just a route to a PDA. Go to "Map Files" and hit Exchange. The program will copy the file to your ActiveSync directory.

You can set the Off Route distance to 500 ft or Infinite when tracking by Route. The GPS seems to be slightly off from the map at times, but not by much.

One thing that most people find annoying is that the system doesn't redraw the map until the cursor is at the edge of the screen. This can get annoying, but if you zoom out a bit and use the routing bar at the bottom to indicate when and how far the next turn is, you can get used to it.

Some map programs go for $90 that can do about what this program does, but for $35, it does what I expected from it. It's much better than Rand McNally's version (which I can't even get to calculate directions). Delorme has improved this product quite a bit (and it even mentions that it has VGA support for newer PocketPCs).

One note though. My GPS (a Deluo GPS) wouldn't work, would sometimes lock up the GPS, and the program wouldn't start. Just set the GPS option to Earthmate and it should work just fine.

It is still alot better then Streets and Trips with funtionality. Ebay has GPS units for the PPC for less then $70 now and it works great with this software. One of the neatest things is the logging. after you have been somewhere, you can show a previous log and see where you have been.
Making maps is nice becasue you can choose from a set of blocks along a route and not simply a square area like MS S&T.
If you want this software to plan a route for you over 80 miles away, forget it. Your ppc may crash before it ever finishes.
Still, this is a fun piece of software. I even recorded a boat ride!

I've owned every version of Street Atlas since version 2 and every version of TOPO USA since it's inception. With only one exception (RWE) I belive that each update was more than worth doing. I travel for a living over 150,000 miles a year and rely on mapping heavely. When I got my dell Axim 50V I was more than a little excited to get my hands on the handheld version of this software.

It COULD NOT be any slower. A simple 20 mile route takes 10-15 minutes or more. You actually have to disable the auto suspend battery saving of your PDA to prevent the PDA from turning it's self off during the long calculation process. I tried to run a 45-50 mile route and gave up after nearly a hour.

If you attempt to zoom, pan the map, or proform any other function be careful. Allow the map to compleetely fill in before making any more moves. If you attempt to zoom or out several steps at a time or pan 2-3 times you'll most likely hang the system and have to do a soft reboot.

You'll find the occasional person that claims only a few seconds to run a route or other wise touting the program. Take a careful look and read what the majority of users are saying. I think you'll find a general concensus. Follow your research and make a informed decision. Don't let me tell you what to do. Decide for your self.

It's possible to stumble around on this software when it's installed on a desktop/laptop, but just try to export maps to a PDA. The interface is clumsy, confusing and completely unintuitive. As a streets/trips map for use with a PDA and a GPS, it is a terrible choice and you will struggle with it forever. The interface on this software is about the worst I've seen on a PC in 15 or so years.

First, I'm a computer geek and should otherwise know what I'm doing with software. I have purchased several DeLorme products before, including Topo USA twice (great software!) and the non-handheld version of Street Atlas.

But, this handheld Street Atlas for my Palm TX is just horrendous, especially the PDA side of the software (the desktop software is annoying but somewhat tolerable - but I only bought this for its PDA installation). It took me a while to figure out that I needed to select areas of the map to export and to then export them. Bizarre interface, but I did manage to get the maps into the PDA. Although the maps on the PDA look rather ugly... just lines and dots... not pretty like Google Maps or Microsoft MapPoint. So far, I can live with that.

What makes the PDA software useless is that it won't find a simple street address (or partial street address) no matter what I do. I would expect any decent mapping software to be able to find a road that exported to the map. There is a "Find" feature, which defaults to "Fuzzy Find", and all that does is show me completely unrelated entries in other Palm applications... it shows me entries in my TODO list, my Contacts, my Calendar and other apps (all completely unrelated to the street I'm trying to search for), plus it'll show me various unrelated businesses (that probably aren't even on the street I'm searching for). But, no streets!!

The only way I can figure out to find streets is to scroll around, zoom in/out until I happen to see the street name on the tiny map. This is nearly impossible if I'm not well familiar with the area. Even paper maps have a chart that lets me look up a street and I'll be told what grid square its in. The desktop app also can readily find a street. So, why not the PDA software? (Yes, the streets I search for are in the exported map.)

I'm not even bothering trying any other features, not unless Find works.

Cory at http://www.pcboard.in/image-vp20473.html posted the following: "Steps to use Delorme Blue Logger Bluetooth GPS and Delorme Street Atlas USA 2006 Handheld with a Dell Axim x51v running WM5:

On the Devices tab of the Bluetooth Settings choose "New Partnership..."
When "Earthmate Blue Logger GPS" appears, choose it and click Next Enter Passkey "0000" and click Next Check "Serial Port" as the service to use from this device.

On the Bluetooth COM ports tab you need an INCOMING Port at COM 8 and the GPS on COM7 (outgoing)

On the WM5 GPS icon and select the COM 7 on the programs tab. On the Access tab check "Manage GPS automatically (recommended)"

A soft reset will make The Bluetooth COM7 available in SAHH. Select it under setting, but don't try to connect yet.

Before you can connect to the GPS you must go back to the WM5 GPS icon and UNCHECK "Manage GPS automatically (recommended)" Then change the setting of COM7 by either checking or un-checking "secure". It does not matter which way it is left but you have to make a change!

Then go back and re-check "Manage GPS automatically (recommended)" at the WM5 GPS icon.

Street Atlas didn't pick up where I was part way into a planned route and start tracking from there with voice turn commands. So I had to turn off the routing and just use it to track my progress which worked well.

When you go back to SAHH you will be able to connect to the GPS.

As long as you always leave the Axim Bluetooth on you will be fine. If you turn it off you will have to start again from the soft reset.

It's ridiculous to have to got though this, but it works. Maybe the anticipated Dell ROM update will make this work properly."

I was able to go through this process and it worked for me with my Dell Axim x50v running WM5 using DeLorme's Blue Logger.

If price is the key to your buying decision, then this is the package for you. If ease of use and reliability are more your bag, keep looking. This review is based on the PALM version of the software.
Desktop: graphics are not nearly as nice as Microsoft's Strets & Trips, and it doesn't appear to allow you to export multiple routes in one shot to the hand-held. To bad MS doesn't make a Palm client.
Routing: frequently tried to take me off road between curvy sections of an interstate.
Bluetooth GPS: This is my biggest complaint. It FREQUENTLY loses connnection to my bluetooth GPS receiver. I've run other software on the same Palm T|X without ever losing connectivity. DeLorme represents reinstalling the package. Sure. At least that will get me to hang up the phone.
Tracking: gives notice that you have a turn coming up in "less than one half mile." Ok...what about when ALL your turns are in a short distance? Should be configurable to give additional notices.

I had SA2006 Handheld set up on a Tungsten T3 with Earthmate Blue Logger bluetooth GPS receiver. It worked, but performance was so awful that I didn't use it.
It's perhaps worth the money if you just want to compute a route on your PC and download it to the PDA.
If any route computation is required on the PDA, I suggest you go out for coffee while you're waiting.
Want to download a map of your state to the PDA's memory card? Forget it. With a 14 Megabyte map of two New Jersey counties, the PDA is already on its knees.
This software might be a tolerable alternative to using MapQuest and taking some printouts in the car. That's about it.
I now use TomTom5. It's not cheap, and TomTom's authorization procedures are a pain, but it really works for both advance planning and realtime navigation. The whole US database fits comfortably on a cheap SD card.