Customer Reviews

Delorme Topo USA 6.0 National Maps (DVD)

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

 

 

Summary: Adequate for armchair map browsing and finding and planning routes to follow when driving or hiking.

I've only been playing with the program for about a week, but decided to get a quick review in since there weren't any others here. It's my only mapping program, so I have nothing to compare it to. The program is rather sluggish in moving around the screen and does not display the billboards (upright labels in 3D mode) with a 128 MB video card, even though it says it needs only 32 MB. Other than that, it appears to be as advertised. I got it because I just like maps and occasionally go out in remote areas for astronomy observing or nature hikes.

What you can do with it:
-Get an idea of what the terrain is like and what roads, hills, lakes, rivers (and some trails) are in the area.
-Create routes for driving, hiking, or biking.
-Print out detailed maps.
-Use it for limited in-car navigation with a GPS receiver (not included) and laptop. Best with a passenger using it, or secure your laptop somewhere to check it if you get lost.

What you can't do with it:
-Get the level of detail contained in USGS quad maps (i.e., no buildings, not as accurate contours and outlines, no bridges or tunnels)
-Expect to find all roads (especially newer ones) and trails.
-Rely on it to give you great in-car directions as you drive using a GPS receiver (no voice option, directionally challenged).

The learning curve for this program is pretty steep considering its accuracy and level of detail are obviously for casual users. I find myself having to check Help over and over to do the same things because they are not always intuitive. The Help file is good, however, and I've been able to find answers to everything I've looked for.

I find moving the map around somewhat cumbersome and slow as it redraws the map (slower with the 3D map). Accuracy seems to be rather poor in spots, as there are omissions and incorrect names here and there. For example, a major highway near my home shows up under a name I have never heard of. A major trail is identified only as a powerline. Another popular trail nearby is missing. Some town names are incorrect in my location, as are town borders, when that feature is turned on. Other users of DeLorme products have noted that they are very slow in updating mapping data (we're talking years, folks). But read reviews of competing products and you'll see similar complaints.

I hooked up a GPS receiver via USB and it works fine (using the GlobalSat BU-353-- you don't have to use DeLorme's Earthmate series). I have to run the receiver's program first to get it to show the correct COM port in TOPO USA, but then once it's locked onto the satellites, I can open TOPO USA and connect. I did a test drive around the area and it tracked pretty well along the plotted roads, a few hundred feet behind my actual position. However, it gave all turn information backward, despite correctly placed "vias". Because of this and the fact that it runs on a laptop, I don't recommend using it for serious navigation in your car, but rather as a check to see your progress and to find your way back to your route if you get lost. Other products are better suited for real in-car navigation.

As for map details, I'm a bit disappointed- all these points of interest mentioned in the advertising seem to be few and far between. Not showing bridges is odd. Having a road go into a gully instead of over a bridge is a bit ludicrous. All of my printed maps show better detail at the same scales (but then, they don't cover the whole U.S., so it's a trade-off).

There are a lot of shortcomings, but it looks like the few competitors are in much the same boat. So for the price it's not a bad deal. Just be sure it suits your needs and do some research before you buy. A good resource is a DeLorme forum (forum.delorme.com), where you can read actual users' comments and complaints and decide for yourself. I personally would have preferred more accuracy and detail to all the flashy 3D and customizing options.

Basically, it's nice to have a full road map for the whole U.S. that also includes topographical relief, but don't expect it to be the answer to all your mapping needs.

This is a good software for casual use (hiking, biking, geocaching), but not without issues. On the positive side, it definitely beats all non-digital (scanned USGS maps) alternatives. The level of details is good enough(how many of us need to know topography down to 5 feet?). The fact that maps are digitally generated (with vectors I believe) makes all the labels clear at any scale. It has two advantages over its main "digital" competitor, NG Topo. First, all of the US is on one DVD for the price of separate state/region CDs from NG. And second, it is available. I could not even find NG's Northeast edition anywhere on the web! One might think NH and ME are some obscure corners of the globe and not big tourist destinations.

Now the few negatives. The Exchange feature with GPS is flaky. Sometimes it takes several tries of unplugging and replugging the cable and restarting the program before it recognizes my Garmin. Part of it could be that low and mid range GPS still have serial connection and are not truly plug-and-play even with COM-to-USB adapter (beats me why Garmin can't make all their GPS with USB in this day and age). In any case, regardless of whose fault it is, it is annoying at times not to be able to connect the two smoothly.

The second problem I noticed was with the 3-D window. It clearly consumes a lot of memory and crashes my laptop if I do a lot of rapid rescaling. I ended up just closing that window, since it is pretty much for "coolness" and does not add any real topographical value.

Finally, I had a problem with Delorme's service. I purchased it from Amazon with a rebate offer. However, a month after submitting the necessary info I received a card from Delorme stating that the bar code I sent was not a UPC code. The box only had one bar code on it so I am not sure how I could have made a mistake. They requested that I send a correct one, but with the code cut out and gone, how do they expect me to come up with one?! I feel a little bit like that was a cheap way out of paying the rebate but $20 is not worth the time arguing with them over it. I would be interested to hear if anyone else experienced the same problem.

I've used various Delorme products for a long time. I've stopped buying some of their products, such as their Street Atlas for Handhelds which has become essentially unusable and is increasingly feature impoverished compared to competitors such as TomTom.

Because I have little use overall for topographical maps, I skipped a version and recently went from version 4.0 to 6.0. Despite their advertising claims, not much has changed.

The user interface is distinctively Delorme, utterly unintuitive and very clumsy. Other mapping applications moved toward cleaner, simpler and easier-to-use interfaces. Delorme remains true to their own idiosyncratic idea of a graphical user interface --- and, in my opionion, it is awful.

Finding a specific location is a clumsy process. And beware any misspelled place names: Topo 6.0 will simply report not being able to find the place rather than offering suggestions. There are three maps. A small overview which should allow you to quickly locate the area you are specifically interested in. It doesn't work well at all when you just want to scroll a bit. The default 2D window is, as it is with all the Delorme products, a dog to work with. You scroll from the edges. But when you scroll, the display blanks out meaning you have to guess at how far to scroll. State of the art in the 1990s perhaps, but antiquidated and irritating in 2006. Zooming in and out is also on the clumsy side, either involving repeated clicks or a guessing process. Neither is satisfctory.

Designing your route can be extremely tedious since it is often necessary to essentially create a track of waypoints. In designing a route using secondary roads, the Delorne software often failed to acknowledge the existence of the roads and instead drew a direct path through heavy woods and across impassable rivers.

The online help system, as has always been the case with Delorme, is short on detail.

What saves the software from being a total disaster is that in the topographical arena, it is better than the competition. It is also a better value, including the entire United States on a single DVD. The level of detail is okay for the casual user (such as myself) but would, I think, be very inadequate for someone with more demanding needs.

Overall, I don't know how Delorme stays in business. Their products are not, in my opinion, user-centric. The interfaces are outmoded, non-intuitive and just plain strange. Topo USA 6.0 is okay for the casual user, but just barely. It is a pain to use. However, it is better than the competition in a market that doesn't offer many alternatives, so it wins by default.

Jerry

Does the DeLorme TOPO product show you every building? Every tree? Every chipmunk? Absolutely not. But for the price what exactly were you expecting?

It has more trail data than NG and it will create an trail elevation profile just by clicking on the trail for you without requiring the user to redraw the trail. This way you know what to expect before you leave home. Is the trail data perfect? Heck no, but it is close enough. Anyone who has ever helped maintain a trail knows that trails often get moved and rerouted.

Is this program easy to use? Absolutely not. But if you have some smarts you can learn after a few minutes what you need to know. It would be nice if one could use it to create a road route that is longer than 63 miles but it was never advertised as a street atlas. It is a little annoying to have to plunk down an addition pile of money just to get this data to work on your PDA, just another way DeLorme makes money off its customers.

I like the 3D feature which is helpful when planning a trip. Paper trail maps can be created and one is able to add texts and pictures so you can give specific instructions to your friends and trip participants as in "Make camp near fire tower".

The "find" feature is complex to use and a little tricky, but once one gets the hang of it they will find there is quite a bit of data that can be searched, and it can be quite handy. The route function is also a little tricky and can be cumbersome to use with self created routes as well as one provided through the software as in roads or trails. BEWARE: Route data you create with TOPO USA on your computer may not always transfer to your PDA, you either will not get the route at all or it will be missing more than a few waypoints. Double check your PDA data before you leave home.

As is typical with software claiming to be "topo", it is not. Expecting that the buyer of topos will typically be someone looking for USGS quads this software is not as advertised.

Since I own the other major competing program (for which you need to buy each state in order to get Quads (and for which I can not seem to find Wyoming)), I was eagerly awaiting this package. In five minutes I realized Delorme is essentially useless to the backpacker/mountain biker (et al). You can order quads very simply using the package, but at the zoom level appropriate for making an ordering decision the wonks at Delorme decided they would make the map blank (apparently to force you into buying electronic quads at $2.50 a piece). So, you need to actually know the quad you want before you order it. Well, if I knew that, I would already own the quad, and certainly wouldn't need to buy an electronic version. For 2.50 more I could get it laminated.

Yes, this is a flame, but it is deserved. Delorme might be great software if you know the quad you want; it is ridiculous software if you are trying to explore and area in order to decide where you want to go (and then download, and pay for, the appropriate map).

All in all, a complete waste of money--I only feel it worth my time to write this review so that the suppliers of such software get a clue and discover a more appropriate business model (versus selling blank maps, with a 100 dollar credit for maps that you don't even know will work)

Cheers.

I guess my expectations should have been lower. If you want to get some information for everywhere, what's in the box is pretty good, about what you will find on the 1:100,000 map sheets. If you want nice-looking detailed printed maps for a specific area, this is not the 1:24,000 7 1/2-minute quad sheets with their fine local detail of structures and landmarks you are used to. First, the data is low-resolution compared to traditional quad sheets. Shorelines and streams are jagged lines rather than smooth curves reflecting local detail, and topo seems to be 25-foot contours whether the terrain is flat or steep and whether 5-foot contours are on the real quads or not. And you can't print quad sheets - there seems to be a hard limit at 11 x 17. I found this useful, but not what I wanted or expected. The sales literature needs to be specific about the limitations - should have a precise spec sheet that makes these limits clear.

This map program will not work properly in Windows Vista with certain Intel chips. It has no 3d maps as advertised by DeLorme. Works fine with Windows XP. Vista users better wait for Topo 7, if and when it is released. Read about all these problems with Vista on DeLorme discussion board

I agree with all the failings already posted here. And, in my case and many on the Delorme forum, we have been waiting months for Delorme to fix the problem with Topo 6.0, as it will not render 3D maps in Vista with Intel 915-945 chips found in new laptops. Delorme technical is ignoring all questions about it, and has no patch. I give it one star, not because the overall application is that bad, but because Delorme refuses to admit the problem at all.

Topo6 does not work in the 3D mode with many new laptops that run microsoft Vista and dont expect it to work anytime soon.

Topo USA is a very good software if you want to sit at your desk and dream about future trips. Do not try to plan details of your trip using their maps.

I had both Delorme 3.0 and 6.0. Both suffer from 2 major problems:
- Majority of trails even in the National parks (e.g. all over Sierras, Denali, Yellowston) are missing
- The database of lakes and rivers and the database of topography are shifted by several hundered feet. Thus, in the maps roads/trails cross the lakes and lakes are located on mountain slopes.

If you do not believe me, open their May 2007 advertizement brochure and take a look at the bottom of page 3. It shows a lake on a mountain slope and a river shifted from its riverbed.

It makes life miserable if you try to navigate by natural landmarks using a printout of their map.