Customer Reviews

Earthmate GPS with Street Atlas USA

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I have been using this new Earthmate USB for 2 days now. It was able to get a fix in about 6.5 mins cold start from inside the house (3 ft from window). A cold start (I initialized the location to the other side of earth) while driving takes about 7.5 mins to get a fix. A warm start (stopped the GPS then drove for 2-3 miles then start GPS again) takes about 100 sec to get a fix. The performance comparing to the old Earthmate is about 2x or more. The only issue I observed is that the satellite acquisition continues even with 3 green satellites. I thought 3 satellites are enough to get a 2D fix.

The new Earthmate supports NMEA standard. I was able to install the driver on Windows XP that allows MS Streets and Trips to communicate with Earthmate. You will need to install the support for non-DeLorme product from the setup CD. The driver update from the DeLorme site didn't install the support for non-DeLorme product.

I bought the Delorme Earthmate USB for my laptop because I couldn't afford a GPS system for my vehicle. So, I figured $130 ain't a bad price. So far, I have used it in my area. Knowing that GPS is not 100% accurate, I feel the Earthmate USB is accurate enough to figure out where you are and to find your way. Only downfall is the mapping software. The main roads are fairly accurate. The side roads have less to be desired. Because of that, this product only gets 4 out of 5 stars.

The GPS works great. The software is difficult to use, voice commands do not always work and if you make a wrong turn it does not recalculate. I would not recommend buying this product. Software has too many bugs.

Pros
- Easy setup (on Windows 2000)
- Quick to acquire GPS signals
- Map database installs on hard disk. No CDs required after install
- No noticable memory leaks in software
- No slowdown after 8+ hours of tracking (without voice)
- Good price/performance ratio (not bad for the price)

Cons
- Slows down with voice prompts/commands
- Does not easily recognize voice commands
- Hard to use while driving (not recommended for safety reasons)
- Not the most optimal routing, but easy to edit routes manually
- Tracks outside the road when map is zoomed in.
- Needs restaring the software to get GPS signal if laptop goes to standby mode.

From what I have seen so far, I would recommend this product

A friend had this unit and I've been looking for a GPS device that uses PC mapping. Most use serial port communications, this one is better, being that it is USB and even better Bluetooth!!! I would have to agree with another review that documention is lacking for the unit, and the unit does not work with the Mac (bummer), but so far those are the only drawbacks. It accuratly told me where I was at, how fast I was going and my heading. Really slick! I drive nearly 30,000 miles each year and I am looking forwrd to driving easier with my new GPS!!

This is a must have for @$125!!

I just got back in the door from my first short trip around town trying to use the GPS navigation features. The voice is great - it does things like flip back and forth between north and southbound exits from the freeway, and tells you to turn on streets that are a block or two away. It also likes to tell you to turn on streets you've just passed.

Without the voice features, it's not too bad. You just get a moving dot (or series of dots, actually) and you figure out where to turn yourself. Accuracy seems pretty reasonable for the GPS. I'm not very impressed by the accuracy of their maps, though - they don't seem to have figured out that there are streets/highways where you can't make turns in particular directions.

The UI for Street Atlas is abysmal. Apparently, Delorme has never looked at any real Windows application. They ignore most of the standard conventions. There's not even a menu bar!

The Earthmate and Street Atlas 2005 for PC is a great value in GPS when you consider you can own it for about 100 bucks! I used my Earthmate recently on a vaca to Florida. We arrived in Tampa (my first visit there) at 11 pm, and rented a car. I fired up my laptop using Earthmate, and the program talked us flawlessly to the front door of our hotel in St Pete, about 30 miles away! It was wonderful realizing that with GPS, you are never lost! The technology is not perfect. For instance, the program gets confused at complex interchanges and cloverleafs. But it sorts itself out quickly. It's amazing the amount of street-level detail is in the program. Voice command recognition is fair. The audible direction feature is great, calling out your upcoming turns in advance. Be sure to download the updates to the program from the Delorme website before using the GPS features. If you want military-grade GPS, I guess you have to spend big bucks, but for 100 dollars, this is a fine package that will maximize your PC investment and bring GPS technology to your vehicle with accuracy rivaling the $3000 factory installed options in many luxury cars. Dont hesitate to buy this item!

If you're the sort of person who gets excited about great mapping products (such as Street Atlas USA, Map'N Go, and other Delorme products for Windows 3.1 were a decade ago) you'll give the 2005 Street Atlas a yawn. It's the bottom of a down spiral in Delorme mapping software that's gradually driving customers away. Delorme's paper atlas products are still the best on the market. But if you want good software mapping I'd suggest you go somewhere else. 2005 version has a lot of bells and whistles to wow you, but 5 year old subdivisions still show as raw land. The only 'update' about this software is in the bells and whistles, so far as I'm able to make out.

As for the Earthmate usb, it might be great if you only want to run it with the mediocre Delorme street atlas software. However, if you run XP, or if you want to use it with some decent third-party software I'd suggest you look elsewhere for a GPS receiver to plug into your machine. The earlier version Earthmate receiver with batteries was tempermental, good for testing your patience and vocabulary in curse words. The new one never gets the chance to be tempermental because it simply won't work on an XP machine running software that's worth standing in line at a cash register for, carrying home and loading (or buying online).

I'm sorry to see Delorme coming to this. I've been a loyal supporter of their products for a long time. Today I think they should lock the doors and send everyone home for some meditation until they can get their priorities right.

Too bad.

I have been using DeLorme's Street Atlas since version 5. This new version is completely different but still just as easy to use. I didn't read the instructions (intentionally) to try and see how different it was to use. It is VERY easy to learn, and has many nice features (like the split screen). The USB unit is FANTASTIC. Very fast, small, and NO BATTERIES! I got SO tired of swapping batteries in the old unit! The voice recognition is based on Microsoft's voice software, and is quite good for immediate recognition. If you like another voice package better, this software allows you use it's engine instead of Microsoft's. The trip planning is just as good as older versions, and the road detail is quite a bit better. One thing I wish they would add is shopping places. I like to know where the Wal-Mart is while I'm traveling! I'm going to see if there is some way to add them or get them from DeLorme. Overall, another EXCELLENT product. Don't listen to anyone that states how difficult it is to use the new version, because it's not, they just haven't taken the time to learn the new software, in my opinion.

considering the cost not a bad deal for 1st time gps user. Software is the biggest drawback, StreetAtlas is not worht the disk it is written on. Recently went to Orlando area, staying at the Wyndham Resoirt and Spa by LAKE Buena Vista, system could not find the address. Note: the hotel is one of many located on that street.

Delorme does NOT support usage with other GPS software, I would have loved to use this GPS divice with Magellan software. Also, video on laptop on a sunny day can be difficult.