Customer Reviews

Microsoft AutoRoute Europe 2007 [Old Version]

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

As far as GPS software goes, there is nothing better available than Streets & Trips and AutoRoute. There are dozens of features that you can't find with the self-contained GPS units. It is easy to add multiple stops and to optimize them into the best order, night-view is another great feature, as are the topographical maps. The new feature offered this year, of easy-linking to satellite photos of places on the map, is also a welcome addition.

The only reason I'm giving it a four is because of the following:

1) There is STILL no ground-level or 3D view of the roads for use in the GPS function

2) They still haven't added an option to exclude roads that ban trucks or commercial traffic form using them.

3) There isn't a lot of coverage for Eastern European countries, most notably, nothing in Russia.

Nonetheless, it is still better than any other GPS software on the market.

I recently used this software and GPS while driving extensively around Scotland (never been there before). The only important issue is that you need another person in the car to keep an an occasional eye on what's happening on the laptop if you're in a new country and arent familiar with at least some of the roads.

I would plan the route the night before and mapping that out was a breeze. When first learning the software, it takes a good hour of one's time to figure out all of the different things the sofwtare can do but the basics can be learned in 30 minutes.

It was VERY handy if we went offroute to simply press one button to give us directions to get back on route. In our over 1000 miles of driving in Scotland, this software only goofed once when creating driving directions and it was an obvious goof that was easy to see and fix.

Faults? The GPS hardware was perfect. No complaints there. The software knows streets of course but it doesnt understand street addresses like 28 Main Street. It will only get you to Main Street. So you need to know the cross street of whereever you want to go. You can learn that info simply using any on-line maps (which do undertsand street addresses).

Over all, we never had to look at a paper driving map ONCE. As long as I planned my waypoints the might before, there was no problem getting to where we wanted to go.

If you are somewhat patient with yourself learning how to use new software, and you'll be traveling with someone, you really should check out Autoroute.

Our experience with AutoRoute 2006 while traveling the UK and Ireland left us with the feeling that we were glad we had it but disappointed in its performance. Initially, its calculations of the "quickest route" led us on very narrow, one-lane, two-way roads--at least they were paved. We learned to be very wary of its directing us onto "local roads" instead of staying on numbered highways. A good map became an essential help in pre-evaluating AutoRoute's recommendations. Also disappointing was the degradation of some features; for example the "add pushpin markers" feature stopped working after we used it only a few times. Also, we could not zoom-in the map while using the Provide Driving Guidance feature, which uses GPS Tracking.

AutoRoute Europe, not surprisingly, is very similar to Microsoft Streets and Trips. It is easy to use, the maps are very legible, and it has many convenient features such as distance measuring and route marking (highlighting), trip planner, etc. It seems to lack some of the detail of Streets and Trips. For example, it could not find Via Martinuzzo in Reggello, Italy. I believe the street appears on the map, but is unnamed. However, this is minor. Most of what you would be looking for is available and easily found. (I had no problems finding streets in Germany, even in small towns like Wittingen.) All in all, a very good product.

Just got back from a little driving tour through Spain and France. Although I've been there a few times before, this is the first time with a map program. I've become addicted to Streets and Trips here in the U.S. so I thought I'd try this for our latest trip. I used Autoroute with the GPS receiver I got from Streets and Trips and instead of the usual getting lost as soon as you get off the main road and flopping around, Autoroute shows exactly where you are and recalculates a new route. My 16 year old son was my copilot and easily handled the program. I especially liked the female British accent drive instruction feature, nice touch. Although there were a few map errors, as in Streets and Trips, the program was invaluable. As anyone that travels in Europe will tell you, the signage is atrocious especially in urban areas, and this is definitely the answer. Highly recommend it.

I just installed AutoRoute 2007. There is a feature in AutoRoute where you can display various places of interest on the map. In this version, for some installations you can not hide restaurants. This has been reported on the Microsoft UK AutoRoute community website. I loaded the program on a second computer with the same result. Both systems run Window XP Pro. This means for certain cities, like Paris, at certain magnifications, the map is completely cluttered with small green squares which indicate the location of a restaurant. MicroSoft only indicates that they will enter this bug into the work request for the next version of AutoRoute. They also say earlier versions were not affected. You may want to buy 2007 but check out your ability to show/hide all of the items of interest right away and be prepared to be dissappointed. I am going to try finding AutoRoute 2006 for sale.

This is a good, basic routing program. The interface is similar to Microsoft Streets and Trips but the data base is lacking. There is a serious deficiency when it comes to street names in the less urban areas. This program will serve you well in traveling major roads between cities and it will serve you well in locating streets in urban centers. but if you need to find your way around the countryside, it won't be of much help.

I felt a little like the navigator on the Starship Enterprise sitting in the backseat of our rental car peering into my laptop screen during our recent trip to the UK. But this is a great solution for GPS navigating and trip planning!

The mapping is easy - not only does it work on addresses but AutoRoute also comes with built in names of places and landmarks. Even a Park and Ride carpark outside Bath was already there, as were the names of the National Trust properties we visited. Finding the way to change settings was a little mysterious, but once I had the hang of it, I appreciate the ability to follow and anticipate by zooming in and out. The built in voice was pleasant and economical in giving directions - but having a full screen gave so much more information than a standalone GPS device. How can a small screen show the English roundabout? The GPS device itself consistently held onto 8-10 satellites while on the side window of the car.

The cost of this package and an adaptor for the power supply for the car still was less expensive than a standalone GPS, while being far better than a rental car GPS if available. And it provided another justication for hauling my laptop around Europe!

I just completed a 15 day trip through Italy and Greece using AutoRoute. The other key components are the Pharos GPS-500 USB receiver and a Laptop. The software installs without issues and worked well throughout my trip. It is pretty accurate and worked even in the most remote places. It has many features that I did not use like tracking fuel economy and setting way points. You can select many languages and metric versus miles. I simply put in my target address and checked the provide guidance box and off I went!

There were a couple of minor issues during the trip. On long multi hour drives the software would hang up. Not sure why - could have been a laptop issue also? Simple fix was to close and restart the program.

The other issue is accuracy. There were time when it said " right turn in 500 feet" and the turn was much closer and you would miss it. It's not a big deal because it also shows you a detailed map with street names so you can quickly adjust. This could be an issue with the GPS receiver or restriction by the government.

Anyways - I recommend this product and will use it again.

Cheers,

chuckp

This has been a good purchase for us. We are in northern Italy for about 7 weeks, and needed to navigate a number of cities: for several business meetings and just to find our way around. It has been an invaluable tool. We have still used physical maps to a certain extent, but in finding the shortest routes, and other points of interest, this has helped us never to be lost (so far!)