Customer Reviews

Microsoft Streets & Trips 2002 [Old Version]

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

Street and Trips 2002 has a lot of features that are very easy to use. Surprisingly, the response is extremely fast even when calculating long and/or complex routes. The ability to dynamically change a calculated route by dragging it to a different position is fantastic.

There is, however, a major problem: the map data is out of date. Several spots near my home are almost two years out of date. Other spots I am familiar with in the state also suffer from incorrect data as well as some incorrect road naming.

As for the comments about the GPS function, I don't use it and I would bet most users have no need for it. I do use GPS while on foot and know that the unit itself, a high end version, takes time to react depending upon the satellite visibility and surrounding terrain. Inside a fast moving car, a handheld GPS will not react instantly regardless of software. This is especially true in a city or town due to the numerous obstructions.

Last year I wrote a negative review about MS Streets & Trips 2002. Based on my recent extensive 10,000-mile driving experience, I would like to post my updated evaluation. All fair and honest evaluation should be based on the merits of product features with respect to other competing products. This year MS Streets & Trips 2002 (ST2K2) won the competition. First of all, NONE of the mapping software products published today can exceed 85% accuracy. All reviewers' complaint about ST2K2 inaccracy in terms of addresses and suggested routes is correct; on the other hand, other competing products are even worse. For example, from Anchorage to Whittier, Alaska, all mapping software products' suggested 300-mile route is completely wrong. My actual route took only 1 hour and 30 minutes. Similarly, the visitor centers or entrances of most National Parks such as Denali and Grand Canyon are miles away from the actual locations. The deliberate delay in displaying updated GPS position is another minor annoyance. With the default delay, it's impractical and, sometimes, extremely dangerous to use ST2K2 for city driving because drivers won't be allowed sufficient time to change lanes or turn left/right.

The problem is caused by software publishers' greedy goal of profit maximization at the expense of mapping accuracy by launching newer versions every year. The sad fact is the latest verion doesn't always promise better accuracy.

For year 2002, I recommend MS Streets & Trips 2002 for its highest accuracy relative to other competing products. Above all, its user interface is by far the most intuitive. You can master the product in 15 minutes.

Let's face the fact that all mapping products are inaccurate. Instead, I insert plenty of pushpins for the actual location of gas stations, hightway rest areas,...etc. By the way, your pushpin data can be transferred to a handheld PC or an iPAQ.

Armstrong Wong
Hong Kong

I have read the negative reviews about missing streets, wrong directions, etc. I wanted to add a positive review because I really enjoy this product.

It is worlds better to use than online mapping software because of the expanded view and interactive zooming. You can drag your mouse and make a little square and zoom right into that area. There are many zoom levels. I like that I can also measure distances by using a tool that you can drag along the roads. It will display the distance as you drag and leave it on the screen so you can measure a different route for comparison purposes.

One thing I don't like, and which may be the cause of wrong directions it has given others, is that it doesn't seem to have one-way streets listed. If there is a way to view this information, I haven't found it, and I have looked. I live in Boston, and this is an issue as most streets downtown are one-way.

I have an HP Jornada 568 Pocket PC and have downloaded maps to it using Pocket Streets 2002, which comes with the product. Microsoft has some pre-fab city maps on their Pocket Streets website, which is nice, and saves you the time of creating maps. The install was very easy. Because the screen is so small and the map navigation isn't as smooth as on the desktop, I would not recommend using your PDA for driving directions, unless you pull over or memorize the directions. It seems to be more for fun or desperate situations than anything.

The desktop software prints out nice big maps, which are useful to keep on the seat with you in your car for quick reference, as opposed to a street atlas with tiny little print.

I have found myself spending time zooming around and looking at different areas of the map, finding new ways to get to work, etc.

In summary, I would recommend this product to people who spend a lot of time on maps.yahoo.com or other similar websites. You will absolutely love the vastly expanded interactivity this product gives you.

Kudos to Microsoft. Job well done. Yes this has been updated , streets that were not there before are now. Linking to internet is easy , just hit search the web on top task bar and any web sites for the cities or area your current map is on will come up. Set up might take a few minutes. ... If you have a Gps reciever plug it in to your laptop with the program. Any GPS reciever with serial ports should work. If you had the previous version you should'nt

be dissapointed. Enjoy Exploring , Michael Croson

This product is well worth the purchase. I used to to help me find a way to go to the mountains to camp. It told me what route to take, where to turn, where there was construction on the highway and at what times, as well as certain points of interest along the way. Highly recommended. Microsoft has proven once again that they are a leader in software development. I've seen some other related applications like Rand McNally, but none seem to come close to this one. This program is by far the best program to help plan and execute a route! HIGHLY recommened if you are a traveller.

Streets and Trips 2001 through 2003 are great products if you like wonderful looking mapped our dead accuracy for a street finders. However Microsoft has made a huge mistake in my opinion with the trip maker portion of the program. They have ripped out all the extremely valuable infomation about Hotels, Exits, Attractions, etc. You can find hotels no problem but it will not give you any information about it, not even a phone number. The biggest downside for me was the Exits. I was planning a 2000 mile trip and I want to know which exits have gas stations. This is ver important because in places like Texas, New Mexico, or Arizona you can go 50 to 100 miles with out seeing a gas station. If the map does not have this info I could get into serious trouble. It does show the exits you just can't get any information about it.
I have Microsoft Streets and Trip 2000 and it has all of this information. It does an excellent job with its trip maker. Back then I think it was hands down the best mapping progam you could get for a consumer. But after that version they really messed up. The problem with that version now is that it is getting close to three years old. I do not want to rely on a program that is that old for accuracy.
So what is the answer? I found that DeLorme Street Atlas USA 2003 is a very good program. Yes it is slower and the maps are not as pretty (they are pretty nice though). But it has the extremely valuable infomation that MS Streets and Trips took out. This new version of Street Atlas is much, much more accurate than any of the previous version. It is getting close to MS Streets and Trip there too. It also has some extra features that MS Streets and does not have.
As for Microsoft, they use to have a superior product but they lost it. There is another company that is giving us what we need. Maybe Microsoft will realize that and fix their product in the next version.

Streets and Trips is a powerful and fast consumer mapping tool with lots of bells and whistles. I have found it very useful when on business trips where I did not have Internet access. Couple it with a GPS sensor and it is quite a powerful tool for road warriors. One of the more interesting features its ability to find nearby locations (i.e. hotels) - even along a route, which is not entirely apparent to the user. You can actually show every hotel, restaurant, etc x miles in either direction of a route or a single location. It also can calculate trip costs and has construction updates.

In terms of performance, it is much, much faster than the Derlorme Street Atlas 2003 or any online map tool. I haven't yet done a head to head comparison with Streets and Trips 2003 because I haven't received it yet.

What I don't like...
PROBLEMS:
1) The locations, especially hotels, are often wildly inaccurate - by 30 miles away. It almost appears if the master data set was compiled by hand in China as I can't imagine how the inaccuracies were created (correct phone, street address, and wrong city). There appears to be no quality control with the locations. Moreover, many are dated by at least three years.
2) The exit numbers are often inaccurate, which can cause a huge problem if you are on a business trip
3) The GPS update is once every 15 seconds
4) There is no data update feature via the web. There is a construction update, but that is it.

This software works great if you're looking for driving directions. I wanted it for that purpose, but also to map out locations of business accounts, to see where they are spread out geographically. This software was not right for that purpose and didn't help me at all. The biggest problem is that you can't change the view very much... you can't hide highways, or show more/less detail. But if you just want driving directions, it's wonderful.

Even if you buy the 2002 maps. The maps are older than 2002. A update feature is not there. You will be stuck with maps that are older.

After paying for this software, I was very disappointed to find out that it will not locate addresses that are three years old. I thought that was the reason for buying the 2002 year edition. Other free very well known services have the address I was trying to locate. The only thing I find useful is the pocket streets feature. But it can't be very useful if the address you are looking for is not in the database.