Customer Reviews

Microsoft Streets and Trips 2007 with GPS Locator [DVD] [OLD VERSION]

5 star:		(46)
4 star:		(43)
3 star:		(21)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

This remains an outstanding trip planning and GPS program. But by far the greatest improvement is in the chipset hardware included. The new GPS locater is MUCH smaller than the previous versions and includes the SIRFstarIII chipset. Now your asking what the heck is that?! Well, it is the most sensitive and accurate chipset out there and it acquires the satellites nearly instantaneously and holds on for dear life under nearly all conditions. It is a VAST improvement over the old 360 locater MS used in the past versions. My only minor complaint: it might be TOO small. The old one was the ideal size. In so small a package the antenna is necessarily smaller with somewhat reduced sensitivity than otherwise might have been obtained. But not to worry! This little device works just fantastic.

The GPS functionality has not changed significantly and still does NOT include automatic rerouting once you get off route. For me this was a major disappointment. Nearly all of the "all in one" GPS devices (such as the Nuvi 360 & Nuvi 660) include this very useful feature. It would have been so easy for Microsoft to respond to the needs of their customers and add this feature that one wonders just why they heck they didn't do it! The voice and large visual prompts, which make using the program in an automobile MUCH MUCH easier, remain essentially unchanged from 2006. The little car cursor in the 2005 version has been replaced by a much more visible circle with a large arrow in it indicating direction.

Unfortunately, some of the map details are still not as good as were found in the 2004 version of this program. There are small dirt roads that were on the 2004 version that are not on the current version. I can't understand why MS would dumb down their product. Also, the street names seem to have been dumbed down as well. For example, Golden Eagle Ferry Road has been reduced to Ferry Road. There are innumerable examples of this dumbing down and simplifying which may reduce the size of the program but detracts from its overall usefullness.

Despite the dumbing down of the actual map data the program remains a superb mapping program with many updates since the 2004 and 2005 versions. New streets, restaurants and other points of interest are now incorporated. This program offers a truly affordable GPS guidance system for nearly all consumers without having to go to the expensive Garmin or Magellan systems. If you find yourself traveling to points unknown I cannot imagine a better more affordable solution for getting around than this product in conjunction with your notebook computer. Even if you have an "all in one" solution such as the Garmin Nuvi Streets and Trips can help you plan your trip and routs. I have both and they compliment one another very well.

A few comments about the Streets and Trips mapping software. I am familiar with the Delorme product and the Garmin product and Streets and Trips blows them both away - no contest. Instantaneous panning, zooming in and zooming out, outstanding routing software, and a plethora of other features makes Streets and Trips, by far, my favorite mapping software.

This years program does automatically load the drivers for the GPS locater device which the older versions tended to do sporadically. This is done, as should have been the case for the older versions, seamlessly and without any difficulty whatsoever.

I heartily recommend this product! The new SIRFstarIII chipset alone justifies the price of the upgrade. The updated mapping details and new points of interest are also useful. The ONLY quibble I have with this program, and it is not insignificant, is the failure to include automatic rerouting if you get off the indicated route. Also, remember you will need a DVD player to install this program which now comes on one DVD rather than two CDs as it did in the past.

The Streets and Trips 2007 with GPS Locator package consists of two components: an award-winning mapping program that allows flexibility in mapping not found online, and a hardware GPS receiver. The map part is nothing short of being excellent. It's up-to-date (even for the Big Dig!), it's easy to use, and it's visually pleasing. It's also integrated (sort of) with Microsoft's excellent Live Local online mapping service, where you can get bird's eye view as well as true 3D maps.

But as a GPS navigator, this is a big disappointment. It's really best suited for someone with only occasionally GPS needs. For example, if you plan to use GPS just a few times a year, this may be for you. And the price can't be beat, plus you get to use the big screen of a laptop.

On the down side, the big screen is not touch sensitive, so you have to operate the laptop by, what else, mouse and keyboard. The driving guidance of this thing is totally cr*ppy, period. If you've seen the screens from a Garmin, TomTom or Magellan AIO (all-in-one) system, you'll be wondering what kind of stupid people work at Microsoft. The driving screen is divided into at least three parts, sometimes more, each with smallish fonts and packed with too much information. And, a big disappointment to past and new users, there's still no text-to-speech, so the software doesn't read out street names like some Garmin and TomTom units do. The driving screens are just too busy and cluttered, period. Plus this still doesn't do automatic routing when you take a detour, and the guidance will be totally useless when there's no satellite signal, e.g., in a tunnel. Some better software is smart enough to give you a rough estimate, which is better than none.

So, in short, if you have occasional GPS needs, this is a great bundle. And the mapping software is excellent. However, if what you want is a real GPS, you'll have to shell out $400 or more for a Sony, TomTom or Garmin.

Feel free to e-mail me if you have GPS questions.

This is no replacement for a good GPS that has the ability to give turn-by-turn directions. The layout is still clunky. The USB device still screws up if you don't plug it in at the right time, or forget to unplug it when you reboot. I'm sure that this is a glitch... The software is still very unable to re-route you when you go off course. You can hit F3 to force the software to re-draw the route from your current location.

I'd give a bit more if I could change the voice type, or force it to give further voice directions. All it says is "In 300 yards, turn right" - turn right onto what? Give me more directions! You are forced to look at the screen to figure out what the street name is.

USB driver problems, voice problems, clunky interface, inability to automatically re-direct - these are the reasons for 3 out of 5 stars!

Overall, it's still the same software - but save your pennies and get a real GPS! Anyone want to buy a slightly used Streets and Trips 2007? :)

I upgraded from 2006 mostly because I wanted a driving time estimate. It actually sometimes works. My wife and I just completed a 2,500 mile road trip from San Jose, CA through Las Vegas, down to Tucson, AZ and explored the area south of Tucson to Mexico, then back home through Phoenix and the Mojave Desert. This was a good test of the software's use on a long trip with both remote and urban driving.

S&T has long been strong for urban driving and the 2007 version works fine. However, it remains weak for rural driving. My old complaint from several versions ago remains: The software doesn't give enough detail of lesser roads unless you zoom in too much to be useful in a rural environment where you need the big picture view. In a remote environment we need to see those little roads as landmarks because there isn't much else on the map and we need to be zoomed out enough to see tens of miles ahead. We still have to use a paper travel map to understand what is ahead of us to explore.

The driving time algorithm lives in its dimension, and it isn't always the 4th. Going off route can trip it up and you frequently need to recalculate from your current position to the destination to get it to work again. And sometimes that hack doesn't work either. On a windy moonlit night in the Mojave Desert we had increasing negative time to Barstow and never could fix it. (OK, if you've been to Barstow you'll understand why S&T was doing this, but that is another matter.)

The next day on the long drive from Barstow to San Jose the route planner said 7 hours and the driving time readout said 6 in the beginning. The driving time seemed to work the whole day and the trip took 6.25 hours with the usual stops and mostly at the speed limit. My conclusion is that it can't be relied upon but is useful additional information if you are using the route planner time also.


Another reviewer said that S&T doesn't automatically re-route when you are off your course. You can click a button to do that if you want. However, you need to operate the computer which could be a problem depending on your access to it while underway. Mine sits between my van seats and it is easy to use even in the dark. A big help is an on-board human navigator of course, often staffed by one's spouse or such.

I don't find the user interface to be crowded and I'm picky about UI's. The driving directions part clearly states in very large fonts where you need to turn and the voice feature will guide you even if the computer is on the back seat.

One of the best features remains the Show / Hide Places and finding your favorite motels, service stations, etc. in an area of your choosing or along the route. It is very convenient to call ahead for reservations while underway. Also, you can see most of the wineries in an area or all the rest areas along the route.

We have had a problem with S&T routing us on non-existent rural roads at times. If that shortcut looks too good to be true then it may be. We follow the route even if suspicious because we've had some interesting adventures, but that isn't for everyone, especially those with low-clearance vehicles.

- jim

I have now used the package several times in the past 10 days or so and have to say I love it AND also regret buying it. I travel a lot to Montreal and other cities from Metcalfe, ON. When I plan a trip from my home to Montreal, Streets directs me along the shortest route, including tertiary roads that are gravel based, potholed and completely isolated. These are roads that rarely see any traffic and won't allow anything faster than 50Km. Even when you tell the system to calculate a different route, it will do some silly things such as making you bypass a village to avoid, I assume, traffic. The voice is great, when it works (it does most of the time - when it stops, hit F3 to get the system to re-route you thereby reactivating the voice function). The voice sometimes garbles words or combines words that are unrecognizable. On the other hand, the GPS unit is very accurate but the system will not give you the names of the streets to turn on - for that, you need to read the driving instructions onscreen, which you obviously won't do when driving, right?

Pressing the spacebar gets repeated voice instructions; very handy when you need to keep your eye on the road and really helps as you get closer and closer to a turn. Some tips; when driving at night, you will need to dim your screen before starting out, even in night mode you could read a book from the glare. I have portable USB speakers which I hook up to the notebook, otherwise, it is impossible to hear the spoken words when driving. I also plug the notebook into my car's 120v outlet.

Plan your trip before getting into the car, and save the results as a Street file on your windows desktop. Double click on the saved file when you start your car, everything pops up in Streets. F3 tells Streets to recalculate your route if you miss a turn off. Unfortunately, with lots of construction on the autoroute 40 near St-Charles in Montreal, the system tried to get me to return to the 40 even though I wanted to detour and go down the 20. When I drove to the Trudeau airport, the system wanted me to leave the 20, travel north to the 40, take the 520 and drop me in the middle of an airfield! A detour of at least 20 minutes and total loss of instructions on how to find terminal 1. Despite repeated requests to the system to come up with a new route, the system seemed unable to get me to the airport from the 20.

On the other hand, on another trip,it had no problem directing me properly to the Hotel Mortagnard in Boucherville on the Montreal South Shore. For that alone, I would keep the system as the route to get to the hotel is really complicated the first time you drive it.

Microsoft needs to come up with an easier to use interface that promotes safe driving - the space bar is instinctive and easy to find, the F3 key at night is not. I could not find any way to customize the keyboard to allow me to set the system for touch based control instead of visual control. Believe me, you don't want to be looking for a cursor on your screen when you try to switch from day to night view for example - you should be able to tap a key instead. Most of the keyboard shortcuts are based on at least 2 keys (CTRL and a letter), great if you sit in the passenger seat, useless and dangerous in the driving seat. Why could MS not make it easy for me to program everything I need through just using single function or keyboard keys? This way, I could code my keyboard keys to my own needs and would not even need to look at the notebook while driving. This product shows enormous potential but some of the flaws are just enough to make me regret buying it at this time.

I got Streets and Trips 2007 w/GPS to help me find my way around when I'm on business trips in unfamiliar territory. I have used the more expensive $500 sort of standalone device and there's no doubt they are better, but I find the Streets and trips generally adequate. It's a great deal for the price.

As I drive, it talks to me, warning me about a minute before each turn I need to make. Once I've made a turn, it tells me what the next turn will be (though it might be 30 miles away). It keeps my position shown on a moving map. I wouldn't dare look at this while driving, but it's still a great feature. If I ever get off route it informs me quickly "Off Route!". I can pull over, look at the map and see what happened. If I hit the F3 button, it recalculates the route from wherever I am.

The GPS unit is delightfully small and lightweight and conveniently suctions onto the front windshield. It seems to be a remarkably good GPS unit, getting its bearings very quickly and hardly ever losing them.

There are some glaring opportunities to improve this software that would bring it on par with the more expensive devices:

1) It tells me I need to turn right "zero point three miles" (the 60 second warning) but doen't reiterate it when I get there by saying "Turn right now". This would be very useful since there are often two right turns close to each other either of which could be the designated one.

2) It doesn't tell me the name of the street I'm turning onto. If it said "Turn right in 0.3 miles onto Fair Oaks Drive." I'd have fair warning to watch the road signs. It does do this for you on the freeway by naming the exit as in "Turn right in 0.3 miles at exit 105A onto the on-ramp", but won't do it on named streets or minor highways.

3) You have to push a button to recalculate the route. You ought to be able to set an option that would have it automatically recalculate if you get off course.

4) Whenever you start a new route it just says "Proceed to Route". I can understand that it has no idea what direction the car is pointed in until you start moving, but then it souhould very quickly issue an instraction like "Turn right onto Maple street in 50 yards".

I'd been reading reviews on the techie blogs about the S&T with GPS. They were *very* mixed, with many people saying they were having problems with acquiring satellite signals or even getting the GPS device to work. I should've heeded their recommendations to look at other products.

I've had this for two days now. I get the message that the S&T application is "receiving data", however, I should mention that it also says this even after I disconnect the GPS device. Odd.

Only once has it acquired a signal: I was testing on my front porch. A short time later, it stopped working again, so I've not been able to test it while I was driving. I've followed the recommendations to download the latest drivers from Pharos and from Microsoft, but it hasn't helped.

It's such a promising idea, but in operation, it just doesn't work, so I'm returning the device this afternoon. I'm going to exchange it for the S&T version that doesn't have the GPS, because I really like the software and want to use it for my mapping when I need it.

first off. the maps are horrible. they are missing a lot of streets. i have to go onto my wireless internet to verify addresses on yahoo. very cumbersome.

second, the routing is not ideal especially for someone that is using something other than a car. i have to go over the routes and sometimes make corrections before i leave. other times i can't know and it is very frustrating with an 18-wheeler.

in summary, this product could be great, but microsoft doesn't use the right people to create it. however, you can still make it work for you by adapting. nevertheless, i still like having the gps in real-time and being able to save locations and routes after i verify everything.

The interface is a bit clunky, I echo the complaint about the voice prompts not giving enough detail about the street name you are to turn onto and the inability to automatically tell you how to get back on route if you miss a turn.

The actual GPS unit is amazingly small and was able to pick up a signal when I was inside my house (probably thru the skylight and high windows. It gave good directions for the routes I planned on it and overall worked very well. It only lost the signal while driving when I passed thru a tunnel. I'd recommend a longer USB extension cable and a better means of securing it than the useless suction cup that came with the unit.

It's not a replacement for an integrated car unit, it really takes a person separate from the driver to operate it well but the kids really loved it, no more questions about how long till we get to Grandma's house!

For $89 it isn't going to compete with a $300-600 unit and it isn't ideal for the solo driver as perching a laptop on the seat next to you and glancing over isn't ideal. However, for the price it is a great unit and I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a low cost introduction to GPS in the car.

I have both a Garmin Nuvi 660 and Microsoft Streets and Trips 2007 with GPS Locator and after using MS Street & Trips, I have found that for the price, it is a good alternative to expensive GPS systems for experienced computer users. The locator is always dead on and I have found the street maps to be excellent. The problem is that it doesn't find addresses very well. For example when first testing it, I set it too my friend's address and it chose a spot three blocks away from the correct location. Several other tests confirmed these results. I use it to get me in the general location of where I am headed and then look at the street addresses on the buildings.


PROS:

- Low price (by utilizing your own laptop)
- Excellent at providing current location
- Excellent maps
- Decent driving directions
- Great for trip planning

CONS:

- Lousy at giving correct location of street addresses
- Inconvenience of carrying around laptop in the car
- Difficult to view when driving
- Takes time to become familiar with software (I expect software to be intuitive and don't usually read software manuals at first)
- Associated power difficulties for continued powering of laptop

Since my car does not have an AC outlet, I purchased a DC inverter which seems to work fine. Overall, I have found the Microsoft Streets and Trips 2007 with GPS Locator useful and would purchase it again.