Customer Reviews

Rand McNally StreetFinder and TripMaker Deluxe

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

I bought this software in Cosco. One interesting thing I found immediately in the first use is that some of the stores that have been closed for a long time still appear on the maps as valid locations. After that, new shopping malls that opened after 2001 can not be found on the maps. Also zip codes are not accurate. So I go to the maps directory of this software and looked at the creation date of the maps. It turns out that all the maps were created on August 31, 2000, which means they have never been updated after that date!!! Even though they claimed this software as the newest version.

One interesting thing is that for the locations not being able to find by the software, you can find all of them on Rand Macnally website. It is perhaps their lousy attitude towards the customers that make these almost 4yr old maps as newest version. I feel cheated. However I still politely asked their support people for help. Guess what? They just kicked me to Tele Atlas North America for update, which I find out to be a business level map service company that won't even listen to what I said.

All in all, this is a bad bad bad software with worse worse worse service. DON'T BUY or you just waste your money

I am surprised to see the many negative comments on this product. The only issue I have had with it is that my GPS initially did not work properly. This was due to Windows XP recognizing it as a serial pointing device and had nothing to do with the software. I had the same issue with streets and trips. Once I got that ironed out, it has worked perfectly for me. I used it recently to plan a cross country trip and it worked fine. I was able to get back on track a couple of times when I took a wrong turn simply by using the GPS for reference. I see that some complained that you have to be online to use the program but this is not true. You DO need to be online to get current updates on road construction, but this should be done before leaving home where you have internet access anyway, not on the road. I think that perhaps people are expecting a lot from a program that costs less than 50 bucks. Take the tutorials included with the program, plan your trip at home or in the hotel, not on the road and use a little common sense and it will work fine for you. My only complaint would be that there is no option to update the street-level city maps via the internet.

Well first let me say this software came with my Deluo USB GPS as part of the package. The GPS is great and worth every penny I paid, but the Street Finder software is not worth the CD it was burned on!! The maps are old and out dated, the user interface was written by someone who obviously really could care less about easy of use, and the trip routing was the worst I have ever had the displeasure of using. Please save yourself the brain aneurism that this will cause you while trying to configure and use for your next vacation or trip and get Microsoft Streets & Trips 04. I can't stress enough how utterly horrible Rand McNally Street Finder is. Amazon has a great price on Microsoft Streets and Trips 04 and there's a $10.00 MIR to boot.

I expected more from Rand McNally. This product had potential but didn't make the grade. The maps are nicer to look at than MS Streets & Trips or DeLorme Street Atlas but they're out of date. The interface is quirky and tedious to use. The search function won't look for ZIP codes and fails to find places that are on the map. This application doesn't have much going for it. What a disappointment, I'm sorry I wasted my money.

I have been using streets & trips 2001 for a few years, but found it getting incresingly out of date, with the new construction going on around my locale, so I went out and bought this product. Unbelievably, though I bought it at least three years after microsoft streets & trips, it was even MORE out of date -- and the interface looks more dated. Worst of all, the very street I live on -- which has been here at least 10 years now, probably more -- was shown incorrectly, it is a through street, this program shows it as a dead end!

In short - a way out of date competitors product you can buy on ebay for $3 is better than this piece of ####. It isn't even worth the time spent installing it (I had to swap the same CD in and out at least 5 times -- what's with THAT?), let alone what3ever money you pay. I'm deleting it off my drive & going back to S&T 2001 for now.

While I have not used the GPS, streetfinder works well at locating and mapping the addresses that I need. The real bonus is TripMaker which has allowed us to map out and plan long trips through several states and make reservations along the way. I would not leave home without it.

Can find a lot of places. Can't find my work, school (University of North Florida!). Although GPS capabilities were okay. But what can I do with GPS if it can't find where I want to go!!!

I had been using Microsoft Streets & Trips 2002 and wanted to upgrade to something more current. After hearing that streets & trips 2004 was not an improvement over 2002, I decided to give Steetfinder & Tripmaker a try. What a waste ! I can't believe that Rand Mcnally would allow their name to be put on this thing. terriable interface, can't find streets that are shown on the programs map, map is cartoonish compared to the Microsoft product. In fairness I don't use the gps feature so it could have some redeeming value in that area.

I've used this software since version 1998, almost in all North and South America Countries, and it has been very useful to me. I use it connected to my Magellan GPS and my laptop while driving. Using the Monitor and Record funtionality, I get all NMEA data from the GPS in TXT format from where I can extract all kinds of information I need. This feature is not found in other similar software products.

I have used this product for about eight years, and have never had a problem with it. I plan long trips with it for our RV club, and it does beautifully. It also allows calculation of costs. The newest version even lets you track reservations. I have not tried to link it to my GPS, nor would I bother. I study the maps, and know where I'm going, so the GPS mostly shows me where I am and how fast I'm going. Nice, but not essential.
Otherwise the TripMaker program works very well as far as I am concerned, so I don't understand the hostile evaluations. Each program does what it does, and this one suits me just fine.