|
|
|
Delorme Street Atlas USA 2008 Plus
DeLorme
|
Store: |
|
Amazon |
 |
| List
Price: |
|
$59.95
|
| Price: |
|
$29.99 |
| You Save: |
|
$29.96
(50%) |
|
Compare Price |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
CD. Import and geo-locate your own data. Adds 150 million phone & address listings linked to the maps. Everything in the regular version plus extensive data import capability, 150 million U.S. and Canadian phone listings, and higher-end print and draw tools. Innovative GPS features including voice commands, spoken directions, automatic back-on-track re-routing & mobile map colors. Updated maps and four million places of interest produced by experienced mapmakers at DeLorme.
|
Customer Reviews
for Delorme Street Atlas USA 2008 Plus --- DeLorme
|
|
|
|
Great for Sales and Real Estate Professionals - Data Layers are Key
I've used this software for one year and think it's the best-in-class for sales and real estate professionals. I switched from Microsoft Streets & Trips (MS&T).
If you are looking for a simple toy or tool to help you get to your Uncle Bill's house, this is likely not the program for you. MS&T is more intuitive and appealing to the eye. However, MS&T has significant limitations regarding data management and presentation that many professional map/GPS users will find frustrating.
The key to DeLorme Street Atlas' power is the ability to create separate data layers and routes that can easily be viewed in combination or individually (clents vs. prospects, sales vs. listings, leads for product A vs. product B, store locations vs. distance radii from store, etc). The possible layers are endless, which helps greatly in managing multiple clients, projects or concepts on a single map. The function is much like drawing layers in a draftsman's CAD file. Need to show an outsider your store location but don't want them to see where your prospect new sites are? Simply click-off the "prospect" layer. No need to manage redundant maps for different viewing classes.
You can easily mark different groups with different shaped and colored icons. It's easy to strip-out only one layer of data and update with new data without disrupting the other data in your map(s). This is great for professionals that get routine updates from corporate regarding client locations or territory delineation. The "Steet Atlas Plus" software also links very easily to spreadsheets and databases, where it's generally much easier to search and update data. You can also query from within the map view any map point data you've linked-to, a very useful tool when on-the-go (Where's my client ABC Company located?). MS&T comes nowhere close in this regard. All data is held in a single layer and I never found a way to extract and replace only one subset of data after imported into a map.
The interface is cumbersome and takes determination to master. The graphic appearance is adequate, but inferior to MS&T. The search functions are very robust but awkward and VERY slow, especially compared to the ease and speed with which Microsoft handles search. DeLorme should work tirelessly to improve the interface and search speed.
The program offers a wide array of commenting, notation and measuring tools. For any marker you create or import, you are able to define at what zoom level it expands from a pinpoint dot to a full-size icon or text box on the map, a huge benefit if you work a large territory but need to note data at the block-by-block level. State and City views aren't cluttered by text boxes and large icons. MS&T doesn't have this feature.
As for data accuracy, it's okay, not great. Many new roads and subdivisions are not shown. But you can easily add roads. And if you use w/ GPS, it's as simple as driving down the road and tracing your GPS trail to draw the new road.
The GPS is great. I use w/ the GPS device from MS&T, which I prefer to DeLorme's GPS because it is smaller, faster and allows me to replace the USB cord separately from the GPS device. Zooming in and out and panning the map on screen are very easy once you learn the key-strokes and shortcuts.
The load-up time when launching application is ridiculous! I keep program running for days at time. Saving files is very easy, including backup and "alternate version" maps.
If you're serious about mapping needs as a professional, there is no better program in this price range.
|
|
|
|
|
Buy this now
This is the best mapping program for the price (or any other price). Delorme is the premiere mapping company in the USA. Buy this to run on your laptop or desktop and you will never be lost again. Much better than Microsoft Streets and Trips I use GPS equipment and software on a daily basis at work and this program is as good as it gets.
|
|
|
|
|
Pain in the ...
I recently purchased a new computer with Windows Vista and needed new mapping software. I did research on the Internet and concluded from reading reviews, mainly professional reviews that magazines issue, that Delorme Street Atlas USA is the best mapping software. Much higher rated than Microsoft Streets & Trips. So I bought it. What a mistake. I am not happy with it because it is so cumbersome to use. I'm not providing any detail other than to say I had used Microsoft Mappoint for years prior to buying Delorme. There was a little voice in the back of my mind saying don't buy Delorme, because I had Delorme 10 years ago and didn't like it. But I bought anyway because of the reviews. Now I'm going to buy Steets & Trips and go back to having fun using mapping software. Delorme is a pain in the butt. One other thing. The best place to read product reviews is at Amazon.com.
|
|
|
|
|
OK for laptop...disaster for PDA
I bought SA2008 for use on my Palm Treo 650 with a Holux M1000 GPS. First of all, I should say that if one were using it on a laptop, it wouldn't be too bad, since you can have the entire nation at your disposal, and, if you install the 150 million phone listings, you actually have an incredible resource, even if they are not all perfectly up to date. Furthermore, although we didn't try to use the GPS with the laptop version, it appears to have most of the necessary functionality for navigation, etc.
However, using this combination on a Treo 650 was NOT a pretty picture. First of all, as one of the other reviewers mentioned, you have to download map segments that you are interested in. And, you apparently can't download very large areas without incurring some sort of performance issue (though it was not described specifically.) One of the issues is certainly not having enough memory on your Treo to happily run SA2008 and also maintain a bluetooth connection to the GPS. I tried repeatedly for a week and never managed to maintain a connection for more than about 30 minutes. Essentially, the bluetooth would lock up. The vendor from whom I purchased this combo actually eventually said that they don't recommend SA2008 for the Treo... (thanks...after the fact). And, while it was clear that part of the problem was the blue tooth connection, it was also partly the SA2008 since when I started clearing apps out of RAM and onto an expansion card, the performance did get better, but I eventually has about 9MB free (out of 24 or so) and the system would still not stay connected. The Delorme tech support people did discuss this problem but had no ideas about any adjustments to make.
Of course, even if there had not been this problem, the truth is that the handheld version of SA2008 is unexpectedly poor. Some examples: a) it is not possible to ask it to take you from where you are now to a destination--the nearest restaurant for example. Instead, you have to disconnect from the GPS, build a route from where you are now to where you want to go, reconnect the GPS, and then follow the route by "tracking". There ARE limited voice directions, but they are not nearly sufficient to follow without looking at the map or with the aid of a helper. b) It doesn't know enough to stay on roads. Example--things like access roads are not in the system, so if you start from a parking lot, it's anybody's guess as to how it will decide to get you onto the route--usually it involves some sort of driving through a building or two... c) It will tell you that you are off the route, but, it doesn't recalculate. This is probably the biggest shortcoming. There are times that you can't avoid going off route (construction, missed turn, etc.) so you REALLY need to have it automatically recalculate. d) There were a couple of times that the route that it calculated actually retraced itself, wanting me to get off of a freeway and then get right back on... NOT.
Bottom line is that for the price, I would say that using SA2008 on a laptop might be a decent solution (I DID connect to the GPS with a Bluetooth adapter, and it seemed to hold that connection fine, even though we didn't do any navigation.) However, if you want to even THINK about navigating with your PDA, I would definitely go elsewhere.
|
|
|
|
|
This software should still be in beta!
I have seldom been as disappointed in a product as I was with Street Atlas 2008. I have used a number of other mapping products over the years including previous versions of Street Atlas. This one is a definate step backward. The interface is cumbersome and the mapping is terrible. Took a look at my home town (Parker, CO). It found the town and identified several of its restaurants. Unfortunately it drew them all South of town rather than North. It shows driving from my home location down main street to the main intersection, but then shows a left rather than a right turn. Tried to download the free aerial data set. Clicking on any item under "Netlink" resulted in a "error has occured, line one, character one". I thought this might be a function of the computer, so loaded it on my laptop. Same error messages. Also found mention of these errors on their forum, without resolutions. Spoke with their tech support and their response was that it must be an Internet Explorer problem. Asked if they could explain why it occured on two separate computers, one runing v. 6 and on running v. 7. Their response was "well then, it must be something in between your location and our server". No help whatever. Buying this was a grievous mistake and one that I will not make again with a Delorme product.
John Waterman
|
|
|
|
|
Delorme is Great for Business Travelers
This software is getting kicked around quite a bit in the reviews, but I've found it to be very reliable. If you use a GPS reciever with the software... it isn't 'perfect' but it is very very good. The routing features work very well... here's a tip though... you have to change your off route setting from 300ft to about 1500ft or it will drive you nuts. Most roads are very accurate, however, you will find some that are off.
I work in sales and cover about 7 states. I imported in all the prospects from our company's DB with Xdata and it worked perfect. It's an invaluable tool for me and my travels. I've tried MS streets and trips and it is good, but Delorme seems to have a brooder range of features. It's powerful software and I highly recommend it.
If you are going to use GPS with the software though. I would NOT use the Earthmate reciever.... The Globalsat GPS reciever with SiRf Star III technology works much better.
|
|
|
|
|
longtime DeLORME customer
Works very well on my Palm T5 with maps off SD card with zooming being very responsive. Works very well on my P3 laptop. Works well with my bluetooth Holux GPSlim 236 GPS and my Holux M-1000 GPS. Activating the GPS on my Palm was very easy. I like the interface to create/print maps (yes I like it better than some of its competition, but I admit there is a slight learning curve for the "I use Windows only Point-and-Click" crowd). Map accuracy seems better than previous versions. Map updatedness seems acceptable. The extra phone data helpful. Ability to use satellite maps interesting, they allow a free limited download for some. Customer support is responsive and knowledgeable. Community message forum support is likewise helpful. Product is priced competitively and offers great value. NO PRODUCT ACTIVATION required.
|
|
|
|
|
DeLorme continues to disappoint
I have used DeLorme products for years. Their state by state atlas/gazeteers were unique and excellent. Their Street Atlas USA programs were also excellent for years.
But around 2000 things began to change, and not only did this company fail to update maps in a timely way (while purporting to have done so)-- I bought Street Atlas 2006 several years ago and sent it back because the maps were out of date -- but the software actually became less intuitive, harder to use, and, with this iteration of Street Atlas, nearly impossible to use or understand.
You have to understand that I wanted this program to work and work well, because I have been frustrated in trying to find a decent GPS over the past 4 months. I have found their whimsical, weird routing extremely frustrating. If, as nearly all of them do, they make serious mistakes in my home town, what are they going to do when they are routing me through an area that I am not familiar with?
I drive a large vehicle, and do not enjoy making mistakes that involving turning around, navigating narrow, tiny streets, etc.
I have tried Garmin (Nuvi 350 and Streetpilot 330), Magellan (3250, 4250) and TomTom (One). All very disappointing and unreliable. Granted that any map program or any navigation program will have quirks, make serious errors, etc. This is an imperfect world. But, given that mistakes appear to be the rule rather than the exception in my GPS experience, why not allow the user to set up his own route using Vias, Exclude/Avoid, Prefer, etc.?
Because, theoretically at least, you can create your own route using Street Atlas 2008, you can get your GPS to do what you want it to, instead of vice versa. (I bought the Street Atlas program together with the Earthmate GPS, so that I could use my laptop instead of a self-contained GPS.
But the reality is far from this simple and satisfying. I spent hours trying to put together routes in SA 2008 and found the process totally unintuitive, the menus confusing, and though it is theoretically possible to do it, it became so much trouble that I finally just threw up my hands. A route that would have taken me 20 seconds to put together in Street Atlas 8.0 took me half an hour with SA 2008, and it still wasn't right!
I ask you, how is it possible for a product like this to get worse and worse over the past 7 years? I am sure that DeLorme has had lots of feedback on what is right and what is wrong with their software. It looks to me as if they just don't care. A sad commentary on what,IMHO, was once an excellent company.
And all this doesn't even mention the maps that can be way out of date, the inadequate and out of date POI's, etc, as other reviewers have mentioned.
From what I have read, the Garmin GPS 18, a similar product containing a GPS and a mapping program, is not much better than this one.
|
|
|
|
|
Disappointed
I was disappointed in this product because of the outdated map data. Now, I'm not talking about a new street in town that wasn't on the map; I'm referring to a well-known, main street in town that has been there for years that wasn't on the map.
I bought the product for a countywide project on which I was working. For the most part, it was acceptable, but there were entire areas of subdivisions that had not been updated.
I wouldn't buy it again unless I was assured of more accuracy. Delorme should put out some updates to get this right. There's quite a bit more they could do to the product to make it better. I'd even be willing to pay a little more if I was assured of a better product.
|
|
|
|
|
Waste of Money
This Map Program is so incomplete it is not even funny. My house has been built for over 5 years, and my street still does not even show up on the map. And I do not live in a rural area. My office has been there for over 10 years and this map cannot locate it either. How can I depend on this map to get me to new places I need to go if I can't even trust it to get me around my home town.
|
|
|
|
|
Very poor routing software
I have used Street Atlas since 2004 primarily so that I can make use of my laptop (actually a tablet PC) instead of buying an expensive all-in-one GPS unit. I have always been frustrated with the non-intuitive user interface! Menu items appear on arbitrary menus and icons are nonstandard. There is no adherence to Windows standards that so many people are accustomed to.
But since recently upgrading to Street Atlas USA 2008 I have learned that I cannot rely on the routing software! For example, while proceeding along a major toll road, following the graphically displayed route, the voice prompt directed me to take an exit and then directed me to continue on the same toll road. I lost 15 minutes trying to get back to my original point of travel.
For some reason when a route is recomputed during travel (when you deviate away from the original route) the software often creates an ambiguous graphic route containing loops instead of completely redrawing a new route from your current location. I live in the Boston, MA area and have found that the software often routes you the wrong way on one-way streets.
It appears to me that little or no effort has been put into improving the latent defects that appeared in the routing software way back in the 2004 release. Though other reviewers have found the maps to be inadequate, I have found the maps of the Boston area to be improved - except for one-way streets. So, if you are trying to get to a business meeting in downtown Boston in a hurry - beware - you may end up at the airport while trying to recover from a route you could not legally follow!
|
|
|
|
|
Foreigner using it as a main tool during his last 20 days visits to USA
As a person who has a number of travel experiences all over the world it was my first time trying to use a GPS with a program like the Atlas Plus. Until now, I use only printed maps and directions coming from internet.
Thanks to the program, the stress that I got as a car driver in all the previous trips has gone.
It was spectacular! Can you imagine? Reach any place without difficulties over CA NV & AZ. even in the huge LA area...
Museums; Malls; Beaches; Gas Stations; Restaurants; Amusements Parks; Services Etc. all achieved with a simple search?
I realize that perhaps for a resident it is not so remarkable, because a native English spoken person familiarized with the public space stile and culture as well as with the roads structure and standardization is not overcharged as a visitor trying to detect with enough time, signals, directions, routes, connections, shops, etc. while he must also to pay attention to other cars, traffic lights, etc.
The program has a feature that permits to export maps and directions to my Palm, honestly, I try to use it but after I experience the program running over my Laptop, it was impossible. Having a big High Contrast Map even in a sunny day, a driver can be sure that is in the right path because he can see it, so simple, and if is not paying attention to the map for a while, the "voice" inform him about the next movement with enough time to avoid a mistake.
Also, I must to said that before I decide to buy the program, I think about to hire a device from the car rental but, it will cost for the whole period U$S 240. Instead of I pay around U$S 75 to receive the program "just on time" and as I already have a GPS receiver, Laptop and Palm to use in my country with other maps, it was a cheaper and more flexible solution for me, even considering it against the "buy a new navigator" option.
Nevertheless, why four stars instead of five? ... Only because I suppose that a program like this must to have a faster way to update data about (i.e.) new freeways exits, turned for instance from one and only "exit 46" to a new "exit 46a" and a second "exit 46b". When a user of a brand new version found something like this denotes that the details about the particular area remains untouched from let said, a year ago... It is a pity that they have not it.
|
|
|
|
|
Kind of KLUNKY
The program itself works well but it's not the most user friendly. I have been "PLAYING" with Google Earth and Microsoft live maps. They too have certain draw backs but they are more "UP TO DATE" in the use of their controls for the map. I also think the cost for the satellite imagery is way out of whack. I do love the phone database and being able to bring up a block of a whole street. I also think that the colors should be more configuable. The "HIGH" contrast looks like a night display and the the green arrow for your position on a green trail shows NO contrast and if you double back over your path it becomes very difficult to see your position.
I will say the database is very up to date having all of the NEW rodds in my area.
I realize that the database with all satellite imagery would fill up most hards drives but with the advent of broadband cell cards for laptops it would be easy to UPDATE a database if you were travelling into an area you didn't currently have on your machine. Assuming you don't have to pay for it.
|
|
|
|
|
Street Atlas USA 2008
My main reason for this product was for my bluetooth enabled gps used with a Palm LifeDrive. I installed the software and had the gps/lifedrive working in under 1/2 hour. I stop short of 5 stars because I have yet to get the voice directions to work on my LifeDrive and sometimes the gps location is slightly off. An option for even large print or at least larger road representation on high zoom would be nice, also. Other than that I love this program.
|
|
|
|
|
Great for route planning
I bought this software to plan and optimize long, multi-stop delivery routes. It works beautifully. It's hard to print out maps that make sense, though. When you print out a map on a 'portrait' 8 1/2 x 11 sheet, you only get to view the middle third of what you are going to print out. You can just print out what you see, but it's kind of a waste of paper printing out three partial page maps and sticking them together. Other than that - no complaints.
|
|
|
|
|
What is DeLorme's problem?
I don't know why I keep buying DeLorme products. They are always disappointing. Sometimes, as with Topo 6.0, they are the best of a poor lot. With Street Atlas, however, there are many better choices available.
The first problem I have with this version of Street Atlas is the Graphical User Interface (GUI). I just don't understand why DeLorme doesn't change it. The GUI is non-intuitive, difficult and cumbersome to use. It feels years out of date.
The map graphics have always been awful and really need modernizing.
Points Of Interest (POIs) are a disaster, as always. Stores that closed years ago are still shown, in some cases with their replacements! In looking over the POIs near my home, I see a FedExKinkos a couple of miles away, but not the one just down the block from me which has been in that location for years. A restaurant north of my location on the other side of the street is shown in the wrong place. Type in "parks" and all you seem to get are fitness centers of one kind or another, not the open spaces with greenery and playgrounds like the three within a half mile of my home. Putting it bluntly, the POIs are by and large unreliable - and very weird. Among the results for my search of "parks" is an ice cream shop and the office of a community orchestra.
One of the strangest things I found in my testing of the POIs was that it correctly identified two restaurants associated with a hotel . . . but not the hotel itself, though hotels on either side of the one with the restaurants were correctly identified.
Street Atlas 2008 is simply too unreliable to be used for locating points of interest.
Routing has improved. I entered a route which I know earlier versions would really foul up, suggesting that you go many miles out of your way. This time Street Atlas almost came up with the most efficient route. I was surprised.
The telephone listings are, as usual, a mixed bag. I found listings that I knew were years old and wrong along with listings only a few months old.
Street Atlas does have some unique features, such as listings of AM and FM radio stations for an area.
I really doubt that I'll even try Street Atlas with a GPS. Earlier versions didn't work all that well.
On the whole, however, Street Atlas remains at best a mediocre product. There are several other products of this kind available, all of which are superior to Street Atlas. And, of course, most of the new self-contained GPS units, such as the Mios C520 ([[ASIN:B000MWNJPE Mio C520 Portable Car Navigation System]]are much more convenient as well as more usable.
Jerry
|
|
|
|
|
Absolute Junk
I used Delorme's AAA Map-N-Go product for years, updating as new releases became available. When it was no longer available I called Delorme to find out when the next version would be out. I was informed that the company was going in a different direction and focusing on the GPS in car market and were no longer going to produce a pc based program.
I purchased Streets and Trips 2006 when the old Map-N-Go data became too dated. Streets and Trips doesn't have the depth of Points Of Interest (POI) but the interface is simple and easy to use.
I've continued to receive offers from Delorme. When Street Atlas 08 became available I bought it. I was looking forward to the simple interface with in depth POI information I had enjoyed with their earlier products. What a disappointment.
Inputting addresses and stops is cumbersome. The POI information is limited and difficult to access. Routing is not intuitive. Multiple way points are required to achieve the simplest route. However the Maps are nice and the other programs that they'll sell you will make it even prettier.
I feel better about throwing this thing in the trash now that I've shared my frustration.
|
|
|
|
|
Excellent directory
We used this Atlas extensively on our 4,000 mile vacation recently. It never let us down. A lot of fun to use.
|
|
|
|
|
pretty bad software
I had only used this software on very short trips. We then went on vacation to San Diego. When you really need this software, it really fails. It tries to route on roads that don't exist or are not really useable (the road exists but does not go through due to rail road tracks etc). It also routes in very strange and almost incomprehensable ways. For example. We were heading south to San Diego. I turned on to I215 being quite shure it went to san diego. It said off route and recalculating. It routed me off of I215 all over san bernadino just to put me back on I215. It should have left me on I215. After that I no longer trusted the software. It has become an on screen map on the computer. Never trust how it routes, always review what is decides. This thing would send you to the moon and back just to cross the road.
|
|
|
|
|
Outdated Map Data
Upon installation I view the map for my own city, Bend, Oregon. The major highway, completed 7 years ago, is not shown! Numerous other missing and mislabeled roads make the map so unreliable as to be almost useless. Other paper and electronic maps, even those 5 years old, have the major roads shown correctly.
|
|
|
|
|
|
