Thread: Microsoft Streets and Trips 2005 w/ GPS

any good reviews??

Stay far away, it sucks for In car navigation for a number of reasons.

CONS:

1) the maps are hard to see day or night, not enough contrast to see the roads etc.
it has 3 map color themes but only one of them slightly makes the maps more easy to read.

2) you have to manualy connect the gps and tell it to start tracking you EVERY time you run the app
as well as center your position on the map and gps trails

3)Not touch screen in car friendly at all

4) Your position icon is soooo small and cannt be changed or hacked to be bigger

5) No 3D view or day/night view

PROS:

1) It has a very big POI database and the maps are more up to date than iGuidance

2) I believe there is an option to change the road text size, but how big you can change the font is limited, so if the max isnt big enough your sol

3) It makes a nice coaster or toy for the cat to play with.

Originally Posted by liquid_smoke

Stay far away, it sucks for In car navigation for a number of reasons.

I agree with this... I purchased this a while back because I wanted a new GPS receiver, and I had both 2k2 and 2k4 (skipped a year ). The unit that comes with it is actually VERY good... it's a rebadged Pharos, and can be converted with the right adapter to CF or even bluetooth using the dock that Pharos sells.

It's expensive, but if you want a receiver that you can move from USB to your iPAQ and to CF, there's not much else out there that will do it.

The software itself is assy because it wasn't designed for touchscreens... even Pocket Streets (which is included) needs the use of the OSK every now and then -- but that's the keyboard from the PDA, if you're using Windows then you need to type in addresses and what-not using a real keyboard.

A couple of more cons:

The app doesn't recalculate on-the-fly, and you must hit the "recalculate route from current location" button -- which is tiny. Again, the app was designed for a desktop/laptop, so it's understandable. Doesn't make it any easier to use though...

The issue of auto-GPS start is terrible, and even Street Atlas does this better. Having to hit the GPS settings, scan the ports and select the unit every time the app is started is ridiculous.

There are (AFAIK) no voice prompts, visual indications of upcoming turns, or voice recognition. This is basically the navigator's software, not the driver's... I picked up the Delorme software because it has VR and voice prompts, but it's 100 times more cumbersome to use than MS Streets. The colors are nicer and there are keyboard shortcuts for a lot of things, but simple things like the route planner are just ridiculously complex... doesn't lend itself to easy route changes while driving...

A couple of more pros:

The POI "radar" is awesome though... you select what you want to see within x miles of your current location, and BLAM! There it goes. Too bad that the controls are smaller than hell on a 14" laptop screen -- let alone a 7" lilliput...

The highway construction info is a really nice touch. Updating the info via the web is also good... lets you know of possible restricted turns due to highway work, etc. So that you don't end up staring at a construction sign and the software telling you to go through it...

Routing is so much better than other programs that I've tried... you can find a place and add it as a stop in the route, select how long you're gonna be there, what time you're leaving, etc. The ability to add your gas mileage and have the software remind you when you should refuel before a long stretch of road is also a good thing IMO.

The fonts go from 8 all the way to 36 point, so you can make them readable. The lack of a night mode is bad though, and the other map styles (political or terrain) just don't help.

Overall it's not BAD software... it's just bad software for this particular purpose. Although AutoTouch seems to have done some good things with MapPoint, which is basically the same thing... the use of an ActiveX control to talk to the app via touchscreen-friendly buttons saves that app. Unfortunately the same can't be said for MS Streets.