Heavily considering the purchase of Streetdeck...

**AvWuff** · 05-22-2008, 09:34 AM

Hey everybody,

I'm new here, and yes before you flame, I have read a bunch of older threads.

I'm working on my first ever car PC and I ran across Streetdeck in a demo video of the touchscreen I ordered (MDT-X7000). It looked pretty sweet, so I checked it out some more...

I'm a programmer by trade and that's how I make my living. I appreciate all of the programmer-centric features in Streetdeck, like the mods, the direct integration, support for embedded windows, etc. But $200 is a heavy price for a piece of software, so I have a few questions I hoped someone could answer before I "take the plunge".

I found a year-old thread about restrictions in Streetdeck while driving. I realize that some of these restrictions are due to a very loose interpretation of some laws in some states (I am in Canada), but frankly I don't like any software that artificially restricts me from using it, especially if it cost $200. Think like DRM: Nobody likes DRM. Apparently these restrictions also apply to any mods I might program for Streetdeck. Is there a way to remove these features? If not, when can I expect one to be added?
Again, $200 is a hefty tag for a product that comes with map data that is 2 years out of date. When can I expect 2008 map data, and will I have to pay extra for it?
Along the same lines, when is version 2.0 planned to come out? I don't want to pay for Streetdeck now only to have to upgrade for more $$$ in 2 months.
I will be running Streetdeck on my car PC, but developing for it on my home desktop. Do I need to purchase two licenses to do this?

Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions.

**gfmedia** · 05-22-2008, 11:43 AM

Sorry I didn't anything past "Heavily considering the purchase of Streetdeck... " before you even think about it or spend too much time familiarize yourself with these two threads:

StreetDeck Status
http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/stre...idiculous.html

There might be (don't hold your breath) an annoucment made within the next week or two that will hopefully clear things up on SD's future.

As it stands, SD is nice, not great, there are several flaws and a alot to be desired, but is great as is for starters.

-1-search for "-testmode" and associated threads will tell you how to bypass this. I use this and the "-testmode" mouse click bypass and use my SD to the full extent
-2--ummm yeah again wait for SD future as no one knows the answer
-3-ditto
-4-no you can run in Developer Mode on desktop, but can run SD fully (like it was an install) for 30 days, Dev Mode runs forever, just looks like Dev mode

hope this helps.

**AvWuff** · 05-22-2008, 12:34 PM

I am checking out Centrafuse right now. 1.2 or whatever the current version is looks pretty crummy, but 2.0 is looking a whole lot better. Visually, it's certainly a lot nicer than SD (by default anyway).

I really wish there was a way I could trial both apps in my car before paying, but neither one offers a trial with navigation data (the only feature I *really* care about).

**johnk** · 05-22-2008, 01:20 PM

A big advantage of CF is that you can hide the safety warning (with the -nowarning parameter) and you don't have to click the annoying confirmation dialog every time it starts.

I've been using SD myself for a year, and it has many maddening bugs, including frequent crashes and configuration corruption. I'm currently evaluating the CF 2.0 demo, which seems more stable than SD so far (but yeah the inability to test the GPS in CF sucks).

**Caelric** · 05-22-2008, 01:24 PM

Originally Posted by AvWuff

Heavily considering the purchase of Streetdeck...

.

Don't.

At least until they get their business practice issues solved, don't buy SD

**RickCain** · 05-22-2008, 10:50 PM

I would wait to see what the deal is with this company before giving them any money. Some of us already have invested money and yet to see what was originally promised.

**2k1Toaster** · 05-22-2008, 10:53 PM

Might as well checkout RoadRunner. It accepts plugins, has every feature SD has too and more. No restrictions. And free.

**meth68** · 05-23-2008, 06:38 AM

Right now is probably the worst time to buy SD. I am SD customer and well just read around as of right now they have left their paying customers out to dry. They no longer give us updates or support, we were told to "wait" so we are sitting here waiting like idiots.

**froalskiner** · 05-23-2008, 01:57 PM

Originally Posted by AvWuff

Hey everybody,

I'm new here, and yes before you flame, I have read a bunch of older threads.

I'm working on my first ever car PC and I ran across Streetdeck in a demo video of the touchscreen I ordered (MDT-X7000). It looked pretty sweet, so I checked it out some more...

I'm a programmer by trade and that's how I make my living. I appreciate all of the programmer-centric features in Streetdeck, like the mods, the direct integration, support for embedded windows, etc. But $200 is a heavy price for a piece of software, so I have a few questions I hoped someone could answer before I "take the plunge".

I found a year-old thread about restrictions in Streetdeck while driving. I realize that some of these restrictions are due to a very loose interpretation of some laws in some states (I am in Canada), but frankly I don't like any software that artificially restricts me from using it, especially if it cost $200. Think like DRM: Nobody likes DRM. Apparently these restrictions also apply to any mods I might program for Streetdeck. Is there a way to remove these features? If not, when can I expect one to be added?
Again, $200 is a hefty tag for a product that comes with map data that is 2 years out of date. When can I expect 2008 map data, and will I have to pay extra for it?
Along the same lines, when is version 2.0 planned to come out? I don't want to pay for Streetdeck now only to have to upgrade for more $$$ in 2 months.
I will be running Streetdeck on my car PC, but developing for it on my home desktop. Do I need to purchase two licenses to do this?

Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions.

Mappoint 2009 is coming out in July according to a few sites. http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-MapP.../dp/B0017W8BQU

I would be patient though...wait to see what happens with SD then decide...or try several. It makes sense. When I first started I tried RR and SD and liked SD better. Now RR has a lot of features and a much easier install but the first time I tested the new version it rotated my screen on me so I ditched it. I didn't want to jack around with it forever to get it right when SD was running perfectly for me...

I know other people have SD crashing on them at different times, but mine is running great. I have no issues with it.

**polo6979** · 05-23-2008, 02:32 PM

I am a SD customer as well and I just changed over to CF and LOVE IT! the new RC3 for CF is incredible and so far very stable. they have all the features you could ask for and then some.

GO WITH CF!!!