HAs MS Steets And TrIps made any improvements for 2005

gtstudio · 06-12-2005, 11:15 PM

I have read enough to know that Streets and Trips is defenatly not the best GPS software out there but i'm in kind of dilema; In about 48 hours i'm leaving on a trip halfway across the country and i can't begin to describe how nice it would be to have GPS, I would love to have a program like IGUIDANCE but i just don't have enough time for it to arrive in the mail before I head out. I'll proly end up going to my local staples and buying Streets and Trips; can anyone give me some advice to make the use of this program at least a little bit less painfull. . . or maybe just maybe there is someone here that know how i can get a better program within like the next 24 hours.

Thank you

it_shua · 06-12-2005, 11:38 PM

a nice little upgrade to the GPS side.. but I have doubts if it can get me across the street let alone the country.

gtstudio · 06-13-2005, 12:16 AM

Really it's that bad!!! I'm pretty much screwed then huh, well thanks for the info

Sonicxtacy02 · 06-13-2005, 09:43 AM

its not a bad program at all. I dunno what the other person is having problems with but s&t has always been the best program in terms of trip planning. The only reason the GPS isnt favored here is its not touch screen friendly and it doesnt have voice prompts. If those two things were added it would be everyones favorite GPS program. The maps are superb.. constantly updated and contruction info is downloadable. I have both iguidance and destinator but i use S&T still as a backup. I say go ahead n buy it.

12Vsystems · 06-13-2005, 02:07 PM

I have to give it the thumbs down. While the maps and planning part might be good the fact that you have no control over the look and feel ruins any chance of making it useful for touchscreen applications.

No voice prompts and GPS headaches make it even more annoying.

MatrixPC · 06-13-2005, 03:37 PM

it worth 15 bucks (after MIR), but not 50 bucks (excluding the GPS receiver).
If you don't want to spend a whole lot of money, then it's a good program to use than reading paper map.

Marvin Hlavac · 06-13-2005, 04:47 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by gtstudio

Has MS Steets And TrIps made any improvements for 2005?

Yes, the 2005 version has improved GPS functionality quite a bit. Here is a brief list of improvements over the previous versions: http://www.gpspassion.com/forumsen/t...TOPIC_ID=14782

As it was earlier stated, S&T is not touch screen friendly (perhaps it could be made so). If however you could use a keyboard in your setup (at least for this one trip, S&T could potentially provide you with a good experience ;-) I created a little add-on for S&T which creates single-key keyboard shortcuts to some most needed functions. Have a look at it (it's free): http://www.laptopgpsworld.com/s-t-ke...ets-trips.html

gtstudio · 06-14-2005, 12:15 AM

Hey man . . all kinds of thanks, you can't imagine how much of a help you have been. These shortcuts feel like you have given me a cool drink of water in a scorching desert.

Once again thanks

Bugbyte · 06-14-2005, 12:28 AM

S&T is okay but the inability to change the map color makes it difficult to see in bright light.

OTOH, having S&T is loads better than not having Nav at all. So all things being equal, get it and use it for the trip.

I have both S&T (because it was cheap) and Delorme Street Atlas. Street Atlas also suffers from touch screen unfriendliness but you can voice control it and once it's set up, it's pretty automatic. It also has a high contrast mode where it inverts colors and makes it a lot easier to see in the daylight. I think it's going for around $50.

Marvin Hlavac · 06-14-2005, 02:49 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by Bugbyte

S&T is okay but the inability to change the map color makes it difficult to see in bright light.

I personally use the Terrain Map setting instead of the default Road Map. It is a bit darker. But if you really want to turn the background to a very comfortable color for night (or day) driving, follow these steps:

1. Zoom out to see your route or even the whole world

2. Select Rectangle tool on the Drawing toolbar

3. Click and drag a rectangle on the map to cover an area larger than your route (you may even cover the whole world)

4. Click on the arrow beside Fill Color tool on the Drawing toolbar and select your desired color (grey, blue, brown are nice choices)

5. Right-click the rectangle and select Order > Send Behind Roads

it_shua · 06-14-2005, 11:19 AM

1.) Great Maps but only from birds eye view. No 3d View or turn by turn

2.) Poor GPS Features. (i.e. Doesn't redirect you when you go off corse automatically. You can keep clicking the "Go" button (or whatever it is called) but that requires you to look down to click on it.

3.) No Voice Nav. When I'm going to a new location having to look at the screen every few minutes to confirm im going the right way is a pain in the arse.

it_shua · 06-14-2005, 01:05 PM

As long as its free... but a flush down the toilet of $50.00 otherwise

Marvin Hlavac · 06-14-2005, 08:01 PM

Yes, there is truth in all of the above criticism. However, to be fair to MS Streets & Trips we have to remember it was never meant to be an in-car GPS navigation product. It was always marketed as a trip planning software, and a viable replacement of on-line mapping products. Only the last 2005 version seems to indicate that hopefully it may one day compete in navigation category where products like iGuidance excel.

Vchat20 · 06-14-2005, 09:34 PM

agreed. MS_S&T has always been marketed as trip planning software and has done superbly well at it. my mom has been using it since the 2002 version both for work and personal use and it has been a lifesaver. accurate directions, large POI database, and construction info all make it a great trip planning application.

lets just hope MS improves the navigation functionality in the future. it seems they are trying to head towards navigation, just slowly.

xtm · 06-18-2005, 04:16 AM

my worst problem with the MSS&T is that it occasionally gets stuck in the "Initializing" mode forever until it times out. Just pray that you're not in the middle of nowhere when it happens! Sometimes when I start S&T, the GPS pane would say "Receiving data" with 4 satellites right away but this is not the case everytime. Sometimes I have to wait for about 5 minutes until it gets contact with the satellite (if I'm lucky)

As mentioned above, it's extremely hard to use the touchscreen on, especially if you have fat fingers

Other than those, it's a good GPS software.. tons of useful POI's.