Microsoft Streets & Trips 2005

[marlof]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.gpspassion.com/forumsen/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=12269' target='_blank'>http://www.gpspassion.com/forumsen/...?TOPIC_ID=12269</a><br /><br /></div>Marvin Hlavac has posted some news on the GpsPasSion forums that should be of interest to Streets &amp; Trips users out there:<br /><br /><i>"August 16, 2004 will be the release date for Microsoft Streets &amp; Trips 2005. Interestingly, on the box of my one year old 2004 version it says it includes 6.7 million miles of streets and highways. The upcoming version will only have 5.4 million miles. However we have more POI's to look forward to. There will be 550,000 Restaurants (492,000 in 2004), 90,700 Gas Stations (58,000 in 2004), 117,000 ATM's (47,000 in 2004). Microsoft will also release a version which will include <a href="http://www.navarre.com/productdetail.asp?ptype=Software&ItemNumber=2141059">a GPS unit</a>."</i><br /><br />So that should probably mean a newer version of Pocket Streets will be released as well and I wonder if that will bring any new functionality. What would you like to see added to Pocket Streets?<br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/marlof-june04-streetsandtrips2005-gps.jpg" />

[OSUKid7]

Wo, does it actually include a GPS unit? I'm still using Streets and Trips 2003.

[Deslock]

Pocket Streets is crap... the only thing going for it is that it's very easy to load maps from Streets and Trips. Improve it in these ways and it'll rock:

- Have the same scale for North/South as East/West (the aspect ratio is, for whatever dumbass reason, currently wrong)
- Show scale on map (but allow it to be toggled off)
- Have more detail levels (so it doesn't take so damn long to pan and zoom)
- Have a declutter option like on Garmin's handhelds
- Have better menus (it takes too many clicks to do certain tasks)
- Have customizable menus
- Make the maps look perty like they do on Streets and Trips

[gorkon280]

I used to like Streets and Trips and I will probably buy it again, but I wish Microsoft would step up and finally give us a version on the desktop at least that has better GPS support and is actually giving us new features. I don't think we've had a actual new feature in several years on Streets and Trips on either version. Come on Microsoft! Where's things like auto re-routing, text to speech direction while we are driving and other things. Last year was a start with the new "feature" of real time gps support which should have been in it since gps support was added!

[welmoed]

One of the early S&T packages actually had decent information about POIs, including reviews, phone numbers, and even some pictures. This feature was removed in subsequent versions, and it's still the one thing I miss the most.

I tried my GPS unit with Pocket Streets 2004; that lasted about five minutes. Yecchh!

Now that I'm using Mapopolis, the only thing I use S&T for is to locate county boundaries so I know which Mapoplis map to download (Note to Mapopolis programmers: please figure out a way to to a graphical map selector!!).

--Welmoed

[dignow96]

Pocket Streets has always been usless to me. No adress to adress routing is far and away the biggest draw back. However, I have recently moved out of the US and to Kuwait. Neither Streets & Trips nor Street Atlas (or any other GPS package) provide any mapping for this part of the world. I would fall over dead if someone actually provided a mapping solution (with street level detail) that was GPS enabled for this region. Thats what I'd like to see.

[jsnielsen]

It would definately help if they'd include features for "offline" use. That is, use without a gps device.

E.g. I know where I am, I know where I want to go, I should be able to enter both addresses, and it would show me the best route.

[herrner]

Can anyone say anything about the GPS-Receiver? It'd be pretty cheap for $130.

Herrner

[welmoed]

I got my Pharos receiver and Ostia software for $99, so it doesn't seem like $130 is too low for something that works. Mine works fine (of course, I had to shell out another $99 for a software package that actually WORKS well, but that's another issue!)

--Welmoed

[mrkablooey]

Now that I'm using Mapopolis, the only thing I use S&T for is to locate county boundaries so I know which Mapoplis map to download (Note to Mapopolis programmers: please figure out a way to to a graphical map selector!!).

If you download the entire state to your memory card, load the MAJOR file(s) and you should see icons for each county. Tap and hold on the icon and it will ask you to load or unload that county. Works pretty well so you don't have to guess which ones to load, you can look at the entire state and pick the ones you need/want.

[christheswiss]

I have been using Streets & Trips for years, with and without a GPS. It can look up an address very quickly and for the price (usually around $ 20.00 after rebates) it's on hell of a bargain. :lol:
However, I hope that MS has implemented auto loading of maps, that when you travel(with GPS) and come to the end of the currently loaded map, that the next map will be loaded. This is currently not the case, it has to be done manually, quite a chore while youtr driving.

[welmoed]

If you download the entire state to your memory card, load the MAJOR file(s) and you should see icons for each county. Tap and hold on the icon and it will ask you to load or unload that county. Works pretty well so you don't have to guess which ones to load, you can look at the entire state and pick the ones you need/want.

Whoohoo!! :D

Thanks for the tip!!! That's going to make life MUCH easier.

--Welmoed

[mcsouth]

I'm currently using S&T 2003, mainly because I got it free from my boss when he upgraded to 2004 version.

Although I have not used other mapping programs (other than the online ones, like MapQwest, etc.), S&T 2003 on the desktop is adequate for what I usually do, and provides good directions most of the time. However, I agree with many other folks that it is sadly lacking on the PPC.

I would like a tap & hold to dynamically zoom on the maps on PPC, and as someone else suggested, a zoom scale that could be toggled on and off screen would be great.

I would also like the option of a thumbnail view with a box that you could toggle on and off, so that you know where you are when zooming on a large map. So frequently, I find myself zooming in on a map, and by the time I see enough detail to know where I'm at, I discover I'm not where I wanted to be.

An address find on PPC would be great, as would routing, if possible. I try to carry maps for the local area, or when I travel, for the areas that I'm going to. You can't always put pushpins in for the places you may want ahead of time on the PC, though, so having that option on the PPC should be mandatory.

I use Pocket S&T quite a bit, but really feel that it is a very restrictive program - it doesn't do much, and the bit it does it doesn't do very well. Some significant upgrades to available PPC features is long overdue - I feel that the PPC platform as a whole has progressed tremendously over th years with faster processors, better graphics, wireless options, etc, but Pocket S&T doesn't even try to take advantage of any of this......

[Kaber]

If the new version of Pocket Streets still has the 15 second GPS update delay then it will remain useless to me.

[OSUKid7]

If the new version of Pocket Streets still has the 15 second GPS update delay then it will remain useless to me.Last year they finally replaced the 15 second GPS refresh rate with a 1 sec.

[Pony99CA]

An address find on PPC would be great, as would routing, if possible.
I'm confused about your wanting an "address find". Doesn't the Find Address... action in the Tools menu do just that?

Steve

[Pony99CA]

Here's my wish list for Pocket Streets & Trips:

More accurate map data -- My home address is shown west of the cross street closest to me, even though my house is east of the street. It's also wrong in Street & Trips, of course, but it does affect Pocket Streets.

Routing -- I like Pocket Streets' maps better than CoPilot Live's maps, so when I'm just checking an address, I use Pocket Streets. If I want a route to that address, it would be nice if I didn't have to switch programs.

Larger maps -- I have large memory cards, so the PC version of Streets & Trips shouldn't tell me that my map is too big. (Do they have some copyright agreement with the map data provider that restricts this?)

Backwards compatibility -- Allow the current version of Pocket Streets to work with maps produced by previous versions. Yes, they may not be up-to-date, but having to recreate the maps is very annoying.

Also, if pushpin files are locked to the map version, they shouldn't have to be recreated, even if the maps do. Pushpin files should just have latitude & longitude for locations, and should work with any map containing that data.

Map stitching -- If I scroll to the edge of one map, the scroll arrows are grayed out for that edge. If I have another map that contains the region next to that, it would be nice if the program wouldn't gray the arrow. If I tried to scroll past the edge, it could prompt me and ask if I wanted to open the map containing that area.

Also, I haven't used GPS in Pocket Streets because my old Pocket CoPilot GPS sleeve only worked with Pocket CoPilot. However, I presume that if you're using GPS in Pocket Streets on one map and move off the map, the program doesn't try to open another map on your Pocket PC that contains your current position.

I won't ask that Pocket Streets become a full GPS program with voice prompting and real-time directions, but it wouldn't hurt. :-)

Steve

[Pony99CA]

One of the early S&T packages actually had decent information about POIs, including reviews, phone numbers, and even some pictures. This feature was removed in subsequent versions, and it's still the one thing I miss the most.
I had an earlier version that included at least some restaurant reviews from Zagat. I agree that it would be nice if they had kept that feature, but I assume the license fee from Zagat got too expensive.

By the way, Zagat does produce a Pocket PC version (http://software.zagat.com/zagat/ProductDetails.aspx?Platform=1).

Steve

[groan]

I got my Pharos receiver and Ostia software for $99, so it doesn't seem like $130 is too low for something that works. Mine works fine (of course, I had to shell out another $99 for a software package that actually WORKS well, but that's another issue!)

--Welmoed

how do these units work?
of course it isnt somehting you would plug into your PPC, so what good is it as a desktop piece of hardware/GPS unit? im not going to carry around my computer!!!

[Jonathan1]

Pocket Streets is crap... the only thing going for it is that it's very easy to load maps from Streets and Trips. Improve it in these ways and it'll rock:

- Have the same scale for North/South as East/West (the aspect ratio is, for whatever dumbass reason, currently wrong)
- Show scale on map (but allow it to be toggled off)
- Have more detail levels (so it doesn't take so damn long to pan and zoom)
- Have a declutter option like on Garmin's handhelds
- Have better menus (it takes too many clicks to do certain tasks)
- Have customizable menus
- Make the maps look perty like they do on Streets and Trips

I'll add to the list.

Allow maps greater then 3MB (There abouts) to be exported. P S&T is useless for cross country travel. Lets face facts. MS is doing to P S&T the same thing they are doing to Pocket Word and Excel. Releasing craptastic versions and just letting them sit out there to languish. Which is a damn shame. The S&T and Mappoint is THE mapping software IMHO. It rocks.

[Jonathan1]

how do these units work?
of course it isnt somehting you would plug into your PPC, so what good is it as a desktop piece of hardware/GPS unit? im not going to carry around my computer!!!

Pharos hardware works on both the Pocket PC and the PC and Mac for that matter. Its great for GPSing with MapPoint or S&T on one's laptop.

[groan]

how do these units work?
of course it isnt somehting you would plug into your PPC, so what good is it as a desktop piece of hardware/GPS unit? im not going to carry around my computer!!!

Pharos hardware works on both the Pocket PC and the PC and Mac for that matter. Its great for GPSing with MapPoint or S&T on one's laptop.

Ahhh...that's the key, laptop.
i only have a ppc...how do they connect to a ipaq 1940, for example?

[welmoed]

how do these units work?
of course it isnt somehting you would plug into your PPC, so what good is it as a desktop piece of hardware/GPS unit? im not going to carry around my computer!!!

The Pharos unit works quite well. It's a little square black doohicky that sits on the dashboard. The cable goes into the charging/sync slot on the bottom, and both the GPS and the charging cable plug into that. (According to the Pharos documentation, it won't work unless it's plugged into the lighter socket -- but I haven't tried). The cables are just a wee bit annoying, but I can live with it... a bluetooth unit would have been more expensive and I would have plugged the PPC into the charger anyway because keeping the screen live sucks the battery.

It picks up a signal quickly and locks onto it very well, unless you are in a city center and tall buildings interfere with line of sight.

--Welmoed

[SofaTater]

I like S&T and have upgraded each year for the past four or so. The desktop software is much nicer than Delorme's, which I've also purchased.

My biggest gripe is that updates to map data seem to take years to make it into the software. I live in a city undergoing intense development and some of the streets in my neighborhood, which have been open for several years, have not yet appeared in the S&T map data.

Pocket Streets is fine for what I need -- if I just want to look up an address to find out what part of town it's in. I would like to see some routing built in, although that's not a biggie since I usually know where to go once I've found the address and also have a standalone Magellan GPS receiver.

[groan]

cool, thanks...i may look into this as i was thinking about getting a gps for the halibut.

[Falstaff]

Just a slightly Off-Topic question, but does anyone know what the difference is between Streets & Trips and MapPoint? And also, does anyone know if there is a new version of MapPoint coming soon? Thanks.

[bbarker]

So that should probably mean a newer version of Pocket Streets will be released as well and I wonder if that will bring any new functionality. What would you like to see added to Pocket Streets?
No. 1: Routing.

No. 2: Allow larger maps to be downloaded from S&T on the PC. Why have an artificial limit if I have a large enough storage card?

A distant No. 3: More locations such as campgrounds and other recreational destinations.

[Sven Johannsen]

Just a slightly Off-Topic question, but does anyone know what the difference is between Streets & Trips and MapPoint? And also, does anyone know if there is a new version of MapPoint coming soon? Thanks.

MapPoint is a more business oriented piece of software, does everythting S&T does plus it allows analasys by region, Area code, zip code, etc. It can color areas based on data derived from Excel or Access to show customer distribution. Territories for sales coverage can be created. That sort of thing. It also costs a wee bit more. (~$250 for full copy 2004 at Amazon)

Generally MapPoint and MapPoint Europe editions do come out about the same time as Streets and Trips and Autoroute. 2005 is no exception.


As far as Pocket Streets goes, I like the features it does come with for the $0 I paid for it. I use it like a standard paper map, but it can find addresses for me, and is much more compact. There are certainly things it would be nice for it to do. There are many programs that do those things. When you ask for new features, ask yourself how much you are willing to pay for them.

[Rob Alexander]

I've used S&T for several versions (not with GPS though), and it basically meets my needs. There are two things that drive me crazy about it, though.

The first is it's tendency to have you exit from a highway, then get right back on the same highway. I know it's easy to say just don't do it, but it's not always clear that that's what's going on. For example, in a place near us, you're driving on a limited access US 501, which is also US 221 for a while. S&T tells you to get on US 501 and proceed for some distance, then exit at such and such road, then get on the entry ramp for US 221. Now that sounds plausible for really getting off the road and getting on another one. In fact, it's the same road and you should really have just stayed on it in the first place. You get off, cross the local road, and get right back on the same road you exited. I can't count the number of times it's done this to me in places I'm not familiar with.

The second is the tendency to give directions for entering highways by the compass direction of the specific spot instead of by the more general (official) trend of the road. That is, it often does things like telling me to go west on I-75. Well sure the road may have curved west right there, but I-75 is a north-south highway and all of the signs directing me to an entrance say either north or south. The instructions should be given in that form. I have a compass in the Jeep, but it's still hard to figure out whether it's the northbound or southbound highway that will actually be facing west once I'm though the cloverleaf. If it would just say to take northbound I-75, it would be much more useful.

That said, I also find limited use of Pocket Streets. As Sven said, it's very limited and I use it pretty much as I would a paper map. Sometimes it's been very helpful and other times it has not.

[SeanH]

I have been using Streets and Trips for many years it’s a great app. I have tried using a GPS with S&T and Pocket Streets both lack a lot of the features that are expected for routing. A lot of times I use S&T to plan a route and give me an idea of how long it’s going to take. It’s great because it will update construction zones and route around them. After I understand my route I use Routis on the PPC to get me to the location. Routis does an outstanding job of routing and navigating you to your location. This is a list of software I have used from best to worse on the PPC for routing.

1) Routis (I use Routis everyday)
2) Tom Tom USA (nice app but Routis is better)
3) Pharos
4) Teletype (This app needs a lot of work)

I wonder if MS will sell S&T for $130 with a huge rebate like they did with previous versions. It would be nice to have an extra GPS. It’s great to hardwire a GPS into a car and always give it power so that your signal acquisition times are less then 1 second from the time you plug the GPS in the PDA.

Other things I use S&T for are pictures of maps for invites to parties. http://mbu.com/party.pdf I was on vacation a couple of weeks ago and posted all the restaurants in the area of interest. http://mbu.com/vacation.pdf It helped find a spot based on where we were near dinner. I also did some war driving a couple of years ago and imported on the hits on a map in S&P. http://mbu.com/wardriving.pdf

S&P is one of those must have apps that I will buy every year.

Sean

[bbarker]

This is a list of software I have used from best to worse on the PPC for routing.

1) Routis (I use Routis everyday)
2) Tom Tom USA (nice app but Routis is better)
3) Pharos
4) Teletype (This app needs a lot of work)
This is helpful. I have Tom Tom USA, along with their GPS unit, and I won a copy of Pharos. I've wondered whether I should install the Pharos software.

Other things I use S&T for are pictures of maps for invites to parties. http://mbu.com/party.pdf I was on vacation a couple of weeks ago and posted all the restaurants in the area of interest. http://mbu.com/vacation.pdf It helped find a spot based on where we were near dinner. I also did some war driving a couple of years ago and imported on the hits on a map in S&P. http://mbu.com/wardriving.pdf
I find it great for such purposes as well.
S&P is one of those must have apps that I will buy every year.
I agree, except I don't buy it every year. I mainly watch for indications that they have updated their database significantly.

[Pony99CA]

A lot of times I use S&T to plan a route and give me an idea of how long it’s going to take. It’s great because it will update construction zones and route around them. After I understand my route I use Routis on the PPC to get me to the location.
I use Streets & Trips to do route planning before I leave on a trip. Then, when I have a route chosen, I put the same points into CoPilot Live and use the Streets & Trips route as a sanity check for CoPilot Live. The two don't always pick the same routes, so this also let's me explore options.

S&P is one of those must have apps that I will buy every year.
I also think it's a must-have program, but I only buy it every other year unless there's a feature I really want or I get a great rebate. S&T 2004's driving zones were cool, but not something I would probably use a lot, so I didn't buy it. Besides, I hate having to upgrade my Pocket Streets maps to work with the new version. :evil:

When I see S&T 2005, I'll probably consider upgrading from 2003.

Steve

[bbarker]

S&T 2004's driving zones were cool...
What are driving zones?

[SeanH]

I use S&T before I leave for a trip to get an idea of the best route. With Routis and other PPC GPS apps you do not have to turn when it tells you to turn. Most the time the PPC GPS app figures out you trying to take a different route and reroutes to your destination. Some do it faster then others. Routis takes a few seconds were Mapopolis and Pharos will tell you “wrong direction please turn around” for 10 minutes.

Sean

[Sven Johannsen]

Mapopolis and Pharos will tell you “wrong direction please turn around” for 10 minutes.
Sean

Ten minutes is a bit of an exaggeration for my experience with Mapopolis. I seems to depend a bit on what you did and what the alternatives are. I have had it recalculate a route without even mentioning I varied off the current path. I have had it tell me 'wrong way', but normally that has been when the alternative routes were significantly longer, or were somehow less desireable than just going back and making the turn I 'missed'.

[Pony99CA]

S&T 2004's driving zones were cool...
What are driving zones?
I just checked Microsoft's Streets & Trips 2004 page (http://www.microsoft.com/streets/info/new.asp), and they're actually called "drive-time zones". They tell you where you can travel in a given amount of time. For example, if you're on vacation and have two hours to kill, you can enter that information and Streets & Trips will show you the places you can get to in that time.

I think that feature would be pretty useful on a Pocket PC.

Steve

[bbarker]

I just checked Microsoft's Streets & Trips 2004 page (http://www.microsoft.com/streets/info/new.asp), and they're actually called "drive-time zones". They tell you where you can travel in a given amount of time. For example, if you're on vacation and have two hours to kill, you can enter that information and Streets & Trips will show you the places you can get to in that time.

I think that feature would be pretty useful on a Pocket PC.
Yes, but it probably would have to be part of a routing feature so the program would have enough information to produce that result.

[Pony99CA]

I just checked Microsoft's Streets & Trips 2004 page (http://www.microsoft.com/streets/info/new.asp), and they're actually called "drive-time zones". They tell you where you can travel in a given amount of time. For example, if you're on vacation and have two hours to kill, you can enter that information and Streets & Trips will show you the places you can get to in that time.

I think that feature would be pretty useful on a Pocket PC.
Yes, but it probably would have to be part of a routing feature so the program would have enough information to produce that result.
I hadn't thought about that, but that does make some sense. I assume the desktop version does something more sophisticated than just taking an average speed and drawing a circle around the area you could travel to in a given time. In fact, the example I saw had an irregular area of the map highlighted.

I suppose you could add that feature without true point-to-point routing, but, if the software is actually doing route calculations to find the outer boundaries, why not add point-to-point routing?

Steve

[Sven Johannsen]

I suppose you could add that feature without true point-to-point routing, but, if the software is actually doing route calculations to find the outer boundaries, why not add point-to-point routing?

Steve

I think that was the point. You would have to add PtoP routing on the PPC, which it doesn't have, to get that Drive Zone feature. The desktop already has both.

[Pony99CA]

I suppose you could add that feature without true point-to-point routing, but, if the software is actually doing route calculations to find the outer boundaries, why not add point-to-point routing?
I think that was the point. You would have to add PtoP routing on the PPC, which it doesn't have, to get that Drive Zone feature. The desktop already has both.
I think bbarker's point was that you'd have to have some kind of routing, but it wouldn't have to be point-to-point. Drive-time zones don't require specifying an end-point, just a time (I think), so true point-to-point routing would not be a necessary condition for drive-time zones. In fact, if you think about it, drive-time zones couldn't make use of point-to-point routing.

My point was that, if you have the ability to follow routes to find out how long they take to drive (which is required for drive-time zones), adding point-to-point routing might be a small delta on top of that.

Of course, my comments are more an intellectual exercise. :-) Point-to-point routing is the more useful of the two, so I would expect it to be added first (as it was in Streets & Trips).

Steve

[Sven Johannsen]

HMM, I see were you are going, but to see how far you get in ten minutes, you have to have some direction to shoot for. Routing in that direction would probably be easier with some arbitrary destination out that way to shoot for. Guess the method of determining a drive zone might be dependent on whether you had a routing module already available or not. Certainly the routing would be the first desire for most as you said.

[Pony99CA]

HMM, I see were you are going, but to see how far you get in ten minutes, you have to have some direction to shoot for. Routing in that direction would probably be easier with some arbitrary destination out that way to shoot for.
Maybe somebody with Streets & Trips 2004 who's used drive-time zones can explain exactly how they work, but my understanding is that you don't give any direction. You tell it where you are (or will be) and how much time you have, and the program shows you all the places you can reach in that time.

In some ways, it's the opposite of point-to-point routing. Point-to-point routing will tell you, among other things, how long it takes to get from where you are to a specific destination; drive-time zones show all destinations you can get to from where you are in a specified time.

Perhaps the same routing engine could be used, but the two tasks are quite different.

Steve

[SeanH]

I use S&P every day and have not seen the drive-time zones option. It does have an option to find nearby places. That option lets you click on a location then specify points of interest in a certain range. I can click on my house, then the ‘Nearby Places’ icon, the default is 1 mile but you can change it. It shows POI by categories. I can find ATM’s or gas stations within 5 miles of were I am at. Or it will show all Chinese restaurants with in 1 mile of were you are at. It’s a nice feature.

Sean

[Pony99CA]

I use S&P every day and have not seen the drive-time zones option. It does have an option to find nearby places.
The Find Nearby Places feature has been there for years. Drive-Time Zones was added in Streets & Trips 2004. Unfortunately, I can't tell you how to find it because I'm still uisng S&T 2003.

I'd look in the Tools or Route menus. Maybe it's even included as part of Find Nearby Places.

Steve

[bbarker]

The best part about this discussion is that we have drawn Pony99CA out of his shell and prompted him to speak up. :)

[Steven Cedrone]

The best part about this discussion is that we have drawn Pony99CA out of his shell and prompted him to speak up. :)

:rofl: :rotfl: :rofl:

Now that is the funniest thing I've read in a while!!!

Steve

[ctmagnus]

I've created a gif showing an example of a drive-time zone. Basically, it shows you how far you can go from where you are in a specified amount of time.

Image is here (http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/media/users/3482/DTZexample.gif) (Size: 135.2 KB).

[Pony99CA]

The best part about this discussion is that we have drawn Pony99CA out of his shell and prompted him to speak up. :)
:rofl: :rotfl: :rofl:

Now that is the funniest thing I've read in a while!!!
I'm just glad he lives in Salt Lake City. Having a stalker any closer would get me nervous. :lol:

Steve

[Pony99CA]

I've created a gif showing an example of a drive-time zone. Basically, it shows you how far you can go from where you are in a specified amount of time.

Image is here (http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/media/users/3482/DTZexample.gif) (Size: 135.2 KB).
Cool, thanks for that. I recall the example I saw showed the entire region shaded differently, but that might have been Photoshopped or a beta.

The question is how do you create that? What menus and options are necessary to display a drive-time zone?

Steve

[ctmagnus]

Select a location, Tools -> Create Drivetime Zone... and enter the number of minutes.

There's an option to "Fill drivetime zone with solid color" as well as to "Draw drivetime zone behind roads".

[krnewman]

I want to add my .02 cents worth. I am in Canada and sad to say, it appears that Microsoft has not updated any of our Canadian cities streets (added new streets) for some 4 years. I have been duped into buying Streets and Trips ( and it is somewhat useful) every year it comes out hoping that the new subdivisions in any city have been added. Still no luck. In my home town, there is a new subdivision that houses closes to 4000 people almost 1000 homes, and they still only show it as a vacant area on the map. The subdivision celebrates it's 6th birthday this year.

So how about the rest of you, are they (Microsoft) keeping up with developments in your areas?????

Keith

[russpetrone]

:bad-words: I've been using STREETS for years ....... My pet peeve is that in many instances when doing a "specific address FIND", STREETS locates the specific address in an entirely wrong location. Someone in an earlier post said the same thing about his own personal residence, so I guess it's a common occurance.

[maxnix]

First, the data needs to be on DVD so it can have the detail it requires.

Second, the routing update needs to be more accurate. I recently took a 2K+ mile trip where S&T 2004 updating missed at least 120 miles that were under construction for months.

Next time, I will go for DeLorme, even if I have to pay extra for PPC mapping. At least one can add streets that are not present. Perhpas MS should consider downloadable updates and corrections on a monthly basis. There are many errors. It would be nice to be able to paste into the address field also. I have never reallly seen either S&T nor MP integrate into any version of Outlook as it is advertised.

[lcatt236]

I currently use a palm tungsten E and bought S&T 2004 w/ ppc. I have been looking at an ipaq 2215 so I can use S&T on it but now it sounds like it doesn't work that well. I camp for months at a time and have used S&T on my laptop for the trips. I like the program but dislike that you have to add a stop somewhere you're NOT going to change the road that you want to take.

Is it worth buying the ipaq for S&T?????

Leslie FL

[krnewman]

Hey you are right. That is something I had forgotten about. I key in my Postal COde (ZIP) and it shows my residence as 7 blocks from where it should be. When I input the street name and address, it is closer, a mere 4 blocks away.
I guess I will have to send my friends my latitude and longitude to be safe.
Keith

PS. Re Delorme: They are good for teh US but it strikes me that my program was veru inadequate for Canada,. or is there a different version

[Pony99CA]

I want to add my .02 cents worth. I am in Canada and sad to say, it appears that Microsoft has not updated any of our Canadian cities streets (added new streets) for some 4 years. I have been duped into buying Streets and Trips ( and it is somewhat useful) every year it comes out hoping that the new subdivisions in any city have been added. Still no luck. In my home town, there is a new subdivision that houses closes to 4000 people almost 1000 homes, and they still only show it as a vacant area on the map. The subdivision celebrates it's 6th birthday this year.
It's missing a "new" subdivision in my neighborhood, too. However, you can send map feedback in. Here's how:

Zoom to the area of the map you want to send feedback about.
Click the Tools menu.
Click the Send Map Feedback action.
Click the exact spot you want to send feedback about.
Follow the instructions to send the feedback.

I sent them an update letting them know they had a false address on my street and telling them my house was in the wrong location.

I don't know how well the process works, though. With ALK and Pocket CoPilot, I sent them an update about my subdivision and the new neighborhood and it got into Pocket CoPilot 3. Later, I sent them an update showing where my brother's house was in the middle of the Arizona desert, and that update made it into CoPilot Live 4. Whether Microsoft will be as responsive is unknown.

Steve

[Pony99CA]

I camp for months at a time and have used S&T on my laptop for the trips. I like the program but dislike that you have to add a stop somewhere you're NOT going to change the road that you want to take.
You don't have to, at least in the PC version of Streets & Trips. Do a route without the fake stop. Once that's done, select the route where you don't want to go and drag it to the street you want to use. A waypoint will be added to force the route to pass through there.

I suppose you can call that a "stop", not a "waypoint", but how else would you indicate that you don't want to use the preferred route?

Is it worth buying the ipaq for S&T?????
That depends how much you want the maps. Aren't there decent mapping programs for the Palm? DeLorme does one, I think.

Steve

[bbarker]

Hey you are right. That is something I had forgotten about. I key in my Postal COde (ZIP) and it shows my residence as 7 blocks from where it should be. When I input the street name and address, it is closer, a mere 4 blocks away.
I guess I will have to send my friends my latitude and longitude to be safe.
I have very seldom seen this problem.

[bbarker]

I camp for months at a time and have used S&T on my laptop for the trips. I like the program but dislike that you have to add a stop somewhere you're NOT going to change the road that you want to take.
You don't have to, at least in the PC version of Streets & Trips. Do a route without the fake stop. Once that's done, select the route where you don't want to go and drag it to the street you want to use. A waypoint will be added to force the route to pass through there.

I suppose you can call that a "stop", not a "waypoint", but how else would you indicate that you don't want to use the preferred route?
I think you could also indicate an area or route to avoid. You'll find Avoid Area on the Route menu.

[lcatt236]

Please give me more info on how to "avoid area" whenever I try to use it it is greyed out and not available.

Thanks

[bbarker]

Please give me more info on how to "avoid area" whenever I try to use it it is greyed out and not available.
You select a rectangular area that includes the road(s) you want to avoid. Then choose Avoid Area from the Route menu. Now click Get Directions again.