Vanagon EuroVan
Previous messageNext messagePrevious in topicNext in topicPrevious by same authorNext by same authorPrevious page (August 2006, week 5)Back to main VANAGON pageJoin or leave VANAGON (or change settings)ReplyPost a new messageSearchProportional fontNon-proportional font
Date:         Wed, 30 Aug 2006 20:43:57 -0700
Reply-To:     Old Volks Home <oldvolkshome@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Old Volks Home <oldvolkshome@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Get GPS system ditch these Atlas was ..Re: For the Newbies -
              Vanagon secrets revealed-
Comments: To: Loren Busch <starwagen@gmail.com>
In-Reply-To:  <86476e250608302003s588feabk78b487446710f8f1@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed

Hear, Hear! In regards to what Loren has to say I second the motion!

MS Streets & Trips is a JOY to work with compared to Delorme (or the Rand McNally offering as well). As a solo driver myself, I don't find the GPS handy right now, but I'm sorely tempted to build a laptop pedestal sometime in the future to make it more useable. I sure could have used one on my trip to Sevierville, TN and back to SoCal earlier this year.

Again, like Loren stated, the stand-alone GPS systems are great for the Metro Areas, but when boondocking or really "out there", they are about as useless as spit on a gnat's a**.

Delorme is just too picky when using the search functions and is no where as forgiving as MS Streets & Trips. Actually, this is one of the few Bill Gates products that actually works for me outside of Excel & Word. Don't get me wrong, I've used Delorme print Atlases and like their detail and in fact I carry one in the Westy along with the Truck Driver's Atlas by Rand McNally as backup. Never know when you're gonna have to stealth camp for the night at a truck stop in an area you don't know about. -- Jim Thompson 84 Westfalia 2.1 "Ole Putt" 73 K Ghia Coupe "Denise" 72 411 Station Wagon "Pug" oldvolkshome@gmail.com http://www.oldvolkshome.com ********************************** On 8/30/06, Loren Busch <starwagen@gmail.com> wrote: > > RE: GPS Software > I have no experience with Garmin software but have spent quite a bit of > time > with both Microsoft Streets & Trips and Delorme software on my laptop. > Without going into a lot of details Street& Trips beats the Delorme > software > hands down. Major issues are the incredibly bad user interface in the > Delorme and the far greater amount of detail avaiable in Street & Trips. > BTW, I'm using the Delorme GPS reciever with both. With Streets & Trips > the > Delorme serial emulator is required for the receiver to work with Streets > & > Trips. If doing it over again or starting from scratch I'd just buy > Streets > & Trips with the receiver in the box. > > Another point. Use of a laptop is great IF you have a navigator, someone > in > the right hand seat. But not very practical for a solo driver. Because > of > this I've spent a couple of hours at the local electronics store playing > with the stand alone automobile GPS systems. What I found was great for > use > in the city, very poor coverage once off the beaten path. I used two > remote > places I'm familiar with, one in Washington and a ghost town in Arizona > for > a test. Only with expensive upgrade mapping software did any of the > current > crop of GPS units find either one. > > One good test of the software is to use the search feature and find out > how > well it works. I've found that Streets & Trips does a great job of > finding > things even when misspelled or the description is incomplete or formatted > differently from what is in it's database. Delorme can't find anything > unless you specify what you are looking for exactly as it is stored in the > software. And the database of campgrounds, public and private, is far, > far > larger in Streets & Trips.


Back to: Top of message | Previous page | Main VANAGON page

Please note - During the past 17 years of operation, several gigabytes of Vanagon mail messages have been archived. Searching the entire collection will take up to five minutes to complete. Please be patient!


Return to the archives @ gerry.vanagon.com


The vanagon mailing list archives are copyright (c) 1994-2011, and may not be reproduced without the express written permission of the list administrators. Posting messages to this mailing list grants a license to the mailing list administrators to reproduce the message in a compilation, either printed or electronic. All compilations will be not-for-profit, with any excess proceeds going to the Vanagon mailing list.

Any profits from list compilations go exclusively towards the management and operation of the Vanagon mailing list and vanagon mailing list web site.