Reviews (5)

$269 for this GARBAGE?
I wouldn't pay $2.69 let alone $269.00!!!! for this dreadful program. It is NOT user friendly. The data mapping is worthless. This program makes Street Atlas 2004 (mediocre mapping program) look like the best thing since sliced bread.

Don't waste your money!

Stand-alone only sucks
For many years, I've used the Microsoft Map feature of Excel. It's a great little tool that only does a few things but served its purpose well, and on occasion even justified using Excel rather than SPSS or some other data-management tool.

Then came OfficeXP, with an Excel version from which Microsoft has stripped that Mapping tool. Now I have to pay hundreds of dollars and gets lots of data I don't want or need (and could find much of on the web anyway)? No thank you.

Time to find an alternative...

OK, now that I've been using it...
If you used Mappoint 2002, you will be very comfortable with 2004 as the interface is identical. The biggest upgrade is the updates to the street maps themselves - although it is still not perfect. I live in a fast-growing suburb of Cincinnati, and Microsoft still missed a major huge street that was actually built in 2002!?! Oh well, it IS Microsoft after all, perfection should not be expected. At least you can't get a virus through this program! I think...

THE GOOD: Other upgrades/changes include 2002 Census update data, and a whole bunch of new data fields that can be mapped thematically. These are consumer-oriented demographics, like households with internet access, computers, etc. There are a lot of statistics on avg. household expenditures (movies, clothing, furniture, food, etc.) Another nice upgrade is the ability to print maps almost edge-to-edge, getting rid of that stupid huge amount of white space at the bottom that took up 25% of your page real estate. There are more pushpins, and it is supposedly easier to import new pushpins (I have not tried that.)

THE BAD: Mappoint 2002 had census data projections for 2005; this version has no projections for anything, 2002 is as current as you are going to get. No upgrades that I have been able to see with respect to territory mapping, they still have the same small (and ugly) selection of colors to shade your territories. Data is still mapped at the census tract level or higher - if you need block group level fuggedaboudit. Data import options seem to be unchanged as well.

THE BOTTOM LINE: If Mappoint 2002 floated your boat, this is a required upgrade just to get updated roads. If the older version didn't have the flexibility or features, you probably should be looking at coughing up the dough for Arcview by ESRI. For a real comprehensive list of all the updates and changes, go to the Mappoint home page on Microsoft's web site.

Ummm
How exactly has the first reviewer been able to comment on the 2004 version, as it has not been released yet? Anyhow, the previous version is a great product, so hopefully Microsoft didn't mess it up. Easiest to use, and most powerful, off-the-shelf desktop GIS out there. And believe me, I've bought them all...Maptitude, BusinessMap 3 from ESRI, etc. While Mappoint does not have as many customization options, it is MUCH easier to use, and comes bundled with good demographics dataset. Here is hoping that the new version has really updated the streets, freshened the demographics, and has incorporated a web update feature. Users of Arcview, forget about it, this will seem like a joke to you, Arcview is the best (but a real bear to learn).

I found my way there ! Worth EVERY Pennty of price !
Lets say your lost, and you have your laptop and you have a connection to your digital phone ?

I found myself absolutely lost the other day driving around Fort Lauderdale, Florida looking for an address of a friend in the area.

I plugged in my cel phone, fired up my laptop, entered my location and BOOM, a CURRENT map that I could use and direct instructions.

I have used other programs and services before and found myself at the "Road Closed" intersection or at the exit that no longer was where it was supposed to be.

With Map Point that does not happen as I can get a current map that has been updated.

The Update makes it all worth while.

Best Regards to all, MC - TheStickRules.Com ... Read more

Features

• All-in-one mapping solution withU.S. and Canadian maps
• Orient yourself on the road with GPS support
• Download road construction updates quickly
• View, add, delete, and rearrange destinations
• Easily locate points of interest; Pocket PC compatibility

Features

• Write like a professional with Word 2002
• Get up and go with Streets & Trips 2005
• Edit and organize your photos with Picture It! Premium 10
• Explore the world with Encarta Encyclopedia Standard 2005
• Get those finances in order with Money Standard 2005

Features

• Updated maps showing all highways, local routes, borders and exits in the U.S.
• Instant routing finds the fastest way to get to any destination
• Powerful search engine with multile zoom levels, for close-up looks at the roads you'll travel
• Millions of searchable points of interest -- from the newest restaurants to the closest gas stations
• Add your own notes and recommendations to maps

Features

• Advanced map customization and printing
• Automatic routing on trails and roads
• Nationwide campground information
• GPS compatibility; USGS digital map data
• $50 of free aerial and satellite imagery included

Reviews (2)

Poor Printing Options
I found the software to be slow and have poor printing capabilities. I wanted digitized USGS 7.5' quads to print and use for offroad trips, but not with this software. Advancing to higher level of detail was slow and I had to go through each incremental increase. The largest map size for printing is 11x17 (I asked Delorme). You can select 2x2 or 3x3 mosiac prints, for manual assembly, but not what I wanted. I used the 30 money back guarantee.

Missing Too Much Information
Within 5 minutes of trying to map my first route, I have already discovered a bridge that is missing from the map. This bridge was present in other versions of the program and I was hoping the data in the new version would be better than the old, not worse! ... Read more

Features

• Street-level map content for all of North America
• Create new maps and analyse geographic trends
• Communicate location-based information by embedding MapPoint documents in PowerPoint, Word, and more
• Integrate maps and other location data into other applications using ActiveX Control or COM APIs

Features

• Door-to-door route planning for the United States and Canada
• Over 7,300,000 miles of road; 4,000,000+ points of interest
• Over 6,500,000 streets; 75,000,000+ house numbers
• GPS-compatible; new up-to-date maps
• Multi-lingual user interface including Spanish

Reviews (18)

Great Product With Some Need For Improvements
This product isn't perfect, but it's quite good considering this is the first time I've seen it and could not find any mapping software for OS X a year ago.

The interface is a little strange, but once you get used to it, it seems fine.

The detail of the maps seems very good, although some out-of-the-way small towns (with a few hundred people) may have little to no detail. It did, however, find two addresses that Yahoo Maps and MS Streets had no record of, which I thought was impressive.

One thing that most mapping software is horrible at is printing options -- the options for Route 66 I thought were very good.

The redraw speed while *scrolling* (not zooming in/out) was a little slow and could probably be easily fixed with an update that cached surrounding map details better. No matter how much detail I had turned on or what my zoom level was, it never took more than 1.5 seconds to redraw while scrolling. This may depend on how fast your computer is and how much memory you have -- I have 1.1gb of RAM and Route 66 was using 212mb according to "top" (command line resource reporter).

The GPS compatibility is nice, but haven't tried it yet -- I need to find a USB cable for my eMap GPS.

This software is very much worth supporting since I know of no other mapping software for the Mac currently and this software costs $35-$40. In my opinion, it's worth every penny of the $40 I paid for it.

3 thumbs down
i was a user of MS streets and trips, and belive that it was the one thing MS did correctly and i am shocked to say that not only is the mac competition (RT66) lacking, but simply not worth using. RT66 makers should be ashamed and do not deserve to be among mac and its usual integrity.

Pretty awful...
I recently switched to Mac from PC and so I'm coming from a background of MS Streets and Trips, and Autroute.

In comparison to the MS offerings, the Rt66 product are, well, kind of a joke. I purchased both the US and European versions (they're the only game in town for Mac.)

The maps are drawn (slowly) in such a way that they are quite unclear. They are also kind of incomplete. It couldn't find my old house (11 years old) only the street. It doesn't even know the 4 year old subdivision I live in exists.

Smaller towns are really hard to find. I searched for Carrie, Idaho (near Sun Valley) and the search engine came up empty. So I scrolled over to where I know it is and finally found the name of the town spread out over a general area and superimposed with another word in the same font.

From an overview position on the map, there was no indication at all where exactly the town was. I knew, though, so I zoomed in on the area. It took until I was at a 2000 foot distance before the streets began showing up. Street names didn't appear until 500 feet. If that doesn't mean anything to you, think about reading a map with your nose an inch from it.

So, in a nutshell, if you know exactly where a town is and are familiar with all the streets, you may be able to find it on their map. How useful...

How did MS Streets do? It found Carrie immediately, displayed it clearly, and showed all the streets from an impressive distance.

Overall, a pretty dismal product. I'm looking into a Windows emulator to allow me to run Streets and Autoroute, but I'm guessing that it'll be too much trouble and I'll just suffer with these. If anyone out there is a programmer--here's a nice opportunity for you...

Mediocre
I bought this software because, well, it was the only one available for OS X. This is beta stage software at best - it doesn't tend to crash, but the UI is really poor. It is as if 12 different people wrote different pieces of the program and then tried to cobble them together. Nothing is very intuitive, and things that should be simple are cumbersome. The routes are sometimes often adequate, but not infrequently poor choices or just wrong. For instance, I tried to plot a route from Durham to Salisbury, MD. I had a nearly impossible time 'forcing' it to choose the most logical/shortest/fastest route. It continually tried to send me 100 mi. out of my way. Even when I roadblocked all of the roads it wanted to send me on, it sent me 250 mi out of my way rather than the most direct route.
I hope this software improves. If the company is motivated, it could be the basis for a really good program. However, any company that would put something this haphazard on the market with almost a complete lack of documentation AND no competition is unlikely to put much effort into this. After all, why should they?

In summary, if you need a map program for your mac that has a lot of points of interest, a good database of roads (although poor search engine), GPS input capabilities, doesn't require a CD in the drive, and 35 bucks doesn't seem like too much for slow, unintuitive, occasionally counterintuitive information and interface, go for it.

Printing problems!
I must concur with the previous review. The mapping software is really quite good and shows much promise; but there is a major bug in the software. It will *not* print directions - only an overview map of your trip! Very odd. I thought this might be a problem unique to my G4 Powerbook, but I encountered the exact same problem on a desktop and another more up to date Powerbook.

Again, to echo the other reviewer: Route 66 software is on the right track, but this piece of software is *certainly* not past a beta testing stage and shouldn't be offered as a fully functioning, full-priced product.

If and when they iron out the kinks, they'll be cooking with gas. ... Read more

Features

• Create maps that you can alter for Personal use or business presentations -- add company logos, text, titles and more
• Document Linking attaches Digital pictures, spreadsheets, documents, and more to locations
• Share map information across networks or through email, with friends and colleagues
• Includes valuable demographics data for better sales and business planning
• The Info Tabs provide easy reference -- browse multiple maps with a mouseclick

Features

• Advanced map customization and printing
• Automatic routing on trails and roads
• Nationwide campground information
• GPS compatibility; USGS digital map data
• $50 of free aerial and satellite imagery included

Features

• Features nearly 5 million towns, cities and streets throughout Europe - also covers nearly one million points of interest
• Built-in route calculator helps travelers calculate new routes to avoid roadblocks
• Huge overview map shows the total territory at your disposal
• Connect your GPS to your laptop or desktop serial port, for complete directional and locational guidance
• Multilingual interface for directions in several European languages

Reviews (1)

Utterly useless...
Honestly if I hadn't spent the better part of eighty bucks on this thing, I'd be laughing. The search couldn't find the town in Italy I'm visiting. So I thought I'd widen the parameter and just put Florence (which it is near.) No luck--that just brought up a bunch of streets in the UK. So I tried Rome. Nope, can't find that. How about the country? Italy? No, that just brings up some hotels, etc.

So I tried to zoom in on the area the town is in and did manage to find it, though I still can't find Florence (despite knowing exactly where it is geographically.)

I am not a computer map neophyte here. I've been using MS Autoroute for years, but it won't run on my PowerBook. I bought this thinking 'how bad can it be?' The answer: Worse than I could have ever imagined--and I'm a pretty cynical guy.

Buy a paper map or get Virtual PC and run the MS stuff. Honestly, this is bad enough that I feel ripped off. (...) ... Read more

Features

• Door-to-door route planning for Western Europe
• Over 2,700,000 miles of road; 700,000+ points of interest
• Over 4,750,000 streets; 54,000,000+ house numbers
• GPS-compatible; up-to-date maps and traffic information
• Multi-lingual user interface including Spanish

Amazon.com Product Description

With more than 130 years of experience, Rand McNally knows whattravelers need and want in mapping and travel planning products.StreetFinder & TripMaker Deluxe offers routing, travel planning,organizational tools, and area attractions to users--all in aneasy-to-follow design with helpful guides and tutorials that make planning andfinding directions easy. This is the ultimate routing and travelplanning suite for the business traveler and vacationer. ... Read more

Reviews (19)

Couldn't get this puppy off the ground
I wasn't able to install this software and my machine exceeded all the requirements. I am very frustrated and disappointed with this product. I chose this over MS's map software because it was Rand McNally, a respected map maker. Apparently software is not their forte. I now have to make a trek back to the store to return this product and buy the MS software. A waste of time, a huge aggravation, and a big disappointment.

What a waste of my hard earned money!
Microsoft Streets & Trips is much easier to use, more flexible in planning routes and does not require access to the internet to get turn-by-turn instructions. I'm very disappointed in this product.

Difficult to use
I have attempted to use this product many time for trips and it is at best difficult to use. It frequently locks up when calculating the route or accessing trip sense. The fact that it chooses ridiculous routes is not unusual for map software, but again attempts to tweak the route by using the "prefer segment" feature often doesn't work or locks up.
The PDA downloads are virtually worthless.
It is difficult to use Streetfinder also in that when in high zoom, many streets are not indicated by their state of federal route numbers.
My opinion is stay away from this product.

I'd pay hundreds for one that does it all well - where is it
I have been using this software for 3 years and will continue to use it. BUT, I find myself frequently finding ways in which the program could and should be improved. We travel with a pop-up camper for 70 days a year, logging in an average of 6000 mile /year. Plenty of "test" time.
Pros:
- Cheap. A limited version was free and I liked it enough to by the $30 Deluxe 2001. It is now packaged with the StreetFinder which I do not have.
- GPS function is a hoot. It is not always on the nut for coordination with the map, but it works well and it gives my wife something to do in lieu of correcting my driving.
- Mapping a basic route is very simple. Major roads and most secondary highways are right on the money.
- Using the program saved me at least once on every trip by correcting a missed turn to re-routing through detours.

Cons:
- Zoom. Maps are primative at low zoom levels and have many errors at high zoom levels, but generally provides "passable" information. It's easy to miss detail on the maps unless you remember to zoom in. It is slow in redrawing a zoomed or re-centered map.
- Missing information. As campers who prefer the more rustic locations we find that some of our preferred campgrounds are missing from the database. For example, there is one listing each for the White Mountains, The Green Mountains and the Alleghany Mountain National Forests. It does not list individual campgrounds of which there are many. Some state parks are missing too. There is little excuse for that as all the information is on the net.
- Commercial. There is lots of info on private campgrounds but not all. I suspect that there might have been listing fee involved and that takes presidence over accuracy. Unfortunate.
- Outdated. One campground changed their name in 1996 and it still was not listed properly in the 2001 edition. We drove past it 4 times before we believed the GPS and went in to check. Many other examples of that.
- Inaccuracies. It was kind of fun to see that we were traveling in the Bay of Fundy. Most of the Canadian and rural areas maps had poorer coorination with the GPS.

Recommendation: Extensive review of the reviews does not turn up a program that fulfills the promise of mapping and travel planning software. I'd pay hundreds for the program that does it all. Where is it?
In the meantime, this program provides a service and is more fun than frustrating. Where else can you spend $30 and keep your wife entertained for days on end?

Tripmaker is bugridden
TripMaker is so buggy that I would be reluctant to buy any Rand McNally product again. I bought it very cheaply at Costco -- I do not care about the money -- it is the lack of quality that bothers me.
There were several error messages during the install process, and the program hangs whenever I try to input a date. In addition, its routing and street level detail is primitive, to be kind. ... Read more

Features

• All-in-one travel and mapping resource for the USA and Canada
• Over 6.7 million miles of routable local, city, state, and highway roads
• Comprehensive array of maps, points of interest, routes, and driving directions
• GDT and NavTech data; Real-time GPS support; Pocket PC compatibility
• Automatically recalculates map and driving directions with Snap Route technology

Reviews (46)

Great Map Software, Improvements over S&T 2003
Streets and Trips 2004 is the third version of Microsoft's popular map software that I have owned and reviewed. This latest edition offers both major and incremental improvements over its predecessor. It is vastly superior to online map offerings and other map software that I have owned. For more information on how S&T compares to competing products, please look at my previous reviews for 2002 and 2003.

Specific Improvements for 2004 include:

1) Real-time GPS
2) Drive-time zones (show me where I can go in X minutes)
3) Arrows showing one-way streets on maps
4) Markers representing exists on major highways

Apart from these improvements, there appears to be an increase in accuracy. However, Microsoft doesn't seem to have a good method of removing long-defunct restaurants from its points of interest database.

What it is lacking:

1) Integration with real-time traffic
2) Map and location data updates via the Internet
3) Paths for pedestrian and bicycle travel
4) Coordination with other online map services, such as municipal door-to-door public transportation travel planners
5) Better integration and standardization of imported data so data sets like health clubs and WiFi hotspots could be included in the points-of-interest database at the user's choosing.

In general, the absence of connectivity is my biggest complaint. However, I would guess there is no business model for this as it would have to be supported by user subscriptions or advertisements, neither of which would be accepted in the marketplace.

As a final note, I recently tested the real-time GPS as a passenger with my Deluo USB GPS receiver. It is operates smoothly and with [apparent] great accuracy. Unlike OEM navigation systems, it doesn't include real-time direction, speed and travel status. Perhaps this is intended as watching the screen as a driver would be extremely dangerous. Nonetheless, it was helpful for finding obscure locations in rural areas.

Plenty of errors but still useable
We use the plan a route feature mostly and for the most part it does the trick. We need directions in a rural setting and there are a lot of county roads and this program is woefully lacking in information on these rural roads. Plus when it does ferret one out many time it is not even in the same area you told it to look. Plus several time it gave wrong turning directions(turn south when it should have been north). I would expect more from microsoft but thats about the same as expecting your government to change, it ain't happenin'. I will look elsewhere next time I am looking for mapping software for sure.

Prefer paper in most cases
This is my first try with a map program. I work as a home care physical therapist, and was excited to be able to save my clinets' addresses in the program for directions, mileage calculation, etc. Well in 9 out of 10 cases, the program leaves off the final turn in the directions, and puts the person's house in the previous intersection. If you're driving around in unfamiliar territory and try and read the directions, it's very confusing. I like Yahoo! Maps online, because it lets me save my "favorite" addresses by client name. S&T seems to only let me save the address. S&T, unlike Yahoo! maps, does calculate mileage with several stops, but I don't trust the accuracy.

I thought it was fun to plot out our upcoming trip from Colorado to Glacier National Park, but it takes a lot of the adventure out of the trip. I think I'd rather stick with paper maps and a "let's turn here and see what happens" kind of spirit. We play a game when traveling where the person in the passenger seat is the navigator, the driver has to go where the passenger says, and we can't go on any interstate highways. We went all the way from Colorado to Wisconsin this way, and saw some really cool sites. I'm sure the map program would have just taken us across I-80.

If you use a Pocket PC with GPS you willbe Dissapointed
I bought Streets and Trips thinkign that I would be able to get directional information and guidence with my GPS for my pocket pc. All i got was a you are here Circle on the map. I am switching

I love this program, no problems yet
I have read all the other reviews, but I have to say that I don't agree with them. I have used the previous items and I love the new version 2004. To me, it is just like the older versions,just with a few more details. I can use it the same as they other one. We are getting ready for a trip from Texas to New York (DRIVING!!) and I have the route all planned out. In fact, I am going to add a GPS system to my laptop and use 2004 with it. ... Read more

Features

• Real-time guidance throughout your trip -- have the quickest route to your destination mapped out for you, and explained with multi-lingual instructions
• Turn-by-turn voice prompts take you there -- don't worry, the Software recalculates a route automatically if you miss a turn
• Store up to 4,000 points of interest in the built-in address book to make sure you don't miss any landmarks or roadside attractions
• Store more detailed and precise map Data on your Memory card for an even better trip
• Requires GPS antenna Receiver (not included)

Product Description

Microsoft® Streets & Trips 2004 is the all-in-one travel and mapping solution that delivers a comprehensive array of maps, routes, and more. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Here we go again
Do you ever feel that buying upgrades are a waste of money.Well, this one is a waste of your money.I bought into the hype that you can locate ATM's anywhere in the country and the maps were updated.

If your looking for an ATM in Maine, Alabama, Vermont, Wisconsin, and other states, don't bother.Streets and Trips show there are no ATM's in most of the United States.Canada has a few.

The Maps are not updated as well.A seven year old neighborhood still isn't showing up in Streets and Trips.Other programs and the internet map sites have had our neighborhood for a few years.

If you have an old copy of Street and Trips or MapPoint, continue to use and save your money.I guess this is how a company can continue making a billion dollars a month without creating anything new.Lets hope in a few years Streets and Trips will be brought up to date and include what the marketing guys tell us.

Here we go again
Do you ever feel that buying upgrades are a waste of money.Well, this one is a waste of your money.I bought into the hype that you can locate ATM's anywhere in the country and the maps were updated.

If your looking for an ATM in Maine, Alabama, Vermont, Wisconsin, and other states, don't bother.Streets and Trips show there are no ATM's in most of the United States.Canada has a few.

The Maps are not updated as well.A seven year old neighborhood still isn't showing up in Streets and Trips.Other programs and the internet map sites have had our neighborhood for a few years.

If you have an old copy of Street and Trips or MapPoint, continue to use and save your money.I guess this is how a company can continue making a billion dollars a month without creating anything new.Lets hope in a few years Streets and Trips will be brought up to date and include what the marketing guys tell us.

Here we go again
Do you ever feel that buying upgrades are a waste of money.Well, this one is a waste of your money.I bought into the hype that you can locate ATM's anywhere in the country and the maps were updated.

If your looking for an ATM in Maine, Alabama, Vermont, Wisconsin, and other states, don't bother.Streets and Trips show there are no ATM's in most of the United States.Canada has a few.

The Maps are not updated as well.A seven year old neighborhood still isn't showing up in Streets and Trips.Other programs and the internet map sites have had our neighborhood for a few years.

If you have an old copy of Street and Trips or MapPoint, continue to use and save your money.I guess this is how a company can continue making a billion dollars a month without creating anything new.Lets hope in a few years Streets and Trips will be brought up to date and include what the marketing guys tell us. ... Read more

Features

• All-in-one mapping solution withU.S. and Canadian maps
• Orient yourself on the road with GPS support
• Download road construction updates quickly
• View, add, delete, and rearrange destinations
• Easily locate points of interest; Pocket PC compatibility