Home :: Software :: Home & Hobbies :: Mapping  

Cooking & Health
Fashion
Gardening & Landscape
Genealogy
Hobbies
Home Design
Home Publishing
Instrument Instruction
Legal
Mapping

Movies & Television
Music Appreciation
Personal Improvement
Script & Screenwriting
Microsoft Streets & Trips 2003

Microsoft Streets & Trips 2003

List Price: $39.99
Your Price:
Product Info Reviews

<< 1 2 3 4 >>

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good program that will get you there!
Review: I have used MS streets and trips since 1998 and yes some features could be better. However, this program for it's pricepoint is as accurate as any other. I have Rand, Delorme and MS and all of the routing suggests similar routing paths in each of the programs. Each can be customized to your preferences.

Look if you are having trouble determining your path with this, you need more than any map program will be able to help you with. If you already have a good sense of direction and location, this foots the bill.

With the minimal GPS NEMA2.0 compatability, you can get yourself anywhere you need to go. It shows only where you are on the map and will follow you from screen to screen without intervention.

Yes there are better out there but for hundreds of dollars and they are not easy to use.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Inferior to the 2002 version
Review: I have used Streets and Trips extensively in my business travel over the past several years, updating annually. I found the new versions to offer improvements, if often limited ones, until the current version. While I have found some new streets on the 2003 version, it no longer shows many of the hotels that were shown on the 2002 version, including several that I located originally using Streets and Tips. I think overall, it is a step backwards.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Excellent
Review: I have used Streets and Trips since it's inception and it has to be the best mapping and direction software on the market. I look forward to receiving my 2003 edition and exploring all the new fetures packed into it.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: A Huge Disappointment and Waste of Money
Review: I have used the evolving versions of this product for the last four years or so. Microsoft hits us up for [more money]... with the lure that we will be getting some sort of useful additional functionality. RUBBISH. This version is a total waste; I'm going to attempt to get my money back. The mapping in the Phoeinx, AZ area is full of errors and omissions and is grossly out of date (e.g., missing freeways and major roads that have been completed for years). The real value of a tool like this is up-to-date accuracy; this one misses the mark by a long shot. DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY!!!

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Broken feature in Streets & Trips 2003
Review: I like the way the program works, but one of the most important features is broken with no update to fix it. You can not update the construction data with out manually searching MS's web site for the file then downloading it and copying it into the Streets and Trips directory. The message I got from MS support was that this was a problem in the software that was 'hard coded' (their words) and so when trying to update construction info you get a message that says 'can't find the update server' - evidently they moved the location of the update file and neglected to update the software. I would recommend holding off on purchasing this product until a) MS has an update, or b) the next version is released - hopefully without the broken feature.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Poor routing algorithm
Review: I own a 2001 version and now upgraded to 2003 version. I also have Mapsource Metroguide USA, which is used with my Garmin Legend GPS. I observed that the 2001 version is much outdated than Metroguide. I wished version 2003 could be better. But it also made me disappointed. The data is not as complete and accurate as Metroguide. For most complete and accurate data is from Mapquest. But unfortunately, that is slow and hard to pan and zoom.

The worst thing for MS ST is its routing algorithm. 2001 is already bad enough -- it often suggested me bad routes which I have to manually correct them. I wished 2003 can be better -- this is partial reason why I want to upgrade to 2003. But 2003 version is totally silly! When I was planning a route from Bloomington, Indiana to Detroit airport, it gave me a 398 mils route which need run 7 hours 8 mins! After I inserted a waypoint on SR-37 to force a different route, the new plan just need 5 hours 53 mins and 331 miles. 1 hour 15 mins or 67 miles shorter than its original stupid route! So don't rely on this product!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Don't bother
Review: I use a mapping program for work daily, this program fails miserably. The information is out of date, i.e. exit numbers on highways and local roads. It will send you to entirely wrong cities when obscure addresses are fed in, addresses that mapquest.com has no trouble finding. Use your earlier versions or mapquest and pass on this one.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Wrong, Wrong, Wrong
Review: I was blown away at how many times this program is just plan wrong with directions. For me, about 25% of my destinations did not exist in this program, but it gave incorrect destinations. The directions are also overly detailed and confusing to read. I will stick with yahoo maps.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Not Too Good; Not Too Bad
Review: I was expecting more functionalities from Streets & Trips than the free maps service offered by some websites. I was disappointed for the following reasons:

1. I can't make the software remember a location like say as a favorite. It makes sense to me to have something similar to Internet Explorer Favorites. All that can be done is the whole map can be saved as a file, which is not very convenient.

2. Some directions say "Take local roads"! Wait a minute. When even a free website clarifies what road it is, can I not get the roadname from a paid software which occupies about a gig harddisk space?

Nevertheless there are some positive attributes:

1. Construction updates are up to date and is helpful in assessing the time it would eventually take.

2. Supposed to be easy to send to Pocket PC, which I don't personally use.

3. Map view & Printing the map view are decent and deserves citation.

The usual Microsoft-y look and feel may be a plus for some and minus for some.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Not Too Good; Not Too Bad
Review: I was expecting more functionalities from Streets & Trips than the free maps service offered by some websites. I was disappointed for the following reasons:

1. I can't make the software remember a location like say as a favorite. It makes sense to me to have something similar to Internet Explorer Favorites. All that can be done is the whole map can be saved as a file, which is not very convenient.

2. Some directions say "Take local roads"! Wait a minute. When even a free website clarifies what road it is, can I not get the roadname from a paid software which occupies about a gig harddisk space?

Nevertheless there are some positive attributes:

1. Construction updates are up to date and is helpful in assessing the time it would eventually take.

2. Supposed to be easy to send to Pocket PC, which I don't personally use.

3. Map view & Printing the map view are decent and deserves citation.

The usual Microsoft-y look and feel may be a plus for some and minus for some.


<< 1 2 3 4 >>

© 2004, ReviewFocus or its affiliates