I have returned the copy of S&T 2009 that I purchased directly to MS because I was diappointed in the progress being made. I also met Gladwin at the Tampa RV Show last week, and related the same message to him.
My disappointments lie in several areas, and include in order of importance:
1. No date function in the Itinerary function yet - I plan trips from 45 to 95 days. I think it is ludicrous to pass out free disks at an RV show when most serious RVers need this functionality to make reservations, have mail delivered to locations, etc. by a date. Day 27 means nothing to us. More Route Options area would be the perfect place to set a trip start date.
2. Search POI function turns to "Entire Route" if you accidently click on the blue trip routing on the map. If you have already used the search function in a session to find a campground in a 20 mile radius, then the next time you try to search, you end up with searching a 7,000 mile stretch, 10 miles on each side. I know you can cancel, but it takes forever to be able to do this, even if you limit the search to one or two POI groups. The options area would be the perfect place to set a default for new searches, or better, just bring you to the POI screen before you start the search - to be able to select/change your criteria.
3. On the version that I returned, I could not get the itinerary to list the address and phone number of a destination in brackets [], like on the 2008 version. Gladwin said it will, but I have my doubts. When I make reservations [after planning a trip] it is critical to have this information.
4. Bring back the large icon library - although I now understand you can download a file.
5. Allow exports of stop information into, say, a .csv or .txt file for upload into other devices. I, and I am sure many RVers, carry Garmins, TomToms, etc. for use in their RV and (emphasis on the "and") Tow Car dashboards. Planning is best done on a PC [S&T of course], but driving is less distracting and less room is taken up with a small GPS device, especially in the small car we tow for side trips. I would think that a minimum of stop#, name, latitude and longitude would be a minimum set of data. Loading this data should not be duplicative. An alternative would be to include the GPS coordinates in the "Copy Directions" function - that I download and "cleanse" in Excel.
Until at least 1 and 2 are solved, I will not upgrade to a new version.
I do have several questions about the product:
1.On the Drivetime Zone, does drivetime calculations take into consideration your preferences - speed, highway, and breaks every so often selections?
2. Is there a way to "hide" location imports and My Places to a certain level, much like the included S&T locations are hidden until you get down to a certain level. If I load all the Wal-Mart and Sam's Club locations [we RVers need a big place to park], it totally blocks everything else on the map. It is good to see them load when they first come up, but then I wish I could only see them at the lower level.
Tom
My disappointments lie in several areas, and include in order of importance:
1. No date function in the Itinerary function yet - I plan trips from 45 to 95 days. I think it is ludicrous to pass out free disks at an RV show when most serious RVers need this functionality to make reservations, have mail delivered to locations, etc. by a date. Day 27 means nothing to us. More Route Options area would be the perfect place to set a trip start date.
2. Search POI function turns to "Entire Route" if you accidently click on the blue trip routing on the map. If you have already used the search function in a session to find a campground in a 20 mile radius, then the next time you try to search, you end up with searching a 7,000 mile stretch, 10 miles on each side. I know you can cancel, but it takes forever to be able to do this, even if you limit the search to one or two POI groups. The options area would be the perfect place to set a default for new searches, or better, just bring you to the POI screen before you start the search - to be able to select/change your criteria.
3. On the version that I returned, I could not get the itinerary to list the address and phone number of a destination in brackets [], like on the 2008 version. Gladwin said it will, but I have my doubts. When I make reservations [after planning a trip] it is critical to have this information.
4. Bring back the large icon library - although I now understand you can download a file.
5. Allow exports of stop information into, say, a .csv or .txt file for upload into other devices. I, and I am sure many RVers, carry Garmins, TomToms, etc. for use in their RV and (emphasis on the "and") Tow Car dashboards. Planning is best done on a PC [S&T of course], but driving is less distracting and less room is taken up with a small GPS device, especially in the small car we tow for side trips. I would think that a minimum of stop#, name, latitude and longitude would be a minimum set of data. Loading this data should not be duplicative. An alternative would be to include the GPS coordinates in the "Copy Directions" function - that I download and "cleanse" in Excel.
Until at least 1 and 2 are solved, I will not upgrade to a new version.
I do have several questions about the product:
1.On the Drivetime Zone, does drivetime calculations take into consideration your preferences - speed, highway, and breaks every so often selections?
2. Is there a way to "hide" location imports and My Places to a certain level, much like the included S&T locations are hidden until you get down to a certain level. If I load all the Wal-Mart and Sam's Club locations [we RVers need a big place to park], it totally blocks everything else on the map. It is good to see them load when they first come up, but then I wish I could only see them at the lower level.
Tom
Tom said:
You can revert one by one each pushpin to show/hide information panel, but you cannot do this as a whole if you have hundred. A workaround is to create your route file with all the different pushpins sets you want, and then enter your route information and save .est file as is. Then when you want to navigate this route, you can just delete all the pushpins sets you don't want to see in the map (see the legend panel), save this 2nd file (without pushpins) and navigate this way (but don't overwrite the original 1st file). At some point in the travelling, if you want to see some pushpins, you just have to reload the original file and you can decide which pushpin set you want to see on the map for inspection (by deleting unneeded in the legend pane). Then you reload the 2nd navigating file (without pushpins) and continue navigating...
I know, playing with 2 files like this is a little tedious, but it is not so difficult and do not take so much time after all...
Quote:
2. Is there a way to "hide" location imports and My Places to a certain level, much like the included S&T locations are hidden until you get down to a certain level.
I know, playing with 2 files like this is a little tedious, but it is not so difficult and do not take so much time after all...
That's a good idea, and I will be trying those solutions next. Thanks.
I do something a little different than that now. I have a .est file with no route on it, but all the import files (Walmart, Home Depot, Starbucks, Cracker Barrel, Lowes, Flying J, Pilot, State and National Parks, Attractions, etc.) I have downloaded from various sources, and created myself. Then the night before we drive, I create a small route from say stop 27 to stop 28 ( one day of the trip) and do my itinerary search for rest stops, etc. for the day. Then I never save the file changes. I do this at destination locations also in order to plan our side trips. Having a printer in the RV really helps.
But, as you can imagine that map is totally covered over with icons until you get down to, say, a city level.
I do something a little different than that now. I have a .est file with no route on it, but all the import files (Walmart, Home Depot, Starbucks, Cracker Barrel, Lowes, Flying J, Pilot, State and National Parks, Attractions, etc.) I have downloaded from various sources, and created myself. Then the night before we drive, I create a small route from say stop 27 to stop 28 ( one day of the trip) and do my itinerary search for rest stops, etc. for the day. Then I never save the file changes. I do this at destination locations also in order to plan our side trips. Having a printer in the RV really helps.
But, as you can imagine that map is totally covered over with icons until you get down to, say, a city level.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tom Bernardi
I have returned the copy of S&T 2009 that I purchased directly to MS because I was diappointed in the progress being made. I also met Gladwin at the Tampa RV Show last week, and related the same message to him.
My disappointments lie in several areas, and include in order of importance:
1. No date function in the Itinerary function yet - I plan trips from 45 to 95 days. I think it is ludicrous to pass out free disks at an RV show when most serious RVers need this functionality to make reservations, have mail delivered to locations, etc. by a date. Day 27 means nothing to us. More Route Options area would be the perfect place to set a trip start date.
My disappointments lie in several areas, and include in order of importance:
1. No date function in the Itinerary function yet - I plan trips from 45 to 95 days. I think it is ludicrous to pass out free disks at an RV show when most serious RVers need this functionality to make reservations, have mail delivered to locations, etc. by a date. Day 27 means nothing to us. More Route Options area would be the perfect place to set a trip start date.
1. Do you want to set a particular day as your start day of the trip, or
2. Do you want to make the current date as the start date of your trip
3. What will happen if you had overtsayed in a place and now the intinerary shows wrong date. In this case, how do you expect the application to respond to?
there are many such questions that arise and it would be great to have a separate discussion on this to get other users feedback as well.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tom Bernardi
2. Search POI function turns to "Entire Route" if you accidently click on the blue trip routing on the map. If you have already used the search function in a session to find a campground in a 20 mile radius, then the next time you try to search, you end up with searching a 7,000 mile stretch, 10 miles on each side. I know you can cancel, but it takes forever to be able to do this, even if you limit the search to one or two POI groups. The options area would be the perfect place to set a default for new searches, or better, just bring you to the POI screen before you start the search - to be able to select/change your criteria.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tom Bernardi
3. On the version that I returned, I could not get the itinerary to list the address and phone number of a destination in brackets [], like on the 2008 version. Gladwin said it will, but I have my doubts. When I make reservations [after planning a trip] it is critical to have this information.
1. Zoom into a city, then spot a business listing on the map. Right click on the business listing and select 'Route-Add as Start'. Then Add a stop/end then get directions. And I see the business address in the directions pane.
2. Zoom into a city, then spot a business listing on the map. Right click on the business listing and select 'Show Information'. Now press Ctrl+R and then click the <Add to Route> button on the Route Planner pane. And get directions. The business address is listed in the intinerary.
These are the ways that I tried and I do see the address and phone number of a destination in brackets [] in the itinerary.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tom Bernardi
4. Bring back the large icon library - although I now understand you can download a file.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tom Bernardi
5. Allow exports of stop information into, say, a .csv or .txt file for upload into other devices. I, and I am sure many RVers, carry Garmins, TomToms, etc. for use in their RV and (emphasis on the "and") Tow Car dashboards. Planning is best done on a PC [S&T of course], but driving is less distracting and less room is taken up with a small GPS device, especially in the small car we tow for side trips. I would think that a minimum of stop#, name, latitude and longitude would be a minimum set of data. Loading this data should not be duplicative. An alternative would be to include the GPS coordinates in the "Copy Directions" function - that I download and "cleanse" in Excel.
Until at least 1 and 2 are solved, I will not upgrade to a new version.
Until at least 1 and 2 are solved, I will not upgrade to a new version.
Once Again, Thanks for trying our product and for your valuable suggestions. And we are looking forward to hear more feedback from you. And thanks to Marvin for making this a great place for sharing information. And Tom there are many experienced ST users in here who can assist you anytime with your questions so you can feel free to post your questions to anyone.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gladwin
...there are many such questions that arise and it would be great to have a separate discussion on this to get other users feedback as well...