I’m a new member here with a question about Microsoft Streets & Trips. I’ve been lurking for quite a while, but haven’t seen the answer to my question.
I have a dash-mounted GPS in my car, and I have used a Garmin GPS III for several years, so I am familiar with GPS in general. I travel occasionally (by plane) to various cities across the United States, and also to Europe, South America and China. I always take my laptop computer (an IBM ThinkPad) for business use, and I have an auxiliary power supply which plugs into car outlets (cigarette lighter) and airliner outlets.
The Garmin GPS-III has built-in road and street maps for the U.S. (with not enough detail and no means to update them, but it is still very useful), and that device also gives me at least some information about where I am anywhere in the world, with (very) major highways shown. For the Garmin, I also have a cable that plugs into car outlets, but not airliner outlets. The Garmin even gives me our exact location in the middle of the ocean on an airplane (useful for guesstimating arrival times, etc.).
I want to replace the Garmin III with Microsoft Streets & Trips 2010 with the GPS locator, as soon as that is available. The first use would be for navigation in U.S. cities in rental cars, or where I am riding with someone else who does not have navigation in his car. I’m sure the S&T would work fine for that application.
My question relates to my second intended use of the S&T. I want to know what information S&T gives in other areas of the world that are outside its basic database of North America. For example, if I am in a car somewhere outside Shanghai, China or Lima, Peru (both of which have happened), will S&T correctly locate our position and give any maps, however rudimentary, that show even just large cities?
The reason for this question is that I would like to be able to retire the GPS III for international travel once I get the S&T. That depends on what kind of information S&T gives outside its database area. Any information would be appreciated.
Jim M.
I have a dash-mounted GPS in my car, and I have used a Garmin GPS III for several years, so I am familiar with GPS in general. I travel occasionally (by plane) to various cities across the United States, and also to Europe, South America and China. I always take my laptop computer (an IBM ThinkPad) for business use, and I have an auxiliary power supply which plugs into car outlets (cigarette lighter) and airliner outlets.
The Garmin GPS-III has built-in road and street maps for the U.S. (with not enough detail and no means to update them, but it is still very useful), and that device also gives me at least some information about where I am anywhere in the world, with (very) major highways shown. For the Garmin, I also have a cable that plugs into car outlets, but not airliner outlets. The Garmin even gives me our exact location in the middle of the ocean on an airplane (useful for guesstimating arrival times, etc.).
I want to replace the Garmin III with Microsoft Streets & Trips 2010 with the GPS locator, as soon as that is available. The first use would be for navigation in U.S. cities in rental cars, or where I am riding with someone else who does not have navigation in his car. I’m sure the S&T would work fine for that application.
My question relates to my second intended use of the S&T. I want to know what information S&T gives in other areas of the world that are outside its basic database of North America. For example, if I am in a car somewhere outside Shanghai, China or Lima, Peru (both of which have happened), will S&T correctly locate our position and give any maps, however rudimentary, that show even just large cities?
The reason for this question is that I would like to be able to retire the GPS III for international travel once I get the S&T. That depends on what kind of information S&T gives outside its database area. Any information would be appreciated.
Jim M.
S&T has data for Canada, US and major Mexico cities. No map data for anywhere else in the world...
... no "street-level data" for anywhere else in the world, to be exact. But you can still use it at least to see your approximate location in relations to towns, cities, etc.
For Europe it is best to use Microsoft AutoRoute or Microsoft MapPoint Europe, though.
Jim, :welcome: to Laptop GPS World.
For Europe it is best to use Microsoft AutoRoute or Microsoft MapPoint Europe, though.
Jim, :welcome: to Laptop GPS World.
MisterMoonlight:
Thanks for the fast reply.
Will S&T give me the latitude and longitude of my current location if I turn it on while I am outside the database area? Even that information, without a map, would be helpful.
If it gives that, I can at least plot that on a paper map and get some idea of exact location.
Also, elevation would be helpful. Is that given?
What kind of a display do I get if I am outside the database area?
Thanks in advance for any replies.
Jim M.
Thanks for the fast reply.
Will S&T give me the latitude and longitude of my current location if I turn it on while I am outside the database area? Even that information, without a map, would be helpful.
If it gives that, I can at least plot that on a paper map and get some idea of exact location.
Also, elevation would be helpful. Is that given?
What kind of a display do I get if I am outside the database area?
Thanks in advance for any replies.
Jim M.
Marvin:
Thanks for the reply, and for the welcome!
I didn’t really expect "street-level data" for anywhere else in the world. That would certainly be beyond the description of the product. I’m not that unreasonable! I also understand that I should have either AutoRoute or MapPoint Europe if I am doing any extensive traveling in Europe, but my question is really about what I will get in S&T alone outside the database area.
You say that I can still use it at least to see my approximate location in relation to towns, cities, etc. That may be as much as I get from my Garmin III, and even enough for close approximations of my current location, which is more than I now get since I can’t read the road signs in a lot of these places! (I’m not driving, by the way. Drivers sometimes won’t answer any questions, as in China.)
Are any screen shots available that will give me a picture of what I can expect in terms of latitude and longitude, as well as position in relation to towns, cities, etc., as you mention?
Should I expect any display at all in those areas outside the specified database?
Thanks again.
Jim M.
Thanks for the reply, and for the welcome!
I didn’t really expect "street-level data" for anywhere else in the world. That would certainly be beyond the description of the product. I’m not that unreasonable! I also understand that I should have either AutoRoute or MapPoint Europe if I am doing any extensive traveling in Europe, but my question is really about what I will get in S&T alone outside the database area.
You say that I can still use it at least to see my approximate location in relation to towns, cities, etc. That may be as much as I get from my Garmin III, and even enough for close approximations of my current location, which is more than I now get since I can’t read the road signs in a lot of these places! (I’m not driving, by the way. Drivers sometimes won’t answer any questions, as in China.)
Are any screen shots available that will give me a picture of what I can expect in terms of latitude and longitude, as well as position in relation to towns, cities, etc., as you mention?
Should I expect any display at all in those areas outside the specified database?
Thanks again.
Jim M.
Yes
The location (lat/long) is displayed on the bottom right of the screen in S&T 2009. Thanks Marvin for the precision (no street level data is important to see the difference anywhere else outside Mexico,Canada and US)
See an example here (first picture) is the lat/long location displayed were your mouse cursor is located on the map (when gps is not used). This will appear at bottom right of the screen in the status bar. You can see also in this same picture in the left gps pane that the actual lat/lon/alt of gps is displayed (near the speed indicator).
The location (lat/long) is displayed on the bottom right of the screen in S&T 2009. Thanks Marvin for the precision (no street level data is important to see the difference anywhere else outside Mexico,Canada and US)
See an example here (first picture) is the lat/long location displayed were your mouse cursor is located on the map (when gps is not used). This will appear at bottom right of the screen in the status bar. You can see also in this same picture in the left gps pane that the actual lat/lon/alt of gps is displayed (near the speed indicator).
I just started Microsoft MapPoint Europe to take a screen shot of what you can expect to see in area with no street-level detail. Take a note that in areas without road map coverage the program doesn't allow you to zoom closer than what you see on the attached picture. (see the scale in top-right corner)
Thanks for the updates. Having the latitude / longitude / altitude that the GPS is reporting is quite useful, even in the absence of any maps. I always have paper maps along, anyway.
Just out of curiosity, what is the maximum speed that the S&T will report? I have seen speeds of 550 mph reported on a GPS on a flight across the Pacific. That speed range isn’t necessary, of course, but it is nice to have when traveling on a fast plane.
Is it also possible to have the cursor pointed to one location somewhere on the screen and have that location (latitude / longitude) reported, while the GPS is on another (the current location)? Actually, the old Garmin would do that, so I’m sure S&T will. Right?
The MapPoint Europe screen shot is very informative. I wouldn’t expect to zoom any closer than the picture shown, but I am a bit disappointed that there are no roads at all. I didn’t expect "street level detail", but even my ten-year old Garmin had major highways linking major cities.
I’ll buy the MS S&T 2010 anyway, because it will be useful here in the U.S. I’ll lug the Garmin along on my first trip outside the U.S., just in case I need the back-up of what little information it has. But it has a tiny (monochrome) screen, outdated maps with no facility for updating them, and poor battery life on its 4 AAs.
Hah! I remember how impressed I was with the Garmin when I first got it back in 1999! I actually haven’t used it for about two years, since I got a car with in-dash GPS. Now, I want to get the laptop set up for use when I travel.
Jim M.
Just out of curiosity, what is the maximum speed that the S&T will report? I have seen speeds of 550 mph reported on a GPS on a flight across the Pacific. That speed range isn’t necessary, of course, but it is nice to have when traveling on a fast plane.
Is it also possible to have the cursor pointed to one location somewhere on the screen and have that location (latitude / longitude) reported, while the GPS is on another (the current location)? Actually, the old Garmin would do that, so I’m sure S&T will. Right?
The MapPoint Europe screen shot is very informative. I wouldn’t expect to zoom any closer than the picture shown, but I am a bit disappointed that there are no roads at all. I didn’t expect "street level detail", but even my ten-year old Garmin had major highways linking major cities.
I’ll buy the MS S&T 2010 anyway, because it will be useful here in the U.S. I’ll lug the Garmin along on my first trip outside the U.S., just in case I need the back-up of what little information it has. But it has a tiny (monochrome) screen, outdated maps with no facility for updating them, and poor battery life on its 4 AAs.
Hah! I remember how impressed I was with the Garmin when I first got it back in 1999! I actually haven’t used it for about two years, since I got a car with in-dash GPS. Now, I want to get the laptop set up for use when I travel.
Jim M.
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