New version DeLorme Street Atlas 2009

Ken, I agree, huge amount of map space could be recovered if the user interface was designed differently - iNav iGuidance is likely the best example of maximizing map space while retaining all needed info right in front of driver's eyes. But still I think the new "UMPC" navigation mode in DeLorme Street Atlas 2009 is improvement over previous versions.

It's Friday evening, and I will not be on the road again till Monday. I will not be able to do further testing with SA till then.

A few random observations:

* Hwy-401 still looks like it did in previous versions - important "detail" is missing. The highway (in Toronto) consists of express lanes and collector lanes, but Street Atlas 2009 shows the highway as one single line for each direction.

* It is still difficult for me to get relevant results when doing address search. Perhaps I've just never learned how to perform address searches in SA properly. In many cases I cannot easily search for a street name I need, and if I do find the street name, in most cases I don't find the street number, only a street range.

* In the new 3D mode I only get black screen as map. In 2D I see the map fine. This may be related to my old computer (but it still is well within the system requirements). I will call technical support on Monday regarding this. There may be an easy fix.

Here is what a navigation program should look like on a UMPC. When Delorme even comes close, I might again consider their product. I am still interested to see what Garmin does but Delorme is out of the running until they realize what the competition really is.

Yes, their mapping is superior to Navteq in some small communities like mine but...address by the block? That doesn't cut it.

Also, buying their product in Canada is not the easiest. I got the 2008 version as a 2G download offered through PC World Magazine.

Terry

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Hi Terry,

What products are in the picture ... what nav program and what is the computer (brand, model)? I have not paid any attention to the UMPCs so I'm quite ignorant of what's out there, or even what's in the technology. It's probably time I took a look.

EDIT: I think it may be that block house numbering that is causing some of the difficulties Marvin has observed in the address search. I can't find my own address in SA 2008+.

...ken...

Ken,
Sorry, I forgot. In full screen mode, the program does not identify itself. It is iNav iGuidance v4 running on an ASUS r2h.
iGuidance comes in 3 flavours - PDA, UMPC and laptop all for the price of one.

This UMPC runs XP Tablet Edition on a Celeron M 900 with up to 1.2 Gig memory and a 60 G hard drive. Built-in Bluetooth (Toshiba stack) and a Sirfstar III GPS (gutless). Native 7" sceen resolution is 800x480 and it can emulate 800x600 (Which Delorme and Garmin need) and 1024x600 fairly well.

It did not sell well due to the price point and no keyboard and ASUS upgraded the processor and possibly the resolution in a later model. ASUS also makes the eee pc with this screen.

I was interested in it as a Truck GPS but have not found a good/ easy mounting spot yet. It is quite bulky and the RAM mount is hard to use.

Terry

Hey I am new here. And i live in the Netherlands (europa).My question is delorme 2008 also for europa.Latetrucker

Hi latetrucker,

Welcome to Laptop GPS World.

Unfortunately DeLorme Street Atlas 2009 contains only map data for USA, Canada, and Mexico. There are other products you may consider. Perhaps the closest to the functionality of DeLorme Street Atlas would be Microsoft AutoRoute - a trip planning and GPS navigation software program with the map of most of Europe. It's the equivalent of the North American Microsoft Streets & Trips. There are other GPS navigation programs for Europe. Check the following link: List of laptop GPS navigation software programs and reviews.

thanks Marvin, i looked in the list. greetings latetrucker

The comments about SA 2008 are right on the money..... that version has some problems and annoyances, but I just ordered the 2009+ and LT40 bundle a few minutes ago. As soon as I load it and test it, I will try to get back here and post my opinion and findings. I have used DeLorme Street Atlas for a number of years (like since its beginning), and have generally liked their stuff, but 2008 had a few too many errors and oddities for my liking.

On my October, 2007 trip (to/from Myrtle Beach, SC), I ran the laptop with SA2008+, a Garmin GPS Map 76CSx, and the factory-installed in-dash (Alpine) unit on my Jeep for comparison. The in-dash unit had the least functionality, while the Garmin and the DeLorme each had their annoyances and errors. Maybe this new DeLorme setup will be a real improvement.

Hi Overland1,

Welcome to Laptop GPS World.

What "errors and oddities" bugged you the most in DeLorme Street Atlas 2008?

Looking forward to your impressions of DeLorme Street Atlas 2009 when it arrives .

A lot of the errors involved missing landmarks that were on the map, but not physically where they were supposed to be. A couple of the listed points of interest were sufficiently inaccurate to make me wonder what happened to DeLorme's legendary accuracy over the years. Maybe I am expecting too much in those areas, but I do realize there will be some errors. Some may be due to system errors beyond DeLorme's control. One I vividly recall was while driving on I-81 northbound near Harrisburg, PA. The icon showed me traveling well off the road, for a few miles, as well as a few thousand feet above the ground . The error cleared after a few miles (near Lebanon).

I am really looking forward to the 2009 version, as I had heard that there were numerous improvements and many new Points of Interest.

Just when I think that I will never buy another Delorme product, they pop up with something that looks like it might be good. I have several Delorme software packages in my computer desk, some of them were used a couple of years then there is SA2008. Strange interface that doesn't work well on a UMPC. I then bought INAV 4 but the route planning/viewing is terrible. I just have to guess what roads it picked. It also crashes with vista.

I am very interested in comments from you that just bought it. How is the route planning(one of the best features of Delorme)? Is the funky Delorme non standard interface still there? Does the map scroll or does the vehicle icon move by itself on a static map? Does it work well on a UMPC?

Thanks

It seems to be a little bit of both, depending upon which map orientation you select. I did some testing of SA 2008+ on my Garmin iQue (handheld PDA with Palm OS and integrated GPS) and it took a bit of getting used to after using the Garmin software that comes on the iQue. What I found was that in some situations it will move the map and in others it will move the icon.

The native Garmin software scrolls the map (with one exception that you are in control of) so the vehicle icon is always in pretty much the same place. I found with SA 2008 sometimes I had to hunt around a bit to find the vehicle icon on the screen. It was never really terrible but it was worse with some (selectable) map orientations than others.

...ken...

I think there is an improvement in this area in the new Street Atlas 2009. But I'm having some technical difficulties related to my PC. I cannot use the 3D perspective view - the new feature of the program. I phoned the technical support this morning, and it turns out that 64 MB of video memory in my Vista PC is not adequate to display 3D. It used to be an XP PC, but several months ago I installed Vista - even though it is an old computer. I'm starting to run into issues like this, so I may be forced to update my old hardware sooner or later .

If I find the time tomorrow, I may try to install DeLorme Street Atlas 2009 on an XP PC, and then I'll try the 3D .

For Marvin---I have the new 2009+ SP2 with the LT40 on both an XP Pro and a new Dell. The Dell does NOT have an upgraded video card such as the 128mb Gforce one sold as an upgrade to my Dell 17" Inspiron. I am able to take advantage of the 3d feature. In fact the 3d looks the same on my Dell runing Vista Home Premium and my older laptop using XP pro. hope this helps some.