New version DeLorme Street Atlas 2009

Marvin:

I intend to stick with it. I don't want to be negative with a program I just tried.
I also tried an area that I am VERY familiar with, the Lake of the Ozarks, here in Missouri and I was very dissapointed with the lack of coverage with the maps and the POI's. However, I know I DO NOT know all of the things this program has to offer and I'm too tight to abandon it now or even in the near future. I will try to find the positive parts of it.
I'm just very surprised with the lack of POI's that I see from both of the other programs. I intend to search other areas of the country I'm very familiar with, ie; Arizona, Nevada, California, Florida and the surrounding areas of Missouri. I'll post you on what I find, if you are interested ?
Regards,
Mike Flannigan

Yes, absolutely, I'm very much interested in your observations, as I'm sure others are, too. I'll be reading with interest, Mike.

Marvin:
I'm glad I tried SA and it has proven to me that MapSource & Streets has a much easier & more inclusive interface.
I was able to find some of the things I have interest in (Hotels/Motels, Restaurants, etc). It was impossible to find a street address and I was not able to find most of the streets I have interest in and I know the location of.
The bottom line is SA does not satisfy my needs for trip planning as well as MapSource & Streets. It does not satisfy my needs for finding places that I can find in MapSource & Streets even in cities like Phoenix, Las Vegas, Hilton Head, Santa Cruz, Palm Springs, St. Louis, Kansas City, etc.
I think it is a good program and relatively easy to use. However, I am very dissapointed in the lack of POI's, even when I check ALL of the "custom POI" boxes.
I'm glad I have it as a backup, but I don't think I will be using it much.
Regards,
Mike Flannigan

Flannigan-

Did you try using the POI search, which allows you to search along your route or with in X miles of the center of the map? You can search by category and or name of the point you are looking for.

Shannon

Shannon:
I did try the search. What I found was it showed some of the POI's but many of the ones I am aware of were not there. I only went to places we have been to before so I could compare with MapSource & Streets.
Thanks a lot for taking the time to help. I do appreciate it.
As I said, I am glad to have this program as a back up. I use mapping programs to plan a trip of many days. My wife & I travel the country and we need to find places to stay and eat along the way. We also like to find parks, museums and places of interest to stop at.
Regards,
Mike Flanniigan

Mike, I have been playing with SA for a while now and finally have learned how to plan a trip with it. It's not as difficult as I first thought but it is different than S&T. I liked the ability to program several routes in the same file as I travel by RV and once the RV is parked, disconnect and use the car for local trips..

There are a lot of POIs but they are not displayed until you are zoomed way in, about level 13 and by then you have a very limited area in view. There are also a lot of POIs available on line which you can import.

Keep playing with it, it grows on you.

tenbear:
I have also been playing with it and I'm beginning to feel like you do regarding the ease of use, but different than Streets.
I'm still concerned with not being able to find POI's that I know are in a specific location. I also realize that's not a lot different in Streets & MapSource. The thing that bothers me about that is the specific POI(s) do show in Streets & MapSource. I have found it relatively easy to make a POI by using the "Address Book". I don't know if that's the easiest way, but it works.
I have been zooming in to about 600 ft or less to see detail.
Do you mean DeLorme has POI's "on line to import" or do you use the web in general ?
Thanks for your input.
Regards,
Mike Flannigan

tenbear:
Just shows to go you, it doesn't pay to be impatient with a new program. Guess I'm just getting old !!
I just planned a trip to So Carolina and found out how to find POI's, make a waypoint (for the first time) and several other things.
You were right, it does grow on you.
Regards,
Mike Flannigan

Marvin:
I was wrong about the availability of POI's in SA. When Shannon asked me if I tried a search, I said yes. However, I just found out if I search while clicking on a point of a trip, I find MANY POI's. I find making a search while not on a trip, I do not find the POI's; at least so far.
Tenbear was right, it does grow on you.
Regards,
Mike Flannigan

Mike, don't be hard on yourself, that's perfectly understandable. DeLorme Street Atlas is a complex, feature-rich, application, which may take months (years) to master. While you may be able to start using it as a GPS navigation tool almost instantly after installation, to learn many of the other feature will take time.

Mike, check out http://www.discoveryowners.com/cginfolinks.htm for a good collection of POIs that you can import to SA. To import them, download the .txt version and unzip it. Put the .txt file in c:\\Delorme Docs\Draw. I tried to use the files in the column labled Delorme Street Atlas, .an1 files , but could not get them to work. Reading a bit of the Delorme SA forum it appears that there may be a bug in SA 2009.

Then in SA go to the "Draw" tab, then click on "File", then "Import". Select the file you want to import, click on "Open", then "OK" on the info box and the POIs will appear on the map. These are not zoom dependant. You can leave them in the file you save and turn them on and off as required, not like S&T where once you save them they are visible forever. Probably there is a difference in what SA and S&T consider interesting points. Almost forgot, you have to be using the Advanced File Management option.

Marvin, you are right, it could take a long time to master SA.

tenbear:
Thanks for the info. I'm getting to like SA much more than I thought I would.
Regards,
Mike Flannigan

An observation on SA's native POIs. I was looking at some of the POIs near home, Northern Vermont, and found some that surprised me. Several Long Trail shelters are listed as POIs. The Long trail is a hiking trail that runs across the mountain peaks from Mass to Canada and the shelters are sometimes 3 walls and a roof or primitive cabins. The POIs are listed under Hotel or Motel. Also listed is the Mount Mansfield Hotel, very popular in the 40s but it burned down, probably in the 60s, and now there is almost no trace of it. So, you may not be able to take the POIs at face value.

Shannon:
A constructive comment. A route from St Louis, MO to Hilton Head Island routes you around Chattanooga, TN on a Rt 73 south. This is practically a dirt road for around 50 miles plus. Of course you can correct it by adding a via just south of Chattanooga. Even then you have to move the via up in the route in order to not backtrap instead of going through Chattannoga. (route setting quickest)
If you are not interested in these correction notes please let me know so I don't bother you with trivia.
Regards,
Mike Flannigan